Backlink analysis techniques to find link building opportunities

Executive overview

Most sites lose link building campaigns before they start because they copy tactics without understanding why competitors earn links. Analysing backlink profiles reveals the patterns — not just the numbers.

The fastest path to link prospects is reverse-engineering what already works for competitors in your niche.

Comparing competitor backlink profiles

• Referring domain count is the clearest signal of ranking strength — a 10x gap in domains explains a 10x gap in organic traffic.
• The new and lost referring domains graph shows acquisition rate over time, not just totals.
• Spikes in the graph mark specific campaigns or events — set date filters to isolate which links were earned during a spike.
• Common patterns to identify: guest posting, resource page placements, PR stunts, 301 consolidations, editorial placements, registry listings.
• Focus energy on patterns, not individual links — patterns reveal repeatable strategies.

Best by links report

• Filters pages of a domain by total backlinks; sort by referring domains in descending order.
• Set HTTP status filter to 200 to remove redirects and broken pages from the view.
• Top linked pages reveal which content types attract links — for Ahrefs: original research studies and large actionable guides.
• Anchor text and surrounding text column shows why people link without visiting the page.
• Statistics-heavy content earns links because readers cite numbers as references.

Best by links growth report

• Shows link velocity over the last day, 7 days, or 30 days — surfaces what is earning links right now.
• More useful than total backlink counts for identifying current tactics.
• Clicking through to new referring domains reveals link types: RSS curators, site-wide widget links, editorial picks.
• A recently published post gaining 19 new referring domains quickly signals active promotion or syndication.

Raw backlinks report and filters

• Key metrics: domain rating (site-level strength), URL rating (page-level strength), external link count (dilutes URL rating), traffic (referral quality signal).
• First seen and last checked columns confirm whether a link still exists.
• Basic filter setup: set link type to DoFollow, language to English — cuts noise immediately.
• Platform filter set to WordPress isolates likely editorial links.
• Link type set to Content narrows results to links embedded in body text — highest-quality editorial signal.
• Message board links are usually nofollow and often spam; useful for quick wins, not authority building.

Resource page prospecting hack

• Open Site Explorer on a high-authority site in your niche.
• Run the backlinks report with DoFollow and language filters active.
• Type "resources" in the search bar to surface only backlinks where the word appears in titles, URLs, or anchor/surrounding text.
• Instantly returns curated resource pages with external link counts and organic traffic visible without leaving the tool.
• Repeat with keywords like "roundups" or "links" to expand the prospect list.
• Scales across multiple competitor domains for a near-unlimited prospect pipeline.