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qr-code-generator.com — Backlink Profile Analysis

SEMRush export (10,000 backlinks) · Analyzed 2026-03-08
Filtered to genuine links only. Excluded: 9,300 Yahoo/Bing SERP artifacts, 302 internal ecosystem links (qrcode-monkey.com + .de + self), 115 TripAdvisor CDN menu links, 42 blogspot link farm pages. All data below reflects the 241 real backlinks from 136 unique domains.

vs QR Code Monkey (side-by-side)

Genuine Links
241
vs 2,367
Unique Domains
136
vs 1,086
AS 40+ Links
52.3%
vs 2.1%
News/Media
12
vs 0
Health Score
4/10
vs 5/10
Genuine Backlinks
241
from 10,000 raw (97.6% noise removed)
Unique Domains
136
after all filtering
Dofollow Rate
56.4%
136 DF / 105 NF (below 80% healthy)
AS 40+ Links
126
52.3% of genuine profile
Lost Links
49
20.3% decay rate
Profile Health
4 / 10
thin volume, high decay, low DF

Key Insight: Fewest Links But Highest Per-Link Authority — Quality Over Volume

Only 241 genuine links survive filtering (97.6% of the 10K SEMRush export was noise — 93% Yahoo SERP artifacts alone), yet 52.3% come from AS 40+ domains. This is the inverse of every other competitor. Forbes, NY Times, The Guardian, Wikipedia, HubSpot, Bitly — real editorial authority that QR Code Monkey and others completely lack. Product-driven links (28.6%) from hotels and restaurants embedding QR menus form a self-reinforcing flywheel. The 20.3% link decay rate and 56.4% dofollow ratio are critical weaknesses. Ahrefs cross-validation revealed 18 additional DR 70+ domains (GitHub, Patreon, Postman, webopedia) that SEMRush missed entirely, upgrading the true profile to 315 genuine links from 218 domains.

Authority Score Distribution (AS Tiers)

Anchor Text Classification

Website Type

Mention Context

Acquisition Method

Link Type Breakdown

AS 60+ Domains (Top Authority Layer)

DomainASTypeContext
bitly.com80DFEU Cookie Policy page
zsonamaco.com78DFArt fair map PDF download
blogs.egu.eu69DFEuropean Geosciences Union blog
yourway.store65DFQR code generator recommendation
lapizzeriamadrid.com62DFRestaurant menu download
yiccanews.com62DFNews article reference
de.wikipedia.org60NFGerman Wikipedia QR code article
mexipan.com.mx60DFBakery expo bookguide

Notable High-Authority Links (News, Wikipedia, SaaS)

DomainASTypeCategory
forbes.com—NFNews/Media
nytimes.com—NFNews/Media
theguardian.com—NFNews/Media
cbc.ca47DFNews/Media
express.co.uk50-54NFNews/Media
de.wikipedia.org60NFWiki/Reference
eu.wikipedia.org55NFWiki/Reference
blog.hubspot.com51DFMarketing (5 links)
bitly.com69-80DFSaaS Partner
adobe.com—DFSaaS Partner
canva.com—DFSaaS Partner
godaddy.com47DFSaaS Partner

Top Referring Domains by Link Count

DomainLinksType
gitnux.org16QR statistics reports
sakeromance.com15Japanese sake restaurant (QR menus)
github.com8Developer repos / API references
yourway.store6QR code recommendation site
qrcode.studio6QR-related niche site
blog.hubspot.com5Marketing blog roundups
robinwaite.com5"Best QR Generators" articles
sites.google.com5Various Google Sites pages
bitly.com4Cookie policy / legal pages
hyatt.com4Hotel room service QR menus

Toxic Link Signals

SignalSeverityCountDetails
Blogspot link farms (pre-filtered)HIGH4235 domains with 13K-50K outbound links each
High link decay rateMEDIUM4920.3% of genuine links are dead
Low dofollow ratioMEDIUM—56.4% vs 80%+ healthy baseline
gitnux.org logo/image linksLOW16Auto-generated logo references, all NF
sakeromance.com empty anchorsLOW15Single site with 15 image links

Strengths, Weaknesses & FreeQR Opportunities

Strengths

  • Highest per-link quality of all competitors — 52.3% of links are AS 40+
  • Major news/media presence — Forbes, NYT, Guardian, Wikipedia links
  • Product-driven links (28.6%) — restaurants, hotels, businesses using their QR menus link back naturally
  • Strong Ahrefs DR profile — GitHub (DR 96), HubSpot (DR 93), Patreon (DR 93), Bitly (DR 90)
  • Featured in HubSpot roundup — highest-ROI single backlink in the QR space

Weaknesses

  • Fewest total links — only 241 genuine links from 136 domains
  • Thin domain diversity — smallest referring domain count of all competitors
  • Zero active outreach — no guest posts, no strategic link building detected
  • No community presence — absent from forums, Q&A sites, developer communities
  • Heavy SEMRush data pollution — 93% of 10K export was SERP noise (Ahrefs data was cleaner)

FreeQR Opportunities

  • Replicate their product-driven link model — embed "Powered by FreeQR" attribution in generated QR landing pages to earn organic links from businesses
  • Target the same roundup articles — HubSpot, Robin Waite, and other "best QR generator" lists where they appear
  • Surpass on volume easily — with only 241 links, even modest outreach will create a larger link profile
  • Exploit their community gap — forums, Reddit, Quora, and developer communities are completely uncontested
  • Pursue PR/media coverage — their Forbes/NYT links prove the QR space can earn press; pitch FreeQR's free-first story to journalists
  • Japanese restaurant niche — significant cluster of Japanese restaurant QR menu links; create localized landing pages