Hey there! So you want to see who’s linking back to your website, huh? Checking your backlinks in Google Search Console is a great way to find new link-building opportunities and make sure you’re not missing out on any high-quality links. It only takes a few minutes to set up and can provide a ton of useful data to help improve your SEO.
In this detailed blog post, we’ll walk you through on how to access your backlinks report in Search Console and filter the results to find the most valuable links. We’ll show you how to check for spammy links you may want to disavow, find new link-building prospects, and monitor your link growth over time. Even if you’re not an SEO expert, the backlinks report provides an easy way to understand how Google sees your website’s link profile.
Ready to get started? Let’s dive in to this guide and check those backlinks! In no time, you’ll have a better grasp of your site’s link-building opportunities and be well on your way to improved search rankings.
What Are Backlinks and Why Do They Matter?
Backlinks are links from other websites that point back to your site. They matter because search engines like Google use them to evaluate your site’s authority and popularity. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the higher you’ll rank in search results.
To find your backlinks in Google Search Console:
- Log in to your Google Search Console account and click ‘Links’ in the left menu.
- You will then be able to see 4 sections, which are External Links, Internal Links, Top Linking sites, and Top Linking pages.
- Click on the “More” button at the end of each card to see more links.
- The Backlinks are ordered by importance, so focus on links from authoritative, trusted sites.
- Click on any backlink, and you will be taken to the ‘Details’ page, where you can see more information.
Look for opportunities to build more high-quality backlinks. Some options include:
- Guest blogging on industry websites
- Becoming an active member in online communities and forums
- Creating resources or tools to share
- Reaching out to sites with relevant content and suggesting a resource they can link to
Building a strong, natural backlink profile is key to ranking well in search engines. Monitor your backlinks regularly in Search Console to make sure you’re getting links from trusted, high-authority websites and take action to remove any spammy or unnatural links to maintain a clean profile. With time and effort, you’ll build an enviable backlink profile and start climbing higher in search results.
An Introduction to Google Search Console
To check your backlinks in Google Search Console, you’ll first need to verify your website. This confirms that you own the site and have access to its data.
Verifying your site
Log in to search.google.com/search-console and enter your website URL. Select ‘URL prefix’ or ‘HTML file upload’ to verify. The prefix method adds a meta tag to your homepage, while the file upload verifies using an HTML file provided by Google Search Console.
Once verified, you’re ready to check those backlinks! Under ‘Links’ section. This report shows links from other sites pointing to yours. More backlinks, especially from authoritative sites, can help boost your search ranking.
Analyzing your backlinks
The backlinks report organizes links by type (External links & Internal links), Top Linking sites, and Top Linking text
Check for links from spammy or low-quality sites. These can hurt your ranking and should be disavowed. Disavowing tells Google not to count those links when evaluating your site.
To disavow links, create a TXT file or a CSV file with the URLS of the pages linking to your website, then visit https://search.google.com/search-console/disavow-links and select the property. Click on upload disavow list and upload your TXT file or CSV file. Links you disavow may take time to be fully ignored, so recheck your report in a few weeks. Below is a screenshot of how it is done. It’s quite easy!
Monitoring your backlinks over time helps ensure you gain more good links and address any bad ones. Keep working to build high-quality backlinks, and your site will reap the rewards!
How to Access Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that allows you to check how your website is performing in Google search results. To access the Search Console, you’ll need to verify that you own the site.
Verify your site ownership
The first step is verifying that you have access to the website in question. Google offers a few ways to do this:
- Add a file to your site which is provided by the Google Search Console. You have to add this file to your website’s root directory. Google will check for the file and verify site ownership.
- Add a meta tag to your homepage. Add a line of code to your homepage with a code provided by the Google Search Console.
- Use Google Analytics. If you’ve already connected your site to your Google Analytics, you can verify through the Google Analytics account.
- Use DNS records. Change your domain’s DNS settings to add a TXT record that contains a verification string provided by the Search Console.
Once verified, you’ll have full access to the Search Console and can start analyzing your site’s performance in Google search.
Check your backlinks
In the Links report of Search Console, you can see the websites that are linking back to your page. These incoming links, or backlinks, are an important ranking factor, so you want to make sure you’re acquiring high-quality backlinks from authoritative sites.
The Links report shows you details for each backlink, like the linking page URL and the anchor text used. This helps identify patterns in the links to your site so you know what’s helping or hurting your rankings.
Monitoring your backlinks in the Search Console and taking action to build or remove links as needed is key to managing your search rankings and organic traffic. Check your links report regularly to make sure you have a healthy, natural linking profile.
Navigating to the Links Report
Once you’ve logged into Google Search Console, navigate to the Links report to see details about the backlinks pointing to your site.
Finding the Links Report
To access the Links report:
- Click on ‘Links’ in the left navigation. This will open the Links report overview page.
- The overview page shows you a summary of the backlinks to your site, including the number of linking domains and total backlinks.
From the overview page, you have a few options to explore your backlinks in more detail:
- Click the “More” link under the ‘Top Linking Sites’ section to see the domains linking to your site. This view shows the domain name, URL, and anchor text for each link.
- Click on any URL to see which domains link to that page on your website. In addition to the details in the linked domains view, you’ll see the number of links pointing from that website to a particular page on your website.
- Click the “More” button under ‘Top linked pages’ which is under the “Internal Links” section on the right hand side of the links page and you will be able to see internal links of your website.
Exploring the details in the Links report is key to understanding and improving your backlink profile. Be sure to check in regularly to monitor new links, identify risky links that should be removed, and find opportunities to build high-quality links to your site.
Understanding the Links Data
Once you’ve connected your site to Google Search Console, you’ll gain access to valuable link data. Understanding how to interpret this information can help strengthen your SEO strategy.
Link Profile
This section shows the total number of backlinks pointing to your domain and site. Having a large volume of high-quality backlinks from authoritative sites helps establish your site as a trusted resource in Google’s eyes. The higher your link profile number, the better.
Links to Your Site
This displays all the external links that point back to your site. Review the anchor text, page titles, and domains of links to make sure they’re relevant and come from trustworthy sites. Low-quality links like blog comments, forum profiles, and link farms provide little SEO value. Consider disavowing them.
Internal Links
The internal links report shows all links between pages on your own website. Lots of relevant internal links help search engines discover and crawl your content. Make sure important pages like your home page, service pages, blog posts, and other web pages have multiple internal links pointing to them.
Top Linked Pages
This section ranks the pages on your site that have the most backlinks pointing to them. The pages at the top of this list likely rank well in Google, so keep improving and building links to them. Also, check if any important pages are missing from the top results and work to increase inbound links to those pages.
Linked Domains
The linked domains report displays all the websites that link back to your own. Strive for links from authoritative sites in your industry and niche. If lots of low-quality domains are linking to you, it may be a sign your site has been targeted for spammy link building. Consider disavowing those links to protect your site.
By keeping a close eye on your backlinks data in Google Search Console, you’ll gain valuable insights to help strengthen your SEO and protect your site. Monitoring your link profile, top linked pages, and referring domains can help ensure you’re building the right links and avoiding potential link spam.
Analyzing Link Metrics
Now that you’ve connected your Google Search Console account to your website, you can start analyzing your link metrics. This will give you insight into who’s linking to your site and the type of links pointing to your pages.
Check the total link count
In the Links section, you can see the total number of External Links under “External Links” and total number of Internal Links under “Internal Links” See screenshot below:
See referring domains
The ‘Links report’ also lists the top referring domains or websites that link to you. These incoming links are like recommendations, telling Google your content is authoritative and useful. Aim for links from high-quality, trusted sites in your industry. If you see spammy or low-quality domains, you may want to disavow them.
Analyze link types
Google categorizes links as follows:
- DoFollow Links – Passes link equity. The ideal type of link.
- NoFollow Links – Does not pass link equity. Still, a good sign as it shows other sites find your content valuable enough to link to.
- Redirect – The page linking to you redirects to another URL. Double check the final URL still links to your site.
- Image – A link within an image on another site. Also passes link equity.
- Frame – Your page is displayed within a frame on another site. Passes link equity.
A healthy link profile contains a variety of DoFollow links from authoritative domains. NoFollow, Redirects, and Frames should make up a smaller portion of your total links. Image links can be a good sign too, as it shows your visual content is being shared.
Analyzing your link metrics regularly helps ensure you’re building the right types of links and catching any potential issues early on. Keep working to earn high-quality DoFollow links to your site, and your search rankings will continue to improve over time.
Identifying Toxic or Low-Quality Links
Identifying toxic or low-quality backlinks is an important part of link building. Backlinks from spam sites can negatively impact your search engine rankings and site authority. Google Search Console provides a number of reports to help you find harmful links pointing to your site.
Check the Links report to see all the backlinks Google has discovered pointing to your site. Look for links that contain:
- Irrelevant or unrelated content. If the content has nothing to do with your site topic or industry, it likely provides little value.
- Heavy commercial intent. Links that primarily exist to generate traffic or sell a product often carry little weight.
- Low authority. Links from sites with a low domain authority or page authority pass on little value. Focus on links from authoritative, trusted sites in your industry.
- Toxic anchors. Anchors like “click here” or “website” provide no context to search engines or users. They offer little help for rankings or UX. Avoid such links.
- Unnatural linking patterns. Many links or duplicate links from a single site, especially if built quickly, seem manipulative rather than earned. They likely provide no real value.
Check the Top Pages and Landing Pages reports to see which of your pages receive the most links and traffic. Look for on-page issues that could be attracting poor-quality links like:
- Thin or low-value content. Pages with little useful content are easy targets for low-quality link building. Bulk up or remove these pages.
- Heavy commercial intent. Product or service pages often attract poor-quality links aimed at generating sales. No follow these pages to avoid passing on poor link equity.
- Keyword stuffing. Pages built to rank for specific keywords rather than provide value to users tend to attract spammy links. Rework or remove these pages.
Regularly monitoring your backlinks and making improvements to weed out toxic links and prevent their growth will help ensure your link profile remains natural and provides the maximum SEO benefits. Keep your link-building efforts in line with Google’s guidelines for the best long-term success.
Using Links Data to Improve SEO and Website Traffic
Once you’ve connected your website to Google Search Console, you’ll have access to valuable information about your site’s performance in Google search results. One of the most useful reports is the Links report, which provides insights into the backlinks pointing to your site. Analyzing your backlink profile can help improve your search rankings and increase organic traffic.
Check Your Linking Domains
The Links report shows you the domains that are linking to your site. Focus on acquiring high-quality links with relevant content from authoritative domains. Low-quality links from unrelated sites could potentially hurt your rankings. Aim for a diverse link profile with links from many different domains. If most of your links are coming from a single domain, that’s a sign your link profile could use improvement.
Identify Your Most Linked To Pages
The Links report also shows which of your pages are receiving the most links. Double-check that these pages are optimized for search engines with relevant keywords, content, and internal linking. These pages are likely to rank well in search results, so be sure to maintain and improve them over time. You may also want to consider creating similar content that can also rank and earn links.
Check for Unnatural Link Spikes
Quick increases in the number or types of links pointing to your site could signal an unnatural link-building campaign that violates Google’s guidelines. Unnatural links are those acquired through paid links, link exchanges, or other manipulative tactics. Check your link acquisition reports regularly for any major spikes or changes. If identified, disavow these links through Google Search Console to avoid potential penalties.
Fix or Remove Broken Links
Broken links are bad for user experience and search engine optimization. The Links report identifies pages on your site where linked URLs are returning 404 errors. Fix or remove these broken links, especially for pages that are earning high volumes of links. Broken links damage the credibility and authority of your site, and Google may see lots of 404 errors as a sign your content isn’t very useful.
By keeping a close eye on your backlink profile through the Links report, you can make improvements to benefit both your users and your search rankings. Focus on earning high-quality links, optimizing your most linked to pages, avoiding unnatural link spikes, and fixing or removing broken links. Small tweaks and maintenance over time can add up to better search visibility and more organic traffic to your site.
Conclusion
So there you have it, a quick and easy way to check your backlinks right from Google Search Console. Monitoring your backlinks is an important part of any SEO strategy, and Search Console makes it simple. You can see new links as they appear, check their anchor text, see if any bad links point to your site, and so much more. Now that you know how to use this free tool from Google, you have no excuse not to keep an eye on your backlinks and make sure they’re helping, not hurting, your search rankings. Check your backlinks, clean up any spammy ones, and build high-quality links to improve your SEO and organic traffic. With a little time invested regularly, you’ll be dominating the search results in no time.