Backlinks are one of the pillars of organic SEO: they strengthen your site's authority and improve your visibility on Google. But you still need to know who is linking to you, what type of link they're using, and what impact it has on your SEO.
Without the right tools, it's impossible to spot opportunities, monitor your competitors, or identify toxic links that could harm your rankings.
In this article, we present the best free and paid tools to find, analyze, and track your backlinks effectively.
Majestic: an SEO tool focused on backlinks
Majestic is one of the few SEO tools to be entirely focused on backlink analysis. Unlike other generalist platforms, it stands out with its huge link database and unique metrics such as the Trust Flow (quality of inbound links) and the Citation Flow (link volume). These metrics allow you to quickly evaluate the relevance of a backlink and identify high-value sites for your strategy.
With Majestic, you can:
- Explore thebacklink history to see how your profile evolves over time.
- Analyze the context of links (surrounding text, theme of the source site).
- Compare multiple domains and identify missing link opportunities compared to your competitors.
The tool offers a free analysis for one site, but for monitor your backlinks daily, choose one of its paid plans starting at €46.99 per month. The price is reasonable for an SEO tool that lets you optimize your backlinks.
Ahrefs: comprehensive SEO tool including backlinks
Ahrefs is first and foremost a comprehensive SEO tool, which covers keyword analysis as well as technical audits and rank tracking. Its backlink module is very good and makes it easy to identify your backlinks. Its backlink index is substantial; it allows you to:
- Monitor in real time the new backlinks acquired and those that are lost.
- Analyze the quality of referring domainsthe anchors used and their relevance.
- Identify the best link opportunities by comparing your profile to that of your competitors.
- Quickly detect the toxic backlinks that can harm your SEO.
Ahrefs is aimed at both agencies and SEO freelancers companies or independent entrepreneurs who want to retain control of their link building. However, Ahrefs' pricing is higher. Starting at $129 per month.
The cost of a link building campaign is substantial. Tracking the evolution of your backlinks is essential if you invest resources in acquiring external inbound links.
Link Explorer: Moz's "free" backlink tool
Moz, known for its metrics for Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA), offers with Link Explorer a reliable tool to analyze and track your backlinks. Its main advantage is providing a clear, concise view of the quality of your link profile.
Link Explorer offers a free version that allows you to run 10 queries for free per month (you still need to log in to the tool).
On pricing, Moz offers a Starter plan starting at $49 per month, but the cost can rise if you want to monitor multiple sites.
SEMrush: another multi-purpose SEO tool
SEMrush is one of the most comprehensive SEO tools on the market, with features ranging from keyword research to rank tracking. It is widely used by web agencies, SEO agencies, and in-house teams, despite its somewhat high price (starting at $139.95 per month).
On backlinks, it allows you, like the other tools, to:
- Track changes in your link profile (new, lost, anchor text, referring domains).
- Compare your backlinks with your competitors' and identify missing opportunities.
- Assess the quality and the link toxicity thanks to its scoring system.
We particularly appreciate itstoxic backlink identificationwhich identifies potentially harmful links. Although, in practice, reporting these toxic links to Google is not always necessary (Google often ignores low-quality backlinks on its own), this feature helps keep an overview and secure your link-building strategy.
Analyze your backlinks with Google Search Console
The Google Search Console (GSC) is the free tool provided directly by Google. It allows you to know your backlinks thanks to a list of sites that link to yours. Just go to the “Links” menu then “External links.”
This gives you a clear view of your site's popularity in the eyes of the search engine. It's a useful first step to understand who is talking about you and to measure the scale of your link profile.
However, unlike specialized tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush or Majestic, GSC does not provide detailed information on backlink quality: no authority metrics, no anchor analysis, nor relevance scoring. It therefore remains limited for refining a link-building strategy.
For basic, free monitoring, Google Search Console is essential and often the starting point before investing in a more complete tool.
Also read: The best SEO tools to analyze and optimize your search ranking
Other tools available to analyze your backlinks
We have just reviewed the best backlink analysis SEO tools in detail. But other, less well-known tools exist to discover the incoming external links to your site.
If the tools presented don’t meet your expectations or your budget, here are other possible options:
SEObserver : an excellent French tool for analyzing backlinks and keywords. For €99 per month, you can monitor the backlinks of 100 sites.
Linkody : an automated, easy-to-use tool that identifies backlinks and flags those that may be harmful.
Open Link Profiler : a free tool that displays up to 200,000 backlinks per domain, with a Link Influence Score (LIS).
Rank Signals : a freemium solution that lets you discover backlinks and nofollow links, useful for basic monitoring.
Ubersuggest (Neil Patel): includes a backlink analysis feature in its SEO suite, available for free in a limited version.
CognitiveSEO : offers in-depth analysis of backlinks and anchor text, with a focus on detecting suspicious link profiles.
SEOptimer Backlink Checker : allows you to receive alerts as soon as you gain or lose a link. Useful for continuously tracking your link-building efforts.
BuzzSumo : more aimed at finding viral content, but also offers inbound link analysis in its Pro version.
With these free and paid tools, you can improve your link building and avoid SEO mistakes that could cost you dearly.
What should you expect from a backlink analysis tool?
A good backlink analysis or monitoring tool should give you a precise, actionable view of your link profile. Here are the essential elements to monitor:
List of pages and URLs that link
Essential for knowing who is talking about you and on which pages.
Handled well by Google Search Console (free), Ahrefs, Majestic, SEMrush, Moz.
Anchor texts
Anchor text gives Google context about the targeted content.
Well analyzed by Ahrefs, SEMrush, Majestic.
Relevance of link anchors
Assess whether anchors are natural or over-optimized.
Managed by Majestic (thematic Trust Flow), Ahrefs, Moz.
Check whether there is a backlink (follow / nofollow)
Useful to know if the backlink actually transmits SEO authority.
Handled well by Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, Linkody.
Tracking and results of link-building campaigns
Allows you to measure the impact of your actions and identify backlinks gained or lost.
Full tracking with Ahrefs, SEMrush, Monitor Backlinks, Majestic.
Backlinks are truly a major pillar of organic SEO. Knowing your inbound links and working to acquire more improves your site's reputation.
If you need help identifying your backlinks, hire a freelance SEO consultant on Codeur.com! On our platform you'll find SEO experts who will help you build an effective backlink acquisition strategy.
