How do I check website backlinks?

To check your website backlinks, use a backlink analysis tool to identify the pages and domains linking to your site, then assess each link for relevance, quality, destination, anchor text and link attributes. Google Search Console provides an additional source of backlink data, but it does not necessarily show every link, so combining it with a broader link index gives you a more complete view.

Backlinks are links from external websites to pages on your domain. They are different from internal links, which connect pages within your own site. A backlink review should not focus only on the total number of links. The more useful questions are where the links come from, which pages they point to, why they exist and whether they are likely to support your visibility and reputation.

Start with a complete backlink report

Enter your domain into your backlink analysis platform and make sure the report covers the correct version of your website. Check whether the tool is analysing the root domain, a particular subdomain or a specific URL. If your site has moved between protocols, changed domains or uses separate subdomains, review these properties carefully so that important historical or current links are not missed.

Exporting the data can make a detailed review easier, particularly for larger websites. The report should ideally include:

• The referring domain and linking page
• The page on your website receiving the link
• The anchor text used for the link
• Whether the link is follow, nofollow, sponsored or user-generated content
• When the link was first discovered and whether it is still live
• The link’s position on the page, where available
• Useful indicators of the referring domain’s authority, trust or topical relevance

Do not treat these fields as a final verdict on a link. Authority metrics are third-party estimates rather than search engine scores, and they are most useful when considered alongside relevance, editorial context and the quality of the referring website.

Review referring domains before individual links

Group the report by referring domain to understand the wider pattern of your backlink profile. A single website may link to you many times, such as through a site-wide footer, author profile or syndicated content. This can make the total link count look larger without representing the same level of independent endorsement as links from separate, relevant domains.

For each important referring domain, open the linking page and check whether:

• The website has a clear purpose and publishes content relevant to your industry or audience
• The linking page is accessible, indexed or otherwise a genuine public resource
• Your link appears in useful editorial content rather than an unrelated list or automatically generated page
• The page provides context for the link and sends a potentially relevant visitor
• The website appears maintained, with identifiable ownership or editorial standards

A link from a smaller specialist publication can be more useful than a link from a larger but unrelated website. Relevance and context should therefore carry more weight than a single authority score.

Check which pages receive backlinks

Review your most-linked pages separately from your referring domains. This shows whether backlinks are supporting important commercial, service or category pages, or whether most links point to your homepage, an old article or a page that no longer exists.

Pay particular attention to:

• Strong pages that attract links but are not well connected to the rest of your site
• Useful pages receiving backlinks but lacking internal links to related services or resources
• Old URLs that attract valuable links and should redirect to a relevant current page
• Broken pages with backlinks that may be recoverable through a suitable replacement or redirect
• Commercial pages with few external links compared with similar informational pages

This part of the review can reveal practical opportunities. For example, a well-researched guide may have earned links but may not direct visitors towards the service pages that support its subject. Improving internal links and the page structure can help users and search engines discover the relevant parts of your website.

Assess anchor text and link attributes

Anchor text is the clickable wording used for a backlink. Examine whether it describes the destination accurately and whether the profile contains a natural mixture of branded, URL-based, descriptive and generic phrases. A high concentration of identical, commercially optimised anchor text can indicate deliberate link-building patterns and deserves closer investigation.

Also check the link attribute. Follow links may pass ranking signals, while nofollow, sponsored and user-generated content attributes provide search engines with additional context about the relationship. A nofollow link can still be useful for referral traffic, visibility and discovery, so it should not automatically be treated as worthless.

Use Google Search Console as a second source

In Google Search Console, open the links report to review the external links Google has associated with your property. Use it to identify commonly linked pages, leading sites and frequently used anchor text. It is particularly useful for checking the links visible to Google’s systems, but its sample is not intended to be a complete backlink database.

Compare the Search Console report with your backlink analysis report rather than expecting the two sources to match. Differences can result from different crawl timings, indexing decisions, reporting methods and the scope of each dataset. A link appearing in one report but not the other is not automatically evidence that the link is invalid.

Check new, lost and changed backlinks

Review recent links to identify new coverage, partnerships, reviews and mentions that may warrant a relationship follow-up. Then check lost links to find pages that have been removed, redirected, updated or made inaccessible. A lost link from a relevant page may be recoverable if the content is still useful and the referring site owner can be contacted appropriately.

When a link points to a page that has moved, confirm that the old URL redirects to the most relevant current destination. If it returns an error or redirects to an unrelated page, consider whether a technically correct redirect or a replacement resource is needed. Avoid redirecting every old URL to the homepage when a more precise destination exists.

Record findings consistently

For an ongoing backlink review, record the referring domain, linking URL, target URL, topical relevance, link type, status and recommended action. Useful actions may include keeping the link under observation, improving the destination page, reclaiming a lost link, correcting a broken redirect or investigating a potentially harmful pattern.

Do not remove or disavow links solely because they have a low third-party metric or use a nofollow attribute. First establish whether they are genuinely manipulative, irrelevant at scale or connected to a wider link scheme. Search engines generally handle many low-quality links without intervention, while disavowal is a specialist action normally reserved for clear cases such as a manual action or a substantial history of unnatural link activity.

Repeat the review when you launch important content, complete a digital PR campaign, migrate your website or notice significant changes in organic performance. A consistent process makes it easier to distinguish normal backlink growth from technical problems, lost coverage and patterns that need further investigation.