Backlink monitoring: how to track new and lost links
Backlink monitoring is a routine check of which sites link to yours. Each check records new links, lost links and the pages that receive them. To start, open the Links report in Google Search Console, then add a tool with a larger index if you need history or lost-link alerts. This article compares the data sources from their vendors' own pages. It then shows a review routine, how to triage a lost link, and where Google's link rules set a limit.
Why monitor links at all
Links change without notice. A site redesign drops a link. A page moves and the old address returns an error. A writer edits an article and removes a mention. A new link may appear after a story runs or a partner updates a page. If you check once a year, you find these changes late. If you check on a fixed interval, you find them while the cause is easy to trace.
Monitoring serves three jobs. It shows whether your content earns links. It shows which losses to chase. It gives you a record to read if a ranking drop makes you ask what changed. It does not replace content work. Google's SEO Starter Guide says that "other sites linking to you is something that happens naturally over time," so the monitor reports on links that content earned. It does not create them.
What to track
A monitor answers one question: what changed since the last check? Four things matter.
- New links. A page that did not link to you before now does.
- Lost links. A page that linked to you before no longer shows the link.
- Referring domains. The number of different sites that link to you. A count of links can grow while the count of sites stays flat.
- Link attributes. Whether the link carries
rel="nofollow",rel="sponsored"orrel="ugc". Google describes these values for site owners who link out.
Anchor text and the target page add context. Anchor text is the visible text of the link. The target page tells you which of your pages earns links.
A monitor compares two snapshots. A link in the new snapshot but not the old one is new. A link in the old snapshot but not the new one is lost. Fig. 1 shows the third case: a link marked lost can return, and the monitor then clears the mark. Strategist's weekly link sync works this way: it marks absent links as lost and clears the mark when a link reappears.
Where link data comes from
No tool sees every link. Each source has its own index, its own crawl schedule and its own limits. The table lists what three vendors say on their own pages.
| Source | What it reports | Limits the vendor states |
|---|---|---|
| Search Console Links report | Top linked pages, top linking sites and top linking text for external links, plus internal links | "Shows a sample" of links, not "a comprehensive list". Tables stop at 1,000 rows. It does not show whether a link is nofollow. Links "may have since been removed". |
| DataForSEO Backlinks API | Inbound links, referring domains and referring pages, a history endpoint and a timeseries of new and lost links | The vendor says the data is "based on the live index". The overview does not say how it decides that a link is new or lost. |
| Ahrefs Site Explorer | A lost-links report that gives a reason for each lost link | The vendor lists causes that report a link as lost while it is still visible, such as a blocked crawler or a move to HTTP Secure (HTTPS). |
Read the table as a list of questions to ask a tool, not as a ranking. Search Console comes from Google, but it samples. A third-party index can list more links, and you must read its lost-link rules before you trust a lost count. Two tools that watch the same site will report different totals, because each one crawls a different part of the web at a different time. Pick one primary source and compare it only with itself from week to week. Use a second source to check a surprising result.
Strategist reads backlinks and referring domains from the DataForSEO Backlinks API with your own DataForSEO key, and it shows them in Links › Profile with a New & lost view.
Set a review routine
Pick an interval and keep it. For example, check once a week. A fixed interval makes the new and lost counts comparable from one check to the next.
Each pass follows Fig. 2. First, sync the data. Second, read the two lists. Third, triage every link on them. Fourth, act. Then wait for the next interval.
The routine needs a record. Save each check as a dated snapshot or let the tool keep the history. The DataForSEO overview lists a history endpoint that "will reveal the target's past link-building performance", so a trend line is possible without your own storage. Strategist draws a monthly history sparkline on the Domains view of Links › Profile.
Triage a new link
Open the linking page and answer four questions.
- Does the page exist for readers, with real content around the link?
- Is the topic related to your page?
- Did the owner add the link on their own, or did you ask for it?
- What
relvalue does the link carry?
A link that passes the first three is a keep. Note it and move on. A link you did not ask for, on a page you do not recognize, is usually not a problem. Google's disavow page says that "in most cases, Google can assess which links to trust without additional guidance." The rel value helps you read the link. Google tells site owners to mark paid links with rel="sponsored" and user-generated links, such as comments and forum posts, with rel="ugc". A link with one of these values is labelled as such. It is not a fault, and you do not need to remove it. Look closer only when a pattern appears, such as many links from one odd source in one week.
Report the result
Keep the report short, and write it for someone who was not at the last check. Four lines are enough: the count of referring domains, the new referring domains with a note on each, the lost links you plan to act on, and what you did last time. A trend over several checks tells you more than one count. If a report grows long, nobody reads it.
Handle a lost link
A lost link is not always a lost link. The tool reports what its crawler saw on one visit.
Ahrefs groups lost-link reasons into categories such as "Not found", "301/302 redirect", "Noindex", "Not canonical anymore", "Crawl errors", "Dropped" and "Link removed". Its help article adds that a link can show as lost while still visible, for example when the crawler was blocked or the page moved to HTTPS. Fig. 3 turns these into three checks. Other tools use their own labels, so read your tool's help page.
Then take the action that fits the cause.
- The linking page is gone or redirects. Open it. If the owner moved the content, the link may exist at the new address.
- The page is live and the link is gone. Write to the owner. Ask whether the removal was deliberate and whether they will restore it. Do not offer money (see the policy section below).
- You changed your own URL. Check whether the target page on your site now returns an error. Redirect the old address to the new one, so a link that still exists keeps working.
- The tool may be wrong. Wait for the next sync before you act.
Strategist's New & lost view lists the lost links, so you can match a loss to a change on your own site.
Handle a risky link
Most links need no action. Google's disavow page calls the tool "an advanced feature" to be used "with caution", and says it is for sites with "a considerable number of spammy, artificial, or low-quality links" that "have caused a manual action, or likely will cause a manual action". It adds that "most sites will not need to use this tool."
Use that as your rule. Disavow only when you see a clear pattern and a real risk to your site. Disavowing one odd link every week wastes time and gains nothing. The toxic backlinks article covers how to spot a harmful pattern and when a disavow file makes sense.
A risk score helps you decide where to look first. Strategist's Risk column rates each referring domain Elevated, Watch, Low or No evidence from the domain's rating and its link count, so read it as a prompt to look and not as a verdict. A low-rated site is not spam by that fact alone.
Stay inside Google's link policy
Monitoring shows you links. It does not make any link safe to buy. Google's spam policies define link spam as "the practice of creating links to or from a site primarily for the purpose of manipulating search rankings". The policy page lists examples, including these:
- exchanging money, goods or services for links, or sending a product in exchange for a link
- excessive link exchanges, and partner pages that exist only for cross-linking
- using automated programs or services to create links
- low-quality directory or bookmark site links
- forum comments with optimized links in the post or signature
- links with optimized anchor text in guest posts, articles or press releases on other sites
Google says buying and selling links is not a violation when the links carry rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored". So the answer to "should I pay for backlinks?" is: not for ranking credit. Strategist follows the same line: it does not buy, sell or exchange links, and its outreach feature drafts a pitch that you send (link building use case).
Build the content, then monitor the links it earns. The link building strategy article covers tactics that stay inside these rules. The directory submission article covers when a listing helps. Broken link building covers a tactic that starts from broken links on other sites. The PageRank article explains why Google no longer shows a public score.
Choose a monitoring tool
Judge a tool by what its vendor states. Ask these questions, and read the answer on the vendor's page.
- Index and freshness. Does the vendor say how it crawls and how often it updates? DataForSEO says its API "supplies data based on the live index".
- Lost-link rules. Does the vendor explain why it reports a link as lost? Ahrefs does. Without that, you cannot tell a real loss from a crawl error.
- History. Can you see past snapshots, or only the current state?
- Attributes. Does the report show
relvalues? The Search Console report does not. - Export and access. Can you export rows or call an API?
- Limits and cost. Read the plan limits on the vendor's pricing page today. They change.
A tool that sends alerts saves you from opening a dashboard, but an alert is only as good as the lost-link rule behind it. Test any tool on a link you know changed. Pick a link that you added or removed on your own site, then see how long the tool takes to show the change and what label it gives.
Next steps
- Export the latest links from the Links report in Search Console as your first snapshot.
- Read Google's link spam policy before you plan any outreach.
- Learn when a disavow is justified in toxic backlinks.
- Plan the links you want to earn with the link building strategy article.
