If you have a website, you‘ve likely heard about the importance of SEO (search engine optimization) to get your content ranking high in search results and driving more organic traffic. And one of the key factors that search engines like Google use to evaluate the authority and relevance of a webpage is the quantity and quality of other websites linking to it. These inbound links pointing to your site are called "backlinks."
Think of backlinks as votes of confidence from other websites. The more high-quality, relevant sites that link to your webpages, the more search engines will view your content as valuable and worthy of ranking well. On the flip side, having a lot of low-quality, spammy sites linking to you can actually hurt your SEO.
This is why it‘s so important to not only build links to your website, but to regularly monitor and analyze your backlink profile. You need to keep track of what sites are linking to you, identify any potentially harmful links to disavow, and find opportunities to gain more links from authoritative websites in your niche.
Doing this all manually would be extremely tedious and time-consuming. Fortunately, there are many excellent backlink checker tools available to help you stay on top of your link building efforts. Here are 10 of the best:
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1. Semrush
Semrush has one of the largest databases of backlinks with over 43 trillion links. Its "Backlink Analytics" tool provides an in-depth look at your backlink profile, including your referring domains, IP addresses, countries, anchor text, and more. You can easily identify your site‘s best performing content and see which pages on your site have the most referring domains.
Semrush also has a handy "Backlink Audit" feature that automatically identifies potentially toxic links based on 45+ factors so you can remove them. It integrates with Google Search Console and allows you to export your disavow file to submit directly to Google. Other useful features include "Link Building Tool" for discovering prospects and tracking outreach, and "Bulk Analysis" to analyze backlink profiles for up to 200 URLs at once.
2. Majestic
Majestic is another top backlink checker with a huge link database. One standout feature is its Chrome extension which lets you quickly view metrics for any page or website you‘re browsing, such as its Trust Flow, Citation Flow, number of referring domains, and more. This is great for on-the-fly competitor research.
Majestic provides useful data visualizations of your link profile, anchor text, and referring domains. It shows the geolocation of links and lets you easily filter and segment data to find insights. While it doesn‘t have as many extra features as some other tools, it‘s one of the best for pure link data and analysis.
3. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is an industry leader in backlink data and offers a comprehensive set of tools for link analysis and link building. In addition to seeing all your current backlinks, you can easily see which links you‘ve recently gained and lost. This helps you identify your linkbuilding progress and spot any issues, like a high-quality link being removed.
A valuable feature in Ahrefs is the "Link Intersect" tool, which discovers websites that are linking to your competitors but not to you. This can surface some low-hanging link opportunities. The "Content Explorer" is also excellent for finding the most linked-to content for any topic. Other data Ahrefs provides includes anchor text distribution and a "Domain Rating" metric to measure the strength of linking websites.
4. Moz Link Explorer
Moz‘s backlink checker is part of their broader SEO toolset. It‘s especially useful for analyzing the backlink profiles of your competitors and finding opportunities for links you can replicate. Moz created the Domain Authority metric which has become an industry standard for measuring website quality, and its link tool shows you the Domain Authority for all linking sites.
A helpful feature is the "Spam Analysis" which identifies links that could potentially harm your site‘s reputation based on various spam signals. The tool also reports on anchor text distribution, top linked pages, and linking domains. Data is updated frequently and you can see a history of your link metrics over time.
5. SEO SpyGlass
SEO SpyGlass, part of the SEO Powersuite package, boasts the largest backlink database with a massive index of links. It automatically identifies potentially dangerous links that could incur a penalty from search engines. It then allows you to generate a disavow file of these harmful links that you can submit to Google.
The tool provides an overall risk assessment of your backlink profile to alert you if it deviates from a natural, organic link pattern. You can dive deep into link data, viewing it by IP address, domain, anchor text, dofollow/nofollow, and more. SpyGlass also makes it easy to import backlink data from Google Search Console and Analytics.
6. Sitechecker Backlink Tracker
Sitechecker offers a free Backlink Tracker tool (with limited features) as well as affordable paid plans. One useful capability is being able to import links from other data sources like Google Search Console or Ahrefs and then monitor them over time. This saves you from having to re-run reports in multiple tools.
A unique feature is the ability to get email alerts anytime Sitechecker identifies a new or lost backlink to your site. You can opt to track backlinks for any domain, not just your own. Backlink data is constantly refreshed and audited to ensure accuracy. The interface is beginner-friendly and the affordable pricing makes it accessible for smaller websites.
7. SE Ranking Backlink Checker
SE Ranking pulls data from Google Search Console to provide details on your site‘s backlinks. In addition to standard data like anchor text and referring domains, it shows whether links are dofollow vs nofollow, text vs image, sitewide, and more. You can connect Search Console and export links directly to a disavow file.
The unique selling proposition of SE Ranking is its all-in-one SEO platform. So in addition to backlink analysis, you get a full suite of tools for rank tracking, keyword research, website audit, on-page SEO, and more. Pricing is based on number of backlinks/domains monitored and frequency of checks.
8. Nightwatch Backlink Tracker
Nightwatch aims to show how your backlinks are impacting your organic search rankings. It integrates data from your Google Analytics and Search Console accounts (as well as using Nightwatch‘s own backlink database) to give you a comprehensive view.
A standout feature is Nightwatch‘s "Backlinks Impact" which correlates your backlinks‘ authority with your rankings. It also groups links into "portfolios" so you can track links acquired from different campaigns. Automated alerts keep you informed of new and lost links. The rank tracking features let you clearly see how backlink metrics correspond to search performance.
9. LinkMiner
LinkMiner has a huge 9 trillion link index and focuses on surfacing the highest value backlink opportunities. When you search for a competing website, it returns that site‘s most powerful backlinks based on metrics like domain authority and trust. You can preview the linking page to see the context of the link and quickly assess if it‘s a good fit.
One helpful feature is the ability to see all the new links a site has acquired in just the past 30 days. This helps you stay on top of your competitors‘ latest link building strategies. You can also save your favorite prospects to a list as you audit backlinks. LinkMiner is designed to streamline your link research and find the best opportunities.
10. Spyfu Backlink Checker
Spyfu‘s backlink tool emphasizes filtering and segmenting data to extract actionable insights. You can look at a domain‘s links by top keywords, domain strength, or link type (e.g. blog, forum, edu). This is valuable for strategically finding link opportunities related to specific keywords.
The tool is part of Spyfu‘s full SEO suite which is reasonably priced compared to other platforms. The main benefits are its huge historical data, unlimited data exports, and streamlined UI to quickly drill down to the most important link data. It also provides additional SEO data like domain age and number of organic clicks.
Why Backlinks Matter for SEO
Backlinks have been a key Google ranking factor for over two decades now, ever since Google‘s PageRank algorithm pioneered the idea of using links to measure a webpage‘s authority. Google‘s search quality guidelines state:
"The quantity, quality, and relevance of links count towards your rating. The sources of the best links are those that are reputable, high-quality websites."
So not only do you need a certain quantity of links, but also a diversity of sources and a high relevance to your content topic. A link from a high domain authority site like the New York Times or Harvard.edu will carry much more weight than a link from some spammy, low-traffic blog.
But this doesn‘t mean you should go out and try to gain as many links as possible from wherever you can. In fact, building a bunch of low-quality links too quickly is a surefire way to get penalized by Google. Links should be earned organically by creating great content and promoting it effectively to your target audience.
The goal is to build your domain authority over time by consistently gaining references and links from credible websites in your industry. Think quality over quantity. One excellent, organic link is worth far more than dozens or hundreds of low-quality directory or blog comment links.
White Hat vs Black Hat Link Building
In the SEO world, two terms you‘ll often hear are "white hat" and "black hat." These refer to the strategies and tactics used to gain backlinks and improve search rankings. White hat techniques follow search engine guidelines and aim to provide value to users. Black hat link building uses shady, unethical tactics that violate guidelines and are done solely to manipulate rankings.
Some examples of white hat link building include:
- Creating exceptional content (articles, infographics, videos) that naturally earns links and social shares
- Guest blogging on relevant, high-quality websites in your niche
- Getting featured in industry publications and media outlets
- Building genuine relationships with influencers and other site owners
- Adding your business to curated, high-quality directories
On the other hand, black hat tactics to avoid include:
- Buying links or participating in link farms and private blog networks (PBNs)
- Using automated tools to create hundreds of low-quality links from dubious sources
- Overusing exact match anchor text in links to your site
- Embedding links in widgets, footers or templates that get placed on many sites
- Cloaking or sneakily hiding links on pages
These spammy practices may boost your rankings in the very short term, but will eventually result in penalties and a loss of search visibility. It‘s simply not worth the risk. Stick to legitimate, white hat strategies to future-proof your SEO.
The Evolution of Backlinks
In the early days of the web, Google‘s PageRank algorithm was revolutionary because it used links as an indicator of value and authority. The thinking was that if many sites link to a particular webpage, it must be important and worth ranking. As a result, many SEOs focused on acquiring as many links as possible to boost rankings.
Over time, Google has gotten much more advanced and now uses a variety of signals to determine quality and relevance. While links are still very important, Google‘s algorithms can now identify link spam and manipulation much more effectively. They also place more emphasis on evaluating content quality, expertise, and user experience.
Recent core algorithm updates like Panda and Penguin specifically targeted low-quality content and unnatural linking. Many sites saw dramatic drops in rankings and traffic after these updates. Google has made it clear that creating excellent content that deserves to rank should be the priority, with earning legitimate links being a natural result of that process.
As search evolves and machine learning plays a bigger role, Google is getting better at understanding context and user intent. Gaining links from highly relevant sources and semantic-rich anchor text helps provide that context. Building topical authority with a wealth of comprehensive content and inks is becoming more and more vital.
Putting It All Together
Ultimately, the goal of SEO is to rank higher in search results so you can get more targeted traffic to your website. Backlinks remain one of the most important ranking factors, but earning them takes consistent effort and a focus on creating linkable assets.
Using a reliable backlink checker to regularly monitor your link profile is essential. You can identify your most linked content to double down on what‘s working. You can discover the types of links your competitors have so you can adapt your strategy. And you can stay on top of damaging links to avoid penalties.
We‘ve covered 10 of the top backlink checkers available today. Test them out to find the one that best fits your needs and budget. Just remember, these are tools to supplement your link acquisition efforts, not to automate the process. There are no shortcuts to earning great links.
The key is to create exceptional content that will rank well on its own merits and attract links naturally over time. Have a plan to promote and distribute your content through channels like email outreach, social media, PR, and industry forums. Monitor your progress and adjust your approach as needed.
By combining great content with proactive link building and regular link monitoring, you‘ll be well on your way to SEO success. Those efforts will pay off in the form of higher rankings, more organic traffic, and more customers finding your business online.