How to conduct a link audit?
The success of an audit depends not only on the right choice of tools, but also on the ability to interpret the data obtained. Below we will consider the main stages of conducting an audit and focus on the key points.
Step 1. Selecting tools
There are many tools available for analyzing your link profile. One of the most popular is cambodia mobile database Google Search Console , a free tool for webmasters that helps you evaluate your site’s overall performance in search engines. It lets you see how your site’s pages rank for different keywords, identify indexing issues, and test how your site looks on different devices.
To analyze backlinks, go to the “Links” section in the Google Search Console panel. Here you will find information about external and internal links, as well as domains leading to your site.
In the External Links report, you can view:
- the total number of you will also learn how to analyze backlinks and domains linking to your site;
- pages that receive the most links;
- websites that most often link to your resource;
- anchor texts of backlinks.
Additionally, you can use Ahrefs for analysis. The free version of the Backlink Checker tool provides the following data:
- total number of backlinks;
- Domain Rating, which reflects the authority of the site;
- anchor text and the pages to which the links lead.
For more detailed analysis, you need an account with a paid subscription (from $29 per month).
Other tools worth considering include: Moz , Semrush , Majestic , SpyFu , etc. We recommend starting with Google austria business phone List Search Console and then supplementing your analysis with data from other platforms.
Step 2. Data collection
The first step is to get a general idea of your site’s link profile. Go to the Links section of Google Search Console and gather the following information:
- Total number of backlinks : count all links, even those coming from the same domain.
- Number of referring domains : This is the number of unique websites that link to your site. If the same domain links to your site multiple times, count it only once.
- Number of dofollow links : these are the links Google takes into account when ranking.
Also, determine the authority of your site using Ahrefs’ Domain Rating . The higher this score, the better your link profile.
Step 3. Identifying malicious links
Low-quality backlinks can negatively impact your search engine rankings and lead to search engine penalties. You can identify such links by where they are placed:
- Spammy sites : resources that use prohibited SEO techniques to manipulate search engine results. The content of such sites does not meet EEAT (expertise, authority, and reliability) criteria, and the links are placed artificially.
- Sites with low DA (Domain Authority) : links from such sites indicate low quality content, which can negatively affect your site’s reputation.
- Links from resources that are not relevant to the topic : irrelevant links spoil the user experience and reduce the level of trust of search engines.
Additional verification methods
- Moz Spam Score : Shows the percentage of inbound links from resources that do not meet Google’s requirements. The lower this score, the better.
- Top-level domain analysis : Check your top-level domains (e.g. .co.uk for the UK or .fr for France). If your site is in Ukrainian but has a lot of links from China, this may indicate spam.
- Anchor text analysis : The anchor should contain the brand name or be relevant to the content it links to. Irrelevant anchor texts can indicate low link quality.
Use data from Google Search Console and Ahrefs to get a complete picture of your site’s link profile and eliminate negative factors in a timely manner.
What to do if you find malicious backlinks?
There are several options. The first is to stay calm and accept reality. All sites eventually attract spammy links, and Google understands this. If your site has few such links and they do not affect traffic, it is enough to simply check the status of your profile regularly.