By the top of this information, you’ll know the right way to analyze your personal website’s backlinks (hyperlinks from different web sites pointing to your website), the right way to discover competitor backlinks, and the right way to discover new backlink alternatives.
Why Backlinks Matter
Backlinks from respected, related web sites sign to search engines like google and yahoo that your content material is reliable. And that may enhance your probabilities of rating increased in search outcomes and attracting extra visitors.
In our 2024 Rating Components examine, we discovered that 8 out of the highest 20 elements with the strongest correlation to rating are associated to backlinks.
And whereas some top-ranking pages we analyzed had 1000’s of backlinks, the median variety of backlinks for top-ranking pages is simply 13. Which suggests you don’t essentially want 1000’s of backlinks to rank extremely.
5 Methods to Discover Backlinks
The beneath instruments make it easier to discover backlinks to your website—and a few choices allow you to discover backlinks to any website.
1. Google Search Console
Google Search Console helps you discover which websites hyperlink to you together with helpful data just like the anchor textual content (the clickable a part of hyperlink) they use and what number of hyperlinks level to every web page in your website.
Right here’s the right way to discover backlinks on your web site with Google Search Console:
- Check in to your Google Search Console account
- Click on “Hyperlinks” within the left-hand navigation menu
- Evaluate the “Exterior hyperlinks” studies
- Click on “Extra >” to drill into particular studies
The particular studies you possibly can click on into are:
- Prime linked pages: Exhibits which pages in your website have essentially the most backlinks and what number of distinctive domains hyperlink to every one. So you possibly can spot which pages are most engaging and the place you would possibly must construct extra hyperlinks.
- Prime linking websites: Lists the domains that hyperlink to your website most ceaselessly. Which reveals your strongest backlink sources and helps you consider the standard and breadth of referring domains.
- Prime linking textual content: Shows essentially the most generally used anchor textual content in backlinks to your website. So you possibly can monitor for selection, relevance, and potential over-optimization (over-optimized anchor textual content is an overuse of the key phrases you wish to rank for, which may seem unnatural to search engines like google and yahoo).
To export all of your backlinks, click on “Export Exterior Hyperlinks” and choose “Extra pattern hyperlinks” to export all backlinks. Or “Newest hyperlinks” to export your latest backlinks.
You can even export any of the person studies.
Google Search Console is helpful whenever you want a fast take a look at your backlinks. And it gained’t result in information overwhelm.
2. Semrush Backlink Analytics
Semrush’s Backlink Analytics instrument attracts on a database of greater than 43 trillion hyperlinks to allow you to discover your website’s backlinks and competing websites’ backlinks.
First, enter your area (or a rival’s) and click on “Analyze.”
You’ll then see a high-level overview of that area’s hyperlink profile, like Authority Rating—a rating from 0 to 100 that measures your website’s web optimization high quality. Websites with increased scores have a greater probability at rating increased.
You can even view the variety of referring domains (what number of domains hyperlink to at the very least one web page in your website). And a community graph. So you possibly can perceive the relevance of your backlinks.
For an in depth take a look at the location’s particular person backlinks, go to the “Backlinks” tab.
You’ll see insights for every hyperlink just like the web page’s Authority Rating, anchor textual content, and hyperlink attributes (extra details about a hyperlink).
Backlinks from related websites with excessive Authority Scores could be extra useful than these from websites with low scores. However hyperlinks from high-authority websites can be more durable to get.
3. Bing Webmaster Instruments
Bing Webmaster Instruments enables you to see your website’s backlinks and means that you can examine your self with as much as two different websites.
Create and configure your Bing Webmaster Instruments account when you haven’t. After which head to your dashboard.
Click on “Backlinks” to see the domains that hyperlink to you, the pages that hyperlink to you, and the anchor textual content websites use.
Clicking “Obtain all” downloads the chosen report as a CSV file.
Click on “Backlinks To Any Website” to view the identical data for as much as two different websites.
Lastly, click on “View detailed report” for one of many studies.
Choose “Add filter” to filter the information.
For instance, within the “Prime Referring Domains” report, you possibly can filter information to solely present domains that hyperlink to your entered opponents and never you.
4. Backlink Audit
Semrush’s Backlink Audit instrument analyzes the standard of your website’s backlinks, so you recognize which varieties of backlinks your website could must carry out higher in search outcomes.
To get began, configure an audit for the Backlink Audit instrument.
The “Overview” tab provides you data on the variety of backlinks you could have. Together with what proportion are comply with versus nofollow.
Nofollow hyperlinks possible don’t go authority to your pages. Wholesome backlink profiles have each nofollow and comply with hyperlinks.
For instance this, we reviewed the highest 100 web sites from Semrush Rank in June 2025. On common, we discovered that 71% of the backlinks had been comply with. And 29% had been nofollow.
When you’ve got a lot of nofollow hyperlinks, you’ll possible wish to spend time getting comply with hyperlinks.
You can even evaluate your backlinks’ anchor textual content (clickable hyperlink textual content).
Scroll right down to the “Backlinks by Anchor Kind” and click on “View full report.”
You’ll get a listing of all of your backlinks with their anchor textual content. Ideally, you’ll have a mixture of totally different anchor textual content. As assorted anchor textual content typically signifies pure backlink profiles.
5. Various Free Backlink Checkers
When you’re utilizing free instruments like Google Search Console or Bing Webmaster Instruments, it is price working your website by means of a number of extra backlink checkers that may uncover further information. To offer you a extra full view of your backlink profile.
Listed below are 4 different free backlink checkers to discover:
- web optimization Evaluate Instruments has a backlink checker that exhibits you high backlinks, misplaced backlinks, and new backlinks
- Linkody has a backlink instrument that exhibits you as much as 100 referring domains with anchor textual content and comply with/nofollow attributes
- SEOptimer has a backlink checker that exhibits a abstract of your backlink profile and your high 10 backlinks
- seobility gives a instrument that exhibits a complete listing of your website’s backlinks (restricted to a few checks per day)
3 Methods to Discover New Backlinks for Your Website
After gathering information in your website’s backlinks and your competitor’s backlinks, you possibly can give attention to discovering new backlink alternatives by means of hyperlink hole analyses, damaged hyperlinks, and misplaced backlinks.
1. Carry out a Competitor Hyperlink Hole Evaluation
A competitor hyperlink hole refers to backlinks your opponents have that your website does not have. And these hyperlinks could be useful alternatives—if a website is already linking to comparable content material, there’s a superb probability they’d contemplate linking to yours as nicely.
Go to Semrush’s Backlink Hole instrument, enter your area and as much as 4 competing domains, and click on “Discover prospects.”
The ensuing report enables you to kind domains utilizing six tabs:
- Greatest: Domains pointing to all entered opponents however to not you
- Weak: Domains that time to you lower than your entered opponents
- Robust: Domains that time solely to you and to not any entered opponents
- Shared: Domains that time to each you and all entered opponents
- Distinctive: Domains that time to just one entered area
- All: All linking domains discovered
Take note of the “Greatest” tab. As these are the domains that don’t at present hyperlink to you however are possible keen to.
Use the checkboxes to examine off websites you’d like hyperlinks from. Prioritize related websites with excessive Authority Scores.
Then click on “+ Begin outreach.”
Clicking this button sends prospects to the Hyperlink Constructing Device. The place you possibly can observe your outreach efforts. (We’ll present you the way to do that later.)
2. Discover Damaged Hyperlinks
Damaged hyperlink constructing is whenever you discover webpages with hyperlinks that don’t work and recommend a related web page of yours to switch the damaged hyperlink.
Discover damaged hyperlinks to a competitor’s website by going to the “Listed Pages” report in Backlink Analytics and checking the field subsequent to “Damaged Pages.”
Then, click on the quantity within the “Backlinks” column subsequent to a web page.
You’ll see the precise pages that hyperlink to the required web page. Together with which web page the hyperlink is from and the hyperlink’s anchor textual content.
Evaluate the websites and see when you can attain out to them with a working web page they will hyperlink to as an alternative of your competitor’s web page. Prioritize your outreach efforts by reaching out to websites with the very best Web page Authority Rating.
3. Discover Misplaced Backlinks
Misplaced backlinks are hyperlinks your website used to have you can attempt to recuperate to keep up your website’s web optimization.
Within the “Backlinks” tab inside Backlink Analytics, click on “Misplaced and Important” to get a listing of high-priority backlinks to earn again.
To strive recovering misplaced backlinks:
- Evaluate the supply web page to know why you misplaced the hyperlink (e.g., is your content material outdated?)
- See when you’ve got any up to date or related items of content material the web page can hyperlink to. And even have a look to see whether or not the web page was just lately up to date.
- Contact the location proprietor and ask them to hyperlink to your website once more
Michelle Symonds, Founder and Managing Director at web optimization company Ditto Digital, observed a sluggish, regular drop in search visibility throughout some vital weblog posts when working a content material audit for a shopper. And suspected misplaced backlinks had been inflicting the drop in rankings.
“Among the best options of Backlink Analytics is seeing which hyperlinks had been misplaced resulting from one other website’s construction modifications—not elimination. We discovered a number of high-authority placements, primarily from visitor posts and associate round-ups, the place the linking website had redesigned or shifted content material. The hyperlinks weren’t deleted maliciously, they’d simply damaged quietly.”
She notes that based mostly on inside information, her staff is normally in a position to reclaim roughly 50% of misplaced backlinks resulting from website construction modifications.
To examine which backlinks had been possible misplaced to website construction modifications (for instance, an internet site removes a web page that had a backlink), Michelle used the “+ Add filter” possibility, chosen “Misplaced points,” and checked the field subsequent to “Web page redirect.”
It is a nice method as a result of dropping a large variety of backlinks over time could impression your visitors and rankings.
Streamline Constructing Backlinks by Automating Your Outreach
Automating your outreach helps you safe extra backlinks in much less time.
Semrush’s Hyperlink Constructing Device has built-in workflows to simplify discovering contacts and sending outreach emails—so you possibly can keep organized and work extra effectively.
Open your challenge after configuring the Hyperlink Constructing Device and click on “Prospects” to see a listing of potential backlink alternatives.
Undergo the listing and click on “To In Progress” subsequent to any hyperlink you’d like to amass.
While you’re achieved, click on the “In Progress” tab to see the total listing of internet sites you’d like backlinks from.
Click on the blue “Contact” button subsequent to a given prospect to draft and ship your outreach e-mail.
An e-mail editor will open the place you possibly can ask for a backlink. Which works finest whenever you:
- Provide a high-quality, related piece of content material
- Maintain your e-mail temporary and well mannered
- Tailor your e-mail to the recipient so it doesn’t sound such as you’re utilizing a template for mass outreach
Then, you possibly can simply ship your emails and monitor your progress throughout the instrument.
Need to strive constructing backlinks to your website?
Strive Semrush’s Hyperlink Constructing Device at present.
