Closing Backlink Gaps Found in a Competitor Analysis
When a competitor analysis shows a rival with far more backlinks than you, the obvious response is to start chasing links. Often that is right, but not always, and not in the way most people start. A site-wide link total says little about why one particular page beats yours.
This guide works through the questions that come before outreach: whether links really explain the ranking difference, which pages the links point at on each site, what kind of content earns the rival its links, and whether your own authority is reaching the pages that need it. You finish with a short, specific brief.
A competitor backlink gap analysis only helps if links are the real reason the rival ranks.
What the backlink column in a competitor analysis tells you
The Competitor Analysis compares your site with named rivals across several areas, and backlinks are one of them. The figures show how many links and linking sites each competitor has compared with you. That is a useful signal of relative authority, but it is a site-wide average, and rankings are decided page by page, query by query.
Three rivals can show the same large lead for very different reasons:
- Rival A has one hugely popular free tool that thousands of sites link to. Its service pages have almost no links of their own.
- Rival B has been trading for twenty years and has built up a steady spread of local, trade and press links to many pages.
- Rival C has a large number of links from low-quality directories and paid placements that probably carry little weight.
Only one of those three is a gap you can close by doing what the rival did, and only one of them is likely to be the reason they outrank you on a service page. Working out which is which is the job of this guide.
If you already know links are the issue and want the mechanics of finding sites that link to several rivals but not to you, that is covered in fixing a referring-domain gap. This page deals with the reading and diagnosis that should come first.
Is it really links?
Before treating a link gap as the reason a rival wins, check the things that are quicker to fix and often matter more. Put your page and the rival's ranking page side by side for one query and work down this list.
| Check | What to look at | If the rival is ahead here |
|---|---|---|
| Intent match | Is their page the type searchers want: a price guide, a service page, a comparison, a local page? | Change your page type before thinking about links. |
| Answer quality | Does their page answer the question more completely, with prices, examples or detail you lack? | Improve the content; see the content gap guide. |
| Indexing and technical health | Is your page indexed, fast enough, and free of canonical or noindex mistakes? | Fix the technical issue; links cannot help a page that is not indexed. |
| Local relevance | For local searches, do they have a stronger Business Profile or clearer location signals? | Work on local signals first. |
| Links to the page itself | Do external sites link directly to their ranking page? | This is a genuine page-level link gap. |
| Links to the site as a whole | Is their domain far more widely linked, even if the page is not? | A site-level authority gap: slower to close, and internal linking matters more. |
If the first four checks are roughly level and the rival is ahead only on the last two, links are a fair explanation. If the rival is ahead on the first four, spending months on outreach will not fix the ranking.
Site-level and page-level gaps
Most link tools let you see backlinks for a whole domain or for a single address. Look at both, for both sites.
| Pattern | What it usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Rival's domain far ahead, their ranking page has few links | Authority flows from popular pages elsewhere on their site through internal links. | Build one linkable page of your own and link from it to your service pages. |
| Rival's ranking page has many direct links, yours has none | That specific page is cited as a reference. | Look at why people link to it and make a better reference on the same question. |
| Both domains similar, their page has more links | A page-level gap only. | Targeted outreach for that page is reasonable. |
| Both similar at both levels | Links are unlikely to be the deciding factor. | Go back to content, intent and technical checks. |
The first row is the most common for small businesses. Very few people link to a page called "boiler repair Chesterfield". They link to a useful guide, a local data page or a free template, and the site passes some of that authority to its commercial pages through internal links.
Finding the rival's link magnets
A link magnet is a page that attracts links on its own merit. Sort the rival's backlinks by target page and look at the top ten or twenty addresses. You will usually see a few recognisable types.
- Price and cost guides with current figures that journalists and bloggers quote.
- Original data, such as a survey of customers or an analysis of the rival's own job records.
- Free tools: calculators, checkers, generators.
- Templates and checklists that other sites recommend to their readers.
- Definitive explainers on a regulation, a standard or a process in your trade.
- The homepage, which usually reflects brand mentions, memberships and directory listings rather than content.
For each magnet, note what makes it useful, when it was last updated, and whether you could produce something genuinely better or different. A rival's 2022 price guide that has never been refreshed is a strong opening. A rival's ten-year-old industry survey with hundreds of citations is not something you overtake quickly.
Using the authority you already have
Many sites have more authority than they use. Search Console's Links report shows your Top linked pages from external sites. Compare that list with the pages you want to rank.
- If your most linked page is an old blog post or a one-off news item, add clear, relevant internal links from it to the service pages it relates to.
- If external links point to addresses that now return a 404, redirect each one with a 301 to the closest current page. That recovers authority that is currently being wasted.
- If your commercial pages are three or four clicks from the homepage, bring them closer with navigation or links from the pillar pages on the topic.
This does not close a gap on its own, but it often narrows it within weeks at no cost, and it makes every new link you earn later work harder. For detail on how internal links spread value, see the link equity flow guide.
The fix, step by step
Step 1
Pick the queries where the rival beats you
From your Competitor Analysis and Search Console, choose three to five valuable queries where a rival with a big backlink lead ranks above you. Note the exact ranking page on their site and the page on yours that ranks, or should rank, for each one. Working from specific queries and pages keeps the rest of the diagnosis concrete, and stops a site-wide total from turning into a vague goal of getting more links.
Step 2
Rule out the non-link reasons first
Compare each pair of pages on search intent, completeness of the answer, indexing and technical health, and local signals for local queries. If the rival's page is a better match or a better answer, fix that first, because no amount of outreach will lift a page that is the wrong type for the search. Only treat links as the deciding factor when these other checks come out roughly level for your pages.
Step 3
Compare links to the ranking pages, not the domains
Look up backlinks for the rival's exact ranking address and for yours, as well as for both domains. Record whether the rival's lead is at page level, where the ranking page itself is widely linked, or at site level, where the domain is strong but the page has few direct links. The two patterns need different responses, so write the answer down for each query before choosing a tactic.
Step 4
Find the pages that earn the rival its links
Sort the rival's backlinks by target page and list their ten to twenty most linked addresses. Label each one as a price guide, original data, a free tool, a template, an explainer or the homepage. Note when each was last updated and why people cite it. These link magnets usually explain a site-level lead far better than any list of linking domains, and they show which kinds of content earn links in your market.
Step 5
Check where your own links land
Open the Links report in Search Console and read the Top linked pages list under external links. Compare it with the pages you want to rank. Note links that point at old posts, at your homepage only, or at addresses that now return an error. This shows how much authority you already have and whether it is reaching your commercial pages or being wasted on pages that no longer matter.
Step 6
Route existing authority to the pages that need it
Add descriptive internal links from your most linked pages to the service or product pages they relate to. Put 301 redirects on linked addresses that now return 404 errors so they point to the closest live page. Bring important commercial pages within two clicks of the homepage. These changes cost nothing, can be done in an afternoon, and make every link you earn afterwards more useful to the pages you care about.
Step 7
Choose one asset to build and a list to pitch it to
Pick a single link magnet type where you can do better than the rival, such as a current local price guide replacing their outdated one. Build it properly, link from it to your relevant commercial pages, and list the sites that cite the rival's version as your first outreach targets. One strong asset with a clear audience usually outperforms several half-finished ones, and it gives outreach a genuine reason to exist.
Step 8
Compare pace, not totals, when you re-run
When you re-run the Competitor Analysis after a few months, compare how many new linking sites each competitor and you gained in the period, not only the totals. A rival with a twenty-year head start may stay ahead on totals for a long time, but if you are gaining relevant links faster, the gap is closing. Check the target queries from step one at the same time to see whether rankings are following.
Setting realistic expectations
A backlink gap built over many years cannot be closed in one quarter, and trying to force it tends to lead people towards the paid and network links that cause problems. It helps to set expectations in terms of pace and direction.
- Watch the rate of new linking sites. If you gain relevant new linking sites faster than your rivals over the same period, you are catching up, whatever the totals say.
- Watch the pages that matter. A handful of links to the right page can move a ranking that a hundred links to the homepage never would.
- Expect lags. New links have to be found, crawled and counted, both by search engines and by link databases. Changes often appear weeks after the link goes live.
- Accept some gaps. If a rival's lead comes from a famous free tool or a national news story, you may be better off competing on content, local relevance or service rather than links.
1. My competitor has ten times my backlinks. Can I ever catch up?
Often you do not need to match their total. Rankings are decided page by page, and many of a rival's links may point at one popular tool, their homepage or low-value directories. Focus on the queries that matter to your business, check whether links are really the reason they rank above you there, and build links to the specific pages involved. Gaining relevant links faster than they do over time matters more than the headline totals.
2. How do I know if backlinks are the reason a competitor outranks me?
Compare your page with theirs for one query at a time. Check whether their page better matches what searchers want, answers the question more completely, is technically healthier and has stronger local signals. If those are roughly level and their page or site has far more relevant links, links are a fair explanation. If their page is simply a better answer or a better type of page, improve the page before spending time on outreach.
3. What is a link magnet?
A link magnet is a page that other sites link to because it is useful as a reference, not because anyone asked them to. Common examples are current price guides, original surveys or data, free calculators and tools, downloadable templates and clear explainers on a regulation or process. Looking at which pages earn a competitor most of its links usually shows what kind of content attracts links in your market, and where you could do better.
4. Should I build links to my homepage or to specific pages?
Build them to the page that is most useful to the linking site's readers. In practice that is often a guide, a tool or a data page rather than a service page, and that is fine. Then use internal links from that page to pass authority on to the commercial pages you want to rank. Links from partners, directories and associations naturally go to the homepage, which is also fine, as long as your homepage links clearly to your main services.
5. Can internal links really close a backlink gap?
They cannot create new authority, but they decide where the authority you already have ends up. Many sites have an old blog post or a news item with most of their external links, and no path from it to the pages that sell. Adding relevant internal links, redirecting linked pages that now return errors, and bringing commercial pages closer to the homepage can narrow a gap quickly and makes every future link more effective.
6. Why do different tools show different backlink numbers for my competitor?
Each link database crawls its own share of the web, at its own pace, and applies its own rules for dropping dead or spammy pages. Two tools will almost never report the same totals for the same site. That is why comparisons should always use one source for you and every competitor, and why the totals are best treated as estimates. The direction and the pages involved are more reliable than the exact figures.
7. Should I buy links to keep up with a competitor who clearly bought theirs?
No. Buying links that pass ranking credit is against Google's spam policies, and the risk falls on you regardless of what a competitor has done. Search systems are designed to ignore or discount such links, so the competitor may be getting less benefit than their totals suggest. Paid placements are fine when marked with rel sponsored, but they will not close a ranking gap. Compete with better pages and links you have genuinely earned instead.
Our Competitor Analysis compares your site with named rivals across keywords, content, backlinks, technical health, schema and AI visibility, so you can see where a backlink lead sits alongside the other differences and decide which gap to close first.
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