Backlinks are really important in SEO. They give your pages the “juice” they need to rank higher in Google search results. Even though some backlink methods might be outdated, they still play a big role in your search rankings.
John Mueller, a Google trends analyst, says that “link quality still matters to algorithms.”
So, backlinks are still a key factor.
But backlinks don’t always stick around. Sometimes, they disappear, and with them, you lose the SEO boost they provided.
You can also end up with unwanted backlinks.
That’s why it’s important to find and keep track of your backlinks. By identifying which links help and which don’t, you can improve your SEO strategy and boost your chances of ranking higher in search results.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to monitor backlinks, including how we at FATJOE do it in a simple and organized way.
You’ll learn:
- How to find backlinks in Google
- How to monitor backlinks
- The best tools for finding and tracking backlinks
- How FATJOE tracks and manages backlinks
Finding Backlinks In Google: How To Check Backlinks For SEO
Even with a well-managed link-building operation, backlinks won’t always work flawlessly. There will be errors.
You must keep an eye on them in light of this fact. However, why? What are we trying to find?
You Might Have Broken Links
Getting links from other websites can be a lot of work. You need to reach out, create content, and get their approval. But if those links break—meaning they no longer point to your pages—you lose the effort you put in.
Broken links usually happen for two reasons:
- You’ve made changes to the page that’s linked.
- The referring page has been updated or changed.
Often, it’s a technical issue, like changing a URL or removing a page without updating the links. Sometimes, the website linking to you may have updated their content or decided your page isn’t relevant anymore.
To avoid this, try to get links from relevant pages and keep your own content up to date. This way, if something does go wrong, you can confidently reach out to the site to fix it.
Checking for broken links manually can be time-consuming, but luckily, the backlink tracking tools we’ll cover can do this automatically for you.
The Owner Of The Referring Domain Might Have Changed
Changes in the ownership of a referring domain can affect your backlinks. The new owners might decide to redesign the pages and remove your links.
Even worse, they might keep your link but change the page’s content to something completely unrelated. This could make Google see the backlink as spam, which might hurt your ranking.
While this situation is rare, you can still fix it by reaching out to the new webmaster.
So, when you’re running a link-building campaign, it’s something to keep in mind and be prepared for.
How To Monitor Backlinks
Fortunately, with careful backlink monitoring, you may steer clear of these dangers. Before enumerating certain tools, we first discuss some broad guidelines here.
Backlink Tracking On Key Links
Key backlinks have two main features:
- They are “do-follow” links.
- They come from high-authority domains.
A “do-follow” link allows search engines to follow it. This means Google can directly crawl and count these links, giving a boost to your website’s SEO.
“High authority” domains are recognized by metrics like Domain Authority, which was developed by Moz. This score predicts how likely a website is to rank well on Google. Think of it as a measure of a site’s trustworthiness and reputation. Generally, a link from a more credible site is more valuable.
Sometimes, important links might break. So, what should you do?
First, try to reach out. If the website is still active, find someone to contact and figure out why the link is broken. Then, send an email with the details.
You might want to use this email outreach template for broken links:
Hi [name],
I was recently reading an article on your website and noticed some broken links. When I clicked on them, I got an error message: 404 Not Found. I believe this occurred because the article was recently updated.
Please could you restore these links so I can access these resources in the future?
I look forward to your response
Best wishes
Having said that, you don’t have to worry about every broken link. Some decline is inevitable. You should refrain from manipulating people in an attempt to completely prevent it. It can be seen by Google as manipulative and spammy.
Also Read: SEO Link Equity Guide
See Which Pages Are Doing Well
It’s a good idea to keep an eye on how link building is improving your pages.
As part of your SEO audit, check how well your link-building efforts are working and where you might need to improve. Start by identifying which pages have the strongest and weakest keyword rankings. Then, see how these rankings relate to the links you’ve built.
Also, look at the different anchor texts being used for each page. Make sure the anchor text is varied and not just a bunch of links with the same keyword.
As you find pages that aren’t performing well or are crucial to your success, check them individually for broken links.
Overall, by tracking each page’s SEO performance and identifying new outreach targets and link opportunities, you’ll be able to see where you need to boost your link-building and SEO strategy.
Compare Yourself To Competitors
Lastly, take a look at how you stack up against your competitors. Just like you, they lose links over time.
You can use backlink tracking tools to check their link profiles. If you find any broken links pointing to them, you can ask those website owners to redirect those links to your site.
You should also check where your competitors are getting their backlinks. You might be able to get links from the same sites by showing that your content is relevant to their audience.
If you spot a piece of content from your rivals that’s doing really well, you might want to try the “Skyscraper” technique. This involves creating something even better and then offering it to the site owner as a replacement. If you’re curious about the Skyscraper Content strategy, check out our post for tips on building links.
Tools To Find Backlinks And Monitor Them
Backlink tracking tools are your best friends when it comes to improving your SEO. They give you nearly all the info you need about your own backlinks and those of your competitors.
Some tools are easy to use and great for beginners, while others are more advanced. Each type has its own benefits.
In the next section, we’ll list all the tools you might want to consider, from basic ones to more advanced options. If the simple tools don’t quite meet your needs, give the more sophisticated ones a try.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console is one of the simplest tools you can use, but it’s great for checking the links on your site—and it’s free, thanks to Google!
Just set up your Google Search Console account and verify your domain to access the backlinks feature. Then, go to your property’s External Links under Links>>Links.
Here, you can see the pages linking to your site. It will also show you which keywords and internal and external URLs are most connected to you.
However, keep in mind that it doesn’t provide detailed backlink analysis. Plus, you can only see links pointing to your own site, not your competitors’.
Open Link Profiler
The next tool on our list is Open Link Profiler. It’s almost free and offers more features than Google Search Console.
To get started, just visit their homepage and enter a URL into the search field. You’ll get a report showing all the backlinks to that page.
Since backlink lists can be pretty long, you can export them as spreadsheets in .csv format. The tool also shows you where your links are coming from and highlights your most popular anchor texts.
With the free version, you can see reports with up to 100 links. If you need more, you’ll need to subscribe.
Ahrefs
Ahrefs is way more advanced than free tools. It offers keyword research, extra stats, and backlink tracking for any website.
To check the backlink status of a website, click on Site Explorer. Enter the URL in the search bar and hit Enter. Then go to the Backlink profile page and select Backlinks to see the full report.
Ahrefs shows you the page authority of each referring link, so you can spot and remove any unwanted links. It also updates the link status based on your latest check, so you can find any broken or missing links that need fixing. Just click Backlink profile>>Broken backlinks to see them all.
Keep in mind that Ahrefs is a paid tool, with subscriptions starting at $99 per month.
We use Ahrefs ourselves because it’s the most user-friendly tool for tracking both your backlinks and your competitors’.
Majestic SEO
Majestic is another popular tool that SEO experts use to track backlinks. It’s a premium service like Ahrefs, but you can try it out for free with an initial search.
Majestic gives you basic data such as the number of external inbound links and referring domains. It also shows unique and duplicate links, where your links are coming from geographically, and details about referring IPs and subnets. Plus, it tracks links from .edu and .gov sites.
The tool automatically creates charts that show how your backlinks are performing over time, helping you decide which links to keep or remove.
Majestic also includes a “trust flow” metric, which compares your site’s trustworthiness to other top sites in your niche.
Semrush
Semrush is a well-known backlink tracking tool that’s been around for years. Like other paid tools, it lets you check the link profile of any website.
To get started, sign up or log in. New users get 10 free requests to try it out. Then, go to Link Building>>Backlink Analytics to keep an eye on your backlinks. Click on the Overview tab at the top to see a detailed report of your backlink profile. Semrush shows you domain authority, the number of backlinks, referring domains, and the authority score of the sites linking to yours.
One great feature is that it shows you visuals of backlinks added or removed in the last six months. Click the View Complete Report button to see where you’re losing backlinks. Go to the Lost tab to find out when a link was last seen.
A handy feature of Semrush is that it can automatically export lists of spammy links to Google’s disavow tool, saving you from having to do this manually.
CognitiveSEO
CognitiveSEO is another powerful paid tool for tracking both your own and your competitors’ backlinks. It’s pretty user-friendly—just enter the URL you want to check into the search bar on the homepage and hit Start. Then, click on the New/Lost Links option at the top of the results page to see the links you’ve lost.
CognitiveSEO will show you a list of these links along with a graph of lost and new links. To view all the details, you’ll need a subscription.
The tool can also notify you when your website gets a new backlink, so you can quickly disavow any unwanted links instead of waiting for your next audit.
It also includes a handy ranking tool that gives you an overview of your site’s visibility on Google across hundreds of keywords.
Monitor Backlinks
If you’re looking for more than just basic backlink monitoring but don’t want to spend a lot, Monitor Backlinks is a good option. It even offers a free version.
To use it, just enter the URL of the website you want to check into the search bar and hit enter. Monitor Backlinks will give you details like subnets, referring domains, and other metrics.
The app comes with a bunch of handy features. For example, you can see how a single backlink affects your search rankings. You can also get email alerts whenever you gain or lose a link. Plus, you’ll receive weekly emails with new backlinks from your competitors, which is great for keeping an eye on them.
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