Backlinks... If you can beat them & join them?!

[PedroAndJobu]

I have a competitor who has swooped in on most of the key search terms in my niche, solely through artificial backlinking.  There is a direct and obvious correlation between this link building and rise in the serps.

I know the mantra around here is creating good content and gaining real links, which I am doing.  But I am waiting to unleash this content during a site relaunch which is months away.  I don't want to sit around and do nothing while this site makes money and builds their list.

I have money to spend and want to go head to head with this site.  Would it make sense for me to go and copy all of the links this competitor has built?  At least 90% of them are profiles, article subs and blog comments.  Also, what do you think would be the best way to tackle this?

Any guidance as always is appreciated.

[RyanKent]

You have identified your competitor as having "artificial" links. It is likely many of those links have been devalued by Google and do not offer any benefit to the site. If that is the case, the site may even earn a penalty at some point due to inorganic links. It would be foolish for you to copy the bad links from your competitor.

I understand you are viewing your competitor's site and have determined the reason for the site's performance is these links. There are over 200 factors in determining a web page's ranking. It's entirely possible there are other factors causing the site to rank well and links are not the primary cause of the site's success.

Either way, you seem to clearly understand the process. You want to EARN links. You will never beat your competitor by copying their links. Examine your competitors profile so you can find opportunities and gather ideas. Work to capture some of the strong links from your competitor but leave the rest. You want to earn organic links in content.

What do you think would be the best way to tackle this?

You could choose to report your competitor to Google's spam team. They may take action based on your report. If action is taken, it will likely be months later.

[EGOL]

I agree with Ryan.

Those spammy links will cost you time and money - and it is a gamble that they will work long term.

Invest that money in a quality attack that will benefit you long term and beyond.