Backlink Analysis

Backlink analysis checks the quality and origin of your links: Tools like Sistrix & Co. show popularity values, anchor texts, deep links vs. homepage, and country sources. This way, you can identify risks and plan link building in a targeted manner.

We now know: Search engines like Google place great importance on linking. To verify the value of links, an in-depth backlink analysis is important. The market offers numerous free and paid link analysis tools that can be used in search engine optimization. To proceed professionally here, it is recommended to use one of the paid SEO tools such as Sistrix, Xovi, Searchmetrics, or SEOlytics, to name just a few.

Important metrics for backlink analysis: What matters with links?

What or which data do these analysis tools now provide in the context of backlink analysis? Here are the most important, superficial metrics that are relevant for SEO:

Backlink Popularity
Webpage Popularity
Domain popularity
Host popularity
IP addresses popularity
Class-C network popularity

Popularity is equivalent to quantity. For example, how many links point to your own site (link popularity) or from how many different domains do these backlinks originate (domain popularity). There are no benchmark figures for analysis to determine when these values are good or bad. A clothing store may need several hundred backlinks from almost as many different domains, while an online retailer for vegan nutrition may succeed in achieving good ranking positions in Google with just a few strong links using the most important search terms. These differences should be considered in backlink analysis.

Anchor texts, types of links, and geographical assignment and their importance for search engine optimization

Anchor texts are keywords on which the link has been set. These texts must also be analyzed. Being linked only with www.meinedomain.de does not bring as much from an SEO perspective as sometimes linking with the terms "My Top Product" or "My Best-Selling Category." Such links serve to push specific areas of your own site more or to be found better for these keywords. To keep track and plan everything strategically, during the backlink analysis, all common tools provide a compact overview of which keywords have been linked how often and to which page/subpage. There are two different types of links. Some go directly to the homepage, while others target subpages. The latter links are also known as deep links. Through backlink analysis, you receive important information about the distribution. Typically, at least 50% of the links should go to the homepage.

Furthermore, the analysis reveals the geographical origins of the links. An unusually high number of foreign link sources, especially from Russia, China, etc., should be alarming and require further investigation (exception: you are doing SEO for a domain from the corresponding target region).

Identify sources through backlink analysis

Many backlink analysis tools also offer functions to identify new backlink sources. However, one should not blindly trust them; instead, each link source should be closely examined before attempting to obtain a link from it. So, important: First the backlink analysis, then the operational actions. Then link building for search engine optimization will work.