Best SEO Backlink Checkers

If you want your website to get ranked properly, you need to acquire backlinks one way or the other. There are many link building strategies out there, some of which are heavily frowned upon by Google and other search engines. There are safe methods of getting backlinks, too.

But one of the most important parts of setting your strategy right is by checking the backlinks that your competitors have acquired. 

It can also be a good way of telling whether you have a chance when it comes to ranking for a particular keyword — if highly authoritative websites have targeted it and they have a massive number of links pointing towards that post, too, it can be almost impossible for you to end up on page 1 of the search results.  

In today’s post, we’re looking at some of the best backlink checkers out there (free and paid).

Best SEO Backlink Checkers

1. SEMRush

Often considered the best backlink checker tool by many SEOs, SEMRush is the first one we have to mention on our list. Granted, it’s not free, but the most basic paid plan gives you access to a lot of information. 

You can use the Backlink Analytics feature on the left side of the dashboard to visualise data regarding the domain you’re interested in analysing, as well as the backlinks it has pointing to it. 

We’ve found it to be one of the most useful tools for checking on your competitors’ backlinks, especially since it gives you anything from the number of links to the keywords their pages are ranking on. There is a fourteen-day free trial available and you can check it out using the button below.

2. Ahrefs

Ahrefs is another powerful platform that you can use, especially if you’re looking for a bulk backlink checker. It’s very easy to use and the team is constantly making changes to improve the user experience. 

If you take some time to look at the features that it can offer you (and read their blog while you’re at it, too, since you have lots of tutorials and explanatory videos on there), you will be able to check anything from broken links to the variety of link types that your competitors have acquired.

For example, you can see which ones are dofollow or nofollow, see which ones are sponsored, and which ones come from .gov or .edu domains. Analysing the backlink profile of a website is particularly easy with this tool. 

Last, but not least, you can use Ahrefs to improve your internal linking structure, although a tool like the Sitebulb Website Crawler would probably be more useful for that task. 

3. Linkminer by Mangools

If you are on a budget and you need a set of tools that can help you find keywords, check on your competitors’ websites, and find their backlinks, too, Linkminer might be a good option. With just $29 a month, you get access to all the tools developed by Mangools, from KWFinder to SERPWatcher. 

Linkminer is pretty easy to utilise and you can visualise data such as the new and lost backlinks of a website, which ones have been deleted, or which ones are nofollow. 

The detail that makes the biggest difference when comparing Linkminer with other similar tools is that with the former, you can ‘favorite’ backlinks of your competitors so you create a list that you’re supposed to target for outreach purposes. Pretty neat, right?

4. Majestic

Although some folks might argue that Majestic is a bad backlink checker these days, it’s still worth a try, especially since it is considerably cheaper than others. The tool has been around for many years, during which time many SEOs have become accustomed to using their assessment, such as Citation Flow or Trust Flow. 

The team has recently introduced a new feature, called Link Context, which allows you to browse, filter, and search a link so that you find out what it’s made of (in terms of images, text, and even other links) and if it’s a part of a directory. 

While it has become less and less popular as some tools (SEMRush and Ahrefs) clearly beat its performance, Majestic is at least worth checking out. 

5. Ubersuggest

While this one is primarily designed to find keywords that you can target, there is a backlink tool available that can allow you to take a peek at how your competition is doing in terms of links. 

Read more: Blogger outreach

The platform gives you information about the new and lost backlinks of a domain, which ones are dofollow and nofollow, and more. It costs $29 a month and it’s developed by Neil Patel. 

6. OpenLinkProfiler

This one is a completely free backlink checker that gives you access heaps of link data types. Although it is developed by the team at SEOProfiler (which is paid), you don’t have to pay a penny to get access to the data. 

You do have to create an account if you want access to some features. While it can’t be compared to SEMRush or Ahrefs in some respects, we’d say that OpenLinkProfiler makes a good choice for someone that’s on a strict budget. 

7. BuzzSumo

Although it’s pretty basic when compared to some of the other backlink checkers that we have showcased here, BuzzSumo is a good option for beginners. You should primarily use the tool for content analysis, but you can see the backlinks that a page has received in the past. 

Read more: Surfer SEO Review

There’s a one-week free trial available if you aren’t sure whether you should give BuzzSumo a go. 

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Craig Campbell

I am a Glasgow based SEO expert who has been doing SEO for 22 years. In this time I have gained extensive knowledge in the subject of SEO and have build up a wealth of experience in SEO and other digital marketing services.

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