Aresync | How To Do SEO Backlink Analysis 2023

The definitive guide to analyzing link profiles

Link building is a double-edged sword.

Some backlinks are helpful because they measure authority, and some are useful because they measure authority.

Some backlinks are helpful because the algorithms measure authority.

Unfortunately, some backlinks can be harmful.

The worst backlinks are very damaging.

Not all link-building strategies are effective. It can be challenging to determine if the time and money spent on link-building services are worth it.

When auditing and analyzing backlink profiles in depth, most web admins take a passive rather than proactive approach.

However, in the age of constant search engine algorithm updates, regular manual or programmatic audits to check backlinks and referring domains are necessary, especially if you don't want to lose organic search engine traffic due to harmful links.

This section describes analyzing your backlink profile as part of a regular audit.

Let's take a closer look at this process.

Contents.

What is a backlink analysis?

• Backlink Audit Tools
• Optimal backlink status
• Number of backlinks
• Domain and link site authority
• Adequacy of link domains
• Variety of link domains
• Branded text and keyword-based anchor text
• Relevance of anchor text
• Variety of anchor text
• Variety of link addresses
• Link speed
• Link history
• Control of competitor backlinks
• Missed Opportunities
• Brand differentiation
• Keywords and strategic insights
• Link Profile Monitoring Applications
• Successful link-building strategies

What is a backlink audit?

Depending on your site structure and link-building efforts, you may have hundreds of different links and referring domains pointing to different pages on your site.

You may be mentioned in a press release, sponsor a charity event or be featured in a series of off-site articles.

All these backlinks comprise your backlink profile (link graph or link profile for short).

A backlink audit is a technique to analyze and evaluate your backlink profile (or that of your competitors).

It can be used to track the growth of your reach over time, such as the number of encounters with new publishers.

Most importantly, it can correlate factors such as the number and quality of your backlinks.

For example, if you set a goal of publishing ten new links from different referral sites each month, it will help you achieve your goal, but it will also help you notice and appreciate the links that appear naturally.

More importantly, noticing anomalies in your link count can help you realize something is wrong with your strategy, such as an editor removing links from your publication.

The number of links is also essential for each page, as you must pay attention to domain and page authority.

As part of your overall strategy, you may want to link to some internal pages, but if you have a specific landing page or content you want to highlight, you may have too many links pointing to that page.

Domain authority and page authority

You also need to know the domain authority or DA value of the domain you are linking to. Generally, the higher the DA value, the more valuable the link. One strong link from a high authority source will be more valuable than dozens of familiar sources.

Multiple dofollow links with the same domain authority can significantly impact search engine rankings.

Again, beware of links from questionable or low-quality sources.

If Google detects one or more such links from spam sources, your domain authority could be diminished, which would hurt rather than help you.

Hopefully, you are not actively looking for low-quality sources, such as article directories or questionable forums, but you may still see links to your site.

This level of backlink checking can help eliminate unwanted backlinks from questionable sources. It's usually as simple as sending an email to the webmaster (although, in exceptional cases, it may be necessary to log into Google Search Console).

We can also determine if spammy links (or paid links) are considered harmful and require further analysis and removal.

We have provided link removal services in the past, and Google currently ignores or removes most spammy links.

Link Domain Matching

All domains linking to your site must be relevant to your site, both in terms of the purpose of the domain and the article's topic. It is not a strict requirement but a general rule. For example, if you own an ice cream store, all your links are from car manufacturers.

Including strategic keywords are beneficial to an SEO strategy, but their relevance must be examined. For a link to be powerful, the anchor text must be semantically relevant to the article it links to and the article containing the link.

For example, if you write an article about roof repair and link to a law firm's website, the anchor text "roof repair" may be relevant to the main article but not to the law firm.

The anchor text "contact a lawyer" may be relevant to your homepage but less to the main article.

The relevance of the anchor text can be imperfect, but you should check the anchor text template you use and be aware that it tends to be irrelevant.

The more natural and semantic the relevance, the better the link integrity.

Anchor text variations

Checking backlinks is also an excellent opportunity to identify anchor text variations. If a user uses the exact text repeatedly, Google's algorithm will notice and may penalize them. Many link builders use a single keyword or phrase as anchor text for all the links they create, regardless of the nature of the article or domain in which the link appears. It is an unfair practice that should be avoided at all costs.

When checking the anchor text, ensure you understand how your site stacks up against what is or could be expected in your industry.

If there are too many instances of the exact anchor text, but you still want to target the exact keywords, you can use different synonyms or phrases to get similar results.

Over time, Google will consider synonyms and similar phrases in its results.

Change the direction of links.

Even if you focus on the critical pages on your site (such as product landing pages or content you're proud of), it's worth having various links in your backlink profile. Links from various relevant domains to various internal pages and links to your homepage will make your backlink profile more natural and your pages more authoritative on your site.

Your strategy may already dictate which pages to target, but a backlink audit is an excellent opportunity to assess your situation (and make changes if necessary).

When should you do it?

As you gain experience auditing backlinks, you can easily recognize signs of targeting strategies. You may notice anchor text containing unique words, article titles and editors' similarities, article speed and frequency, etc. If there aren't many competitors vying for the same web space, it's a sign that it's time to implement a strategy. If you need help finding out what strategies your competitors use to develop complementary strategies.

Check your relationship profiles regularly.

Consistency is the key to successful backlink monitoring.

Start by establishing a regular schedule. You should check your progress occasionally and monitor the number of referrals and links received for your domain.

Suppose these results are not in line with expectations or are within a specific range. In that case, you can "slice and dice" your backlink profile to identify missing links, inconsistencies, errors and areas for improvement.

Ahrefs' site checker tool checks your site to ensure it's running like a well-oiled machine.

The exact schedule depends on your brand and your goals.

For example, if you're managing links for a large company with many competitors and a lot of content to publish, you should check your link profile at least several times a week and do a complete analysis once a week.

If you're a small business just starting in SEO a complete analysis once a month may be sufficient.

Also, checking backlinks is one of many ways to evaluate your business. For example, if you want to understand how your strategy works, you need to check referral traffic patterns and evaluate other elements of your strategy (such as website optimization) if you see deviations from your expectations.

Link profiles are essential but are only one piece of the SEO analysis puzzle.

Critical changes in link-building strategy

The results of a link profile study are of little use if they do not lead to specific, actionable changes in your link-building strategy.

For example, if you have lost links, the data may help you realize that your domain authority is declining, but it will not help you recover or replace those links.

On the other hand, if you realize that you need to build the domain with certain links as well as you would like, this information will only be helpful if you change your approach.

In summary, the best way to analyze a link profile is to generalize.