How to Audit Backlinks to Improve SEO: 5 Easy Steps

High-quality external links leading to the site is an effective method of site promotion in Google and Bing search engines. The totality of all backlinks is called a “link profile”. The larger it is, the more authoritative your resource looks in the eyes of PS. But quantity does not always mean quality. External links from low quality domains can harm your resource. Let’s take a look at a few simple steps to audit, optimize, and improve backlinks.

Step 1. Analysis of external links to the site

First you need to analyze the external links of the site. To do this, it will be enough to use the free services of Google Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools.

Google Search Console

In the Google Search Console report, you can find information about all relevant external links and domains that link to your resource. Data can be downloaded for further work.

Of the shortcomings, it is worth noting the lack of information on the dynamics of external links for the period. The service displays only the current state.

Bing Webmaster Tools

The Bing Webmaster feature allows you to get information about anchors, domains, and referring pages.

In addition to exporting, you can also compare external link indicators with other sites.

Site Analysis

All data on external links from services can be downloaded and additional checks of such parameters as:

• TRUST
• SPAM
• Quality
• Presence of sanctions on site

This data helped to more holistically evaluate the quality of each domain and the link profile as a whole. To do this, you can use the CheckTrust service.

Step 2: Reject links from low quality domains

After analyzing all external links and domains, it is necessary to identify sites with the worst performance. Backlinks from such sites harm the site. Such links must be rejected. To do this, you need to generate a junk list in TXT format by following the instructions on the page https://support.google.com/ webmasters/answer/2648487?hl=en and submit it for disapproval in the Google Search Console Disclaimer tool.

Bing Webmaster Tools has a similar functionality that allows you to disavow links and find information about already disavowed links.

Step 3. Selection of competitors

Data on the site’s backlinks is not enough to understand their effectiveness for promotion. It is necessary to study the competitors in the niche and their link profile data.

In order to determine the best competitors, you can use the results of search engines for priority search queries. Most site owners think they know their competitors, but it often turns out that they don’t.

To accurately determine the most suitable competitors, it is better to use services that analyze domains in many ways and can more accurately identify relevant competitors. One such service is Serpstat.

Step 4. Comparison of the link profile of competitors and the site

After identifying the most relevant competitors, it is necessary to conduct a detailed analysis of their link mass. Key indicators include:

• Dynamics of referring pages and donor domains;
• The number of backlinks from competitors in relation to the site;
• Types of donor domains;
• Anchors.

To study the backlinks of third-party sites, free services will not be enough. For such an analysis, you can use the Ahrefs service. Its functionality allows you to get a large amount of necessary data about competitors.

Step 5. Strategy Development

After collecting all the necessary data, it is necessary to develop a strategy for improving and building a link mass, taking into account the subject of the niche in which the site is being promoted. When developing it, it is necessary to take into account not only the number and quality of links from competitors, but also a number of important parameters. For example:

Types of donor domain sites;

Monthly increase;

The ratio of anchors to non-anchor links;

Number of commercial anchors.

A comprehensive analysis of competitors will give you an understanding of your competitors’ promotion strategy, an idea of ​​the actual position of the site at the current moment, and will also allow you to avoid mistakes when further improving backlinks.

To summarize

Constant audit of backlinks is the key to effective SEO promotion. Ensuring a constant increase in the link profile, using a developed strategy based on competitor data, is an opportunity to take first place in search results. For a quality audit, there are a large number of effective tools that can be used not only by specialists, but also by site owners.

Pavlo Vlasiuk

CMO

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