Backlink profile comparison: understanding your competitor's link advantage

Module 23: Competitor Analysis & Competitive SEO Strategy for Wix | Lesson 287 of 687 | 58 min read

Backlinks remain one of the three most powerful ranking factors in Google's algorithm. Understanding how your Wix site's backlink profile compares to your competitors is the difference between guessing at link building and executing a precision-driven strategy that systematically closes the gap. In this lesson, you will learn exactly how to pull, compare and analyse backlink profiles across every meaningful dimension, from referring domain count and domain rating brackets to anchor text distribution, link velocity, shared industry links and exclusive competitor sources. By the end, you will have a complete prioritised action plan for closing the backlink gap between your Wix site and the competitors currently outranking you.

A thorough backlink profile comparison reveals exactly where competitors are earning links that you are not, and where your biggest opportunities lie.

Why Backlink Profile Comparison Matters for Wix SEO

Google uses backlinks as votes of confidence. Every link pointing to a website signals that another site considers the linked content valuable, trustworthy or authoritative. When two pages target the same keyword, the page with a stronger, more relevant and more diverse backlink profile almost always wins. For Wix site owners, this creates both a challenge and an opportunity. Wix sites are often competing against WordPress, Shopify, and custom-built sites that may have been accumulating links for years. Without a clear understanding of the competitive backlink landscape, you cannot build the right links in the right order to close the gap efficiently.

Backlink profile comparison goes far beyond simply counting who has more links. You need to understand the quality distribution of those links, the types of sites linking to competitors, the anchor text patterns being used, how quickly competitors are acquiring new links, and which linking domains are shared across the industry versus exclusive to individual competitors. Each of these dimensions reveals different strategic insights that directly inform your link building priorities.

The Backlink Reality Check: If your top competitor has 1,200 referring domains and your Wix site has 45, you will not close that gap overnight. But backlink profile comparison often reveals that only 15-25% of a competitor's links are truly high-quality and relevant. The rest are low-value directories, forum profiles, and automated links. Your real gap may be much smaller than the raw numbers suggest, and that is exactly what this analysis will uncover.

Setting Up Your Backlink Comparison: Tools and Data Collection

Before you can compare backlink profiles, you need to gather the raw data from one or more backlink analysis tools. No single tool has a complete index of the web, so using two or three tools together gives you the most comprehensive picture. Ahrefs has the largest and most frequently updated backlink index, followed closely by Semrush and Moz. For free alternatives, Google Search Console provides data about your own site's backlinks, and Ahrefs Webmaster Tools offers a limited free view.

Gathering backlink data for comparison

Open Ahrefs Site Explorer and enter your Wix site's domain in the search bar. Select "Exact URL" or "Domain/*" depending on whether you want page-level or domain-level comparison. For initial competitor analysis, always start with domain-level.
Export the full backlink report by clicking Export in the top right. Choose CSV format and select "Full export" to capture every data point including referring domain DR, anchor text, link type (dofollow/nofollow), first seen date, and target URL.
Repeat this process for each of your top 3-5 competitors. Enter each competitor domain in Ahrefs Site Explorer and export their full backlink data.
Open Moz Link Explorer and enter your domain. Navigate to "Linking Domains" and export the full list. Repeat for each competitor.
If you have access to Semrush, open the Backlink Analytics tool and run the same exports for your domain and each competitor domain.
Create a master spreadsheet with separate tabs for each domain's backlink data. This will be your working document for the entire comparison process.
In Google Search Console, go to Links > External Links > Top Linking Sites. Export this data for your own site as a supplementary source that often catches links missed by third-party tools.

Data Freshness Matters: Ahrefs updates its backlink index every 15-30 minutes and recrawls the entire web continuously. Moz updates its index approximately every month. When comparing data across tools, ensure you are pulling all competitor data within the same 48-hour window to avoid discrepancies caused by index update timing. Always note the date of your data pull on your master spreadsheet.

Comparing Referring Domain Counts: The Foundation Metric

The total number of unique referring domains is the single most important top-level backlink metric. Google values link diversity, meaning one link each from 100 different websites is far more valuable than 100 links from a single website. Referring domain count is the clearest indicator of how widely a site is referenced across the web. When comparing your Wix site to competitors, start here.

Pull the total referring domain count for your Wix site and each competitor from Ahrefs Site Explorer (shown on the overview page).
Record the number of dofollow referring domains separately, as these pass the most link equity.
Calculate the ratio of dofollow to nofollow referring domains for each site. A healthy profile typically has 60-80% dofollow links.
Note the total number of backlinks versus referring domains. A ratio of 2:1 to 5:1 (backlinks to referring domains) is normal. Ratios above 10:1 may indicate spammy link building.
Compare referring domain growth over time using the Ahrefs "Referring Domains" graph. Look at 6-month, 12-month and 24-month trends.
Identify which competitor has the fastest-growing referring domain count, as this indicates active link building.

Using Ahrefs to Compare Referring Domains Side by Side

Ahrefs offers a dedicated domain comparison tool that allows you to place up to five domains side by side and compare their backlink metrics in a single view. This is the fastest way to get a high-level competitive backlink overview before diving into granular analysis.

Running an Ahrefs domain comparison

Navigate to Ahrefs > More > Domain Comparison from the top navigation menu.
Enter your Wix site domain in the first field.
Enter up to four competitor domains in the remaining fields.
Click "Compare" to generate the side-by-side comparison dashboard.
Review the key metrics: Domain Rating (DR), total referring domains, total backlinks, dofollow links, referring IPs, referring subnets.
Screenshot or export this comparison as your top-level competitive benchmark document.
Pay special attention to the "Referring Domains" chart which shows growth trends over time for all compared domains on a single graph.
Look at the "Common Referring Domains" section, which shows domains linking to multiple sites in your comparison set.

Using Moz Link Intersect to Find Competitor-Only Link Sources

The Moz Link Intersect tool is one of the most powerful features for competitive backlink analysis. It identifies websites that link to one or more of your competitors but not to your Wix site. These are your highest-probability link opportunities because the linking sites have already demonstrated willingness to link to content in your niche.

Running a Moz Link Intersect analysis

Open Moz Pro and navigate to Link Explorer > Link Intersect.
Enter your Wix site domain in the "Your Site" field.
Enter up to five competitor domains in the comparison fields.
Set the filter to "Show sites that link to all of the following" to find domains that link to multiple competitors but not to you. These represent industry-standard links you are missing.
Then change the filter to "Show sites that link to any of the following" for a broader view of all potential opportunities.
Sort results by Domain Authority (DA) to prioritise high-authority opportunities at the top.
Export the full list to CSV for integration with your master spreadsheet.
For each high-DA linking domain, click through to see the specific pages linking to your competitors and what content they linked to. This tells you what type of content you need to create or what outreach angle to use.

Link Intersect Gold: When a domain links to three or more of your competitors but not to you, this is an extremely high-probability link opportunity. The site is clearly interested in your topic and links freely to relevant content. These "triple intersect" domains should be at the top of your outreach priority list.

Analysing Link Quality Distribution: DR and DA Brackets

Not all backlinks are created equal. A single link from a DR 80+ website can be worth more than hundreds of links from DR 10 sites. To truly understand the competitive landscape, you need to analyse the quality distribution of each site's backlink profile by grouping referring domains into rating brackets.

Creating a quality distribution comparison

Export the full referring domains list for your Wix site from Ahrefs, ensuring the "Domain Rating" column is included.
Repeat for each competitor.
In your spreadsheet, create the following DR brackets: DR 0-10, DR 11-20, DR 21-30, DR 31-40, DR 41-50, DR 51-60, DR 61-70, DR 71-80, DR 81-90, DR 91-100.
Use COUNTIFS formulas to count how many referring domains fall into each bracket for your site and each competitor.
Create a stacked bar chart or grouped bar chart comparing the quality distribution across all domains.
Calculate the percentage of referring domains in the DR 50+ range for each site. This is your "high-quality link ratio".
Identify which DR brackets show the biggest gap between your Wix site and the leading competitor.

The quality distribution analysis often reveals surprising insights. A competitor with 2,000 referring domains may only have 150 in the DR 50+ range, while a competitor with 800 referring domains might have 200 high-DR links. The second competitor likely has a stronger profile despite the lower total count. Focus your strategy on the quality brackets where you have the largest deficit relative to the competitor currently ranking first for your target keywords.

Avoid DR Obsession: Domain Rating and Domain Authority are third-party metrics created by Ahrefs and Moz respectively. Google does not use these exact metrics. They are useful proxies for link quality, but a DR 40 link from a highly relevant niche site in your exact industry can outperform a DR 70 link from a generic, unrelated website. Always consider topical relevance alongside authority scores when prioritising link opportunities.

Understanding Anchor Text Distribution Differences

Anchor text is the clickable text within a hyperlink. Google uses anchor text as a strong relevance signal, essentially treating it as a third-party description of what the linked page is about. Comparing anchor text distributions between your Wix site and competitors reveals whether competitors are benefiting from keyword-rich anchors, how natural their anchor text profiles look, and where opportunities exist for you to earn anchors that strengthen your keyword relevance.

Branded anchors: Links using your brand name as anchor text (e.g., "Frontline Web"). A healthy profile has 30-60% branded anchors.
Exact-match keyword anchors: Links using your exact target keyword (e.g., "Wix SEO expert"). These should be 1-5% of total anchors. Over-optimisation triggers penalties.
Partial-match keyword anchors: Links containing your keyword plus additional words (e.g., "best Wix SEO expert in the UK"). Healthy at 5-15%.
Generic anchors: Links using text like "click here", "read more", "this website". Normal at 10-20%.
Naked URL anchors: Links using the raw URL as anchor text (e.g., "https://www.example.com"). Normal at 10-25%.
Topical anchors: Links using related but non-exact keyword phrases. These are the safest and most natural type of keyword-relevant anchor.

Comparing anchor text profiles

In Ahrefs Site Explorer, click on "Anchors" in the left sidebar for your Wix site.
Export the full anchor text report.
Repeat for each competitor domain.
Categorise each anchor into the types listed above: branded, exact-match, partial-match, generic, naked URL, and topical.
Calculate the percentage distribution for each category for every domain.
Create a comparison table showing the anchor text distribution for your site versus each competitor.
Identify if any competitor has an unusually high percentage of exact-match anchors (above 10%), which may indicate manipulative link building that could be penalised.
Note which keyword-relevant anchors competitors are earning that you are not. These represent keyword relevance signals you need to build.

Identifying Shared Linking Domains: Industry Standard Links

Shared linking domains are websites that link to multiple competitors in your niche. These represent the baseline, industry-standard links that Google expects to see in a legitimate backlink profile for your sector. If every competitor has links from the same ten industry directories, association websites or resource pages, and your Wix site does not, you are missing foundational link signals.

Finding and analysing shared linking domains

Use the Ahrefs Domain Comparison tool to identify "Common Referring Domains" across all compared sites.
Alternatively, export the referring domain lists for all competitors and use VLOOKUP or conditional formatting in your spreadsheet to identify domains appearing in two or more competitor lists.
Create a "shared links" column that counts how many competitors each referring domain links to.
Sort by this count in descending order. Domains linking to all competitors are your highest priority.
Categorise shared domains by type: industry directories, professional associations, media outlets, resource pages, blogs, government sites, educational institutions.
For each shared domain that does not link to your Wix site, identify the specific page linking to competitors and determine your outreach or submission approach.
Add these to a dedicated "Industry Standard Links" tab in your master spreadsheet with columns for domain, DA/DR, link type, outreach approach, and status.

Industry Standard Link Checklist: Common shared link sources include: industry-specific directories, professional body or association member listings, local chamber of commerce directories, Better Business Bureau or equivalent, industry award shortlists, conference speaker pages, trade publication contributor profiles, government-funded business directories, and university partnership or alumni listings. If your competitors appear on these and you do not, fix this first before pursuing more creative link building.

Finding Exclusive Competitor Link Sources

While shared links represent the baseline, exclusive competitor link sources are where the real competitive advantage lies. These are domains that link to only one of your competitors and not to any others in the set. Exclusive links often come from unique content assets, personal relationships, sponsorships, guest posts, or highly targeted outreach. Understanding where each competitor has exclusive links tells you about their link building strategy and reveals opportunities you can replicate or counter.

Identifying and analysing exclusive link sources

From your master spreadsheet, filter each competitor's referring domain list to show only domains that do not appear in any other competitor's list.
For the competitor currently outranking you for your primary keywords, analyse their exclusive links in detail. Visit each linking page to understand the context.
Categorise exclusive links by acquisition method: guest post, resource page mention, press coverage, sponsorship, partnership, original research citation, broken link replacement, or organic editorial.
Identify which acquisition methods the leading competitor uses most frequently. This reveals their link building playbook.
For each replicable exclusive link, create an outreach plan. If a competitor earned a link through a guest post on a particular blog, that blog likely accepts guest posts from others in the niche.
Note any exclusive links from domains with DR 60+ as these are the highest-value targets to replicate.

Evaluating Link Velocity Differences

Link velocity is the rate at which a website acquires new backlinks over time. Google considers link velocity as a signal of content freshness, relevance and growing authority. A site that consistently earns 50 new referring domains per month signals ongoing relevance, while a site whose link acquisition has stalled may gradually lose ground. Comparing link velocity between your Wix site and competitors reveals whether you are gaining ground, falling behind, or maintaining position.

In Ahrefs Site Explorer, the "Referring Domains" chart on the Overview page shows cumulative referring domain growth over time for any domain.
The steepness of this curve indicates link velocity. A steep upward curve means rapid link acquisition.
Look for sudden spikes in competitor link acquisition, which often indicate a viral content piece, major PR campaign, or link building sprint.
Check if any competitor's curve has flattened, meaning their link building has slowed. This is an opportunity window to close the gap.
Calculate the average monthly new referring domains for each site over the last 12 months by comparing the current total to the total 12 months ago and dividing by 12.
If the leading competitor gains 40 new referring domains per month and you gain 5, you need to either dramatically increase your link building velocity or focus on earning higher-quality links to compensate.
Use the Ahrefs "New Referring Domains" report filtered to the last 30, 60 and 90 days for a recent velocity snapshot.

Link Velocity Context: A sudden massive spike in link velocity followed by a sharp decline can actually be a negative signal to Google, as it suggests artificial link building. Consistent, gradual growth in referring domains is the healthiest pattern. If you see a competitor with this pattern, they may be engaged in paid link schemes that could eventually result in a penalty. Monitor their rankings over the following months to see if any decline occurs.

Link Gap Prioritisation Framework

After gathering all this data, you need a systematic framework for prioritising which link opportunities to pursue first. Not all link gaps are worth closing, and some opportunities offer dramatically higher ROI than others. The following framework helps you allocate your link building time and resources for maximum impact on your Wix site's rankings.

Priority Tier 1: Industry Standard Links (Highest Priority)

These are shared links that multiple competitors have and you do not. They represent the baseline expectation for a legitimate site in your niche. Missing these links makes your profile look incomplete to Google. Pursue these first because they are typically the easiest to acquire through directory submissions, association memberships, and standard outreach. Target: complete within 30 days.

Priority Tier 2: High-DR Link Intersect Opportunities

Domains with DR 50+ that link to at least two competitors but not to you. These sites have demonstrated willingness to link to content in your niche and have significant authority. Pursue these through targeted outreach, content creation, and relationship building. Target: outreach initiated within 60 days.

Priority Tier 3: Topically Relevant Exclusive Competitor Links

High-quality exclusive links earned by the competitor ranking directly above you for your most important keywords. These are the links creating the specific ranking advantage you need to overcome. Reverse-engineer the acquisition method and replicate. Target: outreach initiated within 90 days.

Priority Tier 4: Link Velocity Growth

Building sustainable link acquisition systems including content marketing, digital PR, partnership development, and ongoing outreach processes that generate consistent new referring domains month over month. Target: systems established within 120 days with measurable velocity improvement.

How Wix Sites Can Close the Backlink Gap

Wix sites face a unique perception challenge in link building. Some webmasters and bloggers still associate Wix with amateur or low-quality websites, which can make outreach harder. However, modern Wix sites built with Wix Studio or Wix Editor X are professional-grade platforms that produce excellent websites. Here are specific strategies for closing the backlink gap as a Wix site owner.

Create linkable assets: Original research, industry surveys, comprehensive guides, free tools, calculators, templates, and infographics attract links naturally and give outreach a compelling hook.
Leverage your Wix blog: Publish data-driven content that journalists and bloggers want to cite. Original statistics, case studies with real numbers, and unique industry perspectives earn editorial links.
Digital PR: Create newsworthy stories, expert commentary, and data studies that journalists want to cover. Use HARO (Help a Reporter Out), Connectively, and direct journalist outreach.
Guest posting: Write genuine, high-value guest articles for authoritative sites in your niche. Focus on sites with engaged audiences rather than sites that exist purely for link building.
Broken link building: Find broken links on high-authority resource pages in your niche using Ahrefs Broken Link Checker. Create replacement content on your Wix site and notify the linking webmaster.
Competitor backlink replication: Using the analysis from this lesson, systematically pursue the highest-priority link opportunities you have identified.
Build genuine relationships: Attend industry events, participate in online communities, collaborate with complementary businesses, and become a visible authority in your space.
Ensure your Wix site looks professional: Before any outreach, make sure your Wix site has a custom domain, professional design, fast load times, strong content, and clear about/contact pages. Link prospects will check your site before linking.

Avoid These Link Building Mistakes: Never buy links from link farms or PBN (Private Blog Network) sellers. Never participate in link exchange schemes ("I'll link to you if you link to me"). Never use automated link building software. Never spam blog comments or forum posts with links. Never create hundreds of low-quality directory submissions. These tactics violate Google's guidelines and can result in manual penalties that devastate your Wix site's rankings for months or years.

Complete How-To Guide: Backlink Profile Comparison

Step-by-step backlink profile comparison for Wix SEO

Step 1: Identify your top 3-5 organic competitors by searching your primary keywords and noting which domains appear repeatedly in the top 10 results.
Step 2: Open Ahrefs Domain Comparison and enter your Wix domain alongside all competitor domains. Screenshot the overview comparison dashboard.
Step 3: Export the full referring domains list from Ahrefs for your domain and every competitor domain. Save each as a separate CSV file.
Step 4: Create a master comparison spreadsheet with tabs for each domain, a summary comparison tab, and priority action tabs.
Step 5: Compare total referring domain counts, dofollow ratios, and referring domain growth trends across all domains.
Step 6: Run a Moz Link Intersect analysis to identify domains linking to competitors but not to your Wix site. Export the full list.
Step 7: Analyse link quality distribution by grouping referring domains into DR brackets (0-10, 11-20, etc.) for each domain and creating a comparison chart.
Step 8: Export and compare anchor text distributions. Categorise anchors into branded, exact-match, partial-match, generic, naked URL, and topical categories.
Step 9: Identify shared linking domains that appear in multiple competitor profiles. Flag any shared domains missing from your profile as Priority Tier 1 targets.
Step 10: Identify exclusive competitor link sources for the competitor ranking directly above you. Analyse acquisition methods and replicability.
Step 11: Compare link velocity by calculating average new referring domains per month for each site over the last 12 months.
Step 12: Apply the Link Gap Prioritisation Framework to rank all opportunities into Tier 1 through Tier 4.
Step 13: Create individual outreach or acquisition plans for your top 50 link opportunities, including contact information, proposed angle, and timeline.
Step 14: Begin executing Tier 1 (Industry Standard) link acquisitions immediately.
Step 15: Set a monthly review cadence to re-pull backlink data, measure progress against competitors, and update your priority list.

Final Checkpoint: You have completed the backlink profile comparison lesson when you can answer these questions: How many referring domains does each competitor have versus your Wix site? What is the quality distribution across DR brackets? Which shared industry links are you missing? Which exclusive competitor links can you replicate? What is each competitor's link velocity? And most importantly, you have a prioritised action plan with specific link targets, outreach approaches, and timelines for closing the backlink gap.

This lesson on Backlink profile comparison: understanding your competitor's link advantage is part of Module 23: Competitor Analysis & Competitive SEO Strategy for Wix in The Most Comprehensive Complete Wix SEO Course in the World (2026 Edition). Created by Michael Andrews, the UK's No.1 Wix SEO Expert with 14 years of hands-on experience, 750+ completed Wix SEO projects and 425+ verified five-star reviews.