Link profile analysis for SEO
Maintenance is one of the many key components in life for keeping things healthy and in check- coincidently, it’s one of the key components for SEO too.
Analysing site metrics is the key to unlocking what action must be taken in your SEO strategy for maximum optimisation. Link profile analysis does just that- it analyses the health of your link profile, determining whether your link-building approach needs to change.
Link building is not to be underestimated. While it’s important for other sites to link back to your site, it’s even more important to check that these links will actually boost your organic search rankings instead of hindering them. And that’s where link profile analysis comes in.
What is a link profile analysis and how does it help SEO?
A link profile brings together all the different factors that Google uses to determine whether your link-building strategy has succeeded or failed. These include:
- The number of backlinks
- The backlinks that people use most and their anchor text
- The authority of the backlinks
- How the backlinks have been gained
A link profile analysis therefore analyses the quality of the links used and their relevance to your site. It can flag any issues with the current links being used and potentially the methods used to acquire these links.
A link profile analysis can help SEO by checking several factors, such as:
Quality of links
For a backlink to have any effect on your rankings, it needs to be of good quality. Bad quality links can in fact have the potential to damage your rankings, so the shortcuts really aren’t worth it. Google is bound to sniff them out soon enough, so use the analysis to check your links are in alignment with best practices.
A good quality, authoritative link is a big thumbs up to Google. It can be seen that a well-credited site has decided to point users to your site, which can increase your rankings in the SERPs and in turn establish you as an authoritative site to turn to for information.
In the context of link profiles, it’s definitely a case of quality not quantity.
Identifies opportunities
A link profile analysis can identify opportunities for optimisation and gaps where a backlink could be added. It can also identify where a link can and should be replaced with a more authoritative, relevant site, helping SEO professionals know what links to look out for.
Anchor text
Making sure anchor text is balanced across your site and that it’s diverse prevents your links from looking spammy and forced into the page where it does not fit. Suspicious anchor text patterns may raise concerns to Google and your site’s rankings are therefore penalised.
Link velocity
A link profile analysis checks the link velocity. If link velocity is high (a large number of links are acquired in a short space of time), alarm bells go off for Google and this can be taken as a sign of specious activity, such as paying for backlinks.
Informs content strategy
For SEO, a link profile analysis may reveal gaps in optimisation, therefore informing your content strategy and creating content that is likely to receive backlinks. Making sure your content is of high quality and relevance goes a long way toward achieving those desired backlinks.
How to conduct a link profile analysis
Conducting a link profile analysis can seem daunting at first. Trust us, it’s not as scary as it looks. There are a range of tools that can help you in this process, such as:
You can use Ahrefs to analyse a large number of links and collect data on the backlinks that point to your website. Or, this is a handy tool for analysing your competitor’s backlinks, which could help inspire new content ideas or link-building strategies. Ahrefs also lets you analyse the all-important anchor text and identify where it may need to be diversified.
Google Search Console is a necessary tool for analysing your links. It’s valuable as it takes Google’s point of view, so knowing what Google sees and thinks helps you to navigate which are the best links- it basically shows you the links Google sees that point back to your site.
SEMrush, like Ahrefs, allows you to identify and therefore get rid of any harmful links disturbing the health of your link profile. It helps locate new and lost backlinks, which allows you to make sure that SEO best practices are back on track.
Essentially, conducting a link profile analysis means combining all the backlink data acquired and determining which backlinks are healthy and authoritative. Best practice means ensuring anchor text distribution, no paid links and no spammy links either. Keeping this in mind will keep your link profile healthy.
How to improve your link profile
So you’ve conducted your analysis, what now? There are some things you can do to improve your link profile if you’re unhappy with its health, such as:
- Choose links from sites with a healthy link profile- these tend to be authoritative, credible sites with high-quality content
- Try and use variety, don’t just gain all your backlinks from one site
- Don’t use black-hat link-building techniques. These ‘quick fixes’ are catalysts for long-term issues and an unhealthy link profile
- Utilise guest posts. Using high-quality guest posts lets you acquire backlinks from credible, respected sources that can boost the health of your link profile
- Remove low-quality links. Getting rid of the spammy backlinks can help remove some of the damage to your link profile
How our award-winning agency can help with link-building
At Embryo, we use our SEO expertise to inform comprehensive, effective strategies. We understand just how far backlinks can take your site and never overlook its importance for SEO. We’d ensure a healthy link profile is what you’ll have, reviewing and monitoring the backlink data efficiently.
Want to know more? Get in touch with our team by calling 0161 327 2635 or email us at [email protected].
FAQs
Answered by Dan McCartney
How many good-quality backlinks do I need before I see a change in my DA?
This depends on a few factors. Firstly the size and quality of backlink profiles of competitors. For highly competitive spaces it can be thousands of links. Industries with less competition can require as little as 10-15 high-quality links to see a DA increase. It is also important to note domain rating and domain authority are logarithmic. The higher the score, the harder it is to increase. Our tool Needle can help with getting this level of insight.
Does a link profile analysis give me a score?
There are different tools for this. You can get a spam score from MOZ link explorer- Semrush does too. Ahrefs doesn’t but gives a comprehensive review of quality. Majestic can give you the topic authority breakdown and it can tell you about sectors and topics etc.
How many backlinks will be flagged as being spam?
There is no specific number to put to this, however large numbers of backlinks will be flagged as spam if they look unnatural. It would take search engines a while to understand the relevancy of them if they were legitimate. In most cases, backlinks should come naturally, not in bulk, if all best practices are followed, so isn’t something to worry about.
What is the difference between a link profile analysis and a network analysis?
A link profile analysis falls under the bracket of a network analysis. A link profile analysis is analysing the data of a website’s backlink profile. The network profile goes a bit deeper, and looks at the websites that are linking to your backlink sources. Search engines need to get a deeper understanding of the website context as a whole.
How can I stop bad-quality backlinks to my website?
If you can spot a pattern in the backlinks linking to your site, that are spam or consistently poor quality, then you can exclude the domain in your disavow file.
