Backlinks are a vital part of any website’s SEO performance. Links from quality sites pointing back to yours indicate to Google that your site is trustworthy. And this can have a big impact on your site’s performance in search results.
You can use our free backlink checker to find the top backlinks pointing to any domain—whether it’s your own site or your competitor’s. Powered by Semrush, you can use this tool to find out where your links are coming from AND find potential link building prospects too.
In this guide, you’ll learn what backlinks are and why performing a backlink audit is an essential part of your SEO strategy. We’ll also take a deep dive into how to get backlinks for your sites, and how to understand what makes a backlink high quality.
What Are Backlinks?
A backlink is an incoming link to a website from another website. It’s like a digital vote of confidence from one site to another.
Like this one from HubSpot pointing to our website:
Building backlinks is essential for off-page SEO because backlinks indicate the popularity or credibility of a website. Search engines typically view websites with a higher number of quality backlinks as more authoritative and trustworthy.
So, when you get lots of backlinks, it can boost your search rankings.
Why Are Backlinks So Important?
Backlinks are important for SEO because they can directly influence your rankings.
A study by Backlinko revealed that the number of distinct domains linking to a specific page is the most important correlating factor to its Google rankings. So getting more (quality) backlinks can improve your rankings.
Plus, most content doesn’t get backlinks. Another study by Backlinko found that approximately 94% of all content fails to attract backlinks. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and competition for links is fierce. So, every backlink you get can have a major impact.
But backlinks can also drive referral traffic to your site. If you can get backlinks from relevant pages that receive a lot of traffic, you might be able to see some of that traffic yourself as users click on the links to your site.
How to Check the Backlinks of Any Site
You can use the free backlink checker tool above to find the backlinks to your own site or your competitors’ sites.
Just enter a URL, choose whether you want to analyze a domain with or without subdomains (or an exact URL), and hit “Analyze.”
You’ll see data about the website’s authority, number of referring domains and backlinks, and the number of referring IPs.
Underneath that data, you’ll see the rows of backlinks pointing to the domain you entered. The blue URL is the one pointing to your site, and the URL below that is the page on your site that URL is pointing to.
You’ll be able to see key details like the anchor text used for the link and whether it’s tagged as nofollow (more on that below).
You can see this data for some of your top backlinks. But if you want to see data for more links (such as all the links pointing to your competitor’s website), click the “View All Backlinks” button.
This will take you to Semrush’s Backlink Analytics tool, where you can run 10 backlink analysis requests per day with a free account.
How to Use the Backlink Checker’s Data
Not all backlinks are created equal, so you’ll want to know how to use the data from the tool to analyze your own backlink profile, or your competitors’.
So, let’s look at the key factors that make some backlinks more valuable than others.
Relevancy and Contextual Alignment
Backlinks coming from closely related domains, niches, topics, or sections typically carry more weight from an authority and ranking perspective. You want backlinks that align with the content’s purpose and audience.
When analyzing your backlinks (or potential link building opportunities), consider how well each link fits within its context and serves its audience.
The Weight of “DoFollow”
The “rel=nofollow” attribute tells Google to ignore the link and not follow it, meaning it won’t pass much or any authority to the linked site.
Links without this attribute, often referred to as “dofollow” (though the term is more of a marketing buzzword than a technical standard), are the ones that typically pass on SEO value.
But to make sure your website’s backlink profile looks organic and authentic, you need a mix of “nofollow” and “dofollow” links. Overemphasizing one type over the other can make your backlink profile appear manipulated, which could risk a decrease in rankings (or even a Google penalty).
Semrush’s Backlink Analysis Tool can show your ratio of “follow” to “nofollow” backlinks:
Credibility via Authority
One of the most important factors determining the strength of a backlink is the authority of the linking website.
When high-authority sites link to you, it indicates that credible sources vouch for your content.
You can see a website’s authority by running it through the backlink checker above.
But while these links are desirable, your overall backlink profile should be diverse to avoid the appearance of manipulation from a backlink network. (It’s always a balancing act, right?)
Note: The authority of the page you get the link from matters too. While a website might have high authority, getting a link from one of its old, irrelevant blog posts from 10 years ago might not move the needle all that much.
Relevant Anchor Text
The dance between anchor text and target keywords is a subtle one.
The closer the backlink anchor text is to your target keyword, the better. But while always aiming for an exact match with every backlink might seem tempting, it can come off as unnatural to the search engines.
You usually won’t need to worry too much about this, because you typically won’t have control over the anchor text that linking sites use. But it’s still worth keeping an eye on your anchor text distribution (tools like Semrush can help with this).
Other Ways to Check a Website’s Backlinks
There are various other ways to find a site’s backlinks. The best method for you depends on whether you own the site and what data you need.
How to Check Backlinks in Google Search Console
Google Search Console (GSC) is one of the most direct ways to see the backlinks Google recognizes for your site.
Note: You’ll need to verify ownership of the site to access all the backlinks data, so this is a method you should use only for your own websites. Plus, it may not show ALL of the links pointing to your site. But it’s a start.
Just head to the “Links” section of your GSC property. Click “Top Linking Sites” to get a list of domains linking to your content.
Click any linking domains to see the specific pages they link to on your site.
Finally, click any of these pages to see which pages on the linking site are pointing to that page on your site.
You can see a list of your pages with the most backlinks by going back to the “Links” screen and clicking “Top linked pages.” And you can do the same for anchor text with the “Top linking text” section.
Keep in mind that while GSC is an excellent tool for a peek into how Google perceives your backlinks, it comes with limitations. For example, GSC only displays up to 1,000 results.
So, if your site has attracted a large number of backlinks, you’ll only see a snapshot and not the complete picture. But it can be a good free way for beginners to check their site’s backlinks.
Using Dedicated Backlink Tools
There are various free and paid backlink checkers out there beyond Google Search Console that will show you more data and more useful metrics for your links. And they can help you when assessing your competitors’ links—something GSC can’t help with.
Semrush
Semrush offers a comprehensive suite of SEO and link-building tools.
You can use its backlink analysis features to discover referring domains, look at backlink types (like text vs. image links), and examine the top anchor texts associated with those backlinks.
You can also track the evolution of your or backlink profile to see how your link-building efforts pay off over time.
Semrush’s Backlink Audit tool also shows you potentially toxic backlinks you can disavow to help you maintain a healthy backlink profile.
Moz
Moz’s Link Explorer is dedicated to link analysis. As the creators of the Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA) metrics, Moz places special emphasis on the quality of backlinks.
With their tool, you can find data about domain and page-level link metrics, identify the content on your site that’s attracting the most backlinks, and compare the backlink profile of your site to your competitors.
Majestic
Majestic has a rich historical database of the web, so it offers unique insights into backlink data.
Majestic also uses a few proprietary metrics to assess the quality of websites and links:
- Citation Flow: A score between 0-100 that gauges the link equity or “power” the website or link carries
- Trust Flow: A measurement of a site’s trustworthiness based on the quality of sites linking to it
Ahrefs
Ahrefs offers helpful backlink auditing tools, with real-time updates. You can use the platform to explore referring domains, backlinks, and anchor text distribution. One standout feature is the “Lost Backlinks” report, which helps identify links you might have lost.
You can also use Ahrefs to monitor your competitors’ backlinks and find potential link building opportunities.
The Top 6 Strategies for Acquiring Backlinks
Now that you understand what backlinks are, why they’re important, and how to conduct a backlink analysis, let’s look at six of the most successful link-building tactics.
1. Create Highly Linkable Content
The cornerstone of a successful link-building strategy is quality content.
People are constantly looking for value, credibility, and uniqueness. When you invest in creating exceptional content that matches the search intent, you significantly increase your chances of getting great backlinks.
But what do I mean when I say “quality content”?
Here are some examples:
- Case studies tell engaging stories, offer a detailed look at specific topics, and provide actionable insights.
- Original statistical research brings fresh and exclusive data to the table, which can enhance your credibility and build buzz around your brand.
- Infographics can quickly grab attention with their visual appeal and condensed takeaways. They’re also easily shareable across channels.
- Ultimate guides are comprehensive, in-depth resources on a particular topic that aim to answer all of your readers’ questions. When writing ultimate guides, your goal is to be a one-stop resource and become the go-to source for information on that topic.
- With original surveys, you can offer unique data that others in the industry can reference and add outbound links to. This is a particularly effective strategy if your findings are surprising or newsworthy.
- Interviews with industry experts can be a valuable resource. This type of highly linkable content provides a unique perspective that high-authority domains can cite and link to.
By focusing on the types of content I’ve mentioned above (and investing in great SEO copywriting) you can increase your chances of getting more high-quality backlinks.
2. Create Profitable Partnerships
When two entities come together in a partnership, there’s an implicit endorsement of each other’s expertise and credibility. You can partner with other brands or organizations to create joint content, exchange guest posts, or provide simple shout-outs on each other’s platforms.
Each of these interactions naturally leads to the exchange of backlinks that elevate both partners’ online reputations.
You can also form partnerships to co-host webinars, events, or online challenges that help you generate exclusive content. This type of content can be a magnet for backlinks.
3. Leverage Broken Backlink Building
“Broken backlink building” is an SEO strategy that focuses on identifying and capitalizing on broken external links pointing to non-existent pages on other websites (a type of 4xx error). The goal is to provide a valuable replacement for the missing content and gain a backlink for your site.
To get started with broken backlink building, use tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to identify broken external links on relevant websites in your niche or industry.
For example, Semrush’s Backlink Analytics tool lets you filter by broken pages through its “Indexed Pages” report.
Evaluate the broken links to ensure they were initially pointing to a resource relevant to your target keyword. Then check the authority and relevance of the linking site. It should be a website you’d actually want a backlink from.
If you already have a piece of content that’s a suitable replacement for the broken resource, great! If not, create a new one. The replacement content should be of high quality and offer genuine value.
Once you’ve got an appropriate piece of content to suggest, contact the owner of the site with the broken link. Politely inform them about the broken link on their site and suggest your content as a potential replacement.
Broken backlink building is a strategic way to earn backlinks, but it requires effort and persistence. Not every outreach attempt will result in a backlink, but with high-quality content and polite persistence, you can get results with this technique.
4. Use Direct Outreach
While creating exceptional content is crucial, there’s no guarantee that people will link to it.
Direct outreach is a proactive approach where you introduce your content to those who might find it beneficial, relevant, or worth sharing.
This process involves:
- Identifying and contacting website owners, bloggers, or industry influencers
- Presenting them with your content
- Explaining why it would be of value to their audience
Wondering how to turn direct outreach into a successful link-building strategy? Personalization is the key, especially if you use an outreach platform, such as Pitchbox.
Generic or templated messages tend to get lost in the noise—or ignored. You must tailor each message to highlight how it provides a unique perspective, fills a gap, or aligns with the recipient’s interests.
When executed with tact and genuine intent, direct outreach can help you secure backlinks from high-quality sources and open the door for future collaborations and partnerships. The key is approaching it as a two-way street where both parties stand to gain value.
5. Turn Guest Blogging or Podcasting into Valuable Backlinks
Guest blogging and podcasting can both be opportunities to share your expertise, reach a new audience, and attract valuable backlinks.
By writing for reputable industry blogs or speaking on popular podcasts, you can leverage their established viewership or listenership. And you can build your credibility in the eyes of Google.
With guest blogging, you identify relevant blogs within your niche, pitch unique content ideas, and then deliver high-quality content that benefits the host’s audience. Remember, the goal isn’t just to earn a backlink but to provide real value to readers and establish yourself as a thought leader.
Podcasting, however, is about sharing insights, stories, and experiences in an audio format. You can host your own podcast or appear as a guest on other people’s shows. Both are great ways to discuss industry trends, challenges, and innovations—and attract links.
6. Research Your Competition
By identifying the domains that link to your competitors but not to you, you’ll get a treasure trove of potential link-building opportunities. These domains have already shown an interest in your industry, making them prime candidates for outreach or other link acquisition methods.
Competitor analysis can also give you insights into your competitors’ content strategies. What types of content are attracting the most links? Is there a gap in the market that you could fill with superior or complementary content?
Use the insights you gain here to form your next content strategy with backlink building as the focus.
Boost Your Rankings with High-Quality Backlinks
Backlinks play a critical role in your online visibility, acting as critical signals of trust and authority.
But they’re just one part of your overall SEO efforts. To find out what it takes to succeed with online marketing, and learn from a pool of industry experts, join the Traffic Think Tank Academy.
You’ll learn from the best of the best about all things SEO, from the basics of search engine optimization to forming advanced link building strategies.