{"id":1962,"date":"2022-12-15T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-15T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/15\/how-to-perform-a-competitor-link-analysis-in-3-steps\/"},"modified":"2022-12-15T17:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-12-15T17:00:00","slug":"how-to-perform-a-competitor-link-analysis-in-3-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/how-to-perform-a-competitor-link-analysis-in-3-steps\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Perform a Competitor Link Analysis in 3 Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>A competitor link analysis is an assessment of the link profiles of major competitors where you look at their link building strategies to gain insights. Implementing some of the same strategies in your own link building can lead to higher rankings in search engines and increased business outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>Performing this kind of analysis allows you to find sites that commonly link to websites similar to yours. If you look at well-ranking competitors and they have a lot of the same links, those links may be the ones helping them to\u00a0rank.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s take a look at how to perform a basic audit. Later, I\u2019ll show you how to scale this process to get even more insights using bigger data.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<p><h2>How to perform a competitor link analysis in three\u00a0steps<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>This simple process can uncover a lot of link opportunities by looking at the common links that your immediate competitors already have.<\/p>\n<h3>1. Identify competitors<\/h3>\n<p>You may already know who your competitors are and can use that list later in the process. If you need some help, check out the <strong>Organic competitors <\/strong>report in Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Site Explorer<\/a> to find a list of sites ranking for the same things you\u00a0are.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/01-competing-domains.png\" alt=\"Organic competitors report\" class=\"wp-image-150167\" width=\"592\" height=\"358\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/01-competing-domains.png 1184w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/01-competing-domains-680x411.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/01-competing-domains-768x464.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 592px) 100vw, 592px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/01-competing-domains.png\" alt=\"Organic competitors report\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-150167\" width=\"592\" height=\"358\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/01-competing-domains.png 1184w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/01-competing-domains-680x411.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/01-competing-domains-768x464.png 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 592px) 100vw, 592px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>If you don\u2019t have a website yet, then you can search for a few main terms and you may be able to tell who the competitors will be. Another way of doing this is to simply add a few terms to Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\">Keywords Explorer<\/a> and go to the <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/academy\/how-to-use-ahrefs\/keywords-explorer\/traffic-share-domains#:~:text=This%20report%20shows%20the%20domains,on%20up%20to%2010%2C000%20keywords.\"><strong>Traffic share by domains<\/strong> report<\/a>, which will show you which sites are getting the most traffic for those\u00a0terms.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1768\" height=\"754\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/02-traffic-share.png\" alt=\"Traffic share by domains report\" class=\"wp-image-150173\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/02-traffic-share.png 1768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/02-traffic-share-680x290.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/02-traffic-share-768x328.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/02-traffic-share-1536x655.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1768px) 100vw, 1768px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1768\" height=\"754\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/02-traffic-share.png\" alt=\"Traffic share by domains report\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-150173\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/02-traffic-share.png 1768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/02-traffic-share-680x290.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/02-traffic-share-768x328.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/02-traffic-share-1536x655.png 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1768px) 100vw, 1768px\"\/><\/figure>\n<h3>2. Find common links\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>Take your list of competitors and enter them in the <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/link-intersect\"><strong>Link Intersect<\/strong> report<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Site Explorer<\/a>. This is going to give you a list of all the referring domains that your competitors have and show how many different competitors have links from those\u00a0sites.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1529\" height=\"684\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/3-link-intersect.png\" alt=\"link intersect report\" class=\"wp-image-149927\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/3-link-intersect.png 1529w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/3-link-intersect-680x304.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/3-link-intersect-768x344.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1529px) 100vw, 1529px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1529\" height=\"684\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/3-link-intersect.png\" alt=\"link intersect report\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-149927\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/3-link-intersect.png 1529w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/3-link-intersect-680x304.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/3-link-intersect-768x344.png 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1529px) 100vw, 1529px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>You can click the numbers under each domain to see the kind of links they have from each website.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1529\" height=\"955\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/4-individual-links.png\" alt=\"click to see the individual links\" class=\"wp-image-149929\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/4-individual-links.png 1529w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/4-individual-links-680x425.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/4-individual-links-768x480.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1529px) 100vw, 1529px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1529\" height=\"955\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/4-individual-links.png\" alt=\"click to see the individual links\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-149929\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/4-individual-links.png 1529w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/4-individual-links-680x425.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/4-individual-links-768x480.png 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1529px) 100vw, 1529px\"\/><\/figure>\n<h3>3. Identifying competitor strategies<\/h3>\n<p>There are a couple of ways to use this data. You can look at the common links your competitors have that you\u2019re missing and work your way through those, or you can look for patterns in the data to see the type of sites where competitors are getting links. You may see things like niche sites, local listings, or other local websites.<\/p>\n<p>Congratulations, you\u2019ve done a basic competitor link analysis!\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If you have a little more time, you can scale the link intersect process to gather even more data and opportunities. Keep reading to find out\u00a0how.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommendation\">\n<p>bonus tip: check your competitors\u2019 most linked content<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommendation-content\">\n<p>If you look at the <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/academy\/how-to-use-ahrefs\/site-explorer\/best-by-links\"><strong>Best by links<\/strong> report<\/a> for some of your competitors in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Site Explorer<\/a>, you may see some interesting content driving links to competitors that you otherwise may not\u00a0find.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1573\" height=\"905\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/5-best-by-links.png\" alt=\"best by links report\" class=\"wp-image-149930\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/5-best-by-links.png 1573w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/5-best-by-links-680x391.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/5-best-by-links-768x442.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/5-best-by-links-1536x884.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1573px) 100vw, 1573px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1573\" height=\"905\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/5-best-by-links.png\" alt=\"best by links report\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-149930\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/5-best-by-links.png 1573w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/5-best-by-links-680x391.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/5-best-by-links-768x442.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/5-best-by-links-1536x884.png 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1573px) 100vw, 1573px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>I commonly see things like tools, studies, or even quotes that drive a lot of links to individual competitors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A lot of these links may be unique to a particular competitor, and you may miss them when looking at the overlap of competitor links.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If you see a competitor successfully gaining links this way, you may be able to create similar tools and content to gain more links for your own\u00a0site.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<p><h2>Scaled link intersect process<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>With a scaled process, you\u2019re working with more data that can lead to additional insights and opportunities. You\u2019ll spend more time up front going through this process, but you may be able to reuse the opportunities you find for other clients. I would expect it to take two to four hours for most people to follow this process.<\/p>\n<p>First, we\u2019ll look at your competitors\u2019 links to find your niche-specific links. And later, we\u2019ll look at other sites in your city to find local link opportunities.<\/p>\n<h3>Niche links<\/h3>\n<p>The easier process that we covered earlier just looks at direct competitors. If you have more than 10 direct competitors, you can still use a similar process to what I\u2019m about to show to gain more insights.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Just skip the section below and go directly to where you\u2019re exporting referring domains of competitors. You can use your own list or get a larger list from the <strong>Competing Domains <\/strong>report in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Site Explorer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h4>Local only<\/h4>\n<p>This process is a great fit for companies focused on <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/local-seo\/\">local SEO<\/a>, but it requires a little more\u00a0work.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>By local SEO, I mean companies that mostly compete in one area like dentist offices, law firms, plumbing companies, etc. If you look at sites competing in other markets that may be stronger or more competitive than your own, you\u2019ll find a lot of additional opportunities that no one in your market has taken advantage of.<\/p>\n<p>First, create a copy of this <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/1_wSRfQyy2DTucqAfR075hs3U_ZB1bKV4VLbYhXqzYe0\/copy\">Google sheet with the top 50 U.S. cities<\/a>. Replace \u201cservice\u201d with the name of your niche and copy the value down to create your keyword list.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"911\" height=\"557\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/6-copy-service.gif\" alt=\"copy service down\" class=\"wp-image-149931\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"911\" height=\"557\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/6-copy-service.gif\" alt=\"copy service down\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-149931\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>If you\u2019re in a different country, you can create a similar sheet with popular cities in your country.<\/p>\n<p>Copy the resulting list of terms from column C and paste them into <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\">Keywords Explorer<\/a>, then click the search button.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1260\" height=\"1682\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/7-keywords-explorer-search.png\" alt=\"copy the keywords into keywords explorer\" class=\"wp-image-149932\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/7-keywords-explorer-search.png 1260w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/7-keywords-explorer-search-318x425.png 318w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/7-keywords-explorer-search-768x1025.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/7-keywords-explorer-search-1151x1536.png 1151w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1260px) 100vw, 1260px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1260\" height=\"1682\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/7-keywords-explorer-search.png\" alt=\"copy the keywords into keywords explorer\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-149932\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/7-keywords-explorer-search.png 1260w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/7-keywords-explorer-search-318x425.png 318w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/7-keywords-explorer-search-768x1025.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/7-keywords-explorer-search-1151x1536.png 1151w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1260px) 100vw, 1260px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>If you click the export option, you\u2019ll see another menu with an option to include the <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/serps\/\">SERPs<\/a> in the export. This will include the sites in the top\u00a010.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1478\" height=\"826\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/8-export-with-serps.gif\" alt=\"export with SERPs\" class=\"wp-image-149934\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1478\" height=\"826\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/8-export-with-serps.gif\" alt=\"export with SERPs\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-149934\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>With the list of sites, delete anything that doesn\u2019t look like a niche\u00a0site.<\/p>\n<p>You can set your own filters to make this easier. But as a general way to clean the data, I\u2019d recommend:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Insert &gt;\u00a0Table<\/li>\n<li>Filter &gt; DR less than 50. Most local sites won\u2019t have a DR that high, whereas directories and aggregators like yellowpages.com will. This is trying to get rid of all the directory\/roundup\/best-of-type sites.<\/li>\n<li>Filter Type &gt; Organic<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Then manually delete anything that seems out of place. What you\u2019ll be left with is the top sites in your niche from different cities.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"543\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/9-top-niche-sites.png\" alt=\"top niche sites\" class=\"wp-image-149936\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/9-top-niche-sites.png 720w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/9-top-niche-sites-564x425.png 564w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"543\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/9-top-niche-sites.png\" alt=\"top niche sites\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-149936\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/9-top-niche-sites.png 720w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/9-top-niche-sites-564x425.png 564w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\"\/><\/figure>\n<h4>All companies<\/h4>\n<p>The most time-consuming process is what\u2019s next. For each site, you\u2019ll need to export its referring domains using the <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/academy\/how-to-use-ahrefs\/site-explorer\/referring-domains\"><strong>Referring domains<\/strong> report<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Site Explorer<\/a>. I\u2019d recommend saving them to a new folder to make the next step easier.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1602\" height=\"593\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/10-export-referring-domains.png\" alt=\"export referring domains\" class=\"wp-image-149938\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/10-export-referring-domains.png 1602w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/10-export-referring-domains-680x252.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/10-export-referring-domains-768x284.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/10-export-referring-domains-1536x569.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1602px) 100vw, 1602px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1602\" height=\"593\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/10-export-referring-domains.png\" alt=\"export referring domains\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-149938\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/10-export-referring-domains.png 1602w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/10-export-referring-domains-680x252.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/10-export-referring-domains-768x284.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/10-export-referring-domains-1536x569.png 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1602px) 100vw, 1602px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Or if you have an enterprise plan that has <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.ahrefs.com\/docs\/api\">API<\/a> access and you want to do this quickly, you can iterate through the websites. We provide the needed request if you click the \u201c  API\u201d button.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1518\" height=\"806\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/11-api-referring-domains.png\" alt=\"api request for referring domains\" class=\"wp-image-149939\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/11-api-referring-domains.png 1518w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/11-api-referring-domains-680x361.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/11-api-referring-domains-768x408.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1518px) 100vw, 1518px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1518\" height=\"806\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/11-api-referring-domains.png\" alt=\"api request for referring domains\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-149939\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/11-api-referring-domains.png 1518w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/11-api-referring-domains-680x361.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/11-api-referring-domains-768x408.png 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1518px) 100vw, 1518px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Now we need to combine all the files into one. I\u2019ll show you how to do this in Windows and on MacOS. But if it\u2019s easier for you, then you may want to try one of the online tool options that can combine CSV\u00a0files.<\/p>\n<p>I usually do this with Windows Command Prompt. Here\u2019s the process:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Save the files to a new folder<\/li>\n<li>Get the path either by using shift+right-click on the folder and \u201cCopy as path,\u201d or copy it from the address bar when viewing the contents of the folder<\/li>\n<li>Open Command Prompt, which you can find by searching \u201ccmd\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Type \u201ccd,\u201d press \u201cSpace,\u201d right-click and paste, then press \u201cEnter\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Type \u201ccopy *.csv whatever-name.csv\u201d and press \u201cEnter\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>For MacOS, you\u2019ll use Terminal instead of Command Prompt, and the command to combine them is \u201ccat *.csv &gt; whatever-name.csv\u201d for step #5. But otherwise, the instructions should be the\u00a0same.<\/p>\n<p>Open the new combined file. We\u2019ll need to get a count of how many times each of the referring domains appears in the file. Here\u2019s how to do\u00a0that:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Insert &gt;\u00a0Table<\/li>\n<li>Insert Column next to Referring Domain column and name it\u00a0Count<\/li>\n<li>In the Count Column, add the formula <code>=COUNTIF(B:B,[@[Referring Domain]])<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"492\" height=\"367\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/12-count-referring-domains.png\" alt=\"count of referring domains\" class=\"wp-image-149941\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"492\" height=\"367\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/12-count-referring-domains.png\" alt=\"count of referring domains\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-149941\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Copy the numbers in the Count column and paste in the same place as values. This makes it so the numbers aren\u2019t lost when we remove duplicates. To remove duplicates:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Data &gt; Remove Duplicates based on the Referring Domain<\/li>\n<li>Data &gt; Sort by Count &gt; Largest to Smallest<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This leaves you with the top referring sites in your niche. It should look something like\u00a0this:\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"416\" height=\"441\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/13-top-referring-sites.png\" alt=\"top referring sites\" class=\"wp-image-149942\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/13-top-referring-sites.png 416w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/13-top-referring-sites-401x425.png 401w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 416px) 100vw, 416px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"416\" height=\"441\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/13-top-referring-sites.png\" alt=\"top referring sites\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-149942\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/13-top-referring-sites.png 416w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/13-top-referring-sites-401x425.png 401w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 416px) 100vw, 416px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>You\u2019ll want to categorize them in ways that make sense to you. I\u2019d highly recommend pulling out the niche-specific domains. Sometimes, you\u2019ll see various organizations, trade shows, suppliers, vendors, niche-specific directories, etc.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"408\" height=\"489\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/14-niche-specific-links.png\" alt=\"niche specific links for accountants\" class=\"wp-image-149943\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/14-niche-specific-links.png 408w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/14-niche-specific-links-355x425.png 355w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 408px) 100vw, 408px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"408\" height=\"489\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/14-niche-specific-links.png\" alt=\"niche specific links for accountants\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-149943\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/14-niche-specific-links.png 408w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/14-niche-specific-links-355x425.png 355w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 408px) 100vw, 408px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Take that list and look at how they\u2019re linking to these other sites. There are a number of ways to do this like checking the <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/academy\/how-to-use-ahrefs\/site-explorer\/linked-domains\"><strong>Linked Domains<\/strong> report<\/a> for these sites to see how they link out to other\u00a0sites.<\/p>\n<p>You can even repeat this process with other similar niches where you may find additional opportunities that no one in your niche has taken advantage of.<\/p>\n<p>Next, let\u2019s look at how you can use a similar process to find local link opportunities.<\/p>\n<h3>Local links<\/h3>\n<p>If we look outside our niche to other sites in the same city, the overlap of their links can provide a lot of opportunities for <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/local-link-building\/\">local link building<\/a>. Local websites tend to talk about and link to other local websites. If you\u2019re an agency that has a lot of local SEO clients in the same area, you\u2019ll definitely want to go through this process.<\/p>\n<p>Make a copy of this <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/1YtCs0d-B65UZq4pXa41crFMYThAJgT2_A5RbyEhzw7I\/copy\">Google sheet with some of the most popular niches for local businesses<\/a>. Simply add the name of your city and copy the value down to create your keyword list.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"810\" height=\"586\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/15-copy-city-down.gif\" alt=\"copy the city value down\" class=\"wp-image-149945\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"810\" height=\"586\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/15-copy-city-down.gif\" alt=\"copy the city value down\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-149945\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>The rest of the steps are the same as the niche example above where you copy the terms into <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\">Keywords Explorer<\/a>, export the results with the SERPs, and then pull the referring domains for all of the sites.<\/p>\n<p>When you get to the categorization part, look for any interesting patterns. Here are a few I found for my hometown of Raleigh:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Colleges\/universities<\/strong> \u2013 These include jobs, scholarships, club sponsorships, discounts, and alumni links.<\/li>\n<li><strong>City-specific sites and directories<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Local news and magazines<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Sites about the state and surrounding areas<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Suppliers\/affiliations\/partners<\/strong> \u2013 Some of these were testimonials and case studies.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Churches <\/strong>\u2013 They seem to link to a lot of local organizations and businesses of their members.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Business groups <\/strong>\u2013 They link to those who are part of the\u00a0group.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Events<\/strong> \u2013 I saw a lot of links from meetup.com\u2014most of which were from hosting or sponsoring.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sponsorships and charities<\/strong> \u2013 This is also great for supporting the local community.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Podcasts<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Awards<\/strong> \u2013 Especially local favorites.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Coupons<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Directories<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Job postings<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>You may find some other interesting patterns. For example, I saw that pretty much anyone involved in weddings like DJs, photographers, event planners, and caterers all seem to link to each other. I found another pattern where realtors, apartments, and HOA sites tend to link to things to do and places to\u00a0eat.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I also saw some well-done ego bait expert roundups. Many of these people have their own personal sites and blogs that link to this type of content.<\/p>\n<p>There were also a lot of links from the local Reddit community, Facebook groups, and Nextdoor. These types of sites can also be valuable sources for referrals.<\/p>\n<h2>Final thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>Analyzing your competitors\u2019 links is a great way to reverse engineer their strategies and find the links that may be helping your competitors the most. Scaling that process can lead to a lot of unique insights.<\/p>\n<p>Message me <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/patrickstox\">on Twitter<\/a> if you have any questions.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/competitor-backlink-analysis\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A competitor link analysis is an assessment of the link profiles of major competitors where you look at their link building strategies to gain insights. Implementing some of the same strategies in your own link building can lead to higher rankings in search engines and increased business outcomes. Performing this kind of analysis allows you [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}