The Ultimate Guide To Backlink Analysis

Link building isn’t optional. Google has repeated time and time again that links matter.

But how do you know which backlinks to go after? You start by understanding what you already have. That’s where backlink analysis comes in.

This article will discuss why a backlink analysis is important, how to perform one, and what you should do after the analysis.

What Is a Backlink Analysis?

A backlink analysis audits all the links pointing to your site. It tells you about:

The quality of those links
What pages are the links pointing to
How those links impact your site overall
Ways to improve your backlink profile.

By analyzing your backlinks, you can better understand their performance, relevance, quality, and contextual significance. This is important because the backlinks pointing to your site can have a large impact on your rankings.

Why is a Backlink Analysis Important for Link Building?

Not all links are created equal. The right backlinks can boost rankings, build authority, and bring qualified traffic.

It’s not just about having lots of links; it’s more important to have links from well-respected websites that show you’re an expert in your area.

Before you start working on getting new links, it’s a good idea to check how your current links are doing. This process helps you see what’s working well, what needs improvement, and where you might find new opportunities. For example, you can determine:

What websites link to your competitor, and discover ways to create better content than them;
How useful people find your content by analyzing the number of sites that link to it;
The link equity of your portfolio;
Any broken or spammy backlinks.

When to Perform a Backlink Analysis

Like other SEO aspects, you should conduct an analysis regularly to ensure everything works. However, some extenuating circumstances call for a backlink analysis.

These include:

After a traffic or rankings drop;
When content isn’t performing like it should;
Following a Google algorithm update;
Before kicking off a new link building campaign;
After a manual penalty;
Anytime you want to make data-backed SEO decisions.

Conducting a regular backlink analysis will help ensure nothing takes you by surprise.

Tools for Backlink Analysis

Wading through thousands of backlinks manually is daunting. Thankfully, there are solid tools to help you dig in:

Ahrefs: Industry favorite. Great for deep dives and competitive spying.
Semrush: Robust all-in-one suite. Useful if you like having lots of features in one place.
Moz: Clean and beginner-friendly. Especially good for tracking domain authority and simple audits.
Google Search Console: It’s free, it’s from Google, and it tells you what Google sees.

All of these tools can analyze links in some capacity. It’s important to explore each tool to understand which is right for your needs. You may even consider using multiple tools to ensure you’re extracting as much information as possible.

How to Conduct a Backlink Analysis

After you’ve chosen your tool, it’s time to conduct your backlink analysis. Every report should include:

Referring domains
Total number of links from each domain
Quality metrics
Anchor text
Linking page
Index and URL status

By gathering the right data on your links, you can gain valuable insights. For our examples in the following sections, we’ll use Ahrefs as a tool.

Step 1: Identify Your Backlinks

Then, go to the side menu and click on “Backlinks.”

Here you can look at:

Referring domains
Anchor Text
Domain rating
DoFollow versus NoFollow links

Step 2: Analyze Unique Domains

Your SEO tool will either tell you how many unique domains are linking to your site, or you can manually look at each backlink to know where it’s linking from.

Segmenting your backlinks by domain helps you understand how many of your backlinks are from different websites. A backlink profile with a variety of domains looks natural to Google and can reach a broader audience. Thousands of backlinks from one site may look unnatural — a red flag for search engines. So, discovering which sites are already linking to yours can help refine your link building strategy and uncover other link opportunities.

Here’s how to segment by domains in Ahrefs

And here’s what your screen should look like:

Step 3: Inspect Link Quality

The next component you’ll want to analyze is link quality. Search engines look for page-to-page relevance of links. Third-party tools look at these link metrics when determining a site’s ranking, including:

It’s important to note that you should take these metrics with a grain of salt, as they never tell the whole story. The two most important aspects of a high-quality link are relevancy and human value.

What’s nice about Ahrefs is that you can filter your referring domains by Dofollow, Nofollow, best links, DR, and traffic. So no matter what KPI you’re tracking, you can filter by it. Use filters to zero in on the links that actually matter:

Set the link type to “DoFollow”
Sort by DR to see high-authority backlinks
Filter by Language or Traffic to get more relevant insights

Step 4: Assess Anchor Text

Anchor text shows you how sites are linking to yours. It serves as another signal of relevance for search engines.

In Ahrefs, navigate to the anchor text using the left-side menu:

And here’s what that screen looks like:

When looking at anchor text, keep these best practices in mind:

Use partial match anchor text: This is an effective way to indicate context and target long-tail keywords.
Set expectations for the reader: Good anchor text should tell the reader what the content is about without clicking on it.
Diversify the anchor text: Use different keywords to target similar pages.
Change what you can, accept what you can’t: You can ask others to change the anchor text they use to link to your site, but most times, you have to accept what you’re given.

Step 5: Spot Spammy or Toxic Links

Ahrefs will show you low-DR or suspicious-looking links. A toxic backlink is a link from another site that can harm your SEO and affect your website's rankings. These links are considered spammy or manipulative. Additionally, Google reports that,

"Any links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site's ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google's Webmaster Guidelines. This includes any behavior that manipulates links to your site or outgoing links from your site."

If something looks sketchy or off-topic (like random foreign gambling sites), take note. You may want to disavow them using Google Search Console later. But don’t panic—this is advanced stuff and rarely needed because Google’s spam filters have become so advanced that they typically just ignore these types of links.

Step 6: Analyze What Content is Earning Links

Understanding which content earns the most links tells you what resonates with your target audience and can help direct your content strategy.

Go to “Best by links” to see which pages on your site are attracting the most backlinks.

You should be able to see the target page, the number of referring domains, how many links to the page, and what types of links are linking to the page (DoFollow, NoFollow, new, old, etc.)

This tells you what’s working, so you can:

Replicate it
Update it
Promote it more

Step 7: Compare Competitors

Now that you have a clear understanding of your website's performance, it's important to compare it with your competitors.

In Ahrefs, go to the top navigation bar and click “All tools.” Click on “Competitve Analysis.” You should come to this page:

Now you can find who is linking to similar pages from your competitors. Select “referring pages,” then:

Enter your page in the top section
Enter your competitors’ pages in the bottom section
Set all URLs to Exact URL mode.
Select “Show link opportunities.”

From there, you can filter the links to show from all competitors, links with a certain DA, DoFollow versus NoFollow, and many more. This tool is a great asset for outreach.

As you complete your competitor analysis, ask yourself:

Where are they getting their best links?
What types of content are earning those links?
Can you create something better and reach out to those same sites?

After the Backlink Analysis

So, now you’ve got a mountain of data. What next?

Here’s what we recommend:

Monitor regularly – Your backlink profile is a living thing.
Fix what you can – Broken links, bad anchors, low-value links.
Build smarter – Focus on content that attracts quality links naturally.
Outreach with purpose – Pitch to sites already linking to similar content.
Disavow sparingly – Only if truly necessary.

A proper backlink analysis gives you the insight to:

Spot weaknesses
Find new link opportunities
Create a sustainable, strategic link building plan

And if you're serious about SEO, you can't afford to skip it.

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