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Link Profile.
The link profile is the totality of all links pointing to a domain from other websites, together with their characteristics: linking domains, topics, anchor texts, link targets, nofollow share and development over time. It shows how natural and trustworthy a website's external linking appears.
Link Profile — Explained in Detail
A single link says little. Only the overall picture of all backlinks shows how a website is anchored on the web. This includes the number of different linking domains, their topics and origin, the distribution of anchor texts, the targets of the links (homepage or subpages, see deep link) and the ratio of follow to nofollow links.
A natural link profile is irregular. It contains many links with the brand name or the bare address as anchor text, links from directories and partners, some from the media, some nofollow, and it grows in bursts, for instance after a media mention. A profile becomes conspicuous when many links with an identical keyword anchor text suddenly appear, when links come predominantly from off-topic or foreign-language sites, or when whole groups of websites link to the same targets.
An example: a Zurich law firm discovers that within a month it has received hundreds of new links from sites with names like 'seo-links-24', all with the anchor text 'lawyer Zurich'. The firm has bought nothing; links like these are also created by automated spam sites. Google ignores most of them on its own. Only if there are signs of a manual action, or if the source was earlier paid link building, does the disavow tool become relevant.
Checking your own link profile
Google Search Console gives a free overview in the 'Links' report: top linking sites, most-linked pages, most common anchor texts. The data is not complete, but it comes from Google. Tools such as SEMrush, Ahrefs or Majestic show more links and historical trends, with their own metrics such as Domain Rating or Trust Flow, which are not Google values.
Three questions count in the review: do the links come from sites that fit the offer thematically or regionally? Are the anchor texts predominantly natural (brand, address, descriptive)? Are there patterns that suggest earlier link buying?
Having your link profile checked
Our free SEO check includes a first look at the backlink profile and referring domains compared with local competitors; clean expansion is part of ongoing SEO. What counts here are not only risks but above all opportunities: partners, associations and media that already mention the company but do not link to it are often the quickest wins.
For expansion, the principles from link building and off-page SEO apply: a few genuine recommendations instead of many bought links.
Related Page
Website AuditFrequently Asked Questions About Link Profile
One that looks naturally grown: links from varied websites that fit thematically or regionally, mostly with brand names or descriptive anchor texts, a share of them nofollow, and growth that matches the company's activities.
Free of charge in Google Search Console under 'Links'. Paid tools such as SEMrush, Ahrefs or Majestic provide more comprehensive data. None of these tools knows every link, but they are sufficient to assess the profile.
As a rule, no. Google recognises most automatically generated spam links and ignores them. Action is mainly needed when there is a manual action for unnatural links, or when paid links were placed in the past.
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