Backlink monitoring is the routine of checking, on a schedule, which other sites link to yours: the new links you earned, the links you lost and the links that look manipulative. It protects the effort you put into link building and gives you early warning when something odd happens to your link profile.
Why does backlink monitoring matter?
Links from relevant, trusted sites remain one of the signals Google uses to find and rank pages. Monitoring turns link building from a one-off push into something you can steer:
- New links show which content and outreach worked, so you do more of it.
- Lost links can be won back, and every one you recover keeps earlier work alive (see link reclamation).
- Spam spikes warn you early about paid-link schemes or negative campaigns.
- Competitor links show where rivals earn mentions that you can match (see competitor backlinks).
Which tools show your backlinks?
| Tool | Cost | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Search Console Links report | Free | Shows top linked pages, top linking sites and top linking text. It is a sample and “isn’t a comprehensive list”. Tables stop at 1,000 rows. It can include links already removed and does not show whether a link is nofollow. Exports hold up to 100,000 rows. |
| Ahrefs Free | Free for verified sites | Up to 1,000 backlinks visible at once, according to Ahrefs. |
| Bing Webmaster Tools | Free | A second, independent set of link data. |
| Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz | Paid | Larger link indexes, new and lost link alerts, competitor comparison. |
No tool sees every link, and tools disagree. Use one source consistently for trends and a second for cross-checks.
How do you monitor backlinks, step by step?
- Set the baseline. Export the Links report from Google Search Console (top linking sites and top linked pages) and save it with today’s date. Do the same in your second tool.
- Count the numbers that matter. Referring domains (not raw links), links to your top 10 pages, and the share of links with descriptive anchor text.
- Schedule a monthly review. Compare the new export with the old one. In a paid tool, switch on new and lost link alerts.
- Sort new links into groups. Editorial links from real sites, directory or profile links, and links from sites you do not know. For the first group, thank the site and look for further ideas. For the last group, look at the linking page before you decide anything.
- Chase the lost links. For every lost link from a good site, find the reason: the page was deleted, the URL changed, the link was removed or the site went offline. A deleted target page on your own site calls for a 301 redirect. A removed link calls for a polite email.
- Turn mentions into links. Brand mentions without a link are the cheapest wins (see unlinked mentions). Google Alerts and tool alerts show them.
- Review anchor text. The Links report lists top linking text. Anchors full of gambling, pharmacy or adult terms point to hacked or spam sources.
- Record the decisions. Keep a sheet with date, source, action and result.
When should you use the disavow tool?
Rarely. Google’s help page says that in most cases Google can assess which links to trust without extra guidance, and calls disavow an advanced feature that can harm your site’s performance if misused. The tool is for one situation: you have a manual action for unnatural links, or you expect one because you or an agency bought links or ran a link scheme, and you have many spammy links you cannot get removed.
Follow Google’s order:
- Try to have the links removed at the source.
- If that fails and a manual action exists, build a disavow file.
- Upload it as the property owner. A new upload replaces the old list.
The file is a plain .txt in UTF-8 or 7-bit ASCII, with one URL or domain per line, domain: before a domain, # for comments, at most 100,000 lines and 2 MB. Google says a successful upload can take a few weeks to take effect. The help page also notes the tool does not apply to Domain properties, so read the current instructions before you start.
# links from a paid-link campaign
domain:spammy-directory.example
https://blog.example.net/post-with-paid-link/Random low-quality links from scrapers do not need disavowing. Google’s spam policies list link spam as buying links that pass ranking credit without rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow", and excessive link exchanges. Fix the cause (stop buying links, see link exchanges) before you disavow.
How do you measure the result?
Track three numbers each month: new referring domains, lost referring domains (the net change is your growth) and clicks to the pages that earned links in the Search Console Performance report. Check for a manual action under Security and Manual actions in Search Console after any link scheme cleanup.
What mistakes should you avoid?
- Disavowing by tool score. A “toxic” label from a paid tool is an opinion, not a Google verdict.
- Counting raw links. Ten thousand links from one site are one referring domain.
- Reading the Search Console sample as complete. Its numbers are lower than reality.
- Ignoring lost links. A lost link on a high-authority page is worth an email.
- Panicking about a spike of junk links. Google ignores most of them. Act only on a manual action or a clear scheme.
- Monitoring without acting. The sheet matters only if the follow-ups happen.
Where can you learn more?
The free digital marketing module of the Fe/male Switch startup school covers link building for new startups. Next steps: reclaim lost links, turn unlinked mentions into links, and spot the sources behind your rivals’ links in competitor backlinks.