Backlink Tracking for Newbies: How To Get Started

Google is the most visited website in the world. Put simply, people go to Google first when they want to find information online.

For this reason, it’s essential that businesses take search engine optimization seriously. Backlink tracking is one of the most important aspects of a proper SEO strategy, but not everybody knows how to get started.

Let’s take a closer look at the key information you need to consider.

What Is Backlink Tracking?

This is the process of checking the quality and volume of backlinks from other websites.

This will help you determine how effective they are when it comes to boosting your search engine rankings. They can also provide insight into the areas you need to work on to improve your backlink profile.

Getting Started

Although this process sounds simple, there are multiple steps you need to take. This will help ensure you get the best possible results.

Let’s explore them in depth below.

Choose a Site Analyze

Before you get started, you need to determine which websites you want to analyze. Your own website should be the first one you consider. Afterward, though, you might need to research before you come up with additional sites.

For example, your next few choices could be your industry competitors’ websites. For local businesses, these would be competitors in your immediate area. If your business operates solely online, the websites you should research are major industry players who sell similar products as you.

If you’re having trouble determining competitors, a quick Google search can help you out.

Select a Tool

Using the right backlink analysis tool is crucial when it comes to getting the best results.

The good news is that many of the top-tier tools available are more or less the same, so it comes down to preference. The tool that you choose should provide comprehensive search engine information and also be intuitive to use.

In some cases, it might be appropriate to use a combination of different tools to get the best possible results.

Select a Referring Domain

After you’ve determined the tool you will use and the sites you will research, you can type each domain into your backlink research tool. At first, the results can seem overwhelming.

You will need to sift through a large amount of data. However, manually keeping track of this information with an Excel spreadsheet or Google Sheets is often sufficient. Just be sure that you don’t neglect this obligation.

Key Metrics to Consider

There are certain metrics that you can’t overlook when it comes to backlink tracking. These will play a large role in helping you configure your SEO strategy.

Here are three of the most notable.

1. Number of Links/Unique Domains

The total number of backlinks pointing to your site will give you a good idea of how you’re performing compared to a competitor. However, it’s also important to consider the total number of referring domains.

This will help you determine how many unique sites are linking to yours. For example, let’s assume that a website has 4,000 backlinks.

However, there are only 500 different domains. This means that 5,500 of these links are from websites that already link to them. It’s important to know that having fewer domains than backlinks is not abnormal.

Still, it’s in your best interest to develop a diverse link profile from many different domains. Obtaining backlinks from sites that already link to yours isn’t always a great strategy.

2. Referring Domains

Looking at the total number of domains isn’t enough. You also need to take a closer look at each domain that refers to the site. This will help you determine which websites have the most valuable links, allowing you to take advantage of them.

This is also highly useful during competitor research. You can check out the highest-performing domains that your competitors have and figure out what type of sites they are leveraging for their backlinks.

From here, you’ll have a greater number of link opportunities to clarify, websites that link to your competitors are also likely to link to your website. It’s best to sort domains on the list by their domain authority.

This will help you quickly find the highest-performing domains. It can also help you avoid domains that aren’t worth your time.

3. Top Pages

Finally, it’s crucial that you check the pages on your site that have the most links pointing to them. You should also check this same metric on your competitors’ websites. In general, the top page will almost always be the homepage.

This is due to the fact that platforms that use websites as a resource often point to the homepage when citing. However, digging deeper will show you that certain pages on your site outperform others. You can then determine the cause behind this occurrence.

For example, a large, informative blog post on your site might have a substantially higher number of backlinks than any other page. This will let you know that you should begin creating more content like this.

Don’t Overlook Backlink Tracking

Although the backlink tracking process can feel overwhelming at first, it’s essential to understand. Consider the above guidelines when conducting backlink analysis so you can gain access to quality information that can help improve your business.

Feel free to get in touch with us at SEOJet today. Our team of experts can help get you started on the right track and take your SEO performance to the next level.