How to Properly Track Your Backlinks - A Beginners Guide

by Venchito Tampon Jr | Last Updated on September 30, 2022

Considered a supreme ranking factor for search engine optimization, backlinks are basically inbound links that point back to your website from other websites.

Backlinko conducted a study revealing that the number of domains linking to a page was the most significant predictor of Google ranks.

Since the quality of your backlinks can make a huge impact on your website’s SEO, you need to keep track of them to ensure that they are helping and not hindering your progress.

After all, according to Pearson’s Law, “When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates.”

So in order to keep track of your backlinks and ensure their efficacy, you need to use the right tools and methods.

Here’s a beginner’s guide on how to properly track your backlinks.

 

What You Need to Track  

To get started, you would need a master spreadsheet that contains all of the important things for your project.

Every spreadsheet should contain the following data:

Backlinks

Track all your backlinks no matter where they come from: PBN, Web 2.0, Profile Links, Social Bookmarks, Forum Profiles, etc. Detailed data should entail the following information:

When was the link placed?

This is the date when the backlink was created.

Anchor text

This is the phrase that you hyperlinked. It could be either your brand name, website name, target keyword, etc.

URL of the page where your link is placed

This is the URL of the page where your link is found. You can get this by hovering over the link and checking the URL that shows up on the bottom left part of your screen (on Chrome).

URL of your website

This is the URL that you’re linking to.

Nofollow or follow?

A nofollow link is a link that does not pass any link equity/SEO value to the linked page. In other words, it doesn’t help your linked page rank higher in search engine results pages.

Is the link indexed?

An index is a database that a search engine uses to store all the website pages it has crawled and intends to include in its search results. When a backlink is indexed, it means that the link can now be seen by the search engine.

When was the link last checked?

This is the date when you last checked if the link is still there.

Link status

The link status can either be “live” or “dead.” A live link is a working link that directs users to your website when clicked. On the other hand, a dead link is a link that no longer works and leads to a 404 error page.

Anchor Text Distribution

When it comes to backlinks, anchor text distribution is an important thing to keep in mind.

Anchor text is the phrase that you hyperlink. It could be either your brand name, website name, target keyword, etc.

The distribution of your anchor text should look natural. That means that you shouldn’t have too many exact match keywords or branded anchor text.

To check the distribution of your anchor text, you can use a tool like Ahrefs.

Simply enter your domain into the search bar and click “Explore.”

You will then be directed to a page that contains all the backlinks pointing to your website. Scroll down to the “Anchors” section to see the distribution of your anchor text.

This will help you identify over-optimized anchor texts, so you can take action accordingly.

Rankings

Your rankings are the position of your website for a particular keyword in SERPs.

Ideally, you want your website to rank as high as possible for your target keywords. The higher your website ranks, the more organic traffic you will get.

To track your rankings, you can use a tool like Ahrefs Rank Tracker.

To use Ahrefs Rank Tracker, simply enter your domain and target keyword into the search bar and click “Add to tracking.”

You will then be directed to a page that contains your ranking data.

A List of Keywords and Which Pages Target Them

It is a spreadsheet that contains all the keywords that you are targeting, as well as the pages on your website that are targeting those keywords.

This spreadsheet is important because it allows you to track your progress and see which keywords are working and which ones aren’t.

To create this spreadsheet, simply create a new sheet in Google Sheets and add the following columns:

• Keyword
• URL
• Rank
• Change
• Volume
• CPC

You can then fill in the data for each keyword.

 

5 Tools You Can Use To Track Backlinks

…. Now to Track Your Backlinks!

Now that you know what data you need to track, it’s time to learn how to do it properly. Here are a few methods that you can use:

 

1. Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free platform offered by Google that allows you to track your website’s organic traffic and performance in SERPs. It also contains other features such as the ability to submit your sitemap and check for 404 errors.

To use Google Search Console to track your backlinks, simply go to “Links” under “Search Traffic” on the left sidebar.

You will then be directed to a page that contains all the links that Google has found pointing to your website.

2. Ahrefs Site Explorer

Ahrefs is one of the most popular SEO tools available on the market. It contains a lot of features such as keyword research, site audits, and backlink analysis.

To use Ahrefs Site Explorer to track your backlinks, simply enter your domain into the search bar and click “Explore.”

You will then be directed to a page that contains all the backlinks pointing to your website.

3. Majestic

Majestic is another popular SEO tool that offers similar features to Ahrefs. It also has a feature called “Site Explorer” which allows you to track your backlinks.

To use Majestic to track your backlinks, simply enter your domain into the search bar and click “Search.”

You will then be directed to a page that contains all the backlinks pointing to your website.

4. Moz Link Explorer

Moz is another popular SEO tool that offers a feature called “Link Explorer” which allows you to track your backlinks.

To use Moz Link Explorer to track your backlinks, simply enter your domain into the search bar and click “Search.”

You will then be directed to a page that contains all the backlinks pointing to your website.

5. Monitor Backlinks

Monitor Backlinks is a tool that allows you to track your backlinks, as well as the backlinks of your competitors. It also offers other features such as link building and keyword research.

To use Monitor Backlinks to track your backlinks, simply sign up for a free account and add your website.

You will then be directed to your dashboard, where you can see all the backlinks pointing to your website.

These are just a few of the many tools that you can use to track your backlinks. Choose the one that you feel is best for you and start tracking your progress today!

 

The Benefits of Tracking Your Backlinks

There are manybenefits to tracking your backlinks, such as:

1. You can see which links are working and which ones are not effective – which ones are healthy links, and which ones are toxic.
2. You can track your progress over time and see how your backlink profile is changing.
3. You can find new opportunities for link building.
4. You can see which links are most valuable to your website and focus on acquiring more of them.
5. You can avoid being penalized by Google for having low-quality backlinks.

By tracking your backlinks, you can make sure that your link-building efforts are paying off.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you track backlinks in Google Analytics?

In Google Analytics, backlinks are referred to as “referrals.” To view your referral traffic, simply go to “Acquisition” -> “All Traffic” -> “Referrals.”

You can then check your backlinks using the referral report.

 

Why are backlinks important for SEO?

Backlinks are important for SEO because they help search engines determine the quality of a website. Websites with high-quality backlinks are more likely to rank higher in SERPs.

In fact, a majority of SEOs (58%) believe that backlinks have a profound effect on search engine rankings. Even more, over half of SEO experts believe that the number and quality of links pointing to a website affect its search engine rankings!

If you’re not tracking your backlinks, you’re missing out on valuable insights about your website’s SEO. Not to mention, you could be risking a Google penalty for having low-quality backlinks.

Tracking your backlinks is an essential part of any good SEO strategy. When done right, it can help you improve your website’s ranking, build more high-quality links, and avoid being penalized by Google.

Over to you – what are some ways you track your backlinks? Let us know in the comments!