Check Website Backlinks

Checking your website's backlinks tells you who links to you, how strong those links are, and whether any are hurting you. This guide explains what a backlink checker does, which free tools give you real data, how to read the results, and exactly what to do about every issue you find. There is no magic scanner that fixes links for you, so the value is in knowing how to interpret and act on what the data shows.

What "check website backlinks" actually means

A backlink is a link from another website pointing to yours. Checking your backlinks means pulling a list of those linking pages and the signals that describe them: which domains link to you, which of your pages they point to, and the anchor text they use. That profile is one of the ways search engines judge whether other sites vouch for yours.

To understand why this matters at all, it helps to know how links fit into ranking. Google's own SEO Starter Guide describes links as a way of connecting users and search engines to other resources, and quality links from relevant sites remain a meaningful signal. Our complete guide to backlinks covers the fundamentals if you are new to the concept.

The honest truth about free backlink tools

There is no proprietary 404Pulse scanner, and you should be wary of any site promising a magic tool that finds and fixes every link automatically. What actually exists is a set of genuinely useful free tools, each with real strengths and real limits. Use them together rather than trusting any single number.

• Google Search Console (free, your own site). The most trustworthy source for your own backlinks because the data comes straight from Google. Its Links report shows external links, top linking sites, your most linked pages, and top linking text.
• Ahrefs free backlink checker. A free public tool that shows a sample of backlinks, referring domains, and Domain Rating for any site. The Ahrefs backlink checker gives a glimpse of the paid data at no cost.
• Moz Link Explorer and Semrush. Both offer limited free lookups with their own authority metrics.
• Bing Webmaster Tools. Free, and its backlinks report is a useful second opinion alongside Search Console.

For a deeper walkthrough of interpreting these reports, our backlinks checker guide goes through each metric step by step.

How to check your backlinks in Google Search Console

If you only do one thing, do this. Search Console is free, verified, and shows Google's own view of your links.

1. Sign in to Google Search Console and select your verified property.
2. Open the Links report from the left menu.
3. Under External links, review Top linked pages, Top linking sites, and Top linking text.
4. Export the data to inspect it in a spreadsheet.

One caveat to keep in mind: according to Google's documentation for the Links report, the data is grouped by root domain, tables are limited to 1,000 rows, and the report shows a sample rather than every link. Some links listed may also have been removed since Google last saw them. Treat it as a strong, representative view, not a perfect census.

How to read the results

Raw link counts are the least useful number in the report. Sites can accumulate thousands of junk links that mean nothing. Read the profile through better lenses.

• Referring domains. The number of unique sites linking to you matters far more than total links. Fifty links from one site count for less than links from fifty different relevant sites.
• Relevance. A link from a site in your topic area carries more weight than one from an unrelated directory.
• Anchor text. The clickable words in a link. A natural profile has varied anchors. A flood of identical, keyword stuffed anchors can look manipulative.
• Top linked pages. Which of your pages attract links tells you what other people find worth citing.

How to fix what the checker finds

A backlink audit produces three kinds of findings. Here is what to do with each.

1. Lost or broken links. Pages that used to link to you but now point to a dead URL. If the target page moved, add a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one so the link keeps its value. Our link building guide covers reclaiming these.
2. Toxic or spammy links. Links from link farms or clearly manipulative sites. In most cases Google ignores obvious spam automatically, so do nothing unless you have a manual action or a genuine unnatural links problem. Only then consider the disavow tool, and use it sparingly.
3. Missing links you deserve. Sites that mention your brand without linking, or competitors earning links you could too. Reach out for the unlinked mentions and create content worth citing to earn the rest.

To see where you stand against rivals, pull their profiles with the same free tools and note which relevant sites link to them but not to you. Our guides to finding backlinks to your site and checking any site's backlinks show how to run that comparison.

Turning the audit into a link building plan

Checking backlinks is only useful if it changes what you do next. A simple loop keeps the profile improving.

• Reclaim every lost link that is worth keeping.
• Convert unlinked brand mentions into real links.
• Publish content genuinely worth citing, then tell the people likely to cite it.
• Recheck quarterly and watch referring domains trend up, not just total links.

If you also track authority scores, remember what those third party metrics really are. Numbers like Domain Rating and Domain Authority are estimates from tool vendors, not values Google publishes, so use them for rough comparison rather than treating them as a ranking guarantee.

Metrics you can safely ignore

Backlink tools report a lot of numbers, and some of them distract more than they help. Knowing which to skip keeps your audit focused on what moves rankings.

• Total backlink count. A big number feels good but says little. A thousand links from ten spam domains is worse than fifty from fifty real sites.
• Vendor authority scores in isolation. Domain Rating and Domain Authority are useful for rough comparison, but they are estimates from tool makers, not signals Google uses. Do not treat a score as a ranking guarantee.
• Nofollow versus followed obsession. A natural profile includes both. Chasing only followed links produces an unnatural pattern and misses the referral traffic nofollow links can send.

Spend your attention instead on referring domain growth, relevance, and whether the pages linking to you actually send visitors. Those tell you whether your link profile is getting healthier, which is the only question an audit needs to answer.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check the backlinks to my website for free?

The best free source for your own site is Google Search Console. Open the Links report to see external links, top linking sites, your most linked pages, and top linking text. For any domain, free public checkers from Ahrefs, Moz, and Semrush show a sample of backlinks and referring domains, and Bing Webmaster Tools offers a useful second view.

Is there a free tool that shows all my backlinks?

No single free tool shows every backlink. Google Search Console is the most trustworthy for your own site but shows a sample grouped by root domain and limited to 1,000 rows per table. Free public checkers show a partial view of their paid databases. Using two or three sources together gives the most complete picture.

What should I look at first in a backlink report?

Look at referring domains rather than total link count, because unique linking sites matter far more. Then check relevance, whether the linking sites relate to your topic, and anchor text, which should look varied and natural. Top linked pages tell you what content others find worth citing.

What are toxic backlinks and should I remove them?

Toxic backlinks come from link farms or clearly manipulative sites. Google usually ignores obvious spam on its own, so for most sites you should do nothing. Only consider the disavow tool if you have a manual action or a genuine unnatural links problem, and use it carefully, because disavowing good links by mistake can hurt you.

How often should I check my backlinks?

A quarterly check is enough for most sites. Watch whether your referring domains are trending upward, reclaim any valuable links that have been lost, and convert new unlinked brand mentions into links. Frequent obsessing over the raw total is not useful, since counts fluctuate and quality matters more.