Competitor Backlink Analysis

Overview

Your competitors’ backlink profiles are a goldmine of link building opportunities. By understanding who links to them and why, you can replicate their best links and find openings they have missed.

Step 1: Select Competitors to Analyze

1. Identify 3-5 competitors who rank for your target keywords
2. Include at least one competitor with higher domain authority than yours
3. Include at least one competitor at a similar authority level

Step 2: Pull Backlink Data

For each competitor, extract:

• Total referring domains
• Top linking domains by authority
• Most-linked-to pages
• Anchor text distribution
• Link type breakdown (dofollow vs. nofollow)
• New and lost links over the past 6 months

Step 3: Analyze Patterns

Look for these patterns across competitor profiles:

• Common linkers — domains that link to multiple competitors (high-probability targets)
• Content types that attract links — what formats earn the most backlinks?
• Anchor text patterns — what language do linkers use when referencing competitor content?
• Link velocity — how many new links per month do top competitors acquire?
• Source types — are links coming from blogs, news sites, directories, or resource pages?

Step 4: Build Your Target List

1. Export domains linking to competitors but not to you
2. Score each by authority, relevance, and accessibility
3. Categorize by outreach approach (reciprocal exchange, guest post, resource mention)
4. Prioritize domains linking to 2+ competitors

Step 5: Execute

1. Create outreach campaigns tailored to each target category
2. Use Linkorite to track prospects, outreach, and results
3. Reference competitor content in your pitch to demonstrate relevance
4. Repeat this analysis quarterly to stay ahead of competitor moves