I use Semrush every day to profile competitors and build link opportunities. When I want to Find SEO Competitor Backlinks With Semrush Backlink Analytics I focus on three things: the overview metrics, targeted filters, and the lists of high-value pages and referring domains. This article walks through how I access the tool, which panels I check first, and the filters I apply to turn millions of links into actionable prospects.
Table of Contents
- How do I access Backlink Analytics in Semrush?
- What does the Backlink Analytics overview tell me?
- How can the network graph help me understand link relationships?
- How do I filter and prioritize backlinks in Semrush Backlink Analytics?
- What detailed reports are available and how do I use them?
- How do I turn these insights into link acquisition opportunities?
- How many competitors can I compare at once in Backlink Analytics?
- Can I filter backlinks by placement and language?
- Does Semrush show lost backlinks and new backlinks?
- How do I use the network graph effectively?
- Can I target a specific page rather than a whole domain?
How do I access Backlink Analytics in Semrush?
Accessing Backlink Analytics is straightforward. I log into Semrush, go to Link Building, and select Backlink Analytics. Then I enter a domain — for example, SMRush.com — and click analyze. That opens the overview dashboard with quick stats like referring domains, total backlinks, monthly traffic, organic traffic percentage, and outbound domains.
What does the Backlink Analytics overview tell me?
The overview gives a quick but powerful snapshot. I pay attention to:
- Referring domains — the number of unique domains linking to the site.
- Total backlinks — the raw count of links detected.
- Monthly visits and organic traffic — to understand link impact.
- Outbound domains — who the site links out to, which can reveal partnership opportunities.
- Toxicity score — to flag links from spammy neighborhoods or public blog networks.
- Authority score and authority trend — Semrush combines link power, organic traffic, and profile naturalness into a single score and shows how it changes over time.
These metrics give me an immediate feel for whether the backlink profile is healthy, rising, or has recently lost a lot of links.
How can the network graph help me understand link relationships?
The network graph is one of the more visual features. It builds a map of domains and shows how they connect to your target domain and to one another. I use it to spot clusters of domains that repeatedly link to the same sites — those clusters often point to topical communities, partner networks, or content hubs I can target.
You can zoom, center, and click nodes to see associations. It is a little complex at first, but it quickly helps me identify where a domain’s reputation is coming from and which neighbors are worth outreach.
How do I filter and prioritize backlinks in Semrush Backlink Analytics?
The Backlinks tab contains the raw link inventory, which can be millions of rows. My goal is to trim that down to a manageable prospect list using filters. Key filters I use:
- Active / New / Lost — to focus on currently live links or recent gains and losses.
- Time period — to analyze a month or custom range of link acquisition.
- Link attribute — do follow versus no follow, sponsored, or UGC.
- Links per domain — switching to one-per-domain surfaces the single most powerful link from each domain and reduces duplicates.
- Link placement — content-embedded links are far more valuable than header, footer, or sitewide links.
- Referring page platform and language — to target blogs, forums, or English-language sources.
- Mobile-friendly pages — to prefer pages optimized for mobile indexing.
Using these filters I can cut a 47 million backlink pool down to a few dozen thousand focused prospects. That’s how I move from data to outreach targets.
What detailed reports are available and how do I use them?
How do I analyze anchor text distribution?
The anchors report shows the anchor texts used across all links. I check for over-optimized anchors and empty anchors. Empty anchors and brand anchors are common; exact-match keyword anchors can signal aggressive tactics or paid links.
How do I use referring domains and authority buckets?
Referring domains lists domains that link in and groups them by authority. Many domains will come from the 0 to 10 authority band; others from 11 to 20 or higher. I prioritize outreach to high-authority referring domains and also look for strong contextual pages on mid-authority sites.
What are top pages and indexed pages useful for?
Top pages reveals which internal pages get the most backlinks. I use that to find content worth replicating or pages to target directly. Indexed pages shows pages that gained inbound links and the number of referring domains per page so I can prioritize outreach to the most linked pages.
How can outbound domains and referring IPs inform outreach?
Outbound domains show who the target links to. If a site links out to partners or tools, those destinations can become collaboration opportunities. Referring IPs and link profile distribution reveal subnet clustering that might indicate link networks or shared hosting. I treat dense clusters carefully.
How do I turn these insights into link acquisition opportunities?
When I Find SEO Competitor Backlinks With Semrush Backlink Analytics I often follow this workflow:
- Open the Backlinks tab and apply one-per-domain plus content placement to reduce noise.
- Sort by page authority or traffic to surface the most valuable pages.
- Use the anchor report to understand how the site is being linked and to craft outreach messaging.
- Check outbound domains and network graph for natural partnership targets.
- Compile a prospect list and reach out with relevance-focused pitches that match the referring page context.
This approach makes it practical to convert massive backlink databases into targeted campaigns.
How many competitors can I compare at once in Backlink Analytics?
You can add up to three competitor domains to compare side by side and view how referring domains, backlinks, and authority scores stack up.
Can I filter backlinks by placement and language?
Yes. You can filter by link placement (content, header, footer, sitewide) and by referring page language such as English to narrow prospects.
Does Semrush show lost backlinks and new backlinks?
Yes. The tool tracks active, new, and lost backlinks and visualizes gains and losses over selected time ranges so you can monitor link velocity.
How do I use the network graph effectively?
Use the network graph to identify clusters of related domains and the most connected nodes. Click nodes to inspect associations; clusters often point to topical communities or partner networks worth targeting.
Can I target a specific page rather than a whole domain?
Yes. You can analyze exact URLs to find backlinks for a single page and filter results accordingly to build page-level outreach lists.
Find SEO Competitor Backlinks With Semrush Backlink Analytics is not just about viewing raw numbers. It is about applying filters, interpreting authority trends, and converting those signals into outreach and content decisions. When I focus on referring domains, content placements, and high-authority pages, I consistently find the link opportunities that move rankings.
