backlink-analyzer

name	backlink-analyzer
description	Analyzes backlink profiles to understand link authority, identify toxic links, discover link building opportunities, and monitor competitor link acquisition. Essential for off-page SEO strategy.
geo-relevance	low

Backlink Analyzer

This skill helps you analyze, monitor, and optimize your backlink profile. It identifies link quality, discovers opportunities, and tracks competitor link building activities.

When to Use This Skill

• Auditing your current backlink profile
• Identifying toxic or harmful links
• Discovering link building opportunities
• Analyzing competitor backlink strategies
• Monitoring new and lost links
• Evaluating link quality for outreach
• Preparing for link disavow

What This Skill Does

1. Profile Analysis: Comprehensive backlink profile overview
2. Quality Assessment: Evaluates link authority and relevance
3. Toxic Link Detection: Identifies harmful links
4. Competitor Analysis: Compares link profiles across competitors
5. Opportunity Discovery: Finds link building prospects
6. Trend Monitoring: Tracks link acquisition over time
7. Disavow Guidance: Helps create disavow files

How to Use

Analyze Your Profile

Analyze backlink profile for [domain]

Find Opportunities

Find link building opportunities by analyzing [competitor domains]

Detect Issues

Check for toxic backlinks on [domain]

Compare Profiles

Compare backlink profiles: [your domain] vs [competitor domains]

Data Sources

See CONNECTORS.md for tool category placeholders.

With ~~link database + ~~SEO tool connected: Automatically pull comprehensive backlink profiles including referring domains, anchor text distribution, link quality metrics (DA/DR), link velocity, and toxic link detection from ~~link database. Competitor backlink data from ~~SEO tool for gap analysis.

With manual data only: Ask the user to provide:

1. Backlink export CSV (with source domains, anchor text, link type)
2. Referring domains list with authority metrics
3. Competitor domains for comparison
4. Recent link gains/losses if tracking changes
5. Any known toxic or spammy links

Proceed with the full analysis using provided data. Note in the output which metrics are from automated collection vs. user-provided data.

Instructions

When a user requests backlink analysis:

1. Generate Profile Overview

   ## Backlink Profile Overview
   
   **Domain**: [domain]
   **Analysis Date**: [date]
   
   ### Key Metrics
   
   | Metric | Value | Industry Avg | Status |
   |--------|-------|--------------|--------|
   | Total Backlinks | [X] | [Y] | [Above/Below avg] |
   | Referring Domains | [X] | [Y] | [status] |
   | Domain Authority | [X] | [Y] | [status] |
   | Domain Rating | [X] | [Y] | [status] |
   | Dofollow Links | [X] ([Y]%) | [Z]% | [status] |
   | Nofollow Links | [X] ([Y]%) | [Z]% | [status] |
   
   ### Link Velocity
   
   | Period | New Links | Lost Links | Net Change |
   |--------|-----------|------------|------------|
   | Last 30 days | [X] | [Y] | [+/-Z] |
   | Last 90 days | [X] | [Y] | [+/-Z] |
   | Last year | [X] | [Y] | [+/-Z] |
   
   ### Authority Distribution
   
   

   DA 80-100: ████ [X]% DA 60-79: ██████ [X]% DA 40-59: ████████████ [X]% DA 20-39: ████████████████ [X]% DA 0-19: ██████████ [X]%

   
   **Profile Health Score**: [X]/100
   

2. Analyze Link Quality

   ## Link Quality Analysis
   
   ### Top Quality Backlinks
   
   | Source Domain | DA | Link Type | Anchor | Target Page |
   |---------------|-----|-----------|--------|-------------|
   | [domain 1] | [DA] | Editorial | [anchor] | [page] |
   | [domain 2] | [DA] | Guest Post | [anchor] | [page] |
   | [domain 3] | [DA] | Resource | [anchor] | [page] |
   
   ### Link Type Distribution
   
   | Type | Count | Percentage | Assessment |
   |------|-------|------------|------------|
   | Editorial | [X] | [Y]% | ✅ High quality |
   | Guest posts | [X] | [Y]% | ✅ Good |
   | Resource pages | [X] | [Y]% | ✅ Good |
   | Directory | [X] | [Y]% | ⚠️ Moderate |
   | Forum/Comments | [X] | [Y]% | ⚠️ Low quality |
   | Sponsored/Paid | [X] | [Y]% | ⚠️ Risky |
   
   ### Anchor Text Analysis
   
   | Anchor Type | Count | Percentage | Status |
   |-------------|-------|------------|--------|
   | Brand name | [X] | [Y]% | ✅ Natural |
   | Exact match | [X] | [Y]% | ⚠️ [Warning if >30%] |
   | Partial match | [X] | [Y]% | ✅ Natural |
   | URL/Naked | [X] | [Y]% | ✅ Natural |
   | Generic | [X] | [Y]% | ✅ Natural |
   
   **Top Anchor Texts**:
   1. "[anchor 1]" - [X] links
   2. "[anchor 2]" - [X] links
   3. "[anchor 3]" - [X] links
   
   ### Geographic Distribution
   
   | Country | Links | Percentage |
   |---------|-------|------------|
   | [Country 1] | [X] | [Y]% |
   | [Country 2] | [X] | [Y]% |
   | [Country 3] | [X] | [Y]% |
   

CITE Item Mapping

When running domain-authority-auditor after this analysis, the following data feeds directly into CITE scoring:

Backlink Metric	CITE Item	Dimension
Referring domains count	C01 (Referring Domain Volume)	Citation
Authority distribution (DA breakdown)	C02 (Referring Domains Quality)	Citation
Link velocity	C04 (Link Velocity)	Citation
Geographic distribution	C10 (Link Source Diversity)	Citation
Dofollow/Nofollow ratio	T02 (Dofollow Ratio Normality)	Trust
Toxic link analysis	T01 (Link Profile Naturalness), T03 (Link-Traffic Coherence)	Trust
Competitive link intersection	T05 (Profile Uniqueness)	Trust

Validation Checkpoints

Input Validation

• Target domain backlink data is complete and current
• Competitor domains specified for comparison analysis
• Backlink data includes necessary fields (source domain, anchor text, link type)
• Authority metrics available (DA/DR or equivalent)

Output Validation

• Every metric cites its data source and collection date
• Toxic link assessments include risk justification
• Link opportunity recommendations are specific and actionable
• Source of each data point clearly stated (~~link database data, ~~SEO tool data, user-provided, or estimated)

Example

User: "Find link building opportunities by analyzing HubSpot, Salesforce, and Mailchimp"

Output:

## Link Intersection Analysis

### Sites linking to 2+ competitors (not you)

| Domain | DA | HubSpot | Salesforce | Mailchimp | Opportunity |
|--------|-----|---------|------------|-----------|-------------|
| g2.com | 91 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Get listed/reviewed |
| capterra.com | 89 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Submit for review |
| entrepreneur.com | 92 | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | Pitch guest post |
| techcrunch.com | 94 | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | PR/news pitch |

### Top 5 Immediate Opportunities

1. **G2.com** (DA 91) - All competitors listed
   - Action: Create detailed G2 profile
   - Effort: Low
   - Impact: High authority + referral traffic

2. **Entrepreneur.com** (DA 92) - 2 competitors have links
   - Action: Pitch contributed article
   - Effort: High
   - Impact: High authority + brand exposure

3. **MarketingProfs** (DA 75) - All competitors featured
   - Action: Apply for expert contribution
   - Effort: Medium
   - Impact: Relevant audience + quality link

### Estimated Impact

If you acquire links from top 10 opportunities:
- New referring domains: +10
- Average DA of new links: 82
- Estimated ranking impact: +2-5 positions for competitive keywords

Tips for Success

1. Quality over quantity - One DA 80 link beats ten DA 20 links
2. Monitor regularly - Catch lost links and toxic links early
3. Study competitors - Learn from their link building success
4. Diversify your profile - Mix of link types and anchors
5. Disavow carefully - Only disavow clearly toxic links

Link Quality Assessment Framework

Link Quality Scoring Matrix

Factor	Weight	Score 1 (Low)	Score 3 (Medium)	Score 5 (High)
Domain Authority	25%	DR <20	DR 20-50	DR 50+
Topical Relevance	25%	Unrelated niche	Broadly related	Same niche/topic
Traffic to Page	15%	No traffic	Some traffic	Significant traffic
Link Position	15%	Footer/sidebar	Body (generic)	Body (contextual, editorial)
Anchor Text	10%	Generic/naked URL	Partial match	Descriptive, natural
Follow Status	10%	Nofollow/UGC	Sponsored (disclosed)	Dofollow, editorial

Link Quality Score = Sum(Factor x Weight) — High (4-5), Medium (2.5-3.9), Low (<2.5)

Toxic Link Identification Criteria

Red Flag	Risk Level	Action
From PBN (Private Blog Network)	Critical	Disavow
Paid link without nofollow	Critical	Contact webmaster, then disavow
From hacked/spam site	Critical	Disavow
Exact match anchor from low-quality site	High	Monitor, consider disavow
From link farm / directory network	High	Disavow
From irrelevant foreign language site	Medium	Monitor
Sitewide footer/sidebar link	Medium	Request removal or nofollow
From scraper/auto-generated content	Medium	Disavow
Reciprocal link schemes	Low-Medium	Reduce reciprocal ratio

Link Building Strategy Matrix

Strategy Comparison

Strategy	Difficulty	Scalability	Link Quality	Time to Results	Best For
Guest Posting	Medium	Medium	Medium-High	1-3 months	Building relationships + links
Digital PR	High	High	Very High	2-6 months	Brand authority + high-DR links
Broken Link Building	Low-Medium	Medium	Medium	1-2 months	Quick wins at scale
Resource Page Links	Low	Low	Medium	1-2 months	Niche-relevant links
HARO/Source Pitching	Medium	Medium	High	1-3 months	Authority + press mentions
Original Research	High	Very High	Very High	3-6 months	Long-term link magnet
Free Tools/Calculators	Very High	Very High	Very High	6-12 months	Passive link acquisition
Skyscraper Technique	Medium	Low	Medium-High	2-4 months	Outranking specific content
Unlinked Mentions	Low	Low	High	1-2 weeks	Converting existing brand mentions
Community Engagement	Low	Low	Low-Medium	Ongoing	Niche authority building

Link Building Cadence

Site Stage	Monthly Link Target	Strategy Focus
New site (0-6 months)	5-10 quality links	Guest posts, resource pages, HARO
Growing (6-18 months)	10-25 quality links	Digital PR, original research, skyscraper
Established (18+ months)	Maintenance + strategic	Passive from content, digital PR campaigns

Outreach Best Practices

Email Outreach Framework

Subject Line Formulas:

• "Quick question about [their article title]"
• "Resource for your [topic] page"
• "[Mutual connection] suggested I reach out"
• "Found a broken link on [their page]"

Email Structure:

1. Personal hook (reference their specific content — prove you read it)
2. Value proposition (what's in it for them, not you)
3. The ask (specific, easy to act on)
4. Social proof (brief — one line max)
5. Easy opt-out (no pressure)

Outreach Response Rate Benchmarks

Approach	Average Response Rate	Average Link Win Rate
Broken link building	8-12%	3-5%
Guest post pitching	5-10%	2-4%
Resource page outreach	6-10%	2-4%
Unlinked mention	15-25%	10-15%
HARO pitching	3-8%	1-3%
Digital PR campaign	5-15%	2-8%

Reference Materials

• Link Quality Rubric — Quality scoring matrix with weighted factors and toxic link identification criteria
• Outreach Templates — Email frameworks, subject line formulas, and response rate benchmarks

Related Skills

• domain-authority-auditor — Backlink data feeds directly into CITE C dimension; run after this analysis for full domain scoring
• competitor-analysis — Full competitor analysis
• content-gap-analysis — Create linkable content
• alert-manager — Set up link alerts
• performance-reporter — Include in reports
• entity-optimizer — Branded backlinks strengthen entity signals