Link Profile

What is a Link Profile?

A link profile, or backlink profile, refers to the composition and attributes of the backlinks pointing to a site. It includes factors such as the quality and quantity of the links and how relevant the content providing the link is to the content receiving it.

A link profile can be considered “good” or “bad,” depending on the characteristics of its links. Some of these characteristics include the following:

• Anchor text
• Naturalness of the link
• Authority of the linking site
• PageRank of the linking webpage
• Trustworthiness of the linking domain
• Whether the link is set to dofollow or nofollow
• How relevant the linking page and website is to the site receiving the link

A good link profile will contain a healthy amount of follow and nofollow links. Its anchor text would sound natural and vary from page to page. The links will also come from high-authority sites related to the content receiving the link. 

Importance of the Link Profile

Backlinks, specifically dofollow backlinks, are a Google ranking factor. They are like votes or endorsements that flow from the site providing the link to the site receiving it. These links pass link equity and PageRank, which increases a site’s credibility, relevance, and trustworthiness. 

A strong link profile signals to Google that the content on the linked page is helpful and trustworthy. This, in turn, boosts the page’s ranking in search results, making it more visible to potential visitors.

The more high-quality links a site has pointing to it, the more authoritative it is considered and the likelier it is to rank on Google search results pages.

How to Review Your Link Profile

Boggers and SEOs typically review their link profiles to uncover insights into their SEO and link-building efforts. However, you will require a dedicated SEO tool like Semrush or Ahrefs to review your backlink profile.

These tools will typically show you several metrics and signals about your backlinks. They would also show you the most popular anchor texts used to link to your content. You will analyze these metrics and signals to identify issues and improvements to implement on your site.

Important Link Profile Signals to Look Out For

When analyzing your backlink profile, it is essential to look for specific signals that can help you identify existing issues, potential risks, and opportunities for improvement. We will address some of these signals and behaviors below.

1 Monitor your High-Quality Backlinks

Your link profile lets you identify high-quality backlinks from reputable and authoritative sites. These sorts of links signal to search engines that your site is trustworthy and valuable and help to improve your search engine rankings.

You will want to preserve these backlinks. You also want to earn more similar links. So, you should review the sort of content that got you that backlink and create similar content.

2 Monitor Your Link Velocity

You should pay attention to your link velocity when analyzing your link profile. This allows you to observe the growth or decline of the backlinks pointing to your site. 

This is helpful as it allows you to monitor the effectiveness of your link-building efforts. It also assists in identifying strategies that are earning you backlinks and those that do not.

3 Review Your Link Diversity

Your backlinks should come from multiple sites and have different anchor texts. This would naturally happen if you are engaged in white hat link-building techniques. 

However, it is best to review your link velocity to be double sure. While rare, it is not unusual for competitors to engage in negative SEO and build spammy backlinks that point to your site.