LINK BUILDING · SEO GLOSSARY
Link Gap Analysis
Identifying websites that link to competitor pages but not to your own comparable pages — revealing link acquisition opportunities where existing linking sites have already shown topical interest and linking propensity.
Definition
Link gap analysis compares the backlink profiles of competing pages ranking for target keywords to identify sites that link to competitors but not to you. The logic: a site that linked to a competitor\'s guide on a given topic has demonstrated (a) that they publish content where that link is relevant, (b) that they are willing to link to external resources, and (c) that they consider the topic worth referencing. All three conditions make them a high-quality prospect for a link to your equivalent or superior resource. Link gap analysis is performed by: (1) identifying the top-ranking pages for your target keyword; (2) pulling the backlink profiles of those pages via a link database (Ahrefs, Moz, Majestic, SEMrush); (3) finding domains that link to multiple competitors but not to you ("intersection" domains — high-priority prospects); (4) finding domains that link to at least one competitor but not to you ("union minus yours" — broader prospect list). The intersection domains are highest priority: they\'ve linked to multiple competitors, proving consistent linking behaviour for this topic. The output is a prioritised prospecting list where relationship-building or outreach can begin.
Why it matters for SEO
Link gap analysis produces the highest-quality link prospecting lists because every prospect on the list has self-qualified: they already link to pages like yours. This eliminates the primary difficulty of link building (finding sites with topical relevance and linking willingness) and focuses effort on positioning your content as the superior alternative worthy of a link. Closing the link gap with competitors is the most direct path to competitive ranking improvement for authority-sensitive keywords.
How DeepSEOAnalysis checks this
DeepSEOAnalysis does not perform link gap analysis (which requires access to a web-wide backlink database). Use Ahrefs Link Intersect, SEMrush Backlink Gap, or Moz Link Explorer for this analysis. The audit does check your page\'s outbound link quality and internal link structure — the on-page signals that make your content worth linking to once prospects discover it.
GLOSSARY
Related terms
links
Link Building
The practice of acquiring inbound backlinks from other websites to increase a page\'s PageRank and improve its ranking potential for target queries.
Read definition →onpage
Competitor Analysis (SEO)
The process of identifying which sites rank for your target queries, analysing why they rank there, and finding the gaps in their content, technical SEO, and structured data that you can exploit.
Read definition →link building
Referring Domain Diversity
The number of unique root domains linking to a page or site — a core link quality metric. 100 links from 100 different domains is significantly more valuable than 100 links from 1 domain, as Google weights diversity of linking sources heavily.
Read definition →link building
Editorial Link
An inbound link earned naturally because another site chose to cite your content, without payment, request, or reciprocal arrangement.
Read definition →See how your site scores on Link Gap Analysis.
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