10 Link Building Tools for Tracking Inbound Links
Quality inbound links are an essential element of web site marketing and search engine optimization programs to increase traffic and online sales. The greater the number of relevant and authoritative links to a web page, the greater the potential for higher search engine rankings and qualified traffic.
A recent survey from SEOmoz illustrates just how important inbound links are to rankings. An impressive 4 of the top 5 ranking factors involve inbound links:
Keyword focused anchor text from external links: 73% very high importance
External link popularity: 71% very high importance
Diversity of link sources: 67% very high importance
Trustworthiness of the domain based on link distance from trusted domains: 66% very high importance
Conversely, the No. 2 negative ranking factor was link acquisition from known link brokers or sellers (56% high importance). Incidentally, TopRank has never engaged in link acquisitions in this manner, focusing instead on earning links through creative content promotions, social media and online public relations.
Tracking links to your web pages — and those of your competitors — is a major part of any SEO strategy. Fortunately, a host of free and paid tools exist to provide a comprehensive looks at where your web pages stand.
Since link building is so important, Lee and I have collected these 10 tools for tracking inbound links for you to test:
1. Majestic-SEO
Majestic-SEO allows users to track link information for any domain – their own sites or those of competitors. Illustrated in the image below, users can access the number of:
Sub domains
Pages
Links
Referring domains
Images
NoFollow links
Redirects
By verifying ownership of a domain, users can obtain a more detailed report that includes unique links and their anchor text. With registration, the service for your own site is free. Users can buy credits to obtain that same information about other web sites such as competitors. Downloadable data is given on top anchor text, top referring domains and top pages. Plus, the tool offers a “daily update” feature that provides a daily journal of new inbound links.
Majestic SEO
2. BuzzStream Link Building
BuzzStream Link Building focuses on providing tools that help automate redundant tasks in relationship building. It’s a CRM system for link building with applications for SEO as well as online PR.
Find Contact Info
Track Email & Twitter
Manage Link Prospects
Monitor Backlinks for anchor text, nofollows, outbound links, banned words
Track activities and conversion rate
Delegate contacts, split prospecting from outreach
BuzzStream Link Building tools are very robust for link detection, suggestions, relationship management and link management. The BuzzMarker bookmarklet allows easy addition of new link opportunities via the browser. Many other tools focus on link detection, acquisition and the technical site of management. The CRM aspect of BuzzStream and the conversion tracking reports make it unique.
There is a free trial for BuzzStream and monthly costs range from $29/mo to $249/mo. There are also options for Agencies and Enterprise use.
BuzzStream Link Building
3. SEOmoz Linkscape
This inbound link tracking tool offers both a free basic version and an advanced version with a subscription to SEOmoz PRO.
The basic search (illustrated in the image below) allows users to determine the number of inbound links to a page and the number of different domains linking to a page. The tool also gives a ranking of the page based on number and quality of inbound links, as well as a ranking of the domain overall.
In the full version, users can not only judge the quality and quantity of links to their own web pages, but to their competitors as well. Users can compare number of links, number of domains and domain ranking side-by-side against competitor sites.
Users can also determine the keywords competitor sites are targeting in their anchor text and identify competitors’ most powerful links.
SEOMoz L