How do you conduct a competitive link analysis and find link opportunities?

3 Analyze backlink profiles

The third step is to analyze the backlink profiles of your competitors and compare them with your own. You can evaluate the backlink profiles by looking at metrics such as domain authority, page authority, link type, link location, link relevance, and link diversity. This will help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors' backlink profiles, as well as the gaps and opportunities in your own.

4 Find link opportunities

The fourth step is to find link opportunities based on your analysis. You can use various methods and strategies, such as competitor backlink gap analysis, content gap analysis, broken link building, resource page link building, and guest posting. Competitor backlink gap analysis includes finding domains that link to your competitors but not to you and offering them something of value. Content gap analysis involves finding topics or keywords that your competitors rank for but you don't and creating content that attracts links from those domains. Broken link building entails finding broken links on relevant websites and offering a replacement link to your content. Resource page link building consists of finding resource pages that list useful links for your niche and asking them to include your content as a resource. Lastly, guest posting means finding relevant websites that accept guest posts and pitching them your content idea with a link to your website.

5 Qualify link prospects

The fifth step is to qualify the link prospects that you have found. You can use tools such as SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Moz to check the domain authority, page authority, and link type of the link prospects. Additionally, you can manually review the link prospects to assess their relevance, quality, and trustworthiness. To prioritize and filter the link prospects that are worth pursuing, consider criteria such as the age of the domain (which indicates its stability and credibility), its niche (which indicates its relevance and authority for your topic), its traffic (which indicates its popularity and visibility), its content (which indicates its value and quality), and its design (which indicates its professionalism and usability).

6 Outreach to link prospects

The final step is to outreach to the link prospects that you have qualified. Utilizing tools such as Mailshake, Pitchbox, or Hunter, you can find the contact information and send personalized emails. Additionally, social media, forums, and comments can be used to build rapport with the link prospects. To increase your chances of getting a positive response and a link from the link prospect, it is important to be polite, respectful, relevant and valuable in your communication. Explain why your content is relevant and valuable for their website and audience in a clear and concise manner. Be sure to respond to any questions or feedback from the link prospect and follow up until you get a response.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?