How To Steal Your Competitors Rankings

One of my f avo urit e SEO t ricks t hat has s t o o d t he t es t o f t ime is t o s imply s t eal yo ur co mpet it o rs rankings .
Wit h a bit o f elbo w greas e, backlink checkers & co mpet it o r analys is it is eas y t o o ut rank yo ur co mpet it io n.
Yo u can even do it wit h a co mbinat io n o f f ree t o o ls !

What You Will Learn

Ho w t o s t eal co mpet it o rs rankings
Ho w t o check co mpet it o r backlinks
Ho w t o perf o rm co mpet it o r analys is
Ho w t o s t eal t heir bes t backlinks Ho
w t o build a links dat abas e

The Method To The Madness

Do a s earch f o r any keywo rd o n Go o gle.
Each o f t he s it es in t he t o p 10 s earch res ult s have a backlink pro f ile t hat pleas es Go o gle.
It is als o likely t hey have f airly decent co nt ent and have t aken care o f t he bas ics like o n page SEO.
But f o r t he mo s t part each o f t he t o p 10 res ult s backlink pro f ile is po wering t he rankings .
Imagine what wo uld happen if yo ur s it e had t he s ame backlinks as no t jus t t he # 1 res ult , but every s ingle
page in t he t o p 10 res ult s !

Building T he Pe rf e ct Foundat ion

Why s pend t ime & mo ney t rying t o f igure t hings o ut when yo u can jus t
s t eal yo ur co mpet it o rs bes t backlinks !
Perf o rming co mpet it o r analys is like t his allo ws yo u creat e a great
f o undat io n link pro f ile t o yo ur s it e.
Replicat ing yo ur co mpet it o rs links t akes a lo t o f t he hard wo rk o ut o f link
building & is very eas y f o r anyo ne new t o SEO t o do .
T his is a t act ic I us e all o f t he t ime wit h new s it es bef o re I do anyt hing
els e. Yo u build a very nat ural pro f ile s lo wly but s urely giving yo u a great
f o undat io n t o leverage.

Step 1 Get The Top 10 Results

T he f irs t t hing yo u need t o do is gat her t he t o p 10 o rganic res ult s f o r t he
keywo rd yo u want t o rank f o r.
Jus t do a quick Go o gle Search and make a no t e o f each URL.

We are go ing t o run each o f t hes e URLs t hro ugh t he backlink checkers belo w!

Step 2 Finding All Of The Backlinks

To f ind all o f t he backlinks f o r each o f t he t o p 10 res ult s we are go ing t o us e s o me backlink checkers .
T here are a number o f t hem t o cho o s e f ro m bo t h f ree & paid but each o f t hem s uf f er f ro m t he s ame
pro blem.
No 1 backlink checker can give yo u a co mplet e o verview o f a URLs backlink pro f ile. T hey all have very
dif f erent dat abas es and o f f er a range o f res ult s .
So in o rder t o do t his pro perly, we need t o co mbine t he dat a f ro m as many backlink checkers as po s s ible!

Which Is T he Be st Backlink Che cke r?

I have publis hed a co uple o f cas e s t udies o n backlink checkers in t he pas t . Ahref s always o f f ers t he mo s t
res ult s .
So f o r t his t ut o rial I decided t o s ee ho w many links each backlink checker ret urned f o r t his blo g.
T hes e are o rdered f ro m t he bigges t t o t he leas t belo w(Note: I just use Ahrefs, Majestic SEO & SEO Spyglass for my analysis normally.)

Ahre f s (f re e /paid) 11,227

Ahref s has wo n every backlink checker t es t I have ran including t his o ne!

T he f ree acco unt gives yo u quit e a lo t o f backlink bas ed dat a but yo u can o nly s ee t he t o p 10 backlinks o f
each repo rt .
Go t o backlinks > external, t hen backlinks > new/lost t o expo rt as many as yo u can wit h t he f ree acco unt . T
he paid acco unt allo ws yo u t o expo rt all o f t hem int o a CSV f ile in o ne click. Check o ut my 1 millio n do main
Ahref s cas e s t udy.

Maje st ic SEO (f re e /paid) 8,500

I have a bit o f a his t o ry wit h Majes t ic SEO but t hey are always o ne o f t he t o p perf o rmers in t erms o f t he
number o f backlinks t hey pro vide.

If yo u s ign up f o r a f ree acco unt yo u can expo rt all o f t he backlinks f o r s it es yo u o wn & verif y which is
s weet !
But t o check o t her peo ples backlinks like Ahref s it s limit ed t o t he t o p 10 backlinks . Get mo re by go ing t o
t he backlinks tab & t he new tab!
T he paid acco unt gives yo u 1 click acces s t o expo rt everyt hing int o a CSV f ile. Check o ut my 1 millio n
do main Majes t ic SEO cas e s t udy.

SEO Spyglass (f re e /paid) 5,599

In my earlier t es t s SEO Spyglas s perf o rmed po o rly but a recent updat e has added a dat abas e o f
15,000,000,000,000 links . T hat is mo re t han Ahref s & Majes t ic SEO.

SEO Spyglas s is dif f erent t han o t her backlink checkers as it runs as a piece o f des kt o p s o f t ware rat her
t han a web bas ed t o o l.
It will go o ut and f ind backlinks , check if t hey are live, repo rt o n t hings like ancho r t ext , PR, s o cial s hares &
mo re. All o f t his dat a is ret rieved in real t ime and is as f res h as yo u can get !
T he f ree vers io n o f SEO Spyglas s is limit ed t o 1,100 backlinks per URL but yo u cant expo rt t hes e links .
Where as t he paid vers io n go es all o ut allo wing yo u t o bulk check as many URLs as yo u want wit ho ut limit s !
It is available f o r a o net ime f ee which makes it a great inves t ment co mpared t o t he mo nt hly f ees o f mo s t
paid backlink checkers .

Ope n Sit e Explore r (f re e /paid) 2,129

Open Sit e Explo rer co mes as part o f t he Mo z s uit e o f SEO t o o ls and as t hey do nt s pecialis e in link
checking t he dat abas e is nt anywhere near t he s iz e o f o t hers .

A f ree s earch will let yo u get t he t o p 50 backlinks f o r each URL. Clicking o n t he just discovered tab will get
yo u an ext ra 5!
T he paid vers io n gives yo u t he expo rt t o CSV o pt io n as well as acces s t o t he res t o f t he Mo z s uit e o f
t o o ls !

BacklinkWat ch (f re e ) 1,517
Backlink Wat ch is a great f ree t o o l and delivers a pret t y decent s iz e o f res ult s no s t rings at t ached!

While yo u cant expo rt t he res ult s eas ily yo u can co py t hem, t hen in excel right click > paste special > text >
ok.
Backlink Wat ch act ually us es Ahref s t o po wer it s dat abas e s o yo u can get s o me decent res ult s .
As yo u can s ee in t his t es t t ho ugh Ahref s act ually ret urned 11,227 res ult s where as Backlink Wat ch o nly
ret urned 1,517 13% o f t ho s e.

Small SEO Tools (f re e ) 599

T he Small SEO To o ls backlink checker is als o co mplet ely f ree t o us e!

While it do es ret urn s o me go o d res ult s it is hard t o expo rt t hem, yo u have t o click t hro ugh 10 res ult pages
o ne at a t ime t o co py t hem o ut .
But it is f ree t o us e s o yo u get what yo u pay f o r I gues s =D

Traf f ic Travis (f re e /paid) 558

Traf f ic Travis is like SEO Spyglas s in t hat it runs as a des kt o p applicat io n but it als o has a bunch o f o t her
handy SEO t o o ls & f eat ures .

T he f ree vers io n act ually let s yo u do quit e a lo t o f t hings no t jus t checking backlinks !
It us es Open Sit e Explo rer as it s backlink dat a s o urce but als o lo o ks up real t ime dat a like page rank.
It is a great f ree t o o l t o have in yo ur ars enal!

Link Diagnosis (f re e ) 250

Link Diagno s is is als o a handy f ree backlink checker alt ho ugh it did deliver limit ed res ult s .

On t he ups ide t ho ugh it us es t he Open Sit e Explo rer dat abas e and if yo u ins t all t he Firef o x ext ens io n it is
really handy!
Yo u can even expo rt all o f t he backlinks eas ily in o ne click!

Step 3 Creating A Master List

No w yo u have co llect ed as many backlinks as po s s ible f ro m as many s o urces as po s s ible f o r each o f t he
t o p 10 res ult s we can mo ve f o rward!
Open no t epad and co py all o f t he links int o o ne mas t er .t xt f ile and s ave it s o mewhere.
Next we need t o remo ve all o f t he duplicat es which yo u can do wit h t he f ree DupeRemo ve t o o l.

Once yo u have do ne t hat we can mo ve o nt o s o me backlink analys is .

Step 4 Analysing The Backlinks

At t his po int yo ur mas t er lis t o f co mpet it o r backlinks co uld be pret t y large s o t o make s ure we are
wo rking ef f icient ly we are go ing t o do a bit o f analys is t o pick o ut t he bes t backlinks .
In general all I lo o k f o r are backlinks t hat are indexed in Go o gle and have a PR value o f s o me kind. T hes e
are t he prio rit y links .
Yo u can make a s eparat e lis t o f links t hat are indexed in Go o gle but do nt have a PR value as a s eco ndary
t arget s lis t .
Bas ically if it s indexed in Go o gle, it s go o d eno ugh t o link t o my s it e.

Me t hod 1 Exce l / Scrape box

If yo u have Scrapebo x t hen yo u can us e t hat t o lo o k up lo t s o f dif f erent dat a.
Fo llo w my backlink penalt y analys is t ut o rial t o check if links are s t ill live, which ancho r t ext t hey us e, what
PR t hey are and if t hey are indexed in Go o gle.

Me t hod 2 SEO Tools For Exce l

Yo u can als o us e SEO To o ls f o r Excel t o build a s preads heet t o lo o kup a range o f dat a.
T he o nly pro blem is if yo u have a lo t o f links t o pro ces s , t his can be quit e limit ing.
Ho wever it is f ree t o us e and wit h a bit o f elbo w greas e yo u can make a pret t y go o d link pro s pect ing s heet .

Me t hod 3 Inspyde r Backlink Monit or

I us e Ins pyder Backlink Mo nit o r t o mo nit o r all o f my t iered link building campaigns . It is als o a great t o o l t o
lo o k up bulk dat a o n backlinks .

Jus t pas t e t he lis t o f links , hit go and it will check if t hey are s t ill live, if t hey are indexed, what PR t hey have
and a bunch o f o t her t hings .
Yo u can als o expo rt dat a in a range o f f o rmat s making it eas y t o f ilt er o ut t he bes t links .

Me t hod 4 SEO Spyglass

SEO Spyglas s is no t jus t a backlink checker, it is als o a co mplet e backlink analys is t o o l.
Yo u can pas t e in a lis t o f URLs and it will f irs t ret rieve all o f t he backlinks f o r each URL.
Yo u can t hen go a s t ep f urt her and get it t o do a deeper analys is o n each backlink t o det ermine t he qualit y
o f each o f t hem.

If yo u have f o und backlinks f ro m o t her t o o ls it is eas y t o impo rt t ho s e as well. SEO Spyglas s do ubles up as
a great link f inder and analys er in o ne!

Step 5 Replicating The Links

No w it is jus t a cas e o f go ing t hro ugh each o f t he links o ne at a t ime and us ing yo ur head.
Open each link in yo ur bro ws er and s ee ho w yo ur co mpet it o r go t t heir link o n t hat page. So
met imes it might be a blo g co mment , s o yo u jus t need t o po s t yo ur o wn co mment . So met
imes it s a f o rum po s t s o yo u jus t need t o regis t er and get invo lved in t he dis cus s io n.
So met imes it will be a gues t po s t and yo u will have t o s end an email t o s ubmit yo ur o wn gues t po s t .
As yo u wo rk t hro ugh t he lis t replicat ing links yo ull get a go o d f eel f o r t his pro ces s .
While yo ure do ing t his no t o nly will yo u be unco vering great links yo u wo uldnt have go t t en o t herwis e. Yo ull
als o build yo ur unders t anding o f link building & SEO in general.

Step 6 Creating A Golden Links Database

Get t ing as much value o ut o f yo ur t ime as po s s ible is impo rt ant .
So as yo u go t hro ugh t he lis t replicat ing links , make s ure yo u keep t rack o f everyt hing and make a no t e o f
which yo u have replicat ed/s ubmit t ed.
Once yo u have f inis hed replicat ing yo ur co mpet it o rs backlinks yo u can t hen bulk check which o nes yo u no w
have a live backlink f ro m.
T hes e backlinks are go ld!
Creat e a s eparat e links dat abas e s pread s heet which lis t s all o f t he
backlinks t hat have s t uck!
As yo u do t his o ver t ime yo u will build a huge lis t o f po werf ul links t hat are
helping t o drive t he t o p 10 res ult s .
In t he f ut ure yo u can co me back t o t his s pread s heet and us e it f o r o t her
pro ject s o ver and o ver again.
T his is a highly valuable bus ines s as s et t o have.
I als o add a co lumn called Niche wit h o pt io ns like Techno lo gy, Bus ines s , Finance, General t o make it eas y t o
f ilt er t hem by t o pic.

Wrapping It Up
So t here yo u have it o ne o f my f avo urit e link building t act ics t hat has s t o o d t he t es t o f t ime & algo rit hm
updat es .
It is eas y f o r anyo ne t o do and yo u can t ake advant age o f f ree t o o ls t o get yo u s t art ed.
No need t o learn s pinning o r any co mplicat ed s o f t ware it s perf ect f o r anyo ne new t o SEO & link building.
T he end res ult will be t hat yo u will have all o f t he backlinks yo ur t o p 10 co mpet it o rs do po int ing t o yo ur 1
s it e.
T his is t he link building s t rat egy I us ually us e o n new s it es bef o re do ing anyt hing els e and if t hat do es nt
get yo u f irs t page rankings t hen yo u have t he perf ect nat ural f o undat io n t o leverage f urt her.