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THE METHOD: SOURCING

How to find link building opportunities your competitors already have

The best link building opportunities are the sites already linking to your direct competitors, followed by partners who have placed backlinks with you before. Find them by pulling your real competitors’ backlinks, removing every site that already links to you, and checking for new ones each month. Scout, our backlink bot, runs that search for every brief.

Email your briefHow we know

Your competitors’ backlinks are my treasure map.

WHAT TO AIM FOR

What sourcing from competitors gets you

Where the sites come from decides everything that follows.

  • Sites already linking to businesses like yours.
  • Fresh opportunities each month, as competitors win new backlinks.
  • Budget spent only on backlinks you don’t have yet.
  • Your own sites working together, never pitching the same publisher.
TRY IT YOURSELF

A competitor’s backlinks, sieved into a shortlist

Shake a competitor’s referring domains through three meshes and see what’s left to pitch.

TRY IT

The sieve

ILLUSTRATION

A competitor’s referring domains go through three meshes. Shake the sieve three times and see what falls through.

MESH 1 OF 3Illustration, not the real order.
REFERRING DOMAINS OF rivalclinic.example
  • healthitweekly.example
  • caredesk.example
  • medlistings.example
  • quickdinners.example
  • practiceweekly.example
  • softwarereviews.example
  • clinicops.example
  • gamerzone.example
  • clinicleaders.example
Mesh 1: Already yoursSites already linking to you are never pitched.
  • Empty
  • Empty
Mesh 2: Not a real competitor’s kind of siteDirectories and review sites.
  • Empty
  • Empty
Mesh 3: Off-briefReaders who aren’t your buyers.
  • Empty
  • Empty
ShortlistWhat falls through, ready for the quality checks.
  • Empty
  • Empty
  • Empty

One competitor’s referring domains, all in one pile. Shake the sieve.

From your competitors’ backlinksEmail your brief
See the answer

Mesh 1 catches healthitweekly.example and clinicops.example, which already link to you. Mesh 2 catches a directory and a review site. Mesh 3 catches a recipe blog and a gaming site.

The shortlist is caredesk.example, practiceweekly.example and clinicleaders.example. In a real brief, sites also come from past partners.

Illustrative example, not real output or real sites.

DO IT YOURSELF

How to find link building opportunities in five steps

A process you can run with any SEO tool that exports referring domains. It is the first step of The LabsMedia Method, our link building process, and it feeds every check that decides whether a backlink is relevant to your business.

  1. Step 1: Name your real competitors

    Pick the businesses a buyer would compare you with, not whoever ranks for your keywords. Set aside partners, suppliers, customers, big publishers and review sites: their backlinks come from sites that won’t fit you.

  2. Step 2: Pull their referring domains

    Export each competitor’s referring domains from an SEO tool and put the lists side by side. A site that links to two or three of your competitors, and not to you, is the strongest kind of opportunity: it already covers your space.

  3. Step 3: Remove what you already have

    Check every candidate against your own backlink profile and against any site you’re already talking to. Paying for a backlink from a site that already links to you adds little.

  4. Step 4: Cut the list to your brief

    Keep the sites inside your authority range and your market, then judge each one on its readers. How to find niche sites for backlinks shows how to read a site’s audience before you pitch it.

  5. Step 5: Look again every month

    Competitors keep winning backlinks. A monthly look at what’s new brings fresh opportunities, and going back to partners who delivered before adds sites with a track record.

HOW WE KNOW

How Scout finds link building opportunities

Several sources feed one shortlist, and every site on it is new to you.

From your real competitors

  • WHAT WE DOSites are found through the backlinks of your real competitors, not whoever ranks for your keywords.
    WHY IT HELPSThe list is built from your competitors, not taken from a fixed catalog.
    WHAT YOU GETBacklinks from the sites that already vouch for companies like yours.
  • WHAT WE DOIf no true competitor can be found, a person decides what happens next.
    WHY IT HELPSEvery prospect earns its place on the list.
    WHAT YOU GETNo filler sites dressed up as prospects.
  • WHAT WE DOThe first run can look at a competitor’s whole backlink profile. Monthly re-checks, when your campaign runs them, look only at what’s new.
    WHY IT HELPSThe list keeps growing with your market.
    WHAT YOU GETMonth two brings new opportunities, not the same sites again.

From partners we know

  • WHAT WE DOA partner network built from real past deals, kept in the system rather than in someone’s inbox.
    WHY IT HELPSRelationships built on past deals are ready to use from the start.
    WHAT YOU GETSites with a track record, available to your campaign from day one.
  • WHAT WE DOPartners are re-measured against real data, and any that slip are set aside with a reason.
    WHY IT HELPSPartner data stays current as sites change.
    WHAT YOU GETPartners are offered at the level they hold today.

Nothing you already have

  • WHAT WE DOEvery candidate is checked against your backlink profile before anyone is contacted.
    WHY IT HELPSYour own backlink profile is part of every search.
    WHAT YOU GETYour money goes on backlinks you don’t have yet.
  • WHAT WE DOA site is never worked for two of your sites at once.
    WHY IT HELPSAll your sites are coordinated in one place.
    WHAT YOU GETYour sites never bid against each other.
  • WHAT WE DOEvery site that’s dropped is kept with the reason it was dropped.
    WHY IT HELPSThe full picture is kept, not only the sites that made it.
    WHAT YOU GETA shortlist you can question, not just trust.
DEPTH, NOT A RECIPE

Only real competitors are mined

The shape of the search, without the recipe.

  • Several
    sources feeding one shortlist
  • Real
    competitors only: no publishers, directories or review sites
  • 15
    phases in the main pipeline
  • Every
    dropped site keeps its reason
THE RUNNING EXAMPLE

Patient-intake software, sourced

The same medical SaaS brief, from a blank page to a starting list.

EXAMPLE: A MEDICAL SAAS BRIEFILLUSTRATION

Healthcare and medical blogs, DR 50–70, with the US as one of their top traffic countries.

Mined: the healthcare-software companies you really compete with. Not mined: the giant health portals that rank for everything.

A practice-management blogLinks to two of your competitors, sits inside your DR range, and has never linked to you.
SHORTLISTED
A health-tech news siteAlready links to you. Kept on record with that reason, and never pitched.
SET ASIDE
A clinic-operations newsletterAlready in talks for another of your sites, so it isn’t pitched a second time.
SET ASIDE

What’s left moves on to the next checks, where the US has to be one of each site’s top traffic countries. No one on your team to run this? Link building for in-house teams without a link builder.

Illustrative example, not real output or real sites.

FAQ

Link building opportunities: common questions

What is a link building opportunity?

A link building opportunity is a site that could reasonably link to one of your pages: it covers your topic, its readers match your buyers, and it already links to businesses like yours. The strongest ones link to several of your competitors but not yet to you, which shows the site is open to your space.

Where do the best link building opportunities come from?

Mostly from sites already linking to your direct competitors, from partners who have worked with you before, and from publications your buyers read. Competitor backlinks are the richest source, because each one is a site that has already said yes to a business like yours. Ready-made guest post lists are a weaker start, because they aren’t built around your competitors.

How do I find out who links to my competitors?

Enter each competitor in an SEO tool such as Ahrefs or Semrush and export its referring domains. Put the lists side by side and look for sites that link to more than one competitor. Remove any that already link to you, then check each remaining site’s niche fit, authority and traffic before anyone is contacted.

What if my site is new and tools show no competitors?

Start from the businesses a buyer would compare you with, even if they are bigger, and from the sites ranking for your main keywords. SEO tools often show no competitors for a brand-new domain, so other sources have to fill the gap. At LabsMedia, when no true competitor can be found, a person decides what happens next.

How often should I look for new link building opportunities?

Monthly is a sensible rhythm. Competitors keep winning backlinks, so a monthly look at what’s new brings fresh sites instead of re-pitching old ones. At LabsMedia, monthly re-checks can be set up for your campaign, and they look only at what has changed since the last run.

THE AGENTS BEHIND THIS

PRESS START

Name your competitors

Or let Scout find them. Email your brief with your site; that’s enough to start. We reply with a short form.

From your competitors’ backlinks
Email your briefPrefer a call? Talk to a backlink specialistMeet Scout, our backlink botAll the ways to reach us
support@labsmedia.com