Check Incoming Links Free

Incoming links, the links from other websites that point at yours, are one of the strongest signals search engines use to rank pages. Checking them tells you who vouches for your site, where your authority comes from, and which links are dragging you down. This guide shows you how to check incoming links with genuinely free tools and, more importantly, how to fix what you find.

What incoming links are and why they matter

An incoming link is any hyperlink on another website that points to a page on your site. The same thing goes by several names: inbound links, backlinks, or simply "links" in SEO conversation. They matter because search engines treat a link as a kind of recommendation. When a respected site links to you, some of its authority flows across, and pages with strong, relevant incoming links tend to rank higher.

But not all links are equal. A link from a trusted, topically relevant site is worth far more than dozens of links from low-quality directories or spam networks. That is why checking incoming links is about quality and context, not just a total number. For the wider strategy, our guide to backlinks covers how links fit into ranking overall.

Checking incoming links in Google Search Console

The best free starting point is the Links report inside Google Search Console, because it draws on Google's own crawl of the web. Open a verified property, click Links in the sidebar, and you get two panels: external links and internal links. The external side surfaces your top linked pages, your top linking sites, and your most common anchor text.

Two things to understand about this report. First, it is a sample, not a complete list: the tables cap at 1,000 rows and data is grouped by root domain, so it shows direction rather than every single link. Second, it costs nothing and has no daily lookup limit for your own verified site, which makes it the natural first tool. For a tour of the other reports alongside it, see our guide to the Search Console tools.

Checking incoming links with third-party tools

Search Console shows your own links, but it will not let you inspect a competitor, and its sample is limited. Third-party backlink tools fill that gap, and several offer a free tier:

• Ahrefs Backlink Checker: the free version shows a capped number of top backlinks for any domain, including sites you do not own.
• Moz Link Explorer: free with a Moz account, it reports linking domains and a domain authority estimate.
• Bing Webmaster Tools: its backlinks view gives another free, first-party angle for Microsoft's index.

These tools estimate from their own crawls, so their totals will differ from each other and from Search Console. That is normal. Use several together for a fuller picture. Our companion guide on the inbound link checker compares these options in more detail.

How to read the output

Once you have a list of incoming links, a few columns tell you almost everything:

• Linking domain: the site the link comes from. Is it reputable and topically related to yours?
• Target page: the page on your site being linked to. Are your best links pointing at your best pages?
• Anchor text: the clickable words. Natural profiles have varied anchors, mostly your brand name and descriptive phrases, not the same money keyword over and over.
• Link status: whether the link still exists and whether it is followed or nofollow.

Patterns matter more than any single row. A sudden flood of links with identical spammy anchor text is a red flag. A steady trickle of editorial links from relevant sites is exactly what you want.

Followed versus nofollow incoming links

Not every incoming link passes ranking weight, and your check should tell them apart. A standard "followed" link passes signals to your site. A link marked with a rel="nofollow" attribute tells search engines not to pass that weight, and two newer attributes refine the idea: rel="sponsored" marks paid or advertising links, and rel="ugc" marks user-generated content such as forum posts and comments.

This matters for two reasons. First, a profile made almost entirely of nofollow links from comments and forums will not lift your rankings much, so a high raw count can be misleading. Second, a healthy natural profile actually contains a mix of followed and nofollow links, because real websites link in varied ways. A profile that is 100 percent followed exact-match anchors looks manufactured. When you review incoming links, note the ratio, but do not chase followed links to the point of ignoring the relevance and reputation of the linking site, which matter more.

How to fix what the check finds

Checking is only half the job. Here is how to act on the common findings:

• Lost links: a site that used to link to you removed the link. Reach out politely to ask why, or earn a fresh link with updated content.
• Broken linked pages: another site links to a URL on yours that now returns a 404. The HTTP 404 status means the server cannot find the resource, so the link value is wasted. Redirect that old URL to the best live replacement to recover it. Our guide to 404 Not Found errors covers the redirect process.
• Spammy or unnatural links: if you find a pattern of manipulative links you did not build, and they are hurting you, Google's disavow tool lets you tell Google to ignore them. Use it sparingly and only for genuinely toxic links.
• Too few good links: the answer is to earn more through genuinely useful content and outreach, which our guide to link building walks through.

Building an incoming-link routine

Checking incoming links is not a one-time task. Set a monthly rhythm: review the Search Console Links report for new linking domains, spot-check a backlink tool for lost links, and redirect any newly broken pages that still attract links. Over time you will see which content earns links naturally, which tells you what to create more of. It also pays to keep a simple record of your best links, because links disappear when other sites redesign, delete pages, or go offline entirely. If you know a valuable link existed, you can act quickly to win it back or replace it, rather than silently losing the authority it carried. For the broader picture on measuring and growing your profile, our guides to checking inbound links to a website and to using a backlinks checker go further.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between incoming links, inbound links, and backlinks?

There is no difference. Incoming links, inbound links, and backlinks are three names for the same thing: links on other websites that point to a page on your site. All three terms are used interchangeably in SEO.

How can I check my incoming links for free?

Start with the Links report in Google Search Console, which draws on Google's own crawl and has no lookup limit for your verified site. Then add the free tiers of Ahrefs Backlink Checker, Moz Link Explorer, and Bing Webmaster Tools for extra coverage.

Why do different tools show different backlink counts?

Each tool crawls the web independently and reports from its own index, so totals naturally differ. Search Console also shows only a sample, capped at 1,000 rows per table. Use several tools together and focus on link quality rather than the exact count.

Should I remove or disavow bad incoming links?

Only if you find a genuine pattern of manipulative, toxic links that is harming your site. Google's disavow tool tells Google to ignore specific links, but it should be used sparingly, because most low-quality links are simply ignored by the algorithm already.

How do I get more good incoming links?

Earn them by creating genuinely useful content and promoting it through outreach, digital PR, and relationships in your niche. Avoid buying links or joining exchange schemes, since those violate search engine guidelines and risk a penalty.