Analyse a Competitor’s Backlinks

See how much link work stands between you and the top 3, and which of their links you can earn too.

1–4 hours, depending on how many competitors

Verified by Hassan Rawther ·

Hassan Rawther is the Founder, Unlearn Academy. Written by the Unlearn Academy team.

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The short answer

To analyse a competitor’s backlinks, enter their domain in Ahrefs Site Explorer and note Domain Rating and referring domains. Check the referring-domains trend for spikes, the countries links come from, and the anchor text. Then export Backlinks with “one link per domain”, and label each link by type, spam risk and whether you could get it too.

Before you start

By the end of this SOP

A sheet per competitor with their link metrics, notes on their tactics, and a list of links you can go after.

Time
1–4 hours, depending on how many competitors
You’ll need
Access to Ahrefs (or Semrush) and Google Sheets.
Who does this
The person responsible for SEO.
About this SOP: why it matters, where and when

Why it matters: Links are still a major ranking signal for competitive keywords. Knowing the gap stops you guessing.

Where: In Ahrefs and Google Sheets.

When: When you start SEO for a site, then every 3 months.

Stage 1

Record their link strength

  1. 1

    Pick 2–3 competitors of a similar size (see SOP 092 for how).

  2. 2

    Enter each domain in Ahrefs Site Explorer and note:

    • Domain Rating (DR): strength of the whole site’s links, 0–100.
    • URL Rating (UR): strength of one page’s links.
    • Referring domains: how many unique websites link to them. This matters more than total backlinks.

Stage 2

Read their link-building story

  1. 1

    Look at the referring-domains chart. Sudden jumps often mean a campaign, PR story, or tool launch that worked.

  2. 2

    Check which countries links come from. A Kerala business with most links from unrelated foreign sites may be buying links.

  3. 3

    Check the Anchors report. Natural profiles are mostly brand name, the URL, or generic words like “here”.

Stage 3

List the links you can get too

  1. 1

    Open Backlinks, set the filter to “One link per domain”, and export.

  2. 2

    In Google Sheets, label each link:

    • Type: directory, news, blog post, review, podcast, partner, forum, social.
    • Spam? Gambling, adult, link farms, pages with hundreds of outbound links.
    • Attainable? e.g. a local business directory or an industry association you can join.
    • Action: what you will do to earn a similar link.
  3. 3

    Start with the easy, relevant ones: local directories, associations, partners and suppliers, event listings.

Agency playbook

Doing this for a paying client

What a senior checks before calling the job done. Numbers are starting rules; compare them with the account’s own history.

What good looks like

  • The gap is measured in referring domains against the top-3 average. Example: top 3 average 120, client 35, so the gap is about 85.
  • Every link on the target list has a realistic way to earn it, an owner and a target month.
  • Links flagged as spam never reach the outreach list, however high their DR (Domain Rating).
  • Relevant Kerala and India sites come first: associations, local news, suppliers, colleges and event pages.

Mistakes we see on real accounts

  • Buying “DR 50 guest posts” from marketplaces. It wastes the client’s money and risks a Google manual action.
  • Reporting total backlinks to the client. One sitewide footer link can add thousands and make the numbers meaningless.
  • Ignoring nofollow links from news sites. They still bring referral visitors and brand searches, and look natural.
  • Copying links from a competitor’s private blog network. When Google discounts that network, your gains disappear too.

Agency checklist before you call it done

  • Save exports with date, tool and filters used in the client folder.
  • Run a link intersect report to find sites that link to two or more competitors but not the client.
  • Open each target site before outreach. Check it is live, indexed (a site: search on Google) and still publishing.
  • Agree a no-paid-links policy with the client in writing. Any sponsored placement must use rel=“sponsored”.
  • Track outreach in a sheet: date, contact, status, link URL once live.
  • Disavow nothing based on this analysis. Use the disavow tool only for a manual action or a clear spam attack.
  • Put the 3-month re-run in the team calendar.

Handover message to the client

Hi [Client name], we compared your links with [competitor names]. You have [number] linking websites; the top three average [number]. We found [number] links we can realistically earn. Please introduce us to any partners or associations you already work with.

Senior tip

Open the competitor’s Best by links report. Find the one asset that earned most links, like a fee calculator or salary survey, and build a better Kerala-specific version.

Practice & check

Now do it for real

Reading is not doing. Open your own account and complete this task before you move on.

Practice task (5 min)

Analyse one competitor and find five links you could realistically get this month. Write the action for each.

Prove it

1. Which number usually matters more?
2. A competitor’s anchors are mostly exact keywords. What does it suggest?

Two questions. Get both right and this SOP is done.

Common questions

What is a good Domain Rating?

There is no universal good DR. Compare against the sites ranking for your keywords. If they are DR 20–30, you need a similar link profile, not DR 90.

Can I check backlinks for free?

Ahrefs’ free backlink checker shows the top links and DR for any site. Ahrefs Webmaster Tools and Google Search Console show all links to your own site.

Done. That’s a real skill, not a certificate.

Next: SOP 012 — Get Quality Backlinks with Guest Posting →

Want to do this on real client budgets, with a mentor checking your work? That’s Level 2 at Unlearn. See the Digital Marketing track