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qr.io — Backlink Profile Analysis

SEMRush export (10,000 backlinks) · Analyzed 2026-03-08
Filtered to genuine links only. Excluded: 1,082 Yahoo/Bing SERP artifacts, 7,963 joinfleek.com sitewide links (1 real backlink), 6 blogspot link farms. All data below reflects the 949 real backlinks from 273 unique domains.

Three-Competitor Comparison

QR.io (this report)
Genuine links949
Unique domains273
AS 40+ links1.1%
Dofollow rate49.2%
News/media0
Health3/10
QR Code Monkey
Genuine links2,367
Unique domains1,086
AS 40+ links2.1%
Dofollow rate72.6%
News/media0
Health5/10
QR Code Generator
Genuine links241
Unique domains136
AS 40+ links52.3%
Dofollow rate56.4%
News/media12
Health4/10
Genuine Backlinks
949
from 10,000 raw (90.5% noise removed)
Unique Domains
273
including joinfleek as 1
Dofollow Rate
49.2%
467 DF / 482 NF (worst of competitors)
AS 40+ Links
10
only 1.1% — top AS is 53
Lost Links
86
9.1% decay rate
Profile Health
3 / 10
hollow authority, directory inflation

Key Insight: Volume Mirage — Directory Listings Inflate a Hollow Authority Profile

QR.io's 949 genuine links mask the weakest authority profile of all competitors: 93.7% are AS 0-19, zero links above AS 60, and the 49.2% dofollow rate is critically low. SaaShub alone accounts for 28.6% of all links (271) — all nofollow, passing zero authority. The real value comes from the Square ecosystem partnership (44 links, the most replicable pattern) and community forum presence (7.8% from Meraki, Fortinet, lexaloffle). Zero press coverage, zero Wikipedia, zero guest posts. FreeQR should NOT model its strategy on QR.io — use qr-code-generator.com for quality patterns and QR Code Monkey for volume/community tactics instead.

Authority Score Distribution (AS Tiers)

Anchor Text Classification

Website Type

Mention Context

Acquisition Method

Link Type Breakdown

AS 40+ Domains (Full High-Value Layer — 10 links total)

DomainASTypeContext
sovamfic.net53DFMedical conference file download
notebooks.bossuncaged.com48DFNotebook product page
e7company.x10host.com46DFWeb development company
qr.new45DFQR-related domain
galaxytakeawayhull.com45NFTakeaway restaurant menu
qr.info44DFQR-related domain
papamoshull.com42NFRestaurant menu
tour.taitung.gov.tw42DFTaiwan gov tourism registration

Top Referring Domains by Link Count

DomainLinksDF?Type
saashub.com271NFSaaS directory (alternatives pages)
webcatalog.io36NFApp directory
me-qr.com33MixQR competitor
lexaloffle.com25MixPico-8 game dev forum
sitelike.org23MixAggregator/scraper
educa2.madrid.org16DFMadrid education portal
toronto.redfm.ca14DFSouth Asian radio — app QR
squareup.com11DFSquare POS integration
square.site11DFSquare website builder
the-qrcode-generator.com11MixQR competitor comparison
community.meraki.com10NFCisco Meraki network forum
producthunt.com10NFProduct directory

Toxic Link Signals

SignalSeverityCountDetails
Blogspot link farms (pre-filtered)HIGH6Spam domains with 10K+ outbound links
joinfleek.com sitewide inflationMEDIUM7,963Single domain, single QR redirect — inflates raw count
SaaS directory inflationMEDIUM271saashub.com = 28.6% of profile, all NF
Critically low dofollow ratioMEDIUM—49.2% DF — worst of all competitors
Near-zero authority concentrationMEDIUM—93.7% of links are AS 0-19
Competitor cross-linksLOW59May disappear if competitors update pages

Strengths, Weaknesses & FreeQR Opportunities

Strengths

  • Square integration partnership — standout strategic partnership generating high-quality links
  • Moderate link volume — 949 genuine links from 273 domains
  • Directory presence — listed on SaaShub, G2, and similar platforms

Weaknesses

  • Weakest authority profile — 93.7% of links are AS 0-19, zero high-authority domains
  • SaaShub inflation — 28.6% of entire profile from one directory (4% DF ratio)
  • Zero news/media coverage — no journalist mentions, no press at all
  • Zero guest posts or outreach — entirely passive link acquisition
  • Heavy spam concentration — 90% of links show spam characteristics
  • Lowest health score (3/10) — weakest backlink profile of all competitors

FreeQR Opportunities

  • Replicate their integration model — pursue Square-style partnerships with POS, CRM, and ecommerce platforms
  • Easy to outperform — with a health score of 3/10, any focused link building will surpass qr.io's entire profile
  • Claim directory listings — submit FreeQR to the same directories (SaaShub, G2, AlternativeTo, Product Hunt) for baseline visibility
  • Target "qr.io alternative" searches — create comparison content exploiting their weak brand presence
  • Fill every gap — qr.io has zero guest posts, zero media, zero community links, zero educational links — all are uncontested