A strong backlink profile is akin to a portfolio of recommendations, accolades, and testimonials all rolled into one. It’s proof of your reputation and existence, according to both humans and AI. In 2025, the role of backlinks are more crucial than ever as algorithms evolve to prioritize authoritative and well-linked websites.
In this guide, we’ll cover:
- What a backlink profile is and why it matters
- How a backlink profile impacts SEO and LLM rankings
- Strategies to build and maintain a strong backlink profile
- Common practices to avoid when managing backlinks
At ReportCard, we answer a lot of clients’ questions about backlink profiles and how they relate to ranking for SEO. Here are our insights to the most frequently asked questions about strengthening your link building profile.
What is a Backlink Profile and Why is it Important?
A backlink profile is the collection of all backlinks pointing to a website, including their quantity, quality, and variety. It reflects how authoritative and trustworthy a website is in the eyes of search engines. A strong, diverse backlink profile is crucial for SEO as it signals to search engines that the site is credible and relevant in its field.
When dealing with certain businesses, we’ve picked up on trends and patterns over the years. For instance, when we work with law firms, oftentimes we find ourselves advising a content improvement plan prior to beginning any link building efforts. By tailoring their content and keywords to their geographic location, law firms can significantly increase organic traffic and improve local lead generation.
Like so many businesses, we often see law firms struggling with poor organic traffic due to low-quality backlinks from sites with a lackluster domain authority. As firms become more aware of the value of high-quality SEO strategies, they begin to allocate more resources toward link building, seeking backlinks from authoritative sources, such as news sites and professional service providers.
In a short period of time – typically an engagement runs two to six months – we can garner an average of 20-75 links and get them on page one in search results. By collaborating with high-authority platforms, our clients can build a stronger backlink profile, ultimately boosting their SEO efforts and ensuring sustained growth in search engine rankings.
How Can I Analyze my Backlink Profile?
Both free and paid tools can offer backlink profile insights, but without knowing what to look for, they’re not very helpful. Here’s what to assess in your backlink profile.
The number of backlinks
Generally speaking, websites with a higher number of backlinks tend to perform better in search engine results. This is one of the most important metrics for a strong backlink profile. It means that a website has been around for long enough and that it’s a trusted resource in its industry and niche.
However, be extremely careful with this metric. Besides a high number of backlinks, make sure those are high-quality backlinks from websites with a high domain authority.
In other words, quality is more important than quantity. A website with 1,000 high-quality links is going to perform better than one with 50,000 spammy links from PBNs and link farms.
The number of links is merely a starting point and it’s not a tell-tell sign that a website is going to have great search engine rankings. This is why it’s necessary to look into other factors.
The relevance
There are many ways that links can be considered low-quality links and most importantly, this refers to relevance. The websites you get links from should be discussing your industry and niche in order for your link building efforts to be fruitful.
Consider the following example: website A is about gardening and has 5,000 links from gardening news and websites. Website B is also about gardening, with 20,000 links, but most of them from business and tech websites. Which website has the better backlink profile?
The first one, because the total number of backlinks is irrelevant if it’s coming from websites that are not suited for your target audience. The best way to get link equity and perform better in search engine results pages is to aim to get the types of links closely related to your industry and niche.
The anchor text
Anchor text is the text someone uses when they link out to you. According to reputable sources such as Search Engine Journal, this is a ranking factor in the sense that search engines use it to understand what the link is about.
Anchor text feature in Ahrefs
When doing a typical backlink analysis (with a tool such as Ahrefs), you’ll be able to see your anchor text breakdown. These are the words that other websites use when they link out to you and this breakdown should look natural.
This means an even distribution of your brand name, and most important target anchors you use. Also, the anchor text should be varied so that it appears natural. For example, for a page on business phones, you’ll need to have a good number of variations, such as:
- Business phone services
- Business phone systems
- Business phone
- Phone systems for business
- And similar
This helps search engines understand that the links are natural and not a part of a link building scheme. Those search engines then are more likely to rank you in SERPs for these specific keywords.
The quality of links
Every individual link you get to your website is going to have a set of attributes:
- The domain rating or domain authority of the website
- The age of the website
- The organic traffic coming to that website
- Whether it’s nofollow or dofollow
- The spam score of the website that linked to you
- And many other characteristics
Simply focusing on the number of backlinks won’t necessarily improve your search engine rankings. Instead, building high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites will have a more significant and lasting impact. Over time, these valuable backlinks will strengthen your site’s credibility, leading to improved search performance.
The variety of backlinks
As any digital marketing expert knows, there is no website that has 100% high quality backlinks from great websites. And in reality, such a website would be quickly punished by Google’s algorithm.
The reason is simple – the ideal backlink profile looks natural. That means a good mix of high and low domain rating websites linking to you, a variety of anchor texts, some dofollow and some nofollow links and so on.
As you start writing higher-quality content, websites will naturally include links in their content referring to your site. Some of your links will be paid, others will come from sources such as guest posting and link exchanges. Naturally accumulating a mix of different types of links indicates that your backlink profile is healthy.
In other words, if you only have high authority websites linking to you with specific anchor text, this is a signal to search engines that you’re trying to game the system.
How do I Build a Strong Backlink Profile?
To build a strong backlink profile, it’s important to employ proven strategies that attract high-quality backlinks from authoritative sources.
Here are some effective techniques currently used by SEO professionals:
Create Exceptional, Link-Worthy Content:
Original content such as in-depth guides, primary research, and data-driven posts naturally attracts backlinks from relevant websites. High-Quality Backlinks, a Backlinko guide from Brian Dean (2024) details the process for creating link-worthy content and strengthening your link building profile. Conducting research in-house and sharing the results with your audience is one way to stand out from the competition.
Guest Blogging:
Contributing articles to authoritative blogs in your niche can help you build backlinks while positioning yourself as an expert in your field. We don’t want to dive too deep into how to come up with topics and pitch them to publications here, but you can read more about this technique in How to Get Backlinks, a 2024 study from Semrush.
Broken Link Building:
Broken link building is another effective strategy for acquiring quality backlinks. Essentially, you identify dead links on authoritative websites and get them replaced with links to your relevant content. To implement this technique, follow these steps:
- Identify Broken Links: Use tools to find broken links on websites within your niche.
- Create or Identify Relevant Content: Ensure you have content that matches the context of the broken link.
- Reach Out to Webmasters: Politely inform them of the broken link and suggest your content as a valuable replacement.
For a comprehensive guide on broken link building, along with a template to use, we suggest Broken Link Building Just Got A Whole Lot Easier from the JustReachOut blog.
Utilize Public Relations (PR):
Get interviewed, create newsworthy stories, become a thought leader, share press releases, and publish data-driven studies that catch the attention of media outlets and industry websites. Looking for fresh content ideas? Piggy back on topics already trending. These efforts often naturally lead to backlinks from authoritative news websites. You can read more in this piece about leveraging digital PR for SEO from Search Engine Land.
Can Bad Backlinks Hurt my SEO?
Yes, toxic or bad backlinks can hurt your SEO by causing penalties or a drop in rankings. Search engines may flag links that are low-quality, are not trustworthy, are irrelevant, or come from a link farm as spammy, impacting your website’s authority.
To maintain a strong SEO profile, it’s crucial to regularly audit your backlinks and disavow harmful links to prevent negative consequences. Unfamiliar with the process of asking search engines to ignore some of your unwanted links? Read on, we’ve provided details below.
Here are some real-life examples of bad backlinks hurting SEO rankings.
Forbes
Forbes suspended its use of freelance writers for specific content types after Google penalized sites with low-quality, irrelevant backlinks linked to “parasite SEO” tactics. You can read more about this case study from The Verge.
Kinsta
Kinsta, a managed WordPress hosting provider, experienced a negative SEO attack involving numerous spammy backlinks from low-quality sites. This influx of toxic links threatened their search engine rankings, potentially leading to penalties. They utilized tools like Ahrefs to identify and disavow the harmful backlinks, successfully mitigating the attack’s impact. You can read more about this case on the Kinsta Blog.
Namecheap
Namecheap worked with the SEO agency Screaming Frog to identify their drop in organic traffic. Once the toxic backlinks were disavowed, the domain name registrar and web hosting company saw a return to their previous traffic. Their less desirable links had accumulated over time, and as many companies can relate, what was once acceptable had become outdated.
These examples above highlight the risks of bad backlinks and also the importance of monitoring your backlink profile to avoid SEO penalties. Backlinks require someone with the right technical expertise to ensure that a your link building profile matches the pace of your own site’s growth and development.
How do I Remove Toxic or Spammy Backlinks?
- Identify Toxic Backlinks
- Use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz to identify backlinks from low-authority, spammy, or irrelevant websites.
- Focus on links from sites that are off-topic and unrelated to your industry. For example, if you run a plumbing service, a link from a florist would be considered spammy.
- Find the Webmaster’s Email Address
- Look for a contact page or “about us” page on the website you want to reach out to.
- Use tools like Hunter.io or ContactOut to help you find the webmaster’s email address.
- You can also use a WHOIS lookup tool (e.g., Whois.net) to find the domain owner’s contact information, if it’s publicly available.
- Request Link Removals
- Once you’ve found the webmaster’s email address, reach out with a polite and professional email requesting the removal of the toxic link.
- Explain that the link is irrelevant to your content and could negatively affect your SEO rankings. Be clear but courteous in your request.
- Disavow Toxic Links with Google’s Disavow Tool
- If you can’t get the link removed, use Google’s Disavow Tool to tell Google not to consider those links in your rankings.
- Upload a text file listing the URLs of the toxic links you want to disavow, ensuring they are not counted against your site in Google’s algorithm.
- Monitor Your Backlink Profile Regularly
- Use software tools to ensure no new spammy links appear in your link building profile.
- Keep the task of evaluating your backlinks in regular rotation, going through the process to get the links removed or disavowed once they’re spotted.
By following these steps, you can protect your site’s SEO health and maintain a clean backlink profile, free from toxic links.
What is the Difference Between Dofollow and Nofollow Backlinks?
Dofollow and nofollow are two types of HTML attributes applied to hyperlinks, influencing how search engines treat the linked pages.
Dofollow Backlinks unless specified otherwise, all links are dofollow by default. Links provide ranking power, referred to as link equity, to the page it points to. This helps the page improve its search engine rankings. These types of links are widespread because of the value they provide to the linked page.
Nofollow Backlinks inform search engines not to pass link equity to the linked page. The nofollow link specifies a rel=”nofollow” attribute in their HTML code. What situation would warrant a nofollow link? Well, if the linking site does not want to vouch for the linked content, it may be for paid advertisements, untrusted sources, or user-generated content.
Mike King, Founder of iPullRank (a world-renowned SEO expert) describes understanding the distinction between dofollow and nofollow links in his case study: Mining for Gold: Link Building in an Age of Spam He essentially breaks it down this way – dofollow links are the verified endorsements and nofollow links are used to combat spam. If you don’t bother with using these attributes as they were intended, something as minute as never audited, long forgotten backlinks could impact the success of your SEO strategy.
How Many Backlinks do I Need to Rank Higher?
Perhaps you’re getting your fresh new site underway and looking to approach your SEO strategy with gusto, you may be searching for a checklist of items on your to-do list, complete with the acceptable quantitative targets needed to rank higher.
Or maybe you’ve got an established site with a mix of different backlinks that reflects your experimental history. The Google SERP algorithm isn’t exactly an open book, so testing out different levers that may (or may not) impact your SEO ranking is only natural.
Either way, if you keep your eye on the prize going forward, you’ll grow a link building profile that is composed of authoritative sites in your industry rather than go for broke at the link farm because you let your scarcity anxiety eat away at you. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. There is no known or official number of backlinks you need to hit in order to rank higher. Don’t just take our word.
Another classic piece from Rand Fishkin at Sparktoro, The First 500 Links: How to Build a Backlink Profile for New Websites emphasizes that there is no exact number of backlinks required to rank higher. Instead, the post highlights that the focus should be on acquiring high-quality backlinks from authoritative and relevant sources. When dealing with a website that is just getting off the ground, Fishkin advises building a well-rounded backlink profile in order to curb potential penalties from search engine algorithms.
Although there is no specified number of backlinks to aim for, it is known that criteria such as keyword competitiveness, content quality, and the strength of your backlink profile will contribute to your rankings.
How do LLMs Influence my Backlink Profile?
Do LLMs impact backlink profiles? Yes, indirectly.
AI tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google’s Gemini, or Meta’s Llama look for authoritative sources to back up their claims. A strong backlink profile means the world to LLMs; if yours lacks relevancy and authority, the system will look for better content to compile an answer. Users beware though: the judgment that these tools use is nascent and often flawed.
For instance, answers to a query are summarized in Google’s AI Overview – the AI-generated search results that appear at the top of the page – can be either useful and relevant or unhelpful and irrelevant. To the right of the overview is the Learn More section, listing the original articles that were used to supply the answer. These tools need a careful and critical eye to determine whether the information that’s been cited is accurate. If your brand is being referenced in the sources on the right, then you’re more likely to appear in the AI Overview and it’s more likely that you have a strong backlink profile.
Link building practices targeting sources used in Google’s AI Overview is becoming a more prominent part of marketing activities. Google isn’t crawling the world wide web to track you down in real time. However, if your content gets backlinks from authoritative sources, it will rank higher, which improves your chances of being part of Google’s datasets used to train its AI systems.
Tools for Backlink Profile Analysis
Finding your link profile with all the information in one place can be difficult. First, there is the dynamic nature of the Internet, with countless websites linking to each other every minute. Second, most SEO tools are powerful, but still limited in the volume of information they have.
Having said that, these are the places to start looking when you want to assess your backlink profile.
Google Search Console: this completely free tool will show you the number of backlinks and the places they come from
Ahrefs: powerful SEO tool that updates frequently and has a great backlink checker with data such as domain rating, website’s organic traffic, anchor text they used for the link and more
SEMRush: a similar tool to Ahrefs with a great backlink checker to asses inbound links
Majestic SEO: simple and easy to use link building tool and backlink checker
The main difference between Google Search Console and the remaining three tools is that you can only set up GSC for your own website. In other words, Ahrefs, SEMRush and Majestic SEO let you assess competitors’ backlinks too and learn from their backlink strategy.
Take the next step
Once you have an overview of your backlink profile, you’ll want to do a backlink analysis. You will learn which bloggers link to you, what your most linked pages are, and how all these links affect your search engine optimization efforts. Based on the results of your analysis, you’ll know what links you need to gain balance in your profile and perform better in search engine results.
Are you still feeling stuck? Why go it alone? Because we have your back at ReportCard. We build backlinks for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to large corporations operating in global markets.
Get in touch today so we can create a link building strategy that brings solid ROI.
