How to Check Website Backlinks for Free: 4 Top Tools

TL;DR

You can check website backlinks for free using online tools from major SEO software providers like Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz. The process is straightforward: enter a domain name into the tool's search bar to receive a report. This report typically shows you the number of backlinks, the unique websites linking to you (referring domains), and the authority scores of those sites, giving you a quick overview of your site's backlink profile.

Understanding Backlinks: The Foundation of Off-Page SEO

Before diving into the tools, it's crucial to understand what backlinks are and why they matter. A backlink is a link from one website to another. Search engines like Google view backlinks as votes of confidence. The more high-quality votes your website has, the more authoritative and trustworthy it appears, which can significantly improve your search engine rankings.

However, not all backlinks are created equal. The value of a backlink is determined by several factors, including the authority and relevance of the linking site. A link from a well-respected industry publication is far more valuable than a link from an unknown, low-quality blog. This is the core principle of off-page SEO—building a strong profile of credible endorsements from around the web.

You will also encounter terms like 'dofollow' and 'nofollow.' A 'dofollow' link passes authority (or "link juice") from the linking page to the linked page, directly helping SEO. A 'nofollow' link has a special tag that tells search engines not to pass authority. While they don't directly boost rankings, nofollow links can still drive valuable referral traffic and contribute to a natural link profile.

A high-quality backlink generally has the following characteristics:

• It comes from a website that is topically relevant to your own.
• The linking site has high authority and is trusted by search engines.
• The link is placed naturally within the main body of the content.
• The anchor text (the clickable text) is relevant and descriptive, not spammy.
• It is a 'dofollow' link that passes authority.

Analyzing your backlink profile helps you understand your site's current authority, identify your most valuable content, and see how you stack up against competitors. By checking your competitors' backlinks, you can uncover their link-building strategies and find new opportunities for your own site.

Top Free Backlink Checkers: A Head-to-Head Comparison

Several industry-leading companies offer powerful free backlink checkers that provide a wealth of data. While the free versions have limitations compared to their paid counterparts, they offer more than enough information to get started with backlink analysis. Here’s a comparison of the top options.

Each tool uses its own proprietary metrics and crawls the web to build its own massive index of links. The data you get from one tool may differ slightly from another, but they all provide a solid baseline for analysis. The best approach is to pick one and use it consistently to track your progress over time.

Ahrefs Backlink Checker

Ahrefs is renowned for its high-quality data and massive link index. Its free tool provides a generous look at a site's backlink profile, showing the Domain Rating (DR), the total number of backlinks, and the number of referring domains. Its standout feature is the list of the top 100 backlinks, which includes the estimated organic traffic to the linking page—a unique insight that helps you gauge the link's potential to send referral traffic.

Semrush Backlink Analytics

Semrush boasts the largest backlink database in the industry and offers one of the most accessible free tools, as it doesn't require an account for an initial check. The report provides an Authority Score (AS), total backlinks, and referring domains. It also helpfully tags links as 'dofollow,' 'nofollow,' 'new,' or 'lost,' making it easy to quickly assess the nature and status of a site's most recent links.

Moz Link Explorer

Moz is the originator of the widely used Domain Authority (DA) metric. To use their free Link Explorer, you need to create a free community account, which grants you 10 queries per month. In addition to DA, Moz provides a valuable Spam Score metric that helps you identify potentially harmful links. The free report also shows top anchor text and recently discovered links, providing a well-rounded view of a site's profile.

Ubersuggest Backlink Checker

Developed by Neil Patel, Ubersuggest is designed to be user-friendly while providing powerful data. The free backlink checker gives you insight into a domain's link growth over time, new and lost links, and a list of referring domains. Its strength lies in its filtering capabilities, allowing you to sort links by anchor text, Domain Score, or region to zero in on the most relevant link-building opportunities.

How to Analyze Your Backlink Report: Key Metrics Explained

Once you've run a report, you'll be presented with several key metrics. Understanding what they mean is the first step toward turning data into an actionable strategy. Focus on these core concepts to make sense of your backlink profile.

First, look at Referring Domains. This is the number of unique websites linking to you. It's generally considered a more important metric than the total number of backlinks, as 100 links from 100 different domains is far more valuable than 100 links from a single domain. A high number of referring domains signals widespread credibility.

Next is the primary authority metric: Domain Rating (DR), Authority Score (AS), or Domain Authority (DA). While each tool calculates it differently, they all aim to measure the overall strength and authority of a website's backlink profile on a 100-point scale. A higher score indicates a stronger, more authoritative site. Use this to benchmark your site against competitors.

Finally, examine the Anchor Text. This is the clickable text used in a hyperlink. Analyzing anchor text reveals how other websites perceive your content. A healthy profile has a mix of branded anchor text (e.g., "Your Brand Name"), naked URLs (e.g., "www.yoursite.com"), and keyword-related text. A high concentration of exact-match keyword anchors can look unnatural and be a red flag for search engines.

With this understanding, you can extract actionable insights from your report:

• Identify your most-linked pages: Discover which pieces of content attract the most links. This tells you what resonates with your audience and what you should create more of.
• Analyze competitor link sources: See who is linking to your competitors but not to you. These sites are prime targets for your own link-building outreach.
• Spot and disavow toxic links: If you see links from spammy, low-quality, or irrelevant sites (often indicated by a high Spam Score in Moz), you may need to ask Google to ignore them using the Disavow Tool.
• Find broken link opportunities: Check your competitors' reports for links pointing to pages that no longer exist (404 errors). You can reach out to the linking site, inform them of the broken link, and suggest your own relevant content as a replacement.
• Create content that earns links: Once you identify what type of content attracts high-quality backlinks in your niche, you can scale your production. For marketers looking to streamline this process, AI-powered tools like BlogSpark can help generate SEO-optimized articles that align with your link-building strategy.