{"id":23674,"date":"2021-01-30T18:41:42","date_gmt":"2021-01-30T16:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reliablesoft.net\/?p=23674"},"modified":"2021-11-20T14:25:26","modified_gmt":"2021-11-20T12:25:26","slug":"who-links-to-my-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reliablesoft.net\/who-links-to-my-site\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Links to My Site or Any Site? (Best Free Methods to Find Out)"},"content":{"rendered":"

High-quality backlinks are one of the most important SEO factors.<\/p>\n

But without knowing how many backlinks are pointing to your site and where they are coming from, it is hard to execute an effective link-building strategy.<\/p>\n

If you have ever wondered, how do I find out who links to my website \u2014 this guide is for you.<\/p>\n

I will show you the best tools and methods you can use to see who is linking to your site or any other site on the web.<\/p>\n

How to Find Who Links to Your Website<\/h2>\n

Use any of these methods to find out who links to your website.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Google Search Console Links Report<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Bing Webmaster Tools Backlinks Report<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. SEMRush Backlink Analysis Tool<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    1. Google Search Console Links Report<\/h3>\n

    The first free option you can use to see who is linking to your website is Google Search Console.<\/p>\n

    GSC provides a wide array of helpful tools to monitor and manage your website’s performance within the world’s most popular search engine. One of these tools is the Links Report, which gives a detailed analysis of all the backlinks<\/strong><\/a> currently pointing to your website.<\/p>\n

    Once your search console account is set up<\/strong><\/a>, you can visit the links repor<\/strong><\/a>t<\/a> for your web property by clicking LINKS from the left menu.<\/p>\n

    On the report, you’ll find a list of your top linked pages with the number of sites linking to each page.<\/p>\n

    \"Google
    Google search console links report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Next is a list of the top sites linking to your website. When you click on a site on the list, you can see which of your pages that domain is linking to.<\/p>\n

    \"Top
    Top sites linking to your site.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Finally, you’ll find a list of top linking text that shows which anchor text websites are using when linking back to your website.<\/p>\n

    The links report also has a list of all the internal links on your site. This list can come in handy when making sure that you are building out a solid internal linking structure<\/strong><\/a> to help search engines crawl and understand your website.<\/p>\n

    2. Bing Webmaster Tools Backlinks Report<\/h3>\n

    The next option for finding out who links to your website in Bing Webmaster Tools<\/strong><\/a>. The Microsoft equivalent to Google Search Console is used to monitor and manage your website\u2019s performance within the Bing search engine.<\/p>\n

    Like Search Console, Webmaster Tools has a backlink report<\/strong><\/a> that provides detail into all the websites linking back to yours. You can find the report under SEO in the left menu.<\/p>\n

    At the top of the report, you can see the total number of referring domains, total number of referring pages, and total number of different anchor texts used.<\/p>\n

    The Domains section of the Backlinks Report shows you a list of all the unique domains that are linking to your site as well as the number of backlinks coming from each domain.<\/p>\n

    \"Bing
    Bing Backlinks Report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    When you click on a domain, you can see which specific pages are linking to your website and which of your URLs the links are pointing to. You can also see the exact anchor text being used for each link.<\/p>\n

    3. SEMRush Backlink Analysis Tool<\/h3>\n

    SEMRush<\/strong><\/a> provides a comprehensive suite of digital marketing solutions including a Backlink Analysis tool that you can use to check the links for your site or any other on the web.<\/p>\n

    When you enter your website, you are taken to an Overview tab where you can see your website\u2019s authority score, total referring domains, and the total number of backlinks.<\/p>\n

    \"SEMRush
    SEMRush Backlinks Report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    For a more detailed analysis, go to the Referring Domains<\/strong> tab. Here you will find a list of all the different websites linking back to you.<\/p>\n

    The table displays each website\u2019s authority score, the total number of backlinks coming from the site as well as its IP address.<\/p>\n

    When you click on the view button next to each website\u2019s backlink total you can get more insight into the links pointing to your site. By doing so you will see the specific URLs linking to your site, which of your pages the links are going to, and what anchor text is being used.<\/p>\n

    It will also show if the link is dofollow<\/em> or nofollow<\/em> and when SEMRush first detected the link.<\/p>\n

    SEMRush provides users access to the Backlink Analysis tool for free. However, with the free version, the amount of data you are able to view is limited.<\/p>\n

    When you visit the Referring Domains report for your website, you are only able to see the top 10 results. For full access to all the backlink data, you need to sign up for a paid plan.<\/p>\n

    If this interests you, be sure to take advantage of our exclusive 14-day trial<\/strong> <\/a>to use the SEMRush Backlink Analysis tool and the rest of the platform for free.<\/p>\n

    How to Find Links to a Specific Page<\/h2>\n

    If you want to see the links to a particular page on your website, you can use the tools referenced above.<\/p>\n

    With the Google Search Console Links Report, you can find links to a specific page by clicking on a URL from the Top Linked Pages Report<\/strong>. You\u2019ll be taken to a list of all the domains linking to that page and can see how many total links are coming from that particular site.<\/p>\n

    When you click on that domain, you are taken to a list of all the specific URLs that contain links back to your target page.<\/p>\n

    \"Report:
    Report: Links to a specific page.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    With the Bing Webmaster Tools Backlinks Report, you can see the links to a specific page by visiting either the Domains or Pages section of the report.<\/p>\n

    This will show you a list of the domains or specific pages linking to your website depending on what section you are using. By drilling into both sections you can see which of your specific pages are being linked to.<\/p>\n

    You can export the data to a spreadsheet and then search for a specific URL to quickly scan all the links pointing to that particular page.<\/p>\n

    Using the SEMRush Backlink Analysis tool you can search for a specific URL directly to quickly see how many backlinks the page has and where they are coming from.<\/p>\n

    When you search for a specific URL the report is in the same format as when searching for a domain, only it shows results exclusively for that page, not the entire website.<\/p>\n

    If you click on the backlinks tab, you\u2019ll find a list of each backlink pointing to that specific page. This includes what exact URL the link is coming from and what anchor text the link is using.<\/p>\n

    How to Find Sites That Link to Any Site?<\/h2>\n

    Knowing how to find out who is linking to your competitors\u2019 websites is just as useful as knowing who is linking to yours.<\/p>\n

    While you can\u2019t create a Google Search Console account to monitor your competitors, there are several tools you can use to quickly check the backlinks to any website<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Use any of these methods to find out who links to any site.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Bing Webmaster Tools Similar Sites Report<\/li>\n
    2. Ahrefs Free Backlink Checker<\/li>\n
    3. Alexa Check Backlinks Tool<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      1. Bing Webmaster Tools Similar Sites Report<\/h3>\n

      With the Bing Webmaster Tools Similar Sites report, you can compare multiple websites side by side to quickly analyze their backlink profile. You can find the report by clicking SEO > Backlinks from the left menu and then selecting the ‘Similar Sites’ tab.<\/p>\n

      When you first open the report, your website will automatically be selected as the first site to be used in the comparison. You\u2019ll have the option to add two more sites to compare up to three (including your site) simultaneously.<\/p>\n

      \"Bing:
      Bing: Similar Sites Report.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

      The report shows the total number of referring domains and the total number of different anchor texts for each website. There is also a complete list of all the referring domains for each website.<\/p>\n

      When you select a referring domain, you are taken to a sub-report detailing every unique URL linking to the target website along with the specific page being linked to.<\/p>\n

      2. Ahrefs Free Backlink Checker<\/h3>\n

      Arguably the most effective tool for checking the backlinks to any website is the free Ahrefs Backlink Checker<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

      With over 25 trillion known backlinks and 170 million unique domains, you can be sure you are receiving accurate data when you perform backlink analysis using this tool.<\/p>\n

      When you enter a website into the checker you receive a report packed with tons of useful info.<\/p>\n

      The overview includes the website’s domain rating, the total number of backlinks, the total number of referring domains, and what percentage of the links and domains are dofollow<\/em>.<\/p>\n

      \"Ahrefs
      Ahrefs – Backlinks Report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

      Further down the report is a list of the backlinks pointing to the site. For each link, you\u2019ll see the referring page, the Domain Rating and URL rating for the referring page, the anchor text of the backlink, and whether the link is dofollow<\/em> or nofollow<\/em>.<\/p>\n

      You can toggle the backlinks chart to instead show the top anchor texts used for links pointing to the target website or the top pages receiving links.<\/p>\n

      You are also able to search and analyze links for a specific URL instead of the domain as a whole.<\/p>\n

      The free version of Ahrefs Backlink Checker only shows the top 100 backlinks for each URL that you search. If you want to unlock the full power of the platform, you need to signup for a paid plan.<\/p>\n

      It can be well worth the cost as Ahrefs boasts one of the most comprehensive suites of SEO tools on the market today. Ahrefs offers new users a 7-day trial for just $7 to test the platform out for themselves before committing to a paid plan.<\/p>\n

      3. Alexa Check Backlinks Tool<\/h3>\n

      Another helpful solution you can use to check the backlinks for any site across the web is the Alexa Check Backlinks tool<\/strong><\/a>. With it, you can easily search for one of your competitors to find who their top referring domains are and which of their pages are gaining the most links.<\/p>\n

      The Check Backlinks tool shows how much traffic each referring URL gets so you can easily see which links are the most valuable and worth pursuing.<\/p>\n

      \"Alexa
      Alexa Backlink Checker Report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

      The tool can also help you uncover backlink opportunities by analyzing your competitor\u2019s link profiles in comparison to your own to quickly find sites linking to the competition but not to you.<\/p>\n

      You need to sign up for an account before you can use any of the Alexa tools. Alexa offers a 14-day free trial<\/a> <\/strong>for you to test out the platform before beginning a recurring plan.<\/p>\n

      Why Are Links Important in SEO?<\/h2>\n

      Links are important in SEO<\/strong><\/a> because they are perceived as a \u2018vote of trust\u2019 from one website to another.<\/p>\n

      When a site links to another, Google takes it as a sign that the linking site finds the other site valuable and of high enough quality to make it worth linking to.<\/p>\n

      Google then takes these signals into account when ranking different pages in its index.<\/p>\n

      \"backlinks
      Backlinks and Pagerank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

      While links are important, not all links have the same level of value. There are certain factors that enable some links to have a much bigger impact on SEO than others.<\/p>\n

      Authority of the referring domain<\/h3>\n

      Each website\u2019s authority can essentially be measured by a numerical value. Some SEO tools call this metric Domain Authority<\/strong><\/a>, others Domain Score or Domain Rating but the concept is the same.<\/p>\n

      The more authoritative a website is, the higher its score. This score plays a role in SEO as Google is more likely to rank a page from a more authoritative site.<\/p>\n

      It also plays an important factor in link building as links from authoritative sites are much better at improving SEO rankings than links from small non-authoritative sites.<\/p>\n

      When a website links to another website it passes on some of that authority to the site it is linking to. Naturally, getting links from sites with more authority are much more valuable because they are the ones that can lead to results.<\/p>\n

      Dofollow vs nofollow links<\/h3>\n

      The inherent value of backlinks comes from their ability to pass Domain Authority and PageRank on to the target page.<\/p>\n

      Whether or not a link is able to pass this \u201clink juice\u201d on to the target site depends on if the link is a dofollow<\/em> or nofollow<\/em> link.<\/p>\n

      Nofollow links<\/strong><\/a> are backlinks that have the rel=\u201dnofollow\u201d attribute. This HTML tag tells search engines to ignore that link and to not pass page rank from the referring site to the target site.<\/p>\n

      Dofollow links are those that do not have the nofollow<\/em> attribute applied.<\/p>\n

      Nofollow links can not affect SEO rankings but they are still useful. If you get an article published on a major publication like Forbes, the links will be nofollow<\/em> but the links can still lead to referral traffic. It is also good for branding to have your businesses mentioned by an industry leader.<\/p>\n

      Anchor text<\/h3>\n

      Anchor text is the user-facing text that is the visible and clickable part of a link.<\/p>\n

      It is important to SEO as it gives a signal to search engines and users about the page being linked to.<\/p>\n

      For example, the following link \u2014 What you need to know about anchor text<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> makes it clear that the page being linked to is about anchor text.<\/p>\n

      Anchor text can tell Google what keywords a page should rank for, so links like the one above that contain target keywords can be helpful in boosting SEO rankings.<\/p>\n

      That said, it is important not to over-optimize the anchor text for links as Google may penalize your site.<\/p>\n

      You should only use anchor keywords that are actually relevant to the page. It is also good practice to have a backlink profile with a mixture of all types of anchor texts (branded, domain name, naked URL, partial match, generic, etc.)<\/p>\n

      This will make your link profile look natural and will keep you from being penalized.<\/p>\n

      What to do Next?<\/h2>\n

      Analyze your Link Profile and Remove Potentially Dangerous Links<\/h3>\n

      Bad links can hurt your website the same way high-quality links can boost your website.<\/p>\n

      As such, it is important to continually monitor your link profile to ensure it is free of these dangerous links.<\/p>\n

      Examples of bad links that can hurt your site include:<\/p>\n