Most guides about competitor backlink analysis stop at “export your competitor’s backlinks and look for opportunities”. That advice produces a 40,000 row spreadsheet and zero links. What actually moves rankings is a filtered, repeatable process that ends with a short list of domains you can contact this week.
Below is the exact 7-step workflow we run at 212Plus for client link building. It takes around 90 minutes the first time and roughly 30 minutes per week after that. It works with free tools, and gets faster with paid ones.
What Is a Competitor Backlink Analysis (and What It Is Not)
A competitor backlink analysis is the process of pulling the referring domains that point to your ranking rivals, removing links you cannot replicate or do not want, and isolating the link gap: the domains that link to one or more competitors but not to you.
It is not a vanity exercise in counting backlinks. Total backlink count is a misleading metric because a single competitor can have 12,000 links from 40 domains. What matters is:
- Referring domains, not raw links
- Link intersect: domains linking to 2 or more competitors (these are the reachable ones)
- Page-level gaps: which competitor URLs attract links, and why
- Repeatability: can you realistically earn the same link?
Step 1: Choose the Right Competitors (Not the Ones You Think)
Your business competitors and your SERP competitors are often different companies. Link building follows the SERP.
How to build your competitor list
- Pick your 5 highest commercial-intent keywords.
- Open each one in an incognito window with the right country and language settings.
- Record every domain in positions 1 to 10 that is a genuine competitor (skip Wikipedia, Reddit, YouTube, large marketplaces and news sites unless you compete with them directly).
- Count frequency. Any domain appearing in 3 or more of those SERPs goes on your core list.
Keep the list at 3 to 5 competitors. More than that and the intersect data becomes noise. Mix one aspirational leader with two or three sites at a similar authority level to yours, because their links are the ones you can actually win.
Also add the “link magnet” competitor
Add one site that ranks slightly below you but grew fast in the last 6 to 12 months. Their recent links show you what is working right now in your niche, not what worked in 2019. Free Backlink Checker: Comprehensive Backlink Analytics covers this in more depth.
Step 2: Export the Backlink Profiles
You need referring domain exports, not backlink exports. Group by domain first, and the dataset shrinks by 80 percent.
Free vs paid tools for competitor backlink analysis
| Tool | Free tier limit | Best for | Link intersect? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs Free Backlink Checker | Top 100 backlinks per domain | Largest live index, Best by Links report | Paid only |
| Semrush Backlink Checker | Limited daily reports | Authority Score, toxicity flags | Yes (Backlink Gap, paid) |
| SE Ranking Backlink Checker | Sample data per query | Cost-effective full audits | Yes (paid) |
| Seobility Backlink Checker | Generous free checks | Quick profile snapshots | No |
| Serpstat | Trial queries | Common and unique referring domains | Yes (paid) |
| Google Search Console | Unlimited (your site only) | Your own authoritative link list | No |
The free-only workaround
If you have no paid subscription, do this:
- Export the top 100 backlinks for each competitor from two different free checkers (indexes differ, so you get better coverage).
- Export your own referring domains from Google Search Console (Links report, export as CSV).
- Paste all competitor domains in one spreadsheet column, your domains in another.
- Use
=COUNTIF()to flag competitor domains that do not appear in your list.
It is manual, but 300 to 500 filtered rows from free tools is plenty of work for a quarter.
Step 3: Filter Out the Low-Value Links
This is where most competitor backlink analysis fails. Roughly 70 to 85 percent of any exported profile is unusable: scraper sites, expired directories, auto-generated aggregators, and links from domains that cannot be contacted.
The hard filters (delete these rows immediately)
| Filter | Threshold | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Domain Rating / Authority Score | Remove below DR 15 | Below this, most domains are parked, scraped or dead |
| Organic traffic | Remove below 200 monthly visits | A high DR with no traffic is usually a manipulated domain |
| Link type | Keep dofollow, keep high-traffic nofollow, drop sitewide footer links | Sitewide links are rarely replicable and rarely valuable |
| Outbound links on page | Drop pages with 100+ external links | Link farms and dumped directories |
| Language and country | Keep your target markets only | Irrelevant geo links add little and cost the same effort |
| TLD patterns | Flag .xyz, .top, .buzz, .click bulk entries | Heavily over-represented in spam networks |
| Duplicate domains | Deduplicate to one row per referring domain | You only need one contact per site |
Anchor text patterns that signal a paid or low-quality link
Sort the export by anchor text and scan for these:
- Exact-match money anchors repeated across unrelated domains (“best crm software” from a food blog)
- Casino, loan, crypto or adult anchors mixed into a mainstream profile
- Foreign-language anchors on domains outside your competitor’s market
- “Sponsored”, “partner post”, “in collaboration with” in the surrounding text (these are paid placements, useful to know but not free wins)
Keep a separate tab called Paid Placements. You are not copying them blindly, but knowing that your rival spends on 6 sponsored posts a quarter tells you something about their budget and their strategy.
Anchor patterns that signal a high-value editorial link
- Branded anchors (company name, URL)
- Naked URLs inside article body copy
- Descriptive phrases like “according to”, “a study by”, “this guide”
- Image anchors pointing at charts or original data
These are the links you can earn with content rather than cash.
Step 4: Isolate the Link Gap
Now compare the filtered competitor domains against your own referring domains. Three categories emerge:
- Common domains: link to you and to competitors. Low priority, already won.
- Multi-competitor gaps: link to 2 or more rivals but not you. This is your priority list. A site that already linked to two competitors has proven willingness to cover your category.
- Single-competitor gaps: link to one rival only. Medium priority, often relationship-driven or paid.
In a spreadsheet, a simple formula does it. With competitor domains in columns B, C and D, and your domains in column F:
=IF(COUNTIF($F:$F,A2)>0,"Have it",COUNTIF($B:$D,A2)&" competitors")
Sort descending by competitor count. In a typical audit of 4 competitors, we end up with 60 to 150 multi-competitor gap domains after filtering. That is a full quarter of outreach.
Step 5: Classify Each Gap by Link Opportunity Type
Not every gap domain needs the same approach. Open 20 to 30 of the linking pages and tag them:
| Link type | How to win it | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Listicle / “best tools” roundup | Pitch inclusion, offer free access or a unique angle | Medium |
| Resource page | Short suggestion email with a genuinely useful asset | Low |
| Statistic or data citation | Publish fresher original data, then pitch the update | Medium |
| Guest post by competitor | Pitch your own topic to the same editor | Medium |
| Broken or redirected link | Broken link building with a replacement page | Low |
| Directory or association | Register or apply, often a fee | Very low |
| Journalist or PR mention | Source requests, expert commentary, data pitches | High |
| Partner or client page | Ask your own clients and partners for the same | Low |
Directories, resource pages and partner pages are your quick wins. Book them in week one so the project shows momentum while slower editorial outreach matures.
Step 6: Score and Prioritize Your Outreach List
Give every gap domain a score out of 100 using four weighted inputs:
- Relevance (40 points): same industry 40, adjacent 25, general business or news 15
- Authority (25 points): DR 60+ scores 25, DR 40 to 59 scores 18, DR 25 to 39 scores 12, DR 15 to 24 scores 6
- Competitor overlap (20 points): 3+ competitors 20, 2 competitors 14, 1 competitor 7
- Attainability (15 points): resource or directory 15, listicle 10, editorial 7, tier-one press 3
Then split into three tiers:
| Tier | Score | Action |
|---|---|---|
| A | 70 to 100 | Personalized outreach, custom asset if needed, 3 follow-ups |
| B | 45 to 69 | Template plus one personalized line, 1 follow-up |
| C | Below 45 | Self-serve only (directories, profiles), no email time |
The page mapping rule
Every prospect must be mapped to one target URL before you write a single email. If you cannot name the page the link should point to and explain why that page deserves it, the prospect is not ready. This single rule kills most of the “we sent 200 emails and got 2 links” problem.
Step 7: Turn It Into a Weekly Routine
A one-off audit decays within two months. A weekly rhythm compounds. Here is the schedule we use:
| Day | Task | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Pull new referring domains gained by competitors in the last 7 days | 15 min |
| Monday | Apply the hard filters, add survivors to the gap sheet | 15 min |
| Tuesday | Find contacts and send 10 to 20 Tier A and B emails | 60 min |
| Thursday | Follow-ups and replies | 30 min |
| Friday | Log links won, check lost links, update the scorecard | 20 min |
| Monthly | Refresh the competitor list against current SERPs | 30 min |
Metrics worth tracking
- Gap closure rate: percentage of Tier A domains converted into links per quarter
- Net referring domains: gained minus lost, monthly
- Reply rate and link rate per outreach template
- Ranking movement on the target URLs you mapped in Step 6
Set realistic expectations: a 5 to 12 percent link rate on well-filtered, relevant prospects is good. Anything above 20 percent usually means you are only targeting easy low-value sites.
Common Mistakes That Ruin a Competitor Backlink Analysis
- Chasing the market leader only. Their links come from 10 years of brand equity and PR retainers. Analyze peers you can beat.
- Ignoring your own profile. Export your links first, otherwise you will pitch sites that already link to you.
- Treating DR as the only filter. A DR 70 domain with 300 monthly visits is worth less than a DR 30 niche blog with an engaged audience.
- Copying paid links without a budget. If 60 percent of a rival’s gap links are sponsored, your realistic opportunity pool is much smaller than the spreadsheet suggests.
- No content to link to. If your competitor earns links with an original survey and you have a product page, fix the asset problem before the outreach problem.
- Running it once a year. The gap reopens every month. Weekly beats annual.
FAQ
How many competitors should I include in a backlink gap analysis?
Three to five. Fewer than three and the intersect data is thin, more than five and you drown in single-competitor links that are usually relationship-based and hard to replicate. whitepress.com makes the same point with more data.
Can I do a competitor backlink analysis for free?
Yes, partially. Free checkers from Ahrefs, Semrush, SE Ranking, Seobility and SEO Review Tools each show a capped sample of a competitor’s backlinks. Combine two or three of them with your own Google Search Console export and you can build a usable gap list. Paid tools mainly save time and reveal the long tail.
What DR or DA should I use as a minimum threshold?
DR 15 is a practical floor for filtering out spam and dead domains, but pair it with a traffic filter of at least 200 monthly organic visits. Authority metrics are third-party estimates, not Google signals, so never use them as the sole decision criteria.
How often should I repeat the analysis?
Run a full audit once per quarter and a lightweight “new competitor links this week” check every Monday. New links are the freshest opportunities because the linking page is still being updated and the editor is still engaged with the topic. Anyone digging further should read Backlink Analysis Tool & Competitor Gap Checker.
Should I copy every link my competitor has?
No. Aim to replicate the relevant, editorially placed, traffic-generating links. Copying an entire profile including directories, paid posts and low-quality networks will just make your profile look like theirs without the underlying brand signals.
What is the difference between link intersect and link gap?
Link intersect shows domains linking to several competitors at once. Link gap filters that set down to the domains that do not yet link to you. In practice, the gap list is the actionable output of the intersect report.
Next Step
Start small. Pick three SERP competitors, export their referring domains, apply the DR 15 and 200-visit filters, and pull out every domain linking to at least two of them. You will have your first prioritized list in under two hours, and a weekly routine that keeps it alive after that.
If you would rather have the audit, the filtered prospect list and the outreach handled for you, talk to the 212Plus team about a competitor backlink analysis for your site.
