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

                          • btqkelvin

                            Are Sidebar Backlinks worth for SEO?

                            Hello! Let's use the following example: I have a blog (let's call it Blog A) and I find another blog in the same niche (this will be Blog B) that has higher DA and PA than mine. Will Google penalize me if the Blog B puts a link to my blog in their sidebar? Remember, the Blog A and Blog B are from the same niche. I ask this because Google says that links on sidebars appears in every page and in some pages the link may be useless. But if both blogs are from the same niche, there won't be pages where the links will be from different themes and with less relevance. So, is my thought correct: we can use sidebar links without caring about penalization ONLY if the blogs are from the same niche? Thanks in advance!

                            Link Building | Jul 27, 2017, 1:09 AM | btqkelvin
                            0
                          • Leads.Bz

                            I just uncovered a massive 500+ domain PBN linking to competitors

                            As the title, some competitors I've been watching are using a PBN they (or their agency) have built. I'm looking to get some discussion on how you approach situations like this - do you just report all of the domains to Google and pray they do something? There are 4 sites I'm looking at, all competing in the same niche with very similar websites (different branding and content, but essentially the same pages). I thought all were related, but after Excel-ing all the domains to see which overlap I've found that there's several sets; PBN 1 covers 117 domains that link to competitors A, B & C. Signaling to me that these are owned by the same person. PBN 2 links together B & C with 30 domains, PBN 3 is just C with 40 domains. PBN 4 is just B with 105 domains. PBN 5 is just A with 10 domains. PBN 6 is D by itself with more than 340 domains. Signaling to me that this one probably isn't owned by the same person. It looks like new domains are added to these PBNs every week and this has been going on for quite some time. Now, I'm fully against use of PBNs that don't use authentic websites that provide value, and I can't find any of these sites that aren't just a basic WP template with a single-word text logo followed by spun content. This is a goldmine, because according to Ahrefs these sites are pulling in well over 500,000 monthly visitors between them, and these links make up the majority of each site's link profile. If these networks were to crumble, that would open up a big opportunity for more authentic sites to rank well. How would you recommend to tackle this? Do I find example URLs and write reports for each of the 500+ domains or are there better ways of working through this?

                            Link Building | Sep 1, 2016, 3:23 AM | Leads.Bz
                            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
                          • rohitdeveloper

                            How to index Backlinks Fast in Google!

                            I Made few backlinks with my keyword but they are not getting index and it has been for 15 days. Do you have any idea that will help me out to solve this problem and also to index back links quickly.

                            Link Building | Mar 17, 2018, 3:15 AM | rohitdeveloper
                            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
                          • eddie_olivas

                            Should I Use a Backlink Plugin

                            One of my clients recently asked me if he should use a Wordpress plugin to create backlinks to his website. He mentioned WP-Syndicator as an example. I just redesigned his website and I'd like to ensure that he gets a bit more traffic than he was before. Should I suggest that he purchase/use a Wordpress backlink plugin? If so does anyone know which is the best one? Not sure if it's necessary, but here is the website I'm referring to http://intouchhome.com

                            Link Building | Dec 29, 2012, 3:29 AM | eddie_olivas
                            0
                          • ilyaelbert

                            How important are different class c subnets and ip's

                            We're thinking of launching several blogs in our niche and 'building them up' organically, and then linking naturally from them to our sites (very conservatively). I was wondering if we should buy entirely separate hosting for these blogs and how important are separate ip addresses and class c subnets (shown on majestic SEO tools for instance). Is it possible to create a set of authoritative blogs in a niche and have them be a little 'neighborhood' within the same shared hosting provider (obv similiar class c or even same ip).

                            Link Building | May 30, 2012, 10:54 PM | ilyaelbert
                            0
                          • pbhatt

                            Has anyone seen positive results from using Submiteaze to submit to directories? I know an SEM agency that uses it for clients' link building campaigns, but I don't know if it is worth buying. Are there better alternatives?

                            I would like to start a link building initiative at my company for a new website, and would like to know if the value of the links built using Submiteaze would be worth the money.

                            Link Building | Jun 18, 2011, 12:53 AM | pbhatt
                            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.