Let me first say that I love this part of SEO. Yes I know, content is the most important thing, or is it? The truth remains that optimization is based on spying. Spying on your competitors, spying on those you strive to be like, and spying especially on their LINKS. There is a treasure trove of information simply behind the analysis of someone’s backlink creation strategy, which can give you juicy information on where they are getting their juice from. Also, by noting anchor text percentages, new links, and, trends, you can have a pretty good idea of what their strategy is moving forward. All this information should play a central role in your SEO work.
Cleaning up site structure and reducing glaring errors is paramount, but let’s face it, if you aren’t finding ways to attract linking, then you are wasting your time. Check out this short excerpt from the folks at Search Engine Journal:
Key Takeaways
There are a number of uses for backlink analysis:
- Competitor Analysis – Gain insight into the competitive environment surrounding your niche
- Link Prospecting – Use the information from backlink analysis to find quality link building services for your site.
- Perform a Backlink Audit – The data from a backlink analysis can be used to perform a backlink audit and avoid over-optimization as well as remove potentially harmful links
- Link Reclamation – Find links pointing to 404 pages and reclaim link juice through 301 redirects or contacting webmasters
The more you focus on this phase of SEO the better off your campaign will be.