A backlink spread investigation is the process of uncovering large links your competitors person that you don’t. It involves evaluating your competitors’ prime of backlinks and deciding if akin links could besides amended your site’s SEO. 

This process helps you:

• Find prime links quickly
• Improve your domain’s authority
• Close gaps against competitors

In this guide, you’ll larn however to usage our backlink spread investigation template to find relevant, high-quality websites that are worthy reaching out to.

1. Identify competitors that are outperforming you 

Make a transcript of the backlink spread investigation template. Then hunt your website successful Ahrefs Site Explorer and navigate to Organic Competitors:

Look astatine the Domain Rating (DR) file to place competitors that person a higher authorization than you and are successful a akin ballpark to the size of the tract you have.

Keep this database of competitors handy, arsenic you’ll request it for the next step.

2. Find domains linking to your competitors who aren’t linking to you 

Open Ahrefs’ Competitive Analysis instrumentality and acceptable it to “referring domains”

Where it says “the people doesn’t fertile for”, adhd your website. Beneath that, adhd your database of competitors:

Then click “show nexus opportunities” to spot a database of websites your competitors fertile for, but you don’t.

3. Refine the information to region low-quality links 

You tin easy region astir low-quality links by applying a fewer filters.

Start by looking astatine domains that nexus to each competitors you’ve entered. If a tract links to each your competitors and not to you, it’s apt worthwhile for you to get a nexus from it. These volition beryllium your high-priority nexus targets.

You could besides cheque domains that nexus to astatine slightest 2 competitors afterward. These volition beryllium your medium-priority nexus targets.

Next, you tin look astatine lone “dofollow” domains:

If your database of nexus targets is inactive alternatively long, effort mounting the Domain Rating (DR) filter to a minimum of 50:

Or the domain postulation filter to a minimum of 1,000:

You tin set these values up oregon down depending connected the results you get successful the report.

4. Analyze each domain’s relevance 

Even with these filters applied, determination volition ever beryllium links your competitors get that are not applicable to your marque oregon industry.

To region them, commencement by assessing the archetypal domain successful the list.

Open the website to spot what it’s about. If it is:

• Not astir your industry
• Not a concern directory
• Not a high-quality tract that tin physique your brand

… bash not adhd it to your prospecting list. Move connected to the adjacent domain and repetition this appraisal process.

5. Add applicable domains to the Link Gap Analysis Template 

For each website you place that’s relevant, and you tin apt get a nexus from it, adhd it to your transcript of the link spread template.

Focus connected filling retired the columns for:

• Page / Site: Add the domain here.
• Domain Rating (DR): Add the domain’s authorization score.
• Domain Traffic: Add the postulation crossed the full website.

You’ll find the information successful these columns successful Ahrefs:

You tin besides capable retired wide columns like:

• Status: Set it arsenic “To Outreach”.
• Priority:
  • High = each competitors person links from this domain
  • Medium = much than 2 competitors person links from this domain.
  • Low = lone 1 rival has links from this domain.
• Link Target: Add the leafage connected your website you privation to get a nexus to. If you’re unsure of a circumstantial page, conscionable adhd your homepage.

Your squad tin capable retired the remaining columns during the prospecting and outreach phases.

For now, proceed going done the database of domains, adding lone the applicable ones to your list.

6. Repeat the process to find nonstop referring pages linking to competitors 

Some nexus gathering strategies enactment amended by adding a backlink to an existing station alternatively of creating caller contented that contains a link.

In this case, erstwhile you interaction editors and website owners, you indispensable supply the nonstop leafage connected which you privation to petition a link.

To find specified pages, power the Link Intersect study to “referring pages” mode:

Then, repetition steps 3 to 5, adding each applicable leafage to the nexus spread investigation template.

Final thoughts

This process is implicit erstwhile you person examined each the domains and idiosyncratic pages that nexus to 2 oregon much competitors but not to your website.

Once you’ve added each the applicable ones to the spreadsheet, this task is complete.

You’ll past request to nonstop the spreadsheet to your client, manager, oregon whoever is successful complaint of nexus prospecting truthful they tin implicit the remaining columns successful the spreadsheet and hole it for outreach.

Got a peculiar nexus spread investigation process you’d emotion to share? We’re gathering a selling SOP library—connect with maine on LinkedIn and person your processes included!