The Basic Backlink Audit Process For Your Link Profile

Steps in Performing a Backlink Audit and Backlinks Report

A backlink audit is an essential part of any SEO campaign, as it can help identify and reduce the number of links pointing to your site that may not be beneficial. By conducting a backlink audit, you can identify which pages generate the most and focus your SEO efforts on increasing links from those pages.

Although most sites have a few backlinks, a quality backlink audit helps identify inefficiencies and deficiencies in your link-building program. Here’s how to do one;

1. Get a Complete List of your Backlinks.

As a business owner, you want to ensure every website is as search-engine-friendly as possible. One way to do this is by getting the complete list of your backlinks. Backlinks are links from other referring websites that point to your website content.

They can help increase traffic and credibility. By compiling a list of your backlinks, you can determine how well they’re performing and which ones need improvement.

Here are some tips for compiling a comprehensive backlink list:

Use a tool like Google Webmasters Tools or Ahrefs to analyze your website’s traffic and rank. This will give you an idea of where your site needs improvement and which pages should receive more attention from SEO experts.
Use a third-party tool like Moz or Majestic SEO to gather information on the backlinks linking to pages on your website.

2. Assess your Backlink Profile as a Whole

Backlink analysis is an important part of SEO, and understanding your backlink profile can help you identify strengths and weaknesses.

Look at your entire backlink profile and assess what needs to be changed or improved.
Identify the sources of your backlinks and determine if they provide quality links that help you rank higher on search engines.
Check for duplicate or low-quality backlinks, as these can seriously impact your rankings.
Evaluate your backlinks‘ overall strength and quality, especially those from high-traffic domain names.
Adjust any necessary links or those that don’t meet your standards, then repeat the audit process until you have a more effective and powerful backlink profile.

3. See How your Links Compare to Competitors'.

You can take a few steps to audit your backlinks and see how they compare to your competitors.

One method is to look toward your website domain authority (DA). DA is a metric that evaluates the importance of a website based on the number and quality of links it has from authoritative websites.

You can also look at link profile data, such as anchor text, linking domains, and referring domains. Anchor text is the text used in hyperlinks, and it can provide insights into how users interact with your content.

Linking domains are the websites that link to you, and referring domains are the websites that send users to you after they’ve clicked an anchor text link from a website from another domain.

4. Pinpoint Potentially Dangerous Backlinks.

Anyone searching for high-quality, relevant backlinks should take steps to audit their links and remove any that could be detrimental to their site’s SEO. Here are three steps to identify potentially dangerous backlinks:

Search for links on Google’s Search using specific, keyword-rich phrases. This will help you find content on your websites linking to your competitor without proper regard for the quality of the link.
Review your website’s citations page and look for suspicious links. If a link is not from a reputable source, it may be dangerous and should be removed from your site.
Use SEMrush’s Link Audit tool to analyze your website’s backlink profiles and look for potential problems.

5. Re-check Suspicious Backlinks Manually.

Many businesses make the mistake of trusting their backlink checker, which can lead to a false sense of security. It’s important to re-check any suspicious links manually for accuracy.

Here are some steps you can take:

Use a tool or search engine to find the link’s domain name and IP address.
Check whether the link links to your website from a trusted source, such as an article on a reputable blog or website.
Compare the suspicious link’s anchor text (the text surrounding the link) and your website’s content. If they’re similar, it may be a sign that someone is trying to manipulate your backlink rankings to improve their ranking.

6. Have Harmful Links Taken Down.

Broken links are everywhere and can seriously damage a website’s SEO ranking. To ensure bad links do not harm your website, you should take steps to audit and remove them.

Here are some tips on how to go about doing this:

Begin by looking for all the bad links on your website. This includes both external and internal links.
Check the source of each bad backlink. Are they from high-quality websites? If not, consider removing them.
Check the quality of the backlink itself. Is it from a reputable website? If not, consider removing it.
Take down any dead or highly toxic links that may be causing harm to your site’s SEO ranking.

7. Disavow Spammy Backlinks you cannot Remove.

Backlink audits are an essential part of link building. Spammy links can hurt your rankings whether you’re a small business or an established website.

We’ve outlined the steps you need to take to disavow spammy backlinks you cannot remove.

Start by using Google’s Backlink Analysis tool. This will help you identify any problematic links.
Once you’ve identified some broken links, use Moz’s Link Removal Tool to eliminate them.
Next, use Google’s Webmaster Tools to audit your website for any other suspicious toxic backlinks pointing back to your site. If you find any, use Moz’s Link Audit Tool to determine if they’re legitimate or spammy.

Conclusion

A backlink data audit is essential for any website owner or SEO professional. By conducting a backlink audit, you can identify low-quality links pointing to your website and determine their reasons. This information can help you improve your site’s SEO and increase traffic.

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FAQ

Which backlink audit tools should I use?

Auditing your website and backlink profile is essential to keeping your online presence clean and up-to-date. Many tools are available to help with this task, but which is the best for you?

Many audit tools are available on the market, so deciding which is right for you can be difficult. Some of the most popular options include Moz’s Site Audit tool, ahrefs’ Backlink Profile Analyzer, and SEMrush’s Link Audit tool. Each has advantages and disadvantages, so choosing the right tool for your needs is important.

Moz’s Site Audit tool is a good option if you want to assess how well your site is performing quickly. It provides information on page speed and other factors such as site structure and content quality.

How often should you perform backlink audit steps?

A link audit aims to identify and assess the health of your website’s links. A quality backlinks profile is one where all the links leading to your website are from high-quality sources.

The frequency of a link audit depends on the size and complexity of your website. However, you should generally perform a link audit at least once every six months.

Which factors do you focus on most during a backlink audit process?

Knowing where to start when auditing your backlink profile can be hard. After all, there are so many factors to consider! But which ones are the most important?

Here are some factors to focus on when conducting a backlink audit.

Quality of links: Ensure the type of links you’re auditing are high-quality and relevant to your domain rating. For example, if you’re looking for backlinks from industry publications, make sure the links they provide are reputable and relevant to your niche.
Presence of link-building activity: Are there any signs of link-building activity (i.e., Moz Pro or Ahrefs links)? This could suggest that your target audience is interested in linking to your site or that you have an effective content marketing strategy.