Backlinks are the most effective means to boost your content on search engines.
But, how can you determine which backlinks are most valuable and what to aim for?
Backlink analysis can help in this situation. One of the best ways to keep ahead of the competition and develop a successful backlink strategy is backlink analysis.
In this article, we’ll understand what backlink analysis is, and how to perform a backlink analysis with the right tools.
What is Backlink Analysis?
The process of analyzing the quantity and quality of links going to a website is known as backlink analysis. Finding and assessing the links that are generating traffic and affecting search engine results needs the use of a backlink analysis tool.
By using backlink analysis, you can evaluate how well you do in search results and identify any possible problems. Therefore, backlink analysis offers ways to increase your website’s search visibility if it isn’t ranking.
At GrowthOG, our experts can help you assess your link profile and advise you on the best course of action.
The Importance of a Backlink Analysis
The value that most backlinks add to your site’s search engine optimization (SEO) efforts is dependent on their quality. Backlink analysis identifies high-quality and low-quality links that can impact search engine rankings. It provides insight into competitor’s’ backlinks and link building strategies and identifies areas for development.
According to research, 91% of all websites do not receive organic traffic from Google, mainly due to a lack of backlinks required to enhance domain rating and search rankings.
That is why backlink analysis is crucial to the success of your site’s organic growth.
The ability to understand and obtain valuable backlinks can greatly increase the exposure and ranking of your website on search engines.
How Google positions search results
Backlink analysis can also help you with your SEO goals. When you evaluate a top-ranking competition, it will tell you how many high-quality backlinks you need to earn to improve your SEO and outperform them.
When to Perform a Backlink Analysis
You should regularly perform an analysis to make sure everything is functioning properly.
Some other situations that require a backlink analysis include:
Prior to launching a link building campaign
Before starting your investment in link-building, conduct a backlink analysis to determine which links will benefit you and how to improve your link building strategy.
A decrease in traffic
If you see a big decline in your website traffic, you should investigate how your backlinks are working. It could be due to low-quality backlinks or a low number of backlinks directing referral traffic to your website.
A decline in rankings
Backlinks can directly affect your website’s rankings. If you observe any significant changes in your website rankings, you should conduct a backlink analysis to determine whether you have any low-quality or few backlinks that are preventing you from reaching your objectives.
Algorithm changes
Search engines often alter their algorithms to preserve competition balance, avoid ranking manipulation, and react to new technology advancements. Low-quality or deceptive backlinking tactics might affect a page’s ranking. Therefore, it is essential to do a backlink analysis during and after algorithm changes.
Poorly performing content
If you’re publishing regular content but your website is not performing well as expected, you should analyze the quality of your backlinks, as you may be receiving low-quality connections that aren’t generating relevant referral traffic.
When a website receives a penalty
A website may be subject to a link penalty for a number of reasons, such as purchasing or selling links, participating in link schemes, or having a lot of spammy or low-quality links.
This is how Google defends against spam content
You could also receive a penalty if you’re using anchor text excessively, linking to unrelated websites, or failing to mark sponsored links as such. A backlink analysis may help locate the right issue and fix it.
You can save time and effort by outsourcing link-building services to GrowthOG because you won’t have to worry about when to perform a backlink analysis. Our team of experts helps you perform effective backlink analysis in such situations and you can focus your resources on your core operational tasks.
Elements of a High Quality Backlink
Here are some of the elements of high quality backlinks to help you understand what to go for.
Relevance
Backlinks from sites that are relevant to the theme of your content are given more weight by search engines.
Search engines assess the total number of backlinks referring to a website to determine how useful its content is to readers. Your website will rank higher on Google if it has more high-quality backlinks that link to it.
Authority
Links from websites regarded as authoritative and trustworthy in their sector are quite significant. This authority is frequently quantified by metrics such as Domain Authority or Page Authority, which are determined using a variety of criteria, including the amount and quality of backlinks.
Natural link profile
A link is considered natural once placed by one website to another intentionally because the content is relevant and valuable to the readers. These links are not spam, coming from reliable sources and reflecting the information you provide.
Backlinks that come naturally, without the website owner needing to request them, are of the highest quality.
Anchor text
The clickable text in a hyperlink that informs users and search engines about the page it links to is referred to as anchor text. The anchor text and the language surrounding it should be topic-appropriate.
GrowthOG uses a thorough onboarding process to learn your link building goals and preferences. By doing so, we can get relevant backlinks for your website, improve your search rankings, and increase site authority.
Conducting a Backlink Analysis
Here’s how you can conduct an effective backlink analysis:
Starting with a website overview
Before you begin an analysis, you need first to understand your website’s niche, target audience, and existing backlink profile.
If your website is low on backlinks, you should first assess your competition. If you’re still unclear whom to aim for, look up the websites that rank for your top target keywords in search engines. Backlink tools like SEMrush can help generate a list of competitors based on popular keywords.
Here is a keyword search for “best restaurants in ohio” on semrush. It offers a complete keyword overview and the websites using similar keywords to help you understand what keywords and websites to aim for.
Analyzing top-performing pages
Finding the pages on your website with the most links is one of the most helpful aspects of an analysis. Identifying which pages generate links is useful for creating similar content that attract natural and relevant backlinks.
This step is crucial if you want to produce more valuable content to get more backlinks or build content that offers knowledge and lessons that no one else is writing about.
Identifying pages that potentially benefit from backlinks
The next step in your backlink analysis should be determining which pages are most likely to benefit from backlinks. Choosing the right pages to build links to helps maximize your campaign’s impact on your website.
Some page types that can benefit from backlinks are:
- high-value pages that are more likely to produce income for your business
- product or category pages for e-commerce stores
- sales pages for SaaS companies, and
- reviews or roundup content for affiliate websites
These pages are more likely to rank when you build backlinks to them, resulting in more potential customers viewing the information.
Building links to pages that appear at the bottom of the first page or even on the second page of search engine results for your desired keyword can be an excellent link building strategy.
Linked pages with fewer backlinks than those on your competitor’s websites may also be worth looking at. Look for pages on your website that have multiple links that you believe you could match or surpass, but are outranked by competitor content.
Finding quality backlinks
Determining which backlinks are actually helpful is crucial. Page authority (DA) and domain authority (PA) are SEO metrics used to forecast the likelihood of a certain page or referring domain ranking high in search results. The backlink profile of a single page is measured by PA, whereas the backlink profile of the entire website is measured by DA.
Your website’s niche should be reflected in the linking site’s content. The backlink should benefit the reader and be organically positioned inside the text.
This is an essential step in backlink analysis since you need to build relationships with the companies that are linking to your websites or create more content that will draw in high-quality links.
Assessing anchor text
An important factor in how search engines determine a backlink’s relevance is its anchor text.
A website’s anchor text consists of the words or phrases that link to your website and act as markers to raise the caliber of the backlinks. You can make sure that all of your backlinks are optimized to provide the most value for your content by looking at your anchor texts.
You can quickly get the anchor texts used for all of your backlinks using an SEO tool.
Anchor text diversity, which means variants of keywords are used when building links to a page, is also a key ranking element in SEO since it helps search engines determine the context and relevance of the linked page.
Anchor text diversity by Ahrefs
In this example, you can see that the anchors “Ahrefs, Ahrefs backlink checker, backlink checker” are used for the target page ahrefs.com/backlink-checker.
You can contact the website and request that they alter your anchor texts if they don’t emphasize your brand and keywords or if they look strange.
Working with a link building agency, like GrowthOG, can help you achieve anchor text diversity by distributing your selected anchor text keywords over a variety of backlinks, resulting in a natural, SEO-friendly link profile.
Finding broken backlinks
Broken or lost backlinks can hinder search engine crawlers, which could lower a page’s visibility and site’s performance from an SEO standpoint.
To identify links that lead to error pages, you can use tools like Google Search Console. Verify whether the broken link comes from your website or another. If it belongs to you, change the URL or put a redirect in place properly.
GrowthOG can help you recover broken or lost backlinks with its extensive network. We employ effective outreach strategies to uncover potential replacement possibilities and enhance your SEO and website performance.
Detecting toxic links
Your site visibility and organic traffic, as well as your company reputation and revenue, are all negatively impacted in case toxic outbound links and incoming links are detected, which cause a sharp decline in search engine results.
You can manage toxic links by evaluating backlink quality using Google Search Console or SEO tools, and then performing a manual backlink audit to find potentially harmful links.
Alternatively, some SEO tools show links that they believe are toxic based on their own criteria. Tools like SEMRush, Moz, and Majestic all have a backlink auditing capability that evaluates all linking domains that link to you and flags any that the program considers risky.
You can then use Google’s Disavow Tool to notify search engines that specific links should not be included in the site’s ranking. Keep track of where your links are coming from and make sure they are relevant to the content and ethics of your website.
Working with a link-building company, such as GrowthOG, to optimize your website’s backlink profile has numerous advantages. We can help you detect and manage risky links effectively, allowing you to maintain visibility and traffic to your site.
Tools to Perform a Backlink Analysis (Free & Paid)
Let’s establish the framework for a backlink analysis by emphasizing the key SEO tools you’ll require.
Ahrefs
Ahrefs is mostly used for link profile, keyword ranking, and SEO health analysis. Additionally, you can use Ahrefs to locate content that has performed well on a particular topic in terms of social shares and links.
The following are some characteristics that set Ahrefs’ Site Explorer apart:
- Look at dofollow and nofollow links: You can get the whole picture of dofollow and nofollow links for any target pages using Ahrefs.
- Disavow link spam: You can use the Backlink Checker to add spammy links to a Disavow file if you see any questionable backlink behavior.
- Anchor text analysis: You can analyze your website’s anchor text to find any potential harmful SEO attacks using Ahrefs’ anchor text analysis.
- CSV and PDF exports: If you need to download a report for additional analysis or report on your findings, you can export your reports and data as a CSV or PDF file.
- Filters: Every report has built-in filters that allow you to examine only the data that matters to you.
Ahrefs pricing ranges from $129 per month for Lite customers to $14,990 per year for enterprises.
Semrush
Semrush offers a comprehensive analysis of your backlinks and insights into your competitors.
This tool offers extensive features for backlink analysis including:
- Advanced exporting, sorting, and filtering: You can analyze the precise data you need at the moment by using the filters and sorting.
- Reports from competitors: This is helpful for determining which domains have the most backlinks that are similar to yours. You can assess multiple domains side by side using Semrush’s Backlink Analytics.
- Fast comparison tool: It also enables you to rapidly assess your position in relation to your rivals.
- Analysis of anchor texts: With the anchor text analysis, you can look at the anchor text of your website to identify any potentially damaging SEO attacks.
Semrush pricing begins at $139.95 per month for Pro users and goes up to $5,000 per month for enterprises.
MOZ
Moz is a comprehensive SEO software solution that helps you enhance your search engine exposure by giving new insights and allowing you to remain competitive.
The key tools and features offered by Moz include:
- Reporting: The Link Explorer offered by Moz for reporting helps provide valuable insights into any link profile, including your own and your competitors, and shows you how many links point to your website, with information on the anchors used and the domain authority.
- Link comparison tool: This tool compares your website to competitors using an easy-to-read graphic with clear stats. You can choose two domains to compare side by side and compare key metrics like domain authority, spam score, and total links.
- Anchor text analysis: You can use the anchor text analysis tool offered by Moz to examine your website’s anchor text and spot any potentially harmful SEO attacks.
Moz primarily offers two pricing plans: Standard and Medium, which are priced at $79 and $143 per month, respectively.
All in One SEO (AIOSEO)
All-in-One SEO is an excellent WordPress SEO plugin and a valuable resource for link analysis.
Here are the features that make AIOSEO ideal for backlink analysis:
- Link assistant: This feature uses clever automation to completely assess your text, identify relevant connection opportunities, and easily include internal links.
- Search statistics: This gives you access to actionable insights and detailed information on content deterioration. This lets you evaluate keyword ranks, analyze search trends, and monitor your website’s functioning.
- Comprehensive link checking: The Broken Link Checker searches your website for broken links and redirects , helping you identify and replace them.
AISEO is reasonably priced, starting at $49.60 per year for Basic users and increasing to $299.60 per year for Elite users.
Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest is widely acclaimed for its full SEO features, which include backlink analysis. It provides a full picture of your backlink profile, including backlink count, referring websites, and a backlink growth chart over time.
The feature that makes Ubersuggest great for backlink analysis is:
- Backlink opportunity report: It lets you examine your competitors’ backlink profiles and offers extensive information on domains and individual URLs that link to competitors’ websites but not to yours.
- Backlink Data: Ubersuggest allows you to see the specific content in your area that people are linking to. This can help create an action plan for increasing your link profile and determining which links will have the greatest influence on your rankings.
Ubersuggest pricing starts at $20 per month for businesses and goes to $40 per month for enterprises.
BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is a content research platform that helps writers, marketers, and SEO specialists develop compelling content that increases traffic, social engagement, and backlinks.
These are Buzzsumo’s best features for backlink analysis:
- Backlink feature: This enables you to examine your most valuable content or that of your top competitors by displaying referring pages.
- Metrics for backlinks: BuzzSumo makes it possible to assess the impact of backlinks pointing to your website using metrics like Trust Flow, Referring Domains, and Total Backlinks.
- Sorting and filtering: You can sort and filter the results to examine fresh backlinks in detail. To identify the most shared links, you can use social engagement sorting and focus on particular link types.
Buzzsumo’s content creation plan costs $199 per month and the pricing goes up to $999 per month for enterprises.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a backlink analysis tool that allows you to monitor, update, and troubleshoot your website’s visibility in Google search results.
The main features offered by Google Search Console include:
- Links report: This report provides useful information about your site’s backlinks, including external links, top-linked pages, and top-linking sites.
- Alerts: It offers prompt notifications for both lost and new backlinks.
- Monitoring: You can easily monitor and at times fix security problems like malware and hacking, server faults, and site load problems using the tool.
This tool is absolutely free of cost.
Linkody
Linkody is a backlink analysis tool that companies, marketers, SEO agencies, and website owners can use to boost their link-building and search engine ranking.
The features offered by Linkody for backlink analysis include:
- Real-time tracking: Linkody’s ability to follow backlinks in real-time, check their indexing status, and show their Domain Authority (DA) sets it apart.
- Email reports: It is a special feature not available in other programs that provides information on recent modifications in your backlink network.
- Automation: Linkody offers automation for continuously pulling information from multiple sources around the clock.
Linkody offers a variety of price plans, ranging from $14.9 per month for individuals to $153.9 per month for agencies.
Link building services
Even though backlink analysis tools are necessary, professional knowledge can make a big impact. For companies looking to increase their presence in search engine results, outsourcing link building services can be a smart strategic choice.
These services can offer specialized strategies and access to high-quality backlinks that conventional approaches might not make easily accessible.
Link building agencies, like GrowthOG, have experience with a number of SEO tools to support link building strategies and research, providing high-quality deliverables and keeping you informed about the status of your backlink profile.
Tips to Effectively Conduct a Backlink Analysis
Here are some useful tips for conducting an effective backlink analysis:
Understanding dofollow vs nofollow links
Knowing the difference between dofollow and nofollow links is essential if you want to get the most out of your backlink profile.
A dofollow link encourages Google to crawl and index the link by passing link juice and improving the connected page’s rating. On the other hand, a nofollow link isn’t crawled by search engines, which means that the linking page does not transfer authority to your page.
Maintaining link diversity
Link diversity is the range of links pointing to a page or website. These links may originate from directories, social media sites, and relevant websites, and are seen as more beneficial for SEO.
To diversify a website’s link profile, you can actively pursue links from different sources, focus on anchor text diversity and target page diversity,
You can boost traffic, relevancy, and trustworthiness by having a varied collection of links going to your website. In addition to increasing credibility, a varied backlink profile reduces the chance of algorithm changes in search engines.
Conducting a competitive analysis
Competitive analysis can be carried out with a variety of tools that help determine your primary rivals, examine their backlink profiles, and locate possible link-building opportunities. You can stay ahead of the competition and improve your own strategy by doing this.
Identifying backlink gap using SEMrush
Working with a link building agency, like GrowthOG, can help you conduct an in-depth competitive assessment by identifying your competitors’ backlink profiles, assessing their strategies, and discovering untapped link opportunities. This can enable you to fine-tune your own link building strategy for maximum impact.
Partnering with trustworthy link building services
Investing in link building is a long-term SEO strategy that requires patience and efforts for conversions.
You can avoid spammy practices by creating high-quality links using ethical methods and working with a trustworthy link-building company that adheres to Google’s webmaster standards. This allows you to secure the long-term success of your link-building effort while also maintaining the integrity of your website.
GrowthOG is a leading link building agency in the sector, providing quality services and maintaining transparency throughout the partnership to help you reach your link building goals. Our team of experts is dedicated to understanding your business and creating custom backlink strategies to boost your ROI.
Avoiding black hat techniques
It can be tempting to use black hat strategies that guarantee instant results when pursuing backlinks. These techniques, however, may result in harsh penalties to your website on search engines.
Using these techniques can have a detrimental effect on your visibility and search rankings. It won’t produce long-term results and usually leads to a bad user experience.
To ensure the sustainability and reputation of your website, you should develop a sustainable backlink strategy that complies with search engine criteria.
What’s Next?
Let’s understand what to do after a thorough backlink analysis.
Creating content based on what performs well
The next clear step after analyzing your backlink profile is to produce content that aligns with what has previously worked successfully. You can adjust your future content plan to replicate that achievement.
Potential customers can be drawn in and engaged by informed, valuable content that speaks to their needs and interests. This can eventually result in higher sales and revenue. GrowthOG’s content production service can help you step up your game by crafting relevant and optimized content that adheres to Google requirements.
Refining strategies for building a stronger backlink profile
It’s time to fine-tune your backlink-building techniques based on the insights you gained from your analysis. You can start by identifying your competitors and finding websites that offer similar products or services to the same target demographic.
Collect data using an SEO tool, examine the keyword data, and craft a converting content strategy.Also, focus on high-authority domains and niche-specific sites can help you improve your backlink profile.
Outsourcing link building services
Many businesses find it difficult to manage link-building initiatives internally. You can support your team with the combined skills and industry knowledge of link building agencies or freelancers. This assures that your campaigns are carried out precisely and effectively.
Choosing a reliable partner and having the right goals are vital, and outsourcing can free up your time to focus on other important areas of your marketing plan while maintaining high-quality backlinks.
GrowthOG is a trusted link building partner to support your team’s goals and improve your website’s search engine performance.
Monitoring and maintaining your backlink profile
Establishing backlinks is never a one-time task, hence one must constantly examine their website’s backlink profile. By conducting regular backlink monitoring, you can avoid harmful links and quickly eliminate them.
Link building services GrowthOG, have access to specific tools for monitoring your backlink profile, identifying and removing hazardous links, tracking link loss, and discovering new link prospects. This proactive approach protects your brand online reputation and ensures that your backlink profile stays strong.
Over to You
Analyzing the quality of backlinks is an essential part of any effective SEO plan. You can boost the authority and visibility of your website on search engine result pages by knowing what contributes to a high-quality backlink and using the appropriate tools and strategies.
Maintaining and evaluating your backlink profile on a regular basis can help your online presence succeed in the long run and raise your search engine rankings.
Partner with GrowthOG to gain high-quality backlinks and maintain a healthy backlink profile for SEO success.
