undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • SEO Q&A
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • Case Studies
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • MozCon

      Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • Case Studies

      Explore how Moz drives ROI with a proven track record of success.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. SEO Tactics
  3. Link Building
  4. Should I Just Copy A Competitor's Backlinks?

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

Should I Just Copy A Competitor's Backlinks?

Link Building
6
12
3.1k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • brianmcc
    brianmcc last edited by Nov 4, 2011, 1:33 PM

    Forgive the newbie question, but now that I have found SeoMoz and OpenSiteExplorer, should I just piggy back on my competitors backlinks? What would be the downside?

    By way of explanation, I've never had the need to explore SEO before. Our site, Widgets.com has always ranked highly for all Widgets keywords because we have the keyword in our domain and our site has been around since 1998.

    But out of the blue this summer, a site, let's call them WidgetsCircus.com suddenly began outranking us on widgets keywords, and pretty much every keyword we can imagine in our little widget universe.

    Now that I have run OpenSiteExplorer, I can see how they've done it. They've pretty much spent the last year commenting on blog posts all over the place, editing wiki pages, etc., and built thousands of links for all these widget keywords.

    So, I'm wondering: why shouldn't I just go down the list of links and do exactly what they've done? Where they commented on a blog, why don't I just comment right along side them. Obviously, this has worked for them! Wouldn't it work for us too?

    Or is that too simple?

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • brianmcc
      brianmcc @EGOL last edited by Nov 6, 2011, 10:47 PM Nov 6, 2011, 10:47 PM

      Actually, they're pretty easy to copy. Just a bunch of open blog posts and forum profile spam.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • EGOL
        EGOL last edited by Nov 6, 2011, 9:08 PM Nov 6, 2011, 9:08 PM

        Should I Just Copy A Competitor's Backlinks?

        With most competitors this is not possible because:  1) they control the sources of those links, or, 2) those links were awarded on the basis of merit and you probably don't merit.

        You rarely win by mimicking a competitor.  You win by doing something superior.

        brianmcc 1 Reply Last reply Nov 6, 2011, 10:47 PM Reply Quote 0
        • brianmcc
          brianmcc @brianmcc last edited by Nov 4, 2011, 3:59 PM Nov 4, 2011, 3:59 PM

          Yep. Direct message. I'll send you one now.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • RyanKent
            RyanKent @brianmcc last edited by Nov 4, 2011, 3:39 PM Nov 4, 2011, 3:39 PM

            I am unsure what DM is, but based on the context I am guessing Private Message? If so you are welcome to do such.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • CalgaryRealtor39
              CalgaryRealtor39 last edited by Nov 4, 2011, 3:32 PM Nov 4, 2011, 3:32 PM

              Do you do any guest blogging to obtain links, I have found this to be effective for link building and it has increased my search engine results.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • brianmcc
                brianmcc @RyanKent last edited by Nov 4, 2011, 3:32 PM Nov 4, 2011, 3:32 PM

                Thanks for the advice. I do have to say, all the spammy blog comment links are surrounded by like 200 others spammy links to other sites. Very rarely are they there all by themselves, except for when they've joined a forum to put a link in their profile page.

                You willing to DM? Unsure if I want to publicly share URLs.

                RyanKent brianmcc 2 Replies Last reply Nov 4, 2011, 3:59 PM Reply Quote 0
                • RyanKent
                  RyanKent last edited by Nov 4, 2011, 3:32 PM Nov 4, 2011, 3:24 PM

                  The best practice would be to be aware of your competitor's links and look for opportunities. Look for high quality pages where the competitor earned links.

                  Most blog commenting is very low value from a SEO perspective. If you are an authoritative member of the community which offers the blog, you are one of the first commenters and you share a quality reply with a link then it can have value IF the link is followed and the page is not stuffed with 100 other links. Most blogs which don't nofollow their links have almost no value as they are filled with spam and links.

                  You are presuming the site's links are the reason why they are outranking you and it is entirely possible the links are not the reason at all. If you would like more detailed feedback please share your site URL, your competitor's URL and a couple sample keywords where you are being outranked.

                  brianmcc 1 Reply Last reply Nov 4, 2011, 3:32 PM Reply Quote 5
                  • brianmcc
                    brianmcc @SimonCullum last edited by Nov 4, 2011, 2:13 PM Nov 4, 2011, 2:04 PM

                    I know the usuals about creating valuable content. We've done that. That's how we've gotten where we are.

                    And actually, I can see in open site explorer which of the links are follow vs. nofollow. That's what I'm saying... they're very, very good at this. They've built literally hundreds of back links on random blogs with open commenting and follow links.

                    This is exactly the question I'm asking: I KNOW this is spammy link building, but I'm in the position of asking, since I can't beat them, why not join them?

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote -1
                    • brianmcc
                      brianmcc @nvs.nim last edited by Nov 4, 2011, 2:01 PM Nov 4, 2011, 2:01 PM

                      Widgets.com was a generic example of our site. I didn't mean our site is literally Widgets.com. It was an analogy.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • nvs.nim
                        nvs.nim last edited by Nov 4, 2011, 1:59 PM Nov 4, 2011, 1:59 PM

                        When I visit widgets.com the only thing I saw were advertisements... so I thought Content would be your main issue because with only a domain name you're not going to make it to the top of Google search results.

                        Then I went to your competitors website, but that just gave me an error page... maybe they block European traffic, but I doubt that..

                        Being a copycat can get you some results... maybe... but commenting on blog posts to get backlinks isn't the best technique to really get quality. If you use open site explorer, try to understand the metrics of a good backlink and only go after those. That's what I recommend, and then go on to build quality links yourselve, and not only on places where your competition is...

                        brianmcc 1 Reply Last reply Nov 4, 2011, 2:01 PM Reply Quote 0
                        • SimonCullum
                          SimonCullum last edited by Nov 4, 2011, 1:57 PM Nov 4, 2011, 1:57 PM

                          Hi Brian

                          This is an easy question to answer; "absolutely not". Please don't copy them, you'll end up regretting it.

                          How you've described your competitors' links makes them fall into the 'worthless spam' category; their efforts would have been for little gain, especially any long term gain, plus they've risked getting penalised for link spamming.

                          Links from blog posts are usually nofollow so will hold zero SEO value, there is only a small percentage of decent blogs out there.

                          To acquire some links that will actually be of benefit to your website, create some unique relevant interesting valuable Content for your visitors and Distribute this well. In turn, you'll likely be rewarded with some great natural links. Infographics with a text link built in can really help.

                          I hope this has been of some help to you.

                          Regards

                          Simon

                          brianmcc 1 Reply Last reply Nov 4, 2011, 2:04 PM Reply Quote 2
                          • 1 / 1
                          1 out of 12
                          • First post
                            1/12
                            Last post

                          Got a burning SEO question?

                          Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                          Start my free trial


                          Browse Questions

                          Explore more categories

                          • Moz Tools

                            Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                          • SEO Tactics

                            Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                          • Community

                            Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                          • Digital Marketing

                            Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                          • Research & Trends

                            Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                          • Support

                            Connect on product support and feature requests.

                          • See all categories

                          Related Questions

                          • laurentjb

                            Backlinks from local businesses

                            backlinks backlink profile blog post backlinks

                            Hello, I need to make sure I understand this correctly. Will it help my SEO if I: find local businesses with a good DA & low spam score select businesses that are somehow related to mine (Insurance Agency) offer to guest post and include a backlink on their blog ( ask them if they'd like to reciprocate) For example, businesses such as
                            Roofing companies
                            Contractors
                            moving companies
                            etc Please let me know if there's anything I'm missing? Many thanks

                            Link Building | Nov 5, 2024, 6:44 AM | laurentjb
                            0
                          • wcksmith1

                            Nofollow backlinks - are they worth it?

                            As we all attempt to get backlinks for the sites we manage, I have to wonder if it's worth it at all to get a nofollow backlink.  Does Google give and positive credit for a link to a site if it is a nofollow link? Obviously, the follow links are worth pursuing.  I'm just trying to gain some perspective. Thanks,  Wick

                            Link Building | May 16, 2018, 11:44 AM | wcksmith1
                            0
                          • wikiBudgets

                            Does iframe itself count as a backlink?

                            Our situation is similar to YouTube. We have an original content on every subpage that is genuinely useful when embedded as a widget on 3r party websites. That is why we offer an embeddable widget that shows slightly simplified version of the content - exactly like a YouTube video embedded on your blog. The embed code is simply an iframe sourcing from our subpage: <iframe src="wikibudgets.org/subpage"></p> </blockquote> <p>1/ Does the iframe itself pass any link value at all to the subpage?</p> <p>2/ If yes, what would be the equivalent of anchor text in iframe?</p> <p>3/ If not, will any link in the subpage pass link value from the 3rd party website to my domain/subpage?</p> <p>4/ If not, will I be punished/rewarded if I ask users to put a visible, unobfuscated link to the subpage below the iframe?</p> <blockquote style="background: #f7f7f7; padding-top: 5px; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 2px; padding-bottom: 5px; white-space: nowrap; overflow-y: auto; font-family: monospace;"> <p><iframe src="wikibudgets.org/subpage" /><a href="wikibudgets.org/subpage">rich anchor text</a></p> </blockquote></iframe>

                            Link Building | Aug 22, 2020, 2:41 AM | wikiBudgets
                            0
                          • MMAffiliate

                            Backlinks from subdomain, can it hurt ranking?

                            I just started doing an SEO audit and noticed I have 40,000 some odd back links from an OLD version of our site that has been moved to a subdomain. The back links are for articles that already exist on our main site. I don't think Google is picking it up as duplicate content because that site isn't being crawled anymore. Could this hurt us SEO wise? I plan on removing the site, but how long after it's been removed should those back links disappear?

                            Link Building | Mar 29, 2016, 6:02 PM | MMAffiliate
                            0
                          • primomc

                            How to classify backlinks types

                            HI GUYS, I don't know how to classify backlinks types. Any kind of software can process those backlinks? Thank you.

                            Link Building | Oct 15, 2014, 12:27 AM | primomc
                            0
                          • bloggingyourpassion

                            Adding backlinks in old articles?

                            I am trying to get a few more links to get a few of my pages to rank and I am thinking about adding some more backlinks on my own site on some of the old blog articles as well as some of my other related blogs. My question is - is it still beneficial to link from these articles that are say 1 year old or more, or would it be far more valuable to write new articles on the blog containing those same links?

                            Link Building | Mar 16, 2013, 6:20 AM | bloggingyourpassion
                            0
                          • nyanainc

                            Does the complete url count as backlink?

                            Hi there, does the http://mysite.com count as a backlink if posted on a site? I post a press releae and the site only allows me to put urls like this. they get something or must be in anchor the url? Thanks

                            Link Building | Mar 15, 2012, 11:47 AM | nyanainc
                            0
                          • AliClinks

                            Quick Wins and 'Low Hanging Fruit' - how do I identify them?

                            Hello, I have fairly recently taken up a position as an in-house SEO, having previously had my own (not terribly successful) ecommerce venture, so my SEO experience is at beginner level. I have read a LOT in coming up with a strategy (Laura Lippay's 8 Step Strategy, amongst so much more on here, has been epic), and have come up with something fairly comprehensive. However, it's taken me months! This is partyly due to other non-SEO responsibilities, and partly due to finding my way around all the tools & resources available, how everything fits together and what should be prioritised over what. This is massively inefficient for future projects, or indeed if I ever got a job in agency, and so I need to get quicker/more productive. I keep reading about identifying and capitalising on 'low hanging fruit' - how does one go about this? Details would be hugely appreciated - starting from the bottom up, i.e. keyword research, competitive & backlink analysis, link building etc. For the record, I have zero coding capabilities (something I plan to rectify one day soon) and so my strategy revolves primarily around content and outreach, rather changing site architecture. In any case, our website seems well put together, since new content is indexed very quickly. Thanks so much in advance, Ali (UK)

                            Link Building | Jan 1, 2012, 7:01 PM | AliClinks
                            0

                          Get started with Moz Pro!

                          Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                          Start my free trial
                          Products
                          • Moz Pro
                          • Moz Local
                          • Moz API
                          • Moz Data
                          • STAT
                          • Product Updates
                          Moz Solutions
                          • SMB Solutions
                          • Agency Solutions
                          • Enterprise Solutions
                          Free SEO Tools
                          • Domain Authority Checker
                          • Link Explorer
                          • Keyword Explorer
                          • Competitive Research
                          • Brand Authority Checker
                          • Local Citation Checker
                          • MozBar Extension
                          • MozCast
                          Resources
                          • Blog
                          • SEO Learning Center
                          • Help Hub
                          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                          • How-to Guides
                          • Moz Academy
                          • API Docs
                          About Moz
                          • About
                          • Team
                          • Careers
                          • Contact
                          Why Moz
                          • Case Studies
                          • Testimonials
                          Get Involved
                          • Become an Affiliate
                          • MozCon
                          • Webinars
                          • Practical Marketer Series
                          • MozPod
                          Connect with us

                          Contact the Help team

                          Join our newsletter
                          Moz logo
                          © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                          • Accessibility
                          • Terms of Use
                          • Privacy

                          Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.