Quick summary
Ahrefs Site Explorer lets you analyze any website's backlink profile to detect active link building campaigns by monitoring referring domain growth, link velocity, and anchor text distribution. Use this walkthrough to understand exactly which signals in Ahrefs indicate that a competitor is running a structured link acquisition strategy.
Steps
- Enter the target website URL into the Site Explorer search bar to begin analyzing its backlink data.
- Review the Referring Domains metric to see how many unique websites are linking to the analyzed site.
- Click the New tab under Referring Domains to filter and view only links acquired in the last 30 days.
- Look for a sudden increase in referring domains, which can indicate an active link building campaign.
- Navigate to the Backlink Profile section on the Overview page to examine link patterns over time.
- Identify Link Velocity — the rate at which new backlinks are being acquired — to spot unnatural growth.
- Analyze the Backlink Profile graph for irregular spikes or sharp dips that may signal a coordinated link-building effort.
- Go to Anchors within the Backlink Profile to examine Anchor Text Distribution across all inbound links.
- Check for an unnatural concentration of specific anchor text phrases pointing to the site, which may indicate manipulative link building.
