Monitoring a website's backlink profile is essential for sustaining a robust SEO strategy.

In this article, we'll explore the potential reasons behind a significant increase in backlinks and offer guidance on how to investigate and address the underlying causes effectively.

Understanding the Backlink Surge

The first step in investigating a sharp increase in backlinks is to identify where these links are coming from. Go to the Ubersuggest Backlinks Overview, drill down into the specific domains and pages linking to the site. Look for patterns such as:

New or Updated Content: Has there been recent content on the site that might have attracted links?

Industry Mentions or News: Sometimes, industry-related news or events can lead to a spike in backlinks if the site is mentioned or cited as a reference.

Content Syndication: Check if the content has been syndicated or republished on other platforms, which can result in many backlinks.

If the website team has conducted any outreach or PR campaigns recently, it could explain the influx of backlinks. Promotional activities, guest posts, or partnerships can lead to more referring domains. Due to that, the user needs to check the following:

Outreach Campaigns: Were there any new outreach efforts or guest posts published?

Press Releases: Was it issuing any press releases that might have been picked up by various media outlets?

Influencer Collaborations: Collaborations with influencers or industry experts can also generate a substantial number of backlinks.

Understanding Discrepancies Across Platforms

Different SEO tools may report varying backlink counts due to differences in their data collection methods.

Each tool has its own web crawlers and data sources, which can lead to discrepancies.

Ubersuggest backlinks data comes from one of the industry's top providers, MOZ. The tool use their API to populate the backlinks data. It also allows the tool to apply some proprietary metrics that became the reference in the market: Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA).

Backlinks data is constantly collected, but it won't have all of the existing links on the web. Probably only Google has access to such massive data, and they don't even show it (Search Console limits the number of backlinks the user can see).

Ubersuggest will show you the most relevant backlinks for any given website.

Addressing the Core Update Impact

Google's Core Updates

Google’s core updates can influence how backlinks are valued and how they impact rankings. These updates may alter how backlinks are interpreted, but they should not cause an unexpected surge in backlink quantity. Analyze:

Ranking Changes: Monitor if the backlink surge corresponds with any changes in your search engine rankings.

Update Specifics: Review the specifics of the core update to understand its potential impact on backlink strategies.

Quality Over Quantity

Focus on the quality of backlinks rather than just the quantity. High-quality, relevant backlinks are more valuable for SEO. Evaluate:

Link Quality: Assess the authority and relevance of the domains linking to your site.

Spammy Links: Identify and disavow any low-quality or spammy links that may have been acquired during the surge.

A sudden increase in backlinks, warrants a thorough investigation. By identifying the sources of these backlinks, understanding the discrepancies across reporting platforms, and considering the impact of Google’s core updates, you can better manage your backlink profile and maintain a robust SEO strategy.