What is a SEO backlink analysis and how you can identify bad links against good links

What Is A Backlink Analysis?

Several factors play a crucial role when it comes to ranking high on search engine results. One of them is backlinks or links from other websites. These links pointing to your site can have either a positive or negative impact. It is where backlink analysis comes into play. In this article, we will understand what backlink analysis is and why it is essential for your website. Our expert local SEO agency in Manchester will outline what a backlink analysis is and how important it is.

What Is Backlink Analysis?

Backlinks, also called incoming links or inbound links, are links created when you link your website to other sites. Those from high authority and reliable sites are significantly valuable for your website, while those from spammy websites are detrimental to your site’s reputation. In other words, search engines will rank your website based on these links.

As a result, building external links for your website becomes critical for SEO. However, it is dangerous to create external links for your website without proper monitoring.

It is where backlink analysis comes in handy, for it will provide you with all this information. It will give you a better understanding of those links that search engines take into consideration while performing a search. Additionally, it will help you identify links from unreliable sites, enhancing your website’s reputation for search engines.

Good And Bad Backlinks

A reliable backlink that can enhance your SEO rankings has the following attributes:

  • Good backlinks come from a related site.
  • It is from a high-quality website.
  • A secure backlink comes from sites that have high domain authority and Google trust.

An unwanted backlink comes with the following characteristics:

  • You should note that bad links’ primary purpose is to impact search engine rankings.
  • It draws from a site with low domain authority and Google trust.
  • Low-quality websites.
  • Websites with on original content feature bad backlinks.

Why Should You Perform A Backlink Analysis?

There are many beneficial reasons why you should perform a backlink analysis. One of them relates to the fact that search engines consider links from reputable external sources as your website’s authority. By conducting a backlink analysis, you will have a clear understanding of these links that search engines take into consideration, thereby giving your site the ability to rank high on the search result page.

Another reason is that it will help you to identify weak links. You should note that links from spammy sites can considerably impact your SEO rankings.

Nevertheless, you should not only conduct a backlink analysis on your website alone. It is also crucial to perform a backlink analysis of your competitors’ sites. It will improve your link building strategy and help you identify any potential links your website might be missing.

How To Get More Backlinks

Typically, there are three ways to secure more backlinks for your website, which are as follow:

Creating Backlinks

It refers to the process of adding links to your website from another website manually. Examples include replying to a forum thread or writing blog comments.

Earning Backlinks

This way of securing more backlinks is organic. It happens when others find your website content through search engines and links to your page. If you want to increase the chance of earning more backlinks, you should create engaging and interesting content that others find useful.

Building Backlinks

Another way of securing more backlinks for your website is by reaching out to other website webmasters, editors, and owners. You can ask them to link your site. However, you should have a logical value proposition for this method to be successful. Following are some link building tactics:

  • Broken blogging: Finding dead links, recreating the content, and suggesting your link as the replacement.
  • Skyscraper technique: Finding popular content and creating something better.
  • Guest blogging: It is when you write and publish blog posts for another website.
  • Unlinked mentions: Finding unlinked mentions of your website.

Why Is A Backlink Analysis Important?

A backlink is significantly valuable, especially for SEO. Having many relevant links from other sites is an indicator that your website is reputable. It will further allow search engines to conclude that your site is worth showing on the search engine result page. As such, conducting a backlink analysis has a positive effect on search engine visibility. Following are some essential importance of backlink analysis:

Allow you to remove unwanted links

One of the essential advantages of backlink analysis is that it allows you to remove unwanted links, which can significantly reduce your SEO rankings. Depending on which tools you use, you can identify weak links and remove them.

Identify great websites

You can identify not only unwanted links but also powerful websites. These are the sites that enhance search engine rankings. Once you determine them, you should consider getting more links from these authoritative sites by suggesting ideas, writing content, or just requesting them.

Help you find out websites that promote your competitors

A backlink analysis does not necessarily have to be for your website alone. You can also carry out backlink analysis on your competitors to find out their reliable link sources.

How To Conduct A Backlink Analysis

The following points are some necessary steps to conduct backlink analysis:

Select a site you want to analyse

The first step is to choose a site that you wish to analyze. No doubt, your website should be your main priority, but you can also carry out on other sites such as your competitors.

Choose a backlink analysis tool

Once you have chosen a website for conducting backlink analysis, you should select a backlink analysis tool. It is a matter of personal preference. Nevertheless, some of the popular backlink analysis tools include SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Moz Open Site Explorer, among many others.

Start collecting information by entering each domain

All you have to do now is to collect information by typing each domain into your selected tool. It is worth noting that you would not be able to make an informed decision without keeping a proper track when conducting a backlink analysis. We recommend using a Google sheet or excel spreadsheet when sifting through a lot of data. 

Conclusion

To sum up, backlink analysis is crucial to ensure higher rankings in search engines. Having many reliable links increases your website’s authority, thereby allowing you to rank high on the search result page. It will also give you a better understanding of your website and your competitors’ sites when you carry out a proper backlink analysis.

However, you should note that not all links are from reliable sources. Unwanted links can significantly reduce your website’s credibility, even if you have high-quality content. But the good news is you can identify and remove unwanted links by conducting a backlink analysis.