Bottom Line Up Front
Backlinks are still one of Google's top 3 ranking factors. Instead of starting from scratch, you can analyze where your competitors are getting their links and target those exact same sites. This guide shows you the tools, the process, and the specific outreach strategies to replicate (and improve on) your competitors' backlink profiles—ethically and effectively.
Why Competitor Backlink Analysis Actually Works
Here's the reality: If a website linked to your competitor, they're already proven to link to businesses in your industry. They understand your market, they accept guest posts or resource submissions, and they're actively publishing content related to your niche.
That's infinitely better than cold outreach to random sites hoping they'll link to you.
Example: HVAC Company in Denver
The Situation: New HVAC company struggling to build authority. Competitors dominated search results with strong backlink profiles.
The Strategy: Analyzed the top 5 ranking competitors and found they all had links from:
- •Local business directories (Denver Chamber of Commerce, Angi, HomeAdvisor)
- •Home improvement blogs accepting guest posts
- •Energy efficiency resource pages
- •Local news sites featuring seasonal HVAC tips
The Execution: Contacted each site with better content, case studies, and local data.
- 47 new backlinks secured (same sites as competitors)
- Domain Rating increased from 12 to 34
- Moved from page 3 to top 5 for "HVAC repair Denver"
- Organic traffic increased 340%
The Best Tools for Finding Competitor Backlinks
You need a backlink analysis tool. Here are your options, ranked by what actually matters for service businesses:
1. Ahrefs (Recommended)
- • Largest backlink database (16+ trillion links)
- • Updates index every 15 minutes
- • Best "Link Intersect" tool in the industry
- • Clean, intuitive interface
- • Accurate Domain Rating (DR) scores
- • Expensive ($99/mo minimum)
- • Learning curve for beginners
- • Overwhelming amount of data
Best For: Serious businesses doing consistent link building. The $99/month plan is enough for most service businesses.
2. Semrush
- • All-in-one SEO platform (not just backlinks)
- • Great for keyword research too
- • "Backlink Gap" tool is excellent
- • Link building outreach tools included
- • More expensive than Ahrefs
- • Smaller backlink index
- • Interface can be cluttered
Best For: Businesses that want an all-in-one SEO suite. Good if you're already using Semrush for other SEO work.
3. Moz Link Explorer
- • User-friendly interface
- • Good spam score detection
- • Reliable Domain Authority metric
- • Decent free tier for testing
- • Smallest backlink index
- • Updates slower than competitors
- • Less data than Ahrefs/Semrush
Best For: Beginners who want simple, easy-to-understand data. Good if you're just starting with link building.
4. Google Search Console (Free)
- • Completely free
- • Shows YOUR backlinks accurately
- • Direct from Google
- • Easy to use
- • ONLY shows YOUR links, not competitors'
- • Limited competitor analysis
- • No domain metrics
- • Can't analyze quality easily
Best For: Monitoring your own backlinks and seeing who's linking to you. Not useful for competitor research.
Our Recommendation: Start with Ahrefs if you're serious. Use the $99/month Lite plan. If that's too expensive, try Moz's free tier first to see if this strategy works for your business before committing.
How to Find Your Competitors' Backlinks (Step-by-Step)
This process works with any tool, but I'll use Ahrefs for the examples since it's what we use. The concepts are the same regardless of tool.
Identify Your Real Competitors
Don't just guess. Find competitors who are actually ranking for the keywords you want.
- • Go to Site Explorer
- • Enter your domain
- • Click Organic Competitors in the sidebar
- • You'll see websites that rank for similar keywords
- • Pick the top 3-5 competitors in your area/niche
Pro Tip: Ignore huge national companies. Focus on local/regional competitors you can actually catch up to. A plumber in Boston shouldn't analyze HomeAdvisor—analyze other Boston plumbers.
Analyze Their Backlink Profile
Before stealing their links, make sure they're worth stealing.
- Total Backlinks: How many do they have? (Don't worry if it's thousands—focus on quality)
- Referring Domains: How many unique websites link to them? (This matters more than total links)
- Domain Rating (DR): Overall authority score (aim for competitors with DR 30-60)
- Link Growth: Are they actively building links? Look for steady growth
Red Flag: If all their backlinks come from one source or look spammy (tons of links from irrelevant foreign sites), skip them. You don't want to replicate bad link building.
Use Link Intersect to Find Gap Opportunities
This is the magic tool. It shows you sites that link to multiple competitors but NOT to you.
- • Go to More → Link Intersect
- • Enter your domain in the first box
- • Enter 2-3 competitor domains in the "but link to" boxes
- • Click search
- • You'll get a list of sites linking to them but not you
If a site links to 3 of your competitors, they clearly link to businesses like yours. They're pre-qualified prospects. Your outreach success rate will be 10x higher than random cold outreach.
Filter for Quality Links Only
Not all backlinks are created equal. Focus on the ones worth your time.
- Domain Rating: 20+ (skip anything lower)
- Traffic: 500+ monthly visits (shows it's a real site)
- Link Type: "Dofollow" only (these pass SEO value)
- Language: English (unless you target other languages)
- • Industry blogs and publications
- • Local news sites
- • Resource pages
- • Guest post opportunities
- • Business directories (legit ones)
- • Foreign spam sites
- • Link farms
- • Sites with tons of outbound links
- • Completely unrelated niches
- • Obvious PBNs (private blog networks)
Export and Categorize Your Target List
Don't try to tackle 500 links at once. Organize them by type.
- 1.Easy Wins: Directories, resource pages you can submit to
- 2.Guest Post Opportunities: Blogs that accept contributions
- 3.Broken Links: Sites linking to competitor pages that no longer exist
- 4.Partnerships: Industry associations, chambers of commerce
- 5.Long-Term Outreach: High-authority sites requiring relationship building
How to Actually Get Those Links (Outreach That Works)
Finding the links is easy. Getting them is hard. Here's what actually works for each link type:
Strategy 1: Resource Pages & Directories
Pages that list helpful resources, tools, or businesses in a specific industry. Think "Best HVAC Companies in Denver" or "Plumbing Resources."
Subject: Quick Addition to [Page Title]
Hi [Name],
I noticed your resource page at [URL] lists several [industry] companies in [location].
We're a [your business type] serving [location] since [year]. I think we'd be a valuable addition to your list because [specific reason related to their page].
Here's our info:
• Name: [Business Name]
• URL: [Your Site]
• Description: [One sentence about what makes you different]
Thanks for maintaining such a helpful resource!
[Your Name]
Success Rate: 40-60% if you qualify for their criteria. These are the easiest wins.
Strategy 2: Guest Posting
Writing articles for other websites in exchange for a backlink. Competitors are already doing this—you saw it in their link profile.
Subject: Guest Post Idea: [Specific Topic]
Hi [Name],
I'm [your name], owner of [business] in [location]. I've been reading [their site] and love your content on [specific topic they cover].
I noticed [competitor name] contributed an article about [topic]. I'd like to write something for your audience too.
Here are 3 topics I could cover:
1. [Specific, valuable topic]
2. [Another specific topic]
3. [Third option]
I'd aim for 1,500-2,000 words with original examples and actionable tips your readers can use immediately.
Would any of these work for [their site]?
[Your Name]
Success Rate: 15-25%. Quality matters—most sites reject generic pitches. Reference the competitor's post to show you've done your homework.
Strategy 3: Broken Link Building
Finding dead pages that competitors used to have (and still have links pointing to them), then offering your working page as a replacement.
- • In Ahrefs, go to competitor's Best by Links report
- • Filter by HTTP code: 404
- • Look for pages with 10+ backlinks
- • See what the page was about using Wayback Machine
- • Create similar (or better) content on your site
Subject: Broken link on [Page Title]
Hi [Name],
I was reading your article "[Article Title]" and noticed you link to [broken URL].
That page doesn't exist anymore (404 error). I actually wrote a similar guide that your readers might find helpful: [Your URL]
Would you consider updating the link? Either way, thanks for the great content!
[Your Name]
Success Rate: 25-35%. You're genuinely helping them fix a broken link, so they're usually receptive.
5 Mistakes That Kill Your Link Building Success
1. Using Generic Outreach Templates
"Dear Webmaster, I found your site and think my content would be great..." gets deleted instantly. Personalize every email. Reference their site specifically. Show you actually read their content. Generic = spam.
2. Not Having Good Content First
You can't get backlinks to mediocre content. Before outreach, make sure your site has pages worth linking to. Competitors with great backlinks have great content. Match or beat it.
3. Targeting Irrelevant Sites
Just because a site links to your competitor doesn't mean it makes sense for you. An HVAC company shouldn't pursue links from a dentist's blog. Stay in your niche. Relevance matters to Google.
4. Giving Up After One Email
Most people ignore the first email. Follow up 3-5 days later. Then again a week after that. 80% of successful outreach happens after the third touchpoint. Be persistent but not annoying.
5. Not Tracking Results
Use a spreadsheet or CRM to track: sites contacted, response rate, links secured, link quality. This data tells you what's working. Double down on successful tactics. Drop what doesn't work.
The Bottom Line
Competitor backlink analysis isn't cheating—it's smart strategy. Your competitors spent months or years building those relationships and finding those opportunities. Learn from their work, then do it better.
Most service businesses never do this. They write content, hope for links, and wonder why their competitors keep outranking them. Meanwhile, those competitors are systematically building authority through targeted link acquisition.
Start with Ahrefs. Pick 3 competitors. Find their links. Reach out to those same sites with better content or more value. Track your results. Repeat monthly. In 6 months, you'll have a backlink profile that rivals theirs.
Want Us to Do This For You?We Build Backlink Campaigns That Actually Work
Don't have time to analyze competitors, reach out to hundreds of sites, and track every link? We do this for service businesses every day. We find the opportunities, craft the outreach, secure the links, and report on results monthly.