Ahrefs Backlinks Checker: How to Use Guide

Ahrefs is a powerful tool for website owners, marketers, and SEO pros to analyze and improve their backlink profiles with their backlink checker tool. In this guide, we are going to explore every detail about Ahrefs, its features, how you can use it, and the best practices that you can follow to get the best out of it, particularly the Ahrefs backlinks checker.

What are Backlinks?

Backlinks (also known as inbound links or incoming links) are links from one website to another. Backlinks not only shape the credibility of a website but also play a huge role in the website’s ranking on search engines like Google. A website that links to another website is essentially endorsing it as being relevant and credible, thereby creating what search engines treat as a vote.

SEO and Backlinks: Why They Matter

• Higher SERP Rankings: Websites with more high-quality backlinks are likely to rank higher in the search results pages. Backlinks are like votes; therefore, the more backlinks you have, the more visible you will be on search engines.
• Higher Referral Traffic: Getting backlinks means receiving traffic directly from other websites. In other words, the chances of users clicking through to your site are greater if they see a link on a reputable site.
• Establishing Authority: One of the benefits of having a good backlink profile is that it can help you establish your website as an authority in your niche. This can increase organic traffic and enhance your brand’s reputation.
• Relationship Development: Link-building strategies often mean networking with other businesses or bloggers, which can result in collaboration opportunities later on.

Ahrefs Backlinks Checker Features

Of all the backlink analysis tools available today, Ahrefs Backlinks Checker is one of the most complete. Here are some of its top features:

Backlinks Database Extensive

Ahrefs has one of the largest backlink databases in the industry and is updated every 15 minutes. With access to the most up-to-date and comprehensive database of backlinks available, this tool is an essential resource for real-time data for any and every website.

Key Metrics

• Domain Rating (DR): This proprietary metric assesses the strength of a website’s backlink profile on a scale from 0 to 100. A higher DR indicates a stronger backlink profile.
• URL Rating (UR): Similar to DR but focused on individual pages, UR measures the strength of a specific page’s backlink profile.
• Ahrefs Rank (AR): This metric ranks websites based on their backlink profile strength relative to all other websites in Ahrefs’ database.

Detailed Backlink Reports

Ahrefs provides detailed reports that break down various aspects of a site’s backlinks:

• Referring Domains: Users can see how many unique domains link to their site, which is crucial for assessing the diversity of their backlink profile.
• Anchor Text Analysis: The tool analyzes the anchor text used in backlinks, helping users understand how their content is being referenced across the web.
• Link Type: Users can filter backlinks by type (Dofollow or Nofollow), which is essential for understanding the quality and potential impact of each link.

Monitoring Changes

Ahrefs lets you track your backlink profile over time. That includes monitoring new backlinks gained and lost links to see how your link-building efforts are performing.

Competitive Analysis

One of the most important features of Ahrefs is the ability to analyze competitors’ backlinks profiles. Enter a competitor’s URL and determine where they get their backlinks from. It can help you find possible link-building opportunities for your website.

Disadvantages of Ahrefs Backlinks Checker

• Pricing: No free trial is available with Ahrefs, and its pricing is on the higher end for smaller businesses or individual users. Its reporting feature is severely limited to entry-level plans when compared to higher-tier plans.
• Using Ahrefs: Because Ahrefs doesn’t have built-in project management tools to approach outreach efforts like some other competitors do, the process is (you guessed it) largely manual. Users have to export data and orchestrate outreach using different tools.
• Mobile App Not Available: There is no mobile app available that would give mobile access to the platform, which can limit some users.
• Limited support: Customer support is in English only, and there is no phone support, either, which can make things hard for non-English speakers or anyone who prefers to speak with a human agent immediately.

Ahrefs Backlink Checker provides a powerful set of features and a large data pool for backlink analysis. Still, it may also come at a price, and some users may miss out on integrated outreach tools.

Steps to Use Ahrefs Backlinks Checker

There are a few steps involved in using Ahrefs Backlinks Checker:

Step 1: Accessing Ahrefs

To use Ahrefs Backlinks Checker, Go to the Ahrefs website and tools section. You may be required to register an account if you do not already have one.

Step 2: Type in Your Domain / URL

Search for your domain name or particular URL in the search box. You can specify whether you want insights on a whole domain or a single page.

Step 3: Check Overall Metric

After you paste your URL, Ahrefs prepares an overview report with the following:

• Total number of backlinks.
• Number of referring domains.
• Domain Rating (DR).

This first overview is actually a snapshot of your site’s backlink health.

Step 4: Explore Top Backlinks

Ahrefs shows the top 100 backlinks to a site as well as details like:

• Linking domain.
• Anchor text.
• DR of linking domains.

It also tells you which sites are bringing in the most links to your backlink profile.

Step 5: Check out referring domains.

Look at the list of domains linking to your site. Having a wide variety of domains referring to you is essential for a robust backlink profile. Find good sites that offer relevant links.

Step 6: Check the Anchor Text Distribution

The distribution of your Anchor Text can be crucial for SEO purposes. In Ahrefs, click the Anchors section to see how other sites link back to you. Get varied and natural anchor text instead of over-optimized phrases that may seem like spam.

Step 7: Benchmark against Competition

Enter the domain of a competitor to leverage Ahrefs’ competitive analysis features. Look at their highest top backlinks and analyze where they come from. Compare their best backlinks against yours, to point out some potential link-building opportunities

Getting into Ahrefs Advanced Features and Tools

Apart from the basic features, Ahrefs offers much more:

Broken Link Checker

Ahrefs has a built-in broken link checker that looks for broken links on your website or on websites belonging to your competitors. This will help you fix your broken links and find great link-building opportunities on other sites.

Content Explorer

The Content Explorer is a feature that helps you discover top-level content from within your niche based on both social shares and backlinks. Analyzing this information allows you to see trends and topics that click with your audience. You can use it to create your own content strategy.

Alerts Feature

Ahrefs has an alert feature that tells users when they gain new backlinks or lose old ones over time. This way, you will receive notifications whenever there is a modification to your backlink profile without checking the tool manually all the time.

Disavow Tool

If you find spammy or inferior quality backlinks that negatively affect your site reputation, use Ahrefs’ disavow tool. It helps you manage bad links easily by telling Google not to consider them in ranking calculations.

Best Practices for Using Ahrefs Backlinks Checker

Here are some best practices to make the most out of Ahrefs Backlinks Checker:

1. Regular Monitoring: Regularly check your backlink profile using Ahrefs to stay updated on any changes or new opportunities.
2. Focus on Quality Over Quantity: While having numerous backlinks is beneficial, prioritize acquiring high-quality links from authoritative sites within your niche.
3. Diversify Your Anchor Text: Aim for diverse anchor text usage across different referring domains to avoid penalties from search engines.
4. Analyze Competitors Frequently: Keep an eye on competitors’ backlink profiles regularly; this will help you adapt your strategies based on industry trends.
5. Use Filters Wisely: Utilize filters within Ahrefs reports effectively to narrow down results based on specific criteria like link type or domain rating.
6. Engage in Outreach: Use insights gained from Ahrefs reports to engage in outreach efforts with potential linking domains identified during analysis.

5 Alternatives to Ahrefs Backlink Checker

Ahrefs Backlinks Checker is a powerful, popular tool for checking backlinks. Still, there are a few similar tools and alternatives that provide unique or similar functionality. Below are some great alternatives to Ahrefs Backlink Checker, together with their features, advantages, and disadvantages.

SEMrush

Semrush is a great all-in-one SEO tools on the market. It offers full backlink analysis in addition to other SEO features.

Pros:

• Comprehensive link database and in-depth backlink reports.
• Easy Navigation, User-Friendly Interface.
• Historical data should be available so users can see how things have changed over time.

Cons:

• Expensive for the small businesses.
• You get restricted data with the free version.

Majestic

Majestic is dedicated to analyzing backlinks, and its unique features are a robust database and distinct metrics such as Trust Flow and Citation Flow.

Pros:

• It provides backlink analysis only and a full range of insights.
• It offers a high-volume database that will, at times, be able to identify more links than Ahrefs.

Cons:

• No extra SEO features: No keyword research or site auditing.
• Its user interface could be less intuitive than some other tools.

Mangools

Mangools are a great option to start if you are looking for something easy to use and you don’t want to spend too much money. It offers many tools, including LinkMiner for backlink checking.

Pros:

• Interface that is easy to use — separate tools for separate activities.
• It is cheaper than Ahrefs, which makes it a decent option for small-scale businesses.

Cons:

• Less powerful than all-in-one solutions like SEMrush or Ahrefs.
• It is not suitable for more advanced users who want access to all data.

SEOptimer

SEOptimer is an SEO tool that offers backlink and keyword tracking features and more, best for users who want to see their link profile development over time.

Pros:

• Beginner-friendly with painless setup and clear reporting.
• Contains a disavow tool to control malicious links.

Cons:

• Lacks in features compared to Ahrefs.
• It sources data from other sources.
• Not good for users performing in-depth analysis of data.

OpenLinkProfiler

OpenLinkProfiler is free to use. You can use it to analyze backlinks without any limitation.

Pros:

• 100% free to use.
• It offers basic backlink data without needing an account.

Cons:

• It does not provide the premium features and in-depth analytics of paid tools
• It is not suitable for professional SEO agencies.

Conclusion

Ahrefs Backlinks Checker is a must-have for anyone looking to implement some solid backlink management strategies as part of their website SEO performance efforts. The wide range of databases, ease of use, and advanced analytic tools available make this an essential tool for beginners and professionals alike.

By learning how backlinks work and utilizing the features that Ahrefs provides, users can go a long way in improving their online presence, increasing search rankings, and eventually driving more traffic to their websites. When used regularly, this tool keeps your backlink profile healthy. It also reveals valuable context in competitive landscapes in just about any vertical.

Learn why you need both Content Marketing and SEO to succeed online. Also, contact us or leave us a message on Facebook, X (Twitter), or LinkedIn for outreach link building solutions that can help you grow your online business.

Sources:

• www.ahrefs.com/backlink-checker
• www.ahrefs.com/blog/find-backlinks/