FAQ

A backlink monitoring platform is a specialized tool that tracks all the external links pointing to your website. It continuously checks if these links are still active, monitors their quality metrics, and alerts you to any changes such as removed links, modified anchor text, or changed link attributes (dofollow/nofollow). This helps you maintain a healthy backlink profile, which is crucial for SEO performance and search engine rankings.

You can add backlinks in three ways: manually enter each backlink individually with its source URL and target URL, use the bulk import feature to import 15 url at the same tim, or leverage our Discovery Module to automatically find backlinks pointing to your website across the web. For manual entry, simply click "Add Backlink" and fill in the required fields including source URL and target URL.

At minimum, you need the source URL (where the link is located) and your target URL (where the link points to). However, you can also add optional information like anchor text, category (Guest Post, Manual, Purchased, etc.), custom tags, publish date, notes, and price paid for the link. This additional metadata helps you organize and track your link building campaigns more effectively.

All plans include weekly automated checks, and can also trigger manual on-demand verification at any time. All plans include real-time monitoring for critical changes like link removal or status code errors. You can view your last check date and schedule in your dashboard.

Yes, you can monitor backlinks for multiple domains within a single account.

Categories help you organize your backlinks by acquisition method. "Manual" refers to links you personally placed, "Guest Post" indicates links from contributed articles, "Directory" covers business listing links, "Exchange" shows reciprocal link trades, "Purchased" tracks paid link placements, "Natural" represents organically earned links, and "Discovered" identifies links found by our crawler that you didn't actively build. You can customize categories for any backlink.

Use our attribute system to tag backlinks with special markers like Sponsored, UGC (User Generated Content), NoFollow, Affiliate, New Window, or Tracked. These tags help you identify link types at a glance and filter your backlinks efficiently. You can add multiple attributes to a single backlink, and create custom notes to document campaign details, outreach contacts, or renewal dates for paid placements.

Yes, you can export your entire backlink portfolio or filtered segments to CSV or Excel format. The export includes all data fields such as URLs, status metrics, anchor text, categories, attributes, notes, prices, and verification dates. This feature is useful for reporting to clients, backing up your data, or analyzing backlinks in external tools like Google Sheets or Excel.

Click the trash icon next to any backlink in your dashboard to remove it from monitoring. Deleted backlinks are permanently removed from your account and cannot be recovered. If you're unsure, consider adding a note like "To Remove" instead of immediately deleting. Bulk deletion is available by selecting multiple backlinks using checkboxes and clicking "Delete Selected."

The Source URL is the webpage where your backlink is located (the linking page), while the Target URL is the page on your website that the link points to (the destination page). For example, if a blog article at example.com/article links to yoursite.com/products, then example.com/article is the source and yoursite.com/products is the target. Both are tracked for status and changes.

Yes, most backlink fields are editable. Click the pencil icon next to any field to modify information like anchor text, category, custom attributes, notes, price, or publish date. Don't forget to save all changes once you have modified the fields.

When a backlink shows "Link: Active" with a green indicator, it means our crawler successfully found your link on the source page during the last verification check. The link is live, accessible, and pointing to your target URL as expected. This status confirms the link is contributing to your backlink profile and SEO efforts.

A "Link: Lost" status means our crawler couldn't find your backlink on the source page. This could happen if the link was removed, the page content changed, or the linking page was deleted. First, manually visit the source URL to verify. If the link is truly gone, contact the site owner to request restoration. If it's a paid link, you may be entitled to a refund or replacement.

Manual verification allows you to instantly check a specific backlink on-demand rather than waiting for the automatic scheduled check. Click the "Scan" button next to any backlink to trigger an immediate verification. The system will crawl the source page, check link existence, analyze anchor text, verify HTTP status, and update all metrics in real-time. This feature has usage limits based on your subscription plan.

HTTP 200 (green) means the page loaded successfully. HTTP 301/302 (yellow) indicates a redirect, which may dilute link value. HTTP 404 (red) means the page doesn't exist. HTTP 403 means access is forbidden. HTTP 500+ indicates server errors. We provide tooltips explaining each status code and its impact on your backlink's effectiveness. Focus on maintaining 200 status codes for maximum SEO benefit.

A "Never" status means this backlink hasn't been verified by our system yet. This occurs when you've just added a new backlink manually and it's waiting for the next scheduled crawl cycle. You can trigger an immediate verification using the manual "Scan" button if your plan allows it, or wait for the next automatic check according to your subscription schedule.

Currently, all backlinks under your account are checked according to your subscription plan's schedule. However, you can use manual verification to check high-priority backlinks more frequently.

The Discovery Module automatically scans the web to find backlinks pointing to your website that you may not be aware of. It uses advanced crawling technology to identify both existing links and newly created ones. This helps you discover natural backlinks you didn't build yourself, monitor competitor mentions that became links, and identify potential negative SEO attacks with spammy links.

Navigate to the Discovery tab in your dashboard, enter your target domain or specific URL, and click "launch Discovery." The system will search multiple data sources and present discovered backlinks in a table format. You can then selectively import relevant backlinks into your monitoring dashboard.

Quick scans typically complete in 1-2 minutes and check major backlink databases. Scan time also depends on the number of backlinks pointing to your domain.

The Discovery Module scans independently and may find backlinks you've already added manually. This actually serves as verification that your manually added links are correct. Simply skip or dismiss duplicates during the import process. The system will flag potential duplicates, but won't automatically merge them to prevent accidental data loss. You control which discovered links to import.

Yes, the Discovery interface includes powerful filtering options. Sort by domain authority, spam score, link type (dofollow/nofollow) and domain name. Apply filters to show only high-quality links or exclude low-authority domains. This helps you focus on importing valuable backlinks while ignoring spammy or irrelevant ones. Selected filters remain active during import.

Discovery limits depend on your subscription tier. All plans can discover up to 500 backlinks per scan. You can run multiple discovery scans per month based on your plan.

DoFollow links pass SEO value (link juice) from the source site to your website, helping improve your search rankings. NoFollow links include a rel="nofollow" attribute that tells search engines not to pass SEO value. While NoFollow links don't directly boost rankings, they still drive traffic and look natural in your backlink profile. Our system automatically detects and labels the link type for each backlink.

A NoIndex tag on the source page tells search engines not to index that page. This is problematic because if the page isn't indexed, the backlink on it likely won't be counted by search engines for SEO purposes. Our system alerts you when backlinks are on NoIndex pages with a red indicator, so you can contact the site owner to remove the tag or seek alternative link placements.

Robots.txt is a file that tells search engine crawlers which pages they can or cannot access. If a source page is blocked by robots.txt, search engines won't crawl it, meaning your backlink won't be discovered or counted. Our system automatically checks robots.txt rules for each source URL and alerts you if the page is blocked. Green "Robots.txt: OK" means the page is crawlable.

Indexation status shows whether Google has indexed the source page containing your backlink. "Indexed" (green) means Google found and added the page to its search index, so your backlink is likely being counted. "Not Indexed" (red) means Google hasn't indexed the page yet, so the backlink isn't providing SEO value. We check this using Google's site: search operator and provide a direct link to verify manually.

Yes! Our "Force Indexing" feature submits source pages to Google for fast indexation. This button appears only when certain conditions are met: HTTP status 200, link exists and is active, page has no NoIndex tag, is not blocked by robots.txt, and is not already indexed. Clicking it sends the URL to Google's indexing API. Note: you can only use this feature once per URL every 30 days to comply with Google's policies.

Link attributes are HTML tags that provide context about your backlinks to search engines. "Sponsored" indicates paid links, "UGC" (User Generated Content) marks links in comments or forums, "NoFollow" tells search engines not to pass value, "Affiliate" identifies commission-based links. Our system automatically detects these attributes and displays them as badges. You can also manually add custom attributes for internal tracking purposes.

For a backlink to provide SEO value, Google must first discover and index the page it's on. If the source page isn't indexed, Google doesn't know about your backlink, so it won't contribute to your rankings. Our platform tracks indexation status for all your backlinks and highlights pages that need attention. Focus your efforts on getting high-quality backlink pages indexed for maximum SEO impact.

Use our Force Indexing feature to submit pages directly to Google. Additionally, ensure source pages don't have NoIndex tags, aren't blocked by robots.txt, return HTTP 200 status, and contain quality content. Internal linking from well-indexed pages also helps. Build links on active websites that Google crawls regularly. Monitor your indexation status dashboard to track improvements over time and identify patterns.

Anchor text is the clickable text of your backlink. It signals to search engines what your target page is about. For example, if many backlinks use anchor text "best running shoes," search engines understand that page is relevant for that phrase. Our system tracks and displays the anchor text for each backlink. Aim for natural variation—mix branded, exact match, partial match, and generic anchor texts for a healthy profile.

You can edit the anchor text field in our platform for record-keeping, but this only updates your tracking data—it doesn't change the actual anchor text on the source website. To modify the real anchor text, you must contact the website owner and request they update it. Our system will detect and update the anchor text during the next verification check once they make the change.

Domain Authority (DA) is a metric predicting how well a website will rank in search engines, scored from 1-100. Backlinks from high-DA websites typically provide more SEO value than low-DA sources. Our discovery module displays DA for each found backlink, helping you prioritize which links to pursue or monitor. However, DA is one of many factors—relevance, traffic, and link placement also matter significantly.

Toxic backlinks from spammy or low-quality sites can harm your SEO. Use our Discovery Module to find all backlinks, then filter by metrics like spam score, domain authority, and link quality. Backlinks from gambling sites, adult content, link farms, or sites with excessive ads are often toxic. Once identified, contact site owners to remove them, or use Google's Disavow Tool to tell Google to ignore them. Document toxic links in our notes field.

The free plan allows you to monitor up to 25 backlinks with weekly automated checks. You get access to basic features like HTTP status monitoring, link existence verification, and manual notes. However, advanced features like Discovery Module, Force Indexing, bulk operations, and smart email alerts require a paid subscription. The free plan is perfect for testing our platform or monitoring a small personal website.

Click on your account name in the top right corner, select "Subscription," and choose your desired plan. You can upgrade to Starter, Professional or Agency. Payment is processed securely via credit card or PayPal. Upgrades take effect immediately, and you'll be prorated for the remaining time in your current billing cycle.

When you reach your plan's backlink limit, you won't be able to add new backlinks until you either delete existing ones and wait for your next billing cycle or upgrade your subscription. Existing backlinks continue to be monitored normally. You'll receive email notifications when you're approaching your limit (at 80% and 95%). Consider the Professional or Agency plans if you regularly hit your limits or need to scale your monitoring operations.

Yes, you can cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings. Upon cancellation, you'll retain access to paid features until the end of your current billing period, after which your account will revert to the free plan. Your backlink data is preserved, but you'll only be able to monitor up to 25 backlinks. Pausing is not currently available, but you can cancel and resubscribe later without losing data.

Yes, annual subscriptions receive a 20% discount compared to monthly billing. For example, if a plan costs $50/month, the annual price is $480 (equivalent to $40/month). You can switch to annual billing from your subscription settings. Agencies and businesses monitoring multiple domains can contact our sales team for custom enterprise pricing with additional discounts based on volume and commitment length.

Absolutely. All backlink data is encrypted in transit and at rest using industry-standard AES-256 encryption. We never share your backlink information with third parties. Each account is isolated and only accessible by you and authorized team members. Our platform undergoes regular security audits, and we comply with GDPR data protection regulations. You can export and delete your data at any time from your account settings.

Manual scan limits depend on your subscription tier. Free plans have restricted manual verifications, while paid plans offer more. If you've reached your monthly limit, the button will be disabled until your limit resets. Alternatively, the source page might be temporarily inaccessible or blocked. Hover over the disabled button to see the specific reason. Consider upgrading your plan if you need more manual verification capacity.

Our crawler extracts anchor text automatically during verification. If it's incorrect, the link might be embedded in JavaScript, loaded dynamically, or obscured by complex HTML. You can manually edit the anchor text field for tracking purposes. If the issue persists after multiple checks, the source page may use client-side rendering that our crawler can't fully parse. Contact support with the specific URL for investigation.

Ensure you're clicking outside the edit field or pressing Enter to trigger the save action. Look for a green checkmark or "Saved" indicator confirming the update. If using bulk changes, click the "Save All Changes" button at the top of your dashboard. Clear your browser cache and cookies, then try again. If the problem persists, try a different browser or contact support with your browser version and specific fields that won't save.

Our crawler sees pages as search engines do, which may differ from what you see in a browser. Your browser might execute JavaScript, load personalized content, or use cached versions. Also, website content can change between our automated check and your manual verification. For the most accurate comparison, use the "Manual Scan" button to trigger an immediate re-check, or compare results using incognito/private browsing mode.

Absolutely! We offer multiple support channels. Check our comprehensive Knowledge Base and video tutorials for step-by-step guides. Free users can access community forums and email support with 48-hour response times. Paid plans include priority email support with 24-hour responses. Professional and Agency plans can schedule one-on-one onboarding calls with our success team to optimize your setup and learn best practices for your specific needs.