Is competitive analysis only for high level links now

[BobGW]

Hello,

Is finding backlinks through competitive analysis only for high quality links these days. It seems commonly thought that link building is dead.

If the site with a link section in my industry has a DA below 35 should I leave it alone? Or what's safe and future (update) proof these days?

Thanks!

[Andy.Drinkwater]

Hi James,

Don't worry too much about visual aspects - Matt Cutts once said that Google doesn't pay a lot of attention to this themselves as there are some amazing white-papers out there with amazing work, but they are just pages of text and have none of the latest visual wizardry that we tend to see.

Have a look through the site. Does the content read well? Does SEMRush throw up any concerns? Does the content seem unique (check this through Copyscape or pull some sentences out and search for them through Google)?

Where you can, just try to get a feel for what the site has to offer and how you can envisage trying to get a link from them.

-Andy

[BobGW]

So if I am doing competitive analysis on an important competitor, and I find a site that has a DA of 25 or 30, and has the same general topic as mine, but not a very good design visually, how would I know whether to add them or not?

Thanks!

[Andy.Drinkwater]

Hey Bob,

Link building is far from dead, but it has changed direction hugely! You just have to be a little smarter about what you do.

Competition analysis is a fantastic way to find high quality links through a niche market. It helps you to track down opportunities that you might not otherwise find. For example, a high quality site links to a competitor who has written a useful blog post. Write a better version of that blog post and approach that site with it. Tell them that the link on there is out-dated now and hint that your article is much more relevant. Hopefully, the gears should start turning.

Also, don't worry too much about DA. Look more at the site itself and if it is a quality resource. It might not have a high DA, but that doesn't mean it isn't a trusted resource.

-Andy

[SEO5Team]

Hi Bob,

Link analysis for a competitor's site is a very solid tactic for finding linking opportunities in our opinion. You can find a lot of relevant links by utilizing this strategy and use it for your site's benefit. Although DA is important, analyze lower DA links and question their relevance for your site. If the relevancy is high, then i would suggest going ahead and adding your site to it as well.

Couple of resources below to assist you with your query:

Link Analysis Page - Moz

31 Link Building Tactics Discovered from Competitive Analysis

Cheers,

SEO5..