Competitors don’t play fair. In SEO and link building, they exploit every loophole - broken links, downtime, lost backlinks, and sloppy outreach. If you don’t defend against these moves, you bleed rankings and revenue. This article breaks down sneaky tactics competitors use and how to counter them with direct, efficient strategies.
Tactic 1: Exploiting Dead Pages
Competitors monitor your site for dead or broken pages. When your high-value pages 404 or go offline, they move fast. They’ll replicate your content, pitch it as the “replacement,” and capture your backlinks.
How They Do It
- Use crawlers to detect when your content disappears.
- Contact sites linking to your dead page, offering their “updated resource.”
- Redirect link equity and authority away from you.
How to Counter
- Monitor your site in real time. Get alerts the second a money page goes offline.
- Fix outages immediately. Even a few hours of downtime is enough for predators.
- Pre-plan redirects. If a page must be removed, redirect it to a relevant replacement before competitors act.
Example: If your “Best SaaS Pricing Models” guide goes offline, expect competitors to email every site linking to it. Without monitoring, you won’t even know until rankings crash.
Tactic 2: Tracking Your Backlink Losses
Competitors don’t just chase their own growth. They watch when you lose backlinks - whether from site changes, editor removals, or content decay - and insert themselves.
How They Do It
- Use backlink monitoring tools to spot when your links vanish.
- Reach out to the linking site immediately, offering their version of the resource.
- Position you as outdated or irrelevant.
How to Counter
- Track your backlink profile daily. Don’t wait for monthly reports.
- Set alerts for lost links. Reclaim them before a competitor does.
- Strengthen relationships. Build rapport with editors and webmasters so they default to keeping your content live.
Stat: Studies show that up to 20% of backlinks decay each year. Competitors know this and weaponise it.
Tactic 3: Weaponising Downtime
Every SaaS site faces downtime - server issues, CDN hiccups, or expired SSL certificates. Competitors turn downtime into opportunity by contacting your prospects and publishers while your site is unreachable.
How They Do It
- Detect downtime with uptime monitoring tools.
- Alert potential customers or partners that your site is “unstable.”
- Use downtime as leverage to pitch themselves as the safer option.
How to Counter
- Instant notifications. Get alerts the second your money pages drop.
- Redundancy. Ensure backups, CDNs, and SSL renewals are automated.
- Rapid response playbook. Don’t scramble - have predefined steps to restore uptime in minutes.
Tactic 4: Broken Outbound Link Hijacking
One of the most overlooked tactics: competitors scan high-domain authority pages for broken outbound links. They find dead resources, recreate similar content, and pitch it as the new destination.
How They Do It
- Crawl competitor backlinks and niche sites for outbound 404s.
- Rebuild the missing content with their branding.
- Email the site owner: “Noticed you’re linking to a dead resource - use ours instead.”
How to Counter
- Run your own scans. Target the same broken outbound links before they do.
- Move faster. Publish and pitch replacement content immediately.
- Focus on authority domains. Prioritize links from .edu, .gov, and top-tier industry sites.
Example: A broken outbound link on a DA 80 marketing blog can deliver dozens of high-quality backlinks to whoever replaces it first.
Tactic 5: Aggressive Outreach with Pre-Filtered Targets
Most SaaS founders waste time with cold, blind outreach. Competitors who play dirty don’t. They use verified contact lists and launch campaigns at scale before you even draft an email.
How They Do It
- Build databases of editors and site owners with verified emails.
- Segment by relevance and authority.
- Send templated pitches at scale, ensuring quick wins.
How to Counter
- Don’t spray-and-pray. Work with pre-filtered, verified outreach targets.
- Use templates smartly. Personalize at the margin but keep the efficiency of scale.
- Leverage timing. Strike right after a competitor loses a link or a resource dies.
Tactic 6: Cloaking Their Moves
The most dangerous competitors don’t make their tactics obvious. They cloak their link-building campaigns, making it hard to see where they’re gaining ground.
How They Do It
- Use private blog networks (PBNs) disguised as legitimate sites.
- Mask outreach under “guest contributor” personas.
- Diversify anchors to avoid detection.
How to Counter
- Monitor competitor backlink growth. Spot suspicious spikes.
- Investigate referring domains. Low-quality or identical-looking sites often indicate PBNs.
- Exploit exposure. If you uncover unethical tactics, you can report them - or just use the intel to predict their moves.
Tactic 7: Opportunistic Negative SEO
In some industries, competitors go further: negative SEO attacks. They flood your site with toxic backlinks, duplicate your content, or attempt to tank your reputation.
How They Do It
- Automate spammy backlink blasts from irrelevant domains.
- Scrape and republish your content at scale, confusing search engines.
- Manipulate fake reviews or mentions.
How to Counter
- Monitor backlinks for toxicity. Disavow malicious links quickly.
- Track content duplication. File DMCA takedowns where necessary.
- Reinforce authority signals. A strong, diverse backlink profile makes negative SEO less effective.
Building a Counter-Strategy
Defending against these tactics isn’t enough. You need a system that makes you the one exploiting openings before anyone else.
Core Moves
- Monitor constantly. Know when pages die, downtime hits, or backlinks vanish.
- Respond instantly. Don’t lose days - minutes matter.
- Exploit broken links. Find authority pages with dead resources and replace them.
- Scale outreach smartly. Verified contacts, pre-built templates, precision campaigns.
- Analyze competitors. Track every backlink gain or loss they make.
Example Workflow
- Get an alert that a competitor lost a DA 70 backlink.
- Contact the site within the hour with your superior replacement resource.
- Secure the link before the competitor even realizes what happened.
That’s the difference between bleeding and dominating.
Conclusion
Competitors thrive on your blind spots. Sneaky tactics competitors use and how to counter them boils down to awareness and speed. Monitor everything, strike first, and never give them room to exploit openings. In SEO, defense and offense are the same move: act faster, smarter, and with precision.
Get Started
Stop playing defense blindfolded. Use a system that tracks downtime, backlink losses, and competitor moves in real time. Turn every competitor tactic into your opening.