Backlink Checker
Check the backlinks pointing at any domain. Enter a domain to see its strongest referring domains, one row each, with the anchor text used, that domain's authority on a 0 to 10 scale, whether the link is dofollow, and a spam score. Export the lot as CSV.
Short answer
A backlink checker lists the links pointing at a domain from other sites. This one returns one row per referring domain, showing that domain's strongest live link with its anchor text, dofollow status and spam score. That is deliberate: a profile is its referring domains, not its link count. Fifty links from one site are worth less than five from five, and a raw link total flatters every profile ever built.
What the checker reports, and what it does not
Every row is one referring domain, represented by its strongest link: the page carrying it, the anchor text, where it points, and three judgements about the site providing it. The figures above the table describe the rows shown rather than the whole profile, which matters on a domain with thousands of referring sites.
- Live links only. A link the crawler can no longer see is excluded. A checker that counts links removed two years ago is flattering rather than useful.
- Authority of the linking domain, on the same 0 to 10 scale as the authority checker, so a number here means what it means there.
- Anchor text, which is the clearest signal of how a profile was built. Natural profiles are mostly brand names and bare URLs.
- Dofollow status and spam score, both as flags to weigh rather than verdicts to act on blindly.
What it does not do is tell you whether a link is helping you rank. No backlink tool can: the link graph is an input to Google, not a readout from it. Treat the profile as evidence about how a site earns attention, which is a question it answers well.
How to read a backlink profile
Most people read the total and stop, which is the one number that means least. These four questions get further in about a minute each.
| Question | Where to look | What a healthy answer looks like |
|---|---|---|
| How many distinct sites link here? | Referring domains, above the table | Growing steadily; far smaller than any raw link count you have seen |
| Who are the strongest linkers? | The top of the table, sorted by authority | Real publications and relevant sites, not directories |
| What do the anchors say? | Anchor text column | Mostly brand, bare URLs and natural phrases |
| Is anything obviously junk? | Spam score column | A handful of elevated rows; every site has some |
Referring domains, not backlinks
If you take one habit from this page, take this one. A thousand links from one site are one vote cast loudly. Ten links from ten sites are ten votes. Every serious link metric is built on the count of referring domains, which is why a profile can grow its link count for a year without moving at all.
What anchor text gives away
Anchor text is the part of a backlink profile that is hardest to fake convincingly, which is what makes it worth reading. Links people choose to give look different from links somebody bought.
The shape of a natural profile
Most anchors will be the brand name, the bare domain, the page title, or a phrase like “this guide”. Exact commercial phrases appear, but they are the minority and they vary. A profile where the same money phrase repeats across unrelated domains is the signature of a link campaign, and it is visible in this table in about ten seconds.
The same reading applies to a competitor. If their anchors are overwhelmingly branded, their links are probably earned and you should study what earned them. If a third of their anchors are the keyword you both want, you have learned something different and rather more fragile.
How to check backlinks for a domain
- 01
Enter the domain, not a page
Backlinks are reported for the whole domain including subdomains, so example.com and example.com/blog/post return the same profile. Paste either; the tool reduces it to the domain.
- 02
Read the top of the list first
Rows are ordered by the strength of the link itself, so the ones carrying the most weight come first. The long tail below them rarely changes a decision.
- 03
Count referring domains, not links
Fifty links from one site are worth far less than five links from five sites, which is why each row here is a domain rather than a link. The referring-domains figure above the table is the number that matters.
- 04
Read the anchor text for a pattern
A healthy profile is mostly brand names, bare URLs and natural phrases. A profile where the same commercial phrase repeats is the shape link schemes leave behind.
- 05
Export the CSV to work on it
The table is for reading; the CSV is for deciding. Put it beside your own page list and you can see which pages earn links and which earn none.
What you get
One row per domain
The 100 strongest referring domains, with the real total reported above them
Anchor text
On every row, so a bought profile shows its shape immediately
Linking authority
0 to 10 per linking domain, the same scale as the authority checker
Dofollow and spam flags
Both as signals to weigh, with the thresholds published
Searchable table
Filter by linking domain, page or anchor text without re-running
CSV export
The full row set, for joining against your own page list
Two tools, two directions
Frequently asked questions
What is a backlink checker?
A backlink checker reports the links pointing at a domain from other sites. This one returns one row per referring domain, showing that domain's strongest live link: the page carrying it, the anchor text used, the domain's authority on a 0 to 10 scale, whether the link is dofollow, and a spam score. Backlinks are the single largest off-page ranking input, which is why the profile is worth reading rather than counting.
Is this backlink checker really free?
Yes, with no account, no API key and no trial. The data is licensed from DataForSEO rather than published openly, so there is a fair-use daily limit shown under the input. A domain somebody else checked in the past week is served from cache and does not count against your allowance.
How many backlinks does it show?
One row for each of the 100 strongest referring domains, with the full number of referring domains reported above the table. A site with links from 113,000 domains shows the top 100 of them and says so. One row per domain is deliberate: a single site with fifty links would otherwise fill half the table and tell you nothing.
What is the difference between backlinks and referring domains?
A backlink is one link. A referring domain is one site, however many links it sends. The distinction matters more than any other number here: a thousand links from one forum signature are one referring domain and almost no authority, while ten links from ten independent sites are a genuine signal. Judge a profile by referring domains first.
What does the authority column mean?
It is the linking domain's own link authority on the same 0 to 10 scale the authority checker uses, rescaled from DataForSEO's 0 to 1000 backlink rank. A link from a domain scoring 7 is worth far more than one from a domain scoring 2, and the scale is logarithmic, so the gap is larger than it looks.
What is the spam score, and should I act on a high one?
It is the provider's 0 to 100 estimate of how spammy the linking page looks, where higher is worse. Treat it as a flag rather than a verdict. Most ordinary links score in the teens, a handful of junk links is normal for any site that ranks, and disavowing links is rarely the right first move. Google has said for years that it ignores most low-quality links rather than penalising for them.
Does a nofollow link count for anything?
Yes, though not in the way a dofollow link does. Since 2019 Google treats rel=nofollow as a hint rather than a directive, so it may still use the link. A nofollow from a major publication is usually worth more in referral traffic and brand signal than a dofollow from a directory nobody reads.
Why does my backlink count differ from Ahrefs or Semrush?
Because every backlink tool is reporting its own crawl. Each vendor finds a different set of pages, refreshes them on a different schedule, and makes its own call about when a link counts as lost. No two will ever agree on a total. Pick one, use it consistently, and compare sites within it rather than comparing numbers across tools.
Can I check a competitor's backlinks?
Yes, and that is the more useful direction. Run a competitor who outranks you and read the anchor text and the linking domains: those are sites already willing to link to something like yours. The gap between their referring domains and yours is usually a better explanation of a ranking difference than anything on the page.
How often is the backlink data updated?
The provider crawls continuously, so a lookup reflects the index at the moment it runs. Results are cached here for a week, which is why rerunning the same domain straight away returns the same rows. A newly earned link has to be crawled before it appears, which usually takes days rather than hours.
How do I find backlinks that are broken?
Use the broken backlink checker, which runs the same index filtered to links whose destination no longer resolves. Those are the links worth acting on first, because a single redirect can recover all of them without contacting anyone.
Does this show links to a single page?
Not yet. Lookups are per domain including subdomains, so a page URL returns the whole domain's profile rather than that page's. Filtering the table by the destination column is the closest approximation for now.
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Read guideTerms this tool checks
- Backlink
A backlink (also called an inbound link or incoming link) is a hyperlink from one website to another.
- Referring Domain
A referring domain is a unique website that contains at least one backlink pointing to your site.
- Anchor Text
Anchor text is the visible, clickable text of a hyperlink.
- Domain Authority
Domain Authority (DA) is a metric developed by Moz that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search results, scored on a scale of 1-100.
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