Words: Ashley Rigg
Published: 17th July 2008
Finding your competitors’ best links
Have your ever wondered why your competitors are beating you in the search rankings? There could be any number of factors contributing to their success but by the far the most important is the quantity and quality of their inbound links. One of the easiest and quickest ways to improve your rankings is to solicit links from the best sites that link to your rivals. The first step is identifying their links and Yahoo Site Explorer is one of the best tools to help you do this.
The points below provide tips on how you can get the most out of the tool. We’ve used the top ranking site for “Property Marbella”, Diana Morales Properties, as an example to illustrate how the techniques can be applied in practice.
- Yahoo Site Explorer: Basic search. Type in “linkdomain:http://www.domain.com -site:domain.com” to get a list of the sites that link to your competitors, while excluding their internal links.
Why is it useful? It’s the most definitive list of your competitors’ inbound links on the internet. Google does not reveal this information.
Marbella example
- Yahoo Site Explorer: URL search. Type in “linkdomain:http://www.domain.com/ -site:domain.com inurl:keyword” to find sites that link to your competitor that have the keyword you are trying to rank for in the url of the page.
Why is it useful? It can help you quickly spot the best opportunities for the keywords you are trying to rank for.
Marbella example
- Yahoo Site Explorer: Title search. Type in “linkdomain:http://www.domain.com/ -site:domain.com inurl:keyword” to find sites that link to your competitor that have the keyword you are trying to rank for in the title of the page.
Why is it useful? Like point two, it is another way to help you quickly spot the best opportunities for the keywords you are trying to rank for.
Marbella example
- Yahoo Site Explorer: Forum Search. Type in “linkdomain:http://www.domain.com/ -site:domain.com inurl:forum” or “linkdomain:http://www.domain.com/ -site:domain.com intitle:forum”.
Why is it useful? Use this tool to find which forums your competitors are getting links from. Commenting on these forums can be a quick way of getting links
Marbella example
- Yahoo Site Explorer: Blog Search. Type in “linkdomain:http://www.domain.com/ -site:domain.com inurl:blog” or “linkdomain:http://www.domain.com/ -site:domain.com intitle:blog”.
Why is it useful? Use this tool to find which blogs your competitors are commenting on or have bought links on. Blogs often have good links from trusted sites and can give you a well needed boost to your rankings.
Marbella example
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