What scorcery is this?

[jacobfrost]

I wanted to share this with you folks. Stumbled across a competitor in the Spanish market and noticed the site has only 1 backlink (low quality) and yet has managed to position itself very strongly in a highly competitive industry (CBD). This is the first time I see something like this.

 

[Richichi]

He could have a PBN that is blocking crawlers so they don't show up on ahrefs/semrush etc

 

[Hawkeye Digital]

backlinks which are blocked by site crawlers , so they are not letting them crawl over the ahrefs score and overall .

 

[jacobfrost]

He could have a PBN that is blocking crawlers so they don't show up on ahrefs/semrush etc

This was my only logical explanation but it just seems unlikely that he could be ranking so well only from his own PBN and not a single link from other sources.

 

[tazarbm]

This was my only logical explanation but it just seems unlikely that he could be ranking so well only from his own PBN and not a single link from other sources.

it doesn't seem unlikely. People who rank in the CBD niche have lots of money to spend on backlinks, otherwise they wouldn't be able to rank there

 

[MisterF]

This was my only logical explanation but it just seems unlikely that he could be ranking so well only from his own PBN and not a single link from other sources.

Why?

Unless you know his PBN, the quality and quantity of sites you can't comment on this.

Plus non English keywords are usually easier to rank for if he's going after Spanish terms.

 

[jacobfrost]

Why?

Unless you know his PBN, the quality and quantity of sites you can't comment on this.

Plus non English keywords are usually easier to rank for if he's going after Spanish terms.

I don't think it's the case here. I used other tools to scan for his backlinks and there are almost none (except the usual .xyz spams), unless he's also blocking G's crawlers..
The domain name itself is relevant for the keywords he's positioning for but still slightly mind bogging.. I have seen other cases of pure luck where G just gives relevance to crappy sites but there's always some substance behind. 1 backlink is new to me.