Every SEO guide tells you backlinks matter. Very few show you how to actually look at them — which links you have, which ones carry weight, which ones broke last month, and how your profile stacks up against the competitor outranking you.
Around 1,000 people a month search "how to check backlinks", and the answers they find usually funnel them into $129/month subscriptions. This guide covers the genuinely free methods, what the paid tools add, and the middle path — then explains what the numbers mean once you have them.
Method 1: Google Search Console (Free, Your Site Only)
If you've verified your site in Google Search Console, you already have Google's own record of your backlinks:
- Open Search Console and pick your property.
- In the left menu, scroll to Links (bottom section).
- Check the three reports: Top linked pages (which of your pages attract links), Top linking sites (your referring domains), and Top linking text (the anchor text others use).
- Click "Export external links" to download the full list.
What GSC won't tell you: any quality metrics. Every link looks identical — a link from an authoritative industry site and a link from a spammy directory are just two rows. There's no authority score, no spam detection, no first-seen dates, no alerts when links break, and crucially: no data on any site except your own.
Method 2: Subscription Tools (Powerful, $99–$449/month)
Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz each maintain enormous link indexes and will show you anyone's backlink profile with deep filtering — by authority, anchor, dofollow status, new vs lost, and more. If you're an agency doing link building every day, they're worth it.
For everyone else, the math is rough: checking your links once or twice a month on a $129/month plan works out to $65+ per look. Our tool comparison breaks down who actually needs the big platforms.
Method 3: Pay-Per-Report (The Middle Path)
A TrackSEO report includes the backlink intelligence most sites actually need, without the subscription: your top referring domains ranked by a 0–100 authority score, total backlinks, broken backlinks you can reclaim, spam score, dofollow ratio, and how old your link profile is — for $4.99, on any domain. Run it on your own site for the health check, or on a competitor to see what you're up against.
Reading Your Backlink Data: The Metrics That Matter
| Metric | What it means | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Referring domains | Unique websites linking to you | The number that matters most — 10 links from 10 sites beat 100 from one |
| Total backlinks | Every individual link, including repeats | Context only; a huge ratio of links-to-domains is a red flag |
| Authority score | 0–100 strength estimate of each linking site | A handful of 60+ links outweigh hundreds of 10s — see domain authority explained |
| Dofollow ratio | Share of links that pass ranking value | Healthy profiles typically sit around 70–90% dofollow |
| Broken backlinks | Links pointing at pages that now 404 | Every one is recoverable authority — redirect the dead URL |
| Spam score | Estimated share of low-quality linking sites | Under ~5% is normal; spikes deserve a look at toxic backlinks |
How Many Backlinks Do You Actually Need?
The honest answer: fewer than you think, from better sites than you have. There's no universal number — it depends entirely on what the pages currently ranking for your target keyword have. The practical method:
- Search your target keyword and note the top 5 ranking pages.
- Check their referring domains (a report on each competitor works for this).
- Look at the range. If the pages ranking have 5–15 referring domains, you need roughly that. If they have 500, pick a different keyword.
For most small-business keywords, the bar is dramatically lower than people assume — often under 20 referring domains for the page, on a site with a few dozen total. Low-competition keywords can be won with great content and near-zero links. This is why checking the actual competition beats every rule of thumb.
Checking a Competitor's Backlinks (Ethically Copying What Works)
Your competitor's link profile is a to-do list someone else wrote for you:
- Their top referring domains = sites already willing to link to businesses like yours. Directories, industry blogs, associations — many will link to you too if you show up or ask.
- Their broken backlinks = opportunities. If a good site links to their dead page, you can offer your working alternative.
- Their authority gap = your realistic target. If they outrank you with 30 referring domains to your 8, you know exactly what the game costs.
Red Flags When You First Check Your Links
- Referring domains you've never heard of, in bulk: possibly scraper spam (usually harmless, worth monitoring) or a negative-SEO attempt (rare) — our toxic backlinks guide covers when to act.
- A pile of broken backlinks: common after a redesign or migration. Redirect old URLs to their new equivalents and the authority comes back.
- Nearly all links from one domain: a footer or sidebar link on one site multiplying across every page. Google mostly counts it once — your "5,000 backlinks" may be 6 referring domains.
The Bottom Line
Check your backlinks the way you'd check your bank statement: not obsessively, but regularly and with real numbers. Use Search Console for the free raw list, a $4.99 report when you want quality metrics or competitor intel, and reserve the big subscriptions for when link building becomes a weekly activity. Start with your baseline — then go reclaim those broken links; it's the easiest authority you'll ever earn. For the full site picture beyond links, see our free SEO audit tools roundup.