Backlink Audit: Step-by-Step Cleanup to Remove Toxic Links

Backlink Audit: Step-by-Step Cleanup to Remove Toxic Links

Backlinks are one of the primary ways search engines discover pages and measure authority. Think of them like votes or word-of-mouth: the more credible the votes, the more trust your site earns. That’s why a backlink audit is not a nice-to-have — it’s essential.

Why should you care? Because backlinks affect visibility and risk. A thorough audit helps you prevent penalties, remove risk from toxic links, and uncover new link-building opportunities that boost organic traffic. Ignore your link profile and you can be surprised by lost rankings or even manual actions; address it and you gain control.

But where do you start? This guide gives you a practical, repeatable process so you won’t be guessing next time. The core steps are simple and action-oriented:

  • Find links — gather data from Google Search Console and major link indexes like Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, and Majestic.
  • Evaluate quality — check metrics, anchor text, relevance, and patterns that suggest manipulation.
  • Clean up harmful links — reach out to webmasters, remove what you can, and use the disavow tool carefully when needed.
  • Set up monitoring — use tools like Screaming Frog and ongoing alerts so future issues don’t surprise you.

What tools will you actually use? In plain terms:

  • Google Search Console — your authoritative, free source for links Google already knows about.
  • Ahrefs / SEMrush / Moz / Majestic — each has a different index and perspective; using more than one fills gaps.
  • Screaming Frog — great for crawling your site and spotting on-site linking problems and redirects.
  • And yes, keep an eye on advice from people like John Mueller at Google — his guidance helps you understand what Google expects and how it treats bad links.

What’s in it for you, practically?

  • Fewer surprises from algorithm changes or manual actions.
  • Cleaner link profile and improved trust signals to search engines.
  • Tangible opportunities to reach out for better links and reclaim lost value.
  • A documented, repeatable workflow you or your team can run quarterly.

This guide walks you through each step with checklists, sample outreach templates, and monitoring routines. Follow it and you’ll move from reactive cleanup to proactive maintenance — so links become an asset instead of a liability.

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What is a backlink audit, backlink analysis, and competitor backlink analysis? Let’s make these plain and useful so you know exactly what to do next.

What is a backlink audit?

  • Backlink audit = a comprehensive review of every inbound link to your site to identify harmful links and strategic opportunities for improvement.
  • Think of it like a health check-up for your website’s referral network: you gather everything, look for signs of infection (spammy links), and make a treatment plan.
  • Why is this important for you? Because unchecked bad links can hurt search visibility and waste time chasing the wrong fixes. A proper audit helps you prioritize removal, outreach, or disavow actions.

What is backlink analysis?

  • Backlink analysis digs into the details of your link profile. It looks at metrics such as referring domains, anchor text, and follow/nofollow status.
  • This is the lab report stage: how many unique domains point to you, which anchors are overused, and how much of your profile is nofollowed.
  • Tools typically used: Google Search Console (official data from Google), and third-party indexes like Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, and Majestic for wider coverage and trend tracking.
  • Why do it? Because the numbers and patterns show where your strengths and vulnerabilities lie — and they tell you which links to nurture vs. which to neutralize.

What is competitor backlink analysis?

  • Competitor backlink analysis compares your link profile with rivals to find gaps and outreach targets.
  • It answers: who’s linking to them that could link to you? What content earns links in your niche? Which domains are underused by your competitors?
  • This is where Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Majestic shine — they let you pull competitor lists and spot low-hanging outreach opportunities.
  • Why bother? Because knowing competitor link strategies speeds up your own outreach and content planning. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel — you just need to plug the holes in your profile.

Key differences at a glance

  • Scope: Audit = every inbound link, comprehensive. Analysis = metrics and health of that profile. Competitor analysis = comparative study across sites.
  • Goal: Audit = clean and prioritize (remove/disavow or reclaim). Analysis = understand quality and patterns. Competitor analysis = find opportunities and targets.
  • Tools: Use Google Search Console for authoritative link data, third-party indexes (Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, Majestic) for breadth and competitor intel, and Screaming Frog to crawl pages and add on-site context (anchor placement, link location).

A final practical note: John Mueller and other Google reps remind us to be pragmatic — focus on fixing real problems and building useful links rather than over-fretting minor noise. Start with the audit to see the full picture, then use analysis and competitor research to build a prioritized cleanup and outreach plan you can actually execute.

Why do this step first? Because you can’t fix what you can’t see. Before you start labeling links “good” or “bad,” you need a complete, exportable list of what’s actually pointing at your site or a page. That list is the foundation for every decision in your backlink audit.

Start with Google Search Console

  • Google Search Console is your first stop. Google Search Console provides the authoritative list of links Google discovered for your property and lets you export link reports for your site.
  • Why care? Because this is the set of links Google actually knows about — and Google is the search engine whose rankings you’re trying to protect or improve.
  • Action: Open GSC > Links report > Export external links and top linking sites/pages. Export both site-level and page-level files if you’re auditing specific pages.

Widen the net with third‑party tools

  • Third-party tools (Ahrefs, SEMrush, Majestic, Moz) plus Screaming Frog help find additional backlinks, enrich them with metrics (DR/UR, Trust Flow, Spam Score) and export CSVs for consolidation.
  • Each tool has its own crawl of the web, so they’ll often find links GSC didn’t report. That’s why you run multiple sources — you’re catching blind spots.
  • Quick guide to what each brings:
    • Ahrefs: excellent coverage, provides DR/UR (Domain/URL Rating) and anchor text data.
    • SEMrush: broad index and Authority Score, good competitor comparison.
    • Majestic: Trust Flow and Citation Flow — helpful for trust signals.
    • Moz: Domain Authority and Spam Score indicators.
    • These tools let you “check backlinks online,” run a “backlink report,” or answer queries like “how to find backlinks on a website” and “find my backlinks.”

Use Screaming Frog to verify and extract context

  • Screaming Frog isn’t a link index like Ahrefs; it’s a crawler. Use it to fetch the actual linking pages you’ve discovered and extract the link elements (rel=nofollow, anchor text, surrounding content).
  • Practical uses:
    • Upload a list of linking page URLs (from GSC + third‑party exports) and run a crawl to capture HTTP status, meta robots, and visible anchor text.
    • Confirm whether the link is present, hidden in JS, or removed since the tool reported it.
    • Export CSVs so you can consolidate everything into a master sheet.

How to pull everything together (step‑by‑step)

  1. Export link lists:
    • From Google Search Console (site-level and page-level).
    • From Ahrefs, SEMrush, Majestic, Moz — export CSVs for the target domain or page.
  2. Crawl linking pages with Screaming Frog to validate link presence and capture page-level context.
  3. Consolidate CSVs in a spreadsheet tool.
  4. Deduplicate by linking URL and linking domain — keep both versions so you can decide at page vs domain level.
  5. Enrich rows with metric columns you pulled (DR/UR, Trust Flow, Spam Score, Authority Score).
  6. Add flags for follow/nofollow, HTTP status, anchor text, and whether GSC saw the link.

Essential columns for your backlink report

  • Linking page URL
  • Linking domain
  • Target page on your site
  • Anchor text
  • Follow/Nofollow
  • HTTP status (200, 404, 301)
  • Found in Google Search Console? (Yes/No)
  • DR / UR (Ahrefs)
  • Trust Flow (Majestic)
  • Spam Score (Moz)
  • Date discovered (from tool export)
  • Action recommended (Keep / Contact / Remove / Disavow)

Prioritize with common-sense rules

  • Start by removing or investigating links that:
    • Come from domains with high Spam Score or very low trust metrics.
    • Use suspicious or irrelevant anchor text.
    • Point to important pages and are paired with a manual action in GSC.
  • Ask yourself: Is this link natural and relevant, or a clear attempt to manipulate rankings?

What John Mueller says (practical takeaway)

  • John Mueller has repeatedly reminded webmasters that Google treats links as one set of signals and that the data you see in third‑party tools is an approximation. Use Google Search Console as the primary reference, and treat third‑party data as supplementary intelligence.
  • In practice: rely on GSC for authoritative inclusion, use Ahrefs/SEMrush/Majestic/Moz for broader detection and context, and use Screaming Frog to verify what’s actually on the page now.

Quick tips and common pitfalls

  • Don’t rely on a single tool. Run at least GSC + one major indexer (Ahrefs or SEMrush) + Screaming Frog.
  • Export everything to CSV immediately — API or UI exports are often limited to top rows.
  • Watch for timing differences: links found by tools last month may have been removed since; re‑verify high‑risk links before taking action.
  • Keep a column for “evidence” — store screenshots or archived URLs if you plan to contact webmasters or build a disavow submission.

Wrap-up: what’s in it for you?

  • You’ll end up with a defensible, repeatable backlink profile process that answers “how to find backlinks on a website,” “find my backlinks,” and “check backlinks online” in a way you can act on. That clarity saves time and prevents knee‑jerk disavows later on — and it gives you a solid foundation for cleanup, outreach, or recovery.

Why audit your backlinks? Because links still shape how Google sees your site — and a messy link profile can drag rankings down or trigger manual action. But where do you start? The process is a lot less mysterious than it looks. Follow these practical steps and you’ll finish with a clean, prioritized list of actions.

Step 1 — Export everything (start broad)

  • Google Search Console: Open the Links report and export all external links. This is your authoritative export from Google.
  • Pick at least two third‑party crawlers — for example Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, or Majestic — and export their backlink lists too. Each tool finds different links.
  • Why multiple sources? Each tool has different crawlers and data; combining them reduces blind spots.

Step 2 — Consolidate and de‑duplicate

  • Paste all exports into one spreadsheet or your link‑audit platform.
  • Deduplicate by source URL and then by root domain. Keep a master row for each unique linking page and a summary row per domain.
  • Quick tip: Use Google Sheets/Excel functions (UNIQUE, remove duplicates, or a pivot) to speed this up.

Step 3 — Append key metrics (what to add and where to get them)
Add these columns for every link or domain:

  • Referring domains (count of unique domains linking to the target) — available in Ahrefs/SEMrush/Moz.
  • Domain Rating / Domain Authority (Ahrefs DR / Moz DA / SEMrush Authority Score) — shows relative strength.
  • Trust / Citation Flow (Majestic Trust Flow & Citation Flow) — indicates trust signals vs. link volume.
  • Anchor text — crucial for spammy or over‑optimized anchors.
  • Follow status (dofollow vs. nofollow/rel="sponsored" etc.) — can be pulled from crawling or third‑party data.
  • Add other fields that matter to you: first seen date, traffic estimate, or topically relevant signals.

Step 4 — Verify placement and on‑page context

  • Use Screaming Frog or a live crawl to confirm where the link appears (in content, footer, sidebar) and the exact anchor text and rel attributes.
  • Why this matters: a link buried in a sitewide footer or a low‑quality widget is different from a contextual editorial link.

Step 5 — Clean and tag links (structure your sheet)
Create these tagging columns and fill them for each link or domain:

  • Page (target URL on your site)
  • Linking domain
  • Placement (content, footer, widget, author bio)
  • Anchor type (brand, exact‑match, partial, commercial, nude URL)
  • Risk level (Low / Medium / High) — initial judgment based on metrics
  • Use color coding, filters, and a short notes column for outreach history or removal requests.

Step 6 — Prioritize review (what to look at first)
Sort and inspect by:

  • High risk, low authority hosts (low DR/DA, low Trust Flow, high volume of outbound links).
  • Suspicious anchors (lots of exact‑match commercial anchors pointing to transactional pages).
  • Links from domains with many unrelated topics or clear spam signals (link farms, scraped sites).
  • High authority links that look risky — don’t assume “high DR = safe”; check context.
  • Why prioritize this way? Address the highest damage potential first: low‑quality sites carrying spammy anchors and high link concentration.

Step 7 — Decide actions and document them
For each link/domain mark one action:

  • Keep — contextual, high‑quality, or harmless.
  • Outreach / Removal request — polite contact asking site owner to remove link.
  • No action now — monitor; many links are ignored by Google.
  • Disavow — use the Disavow tool sparingly. Follow the guidance many times repeated by Google representatives like John Mueller: disavow only if you have a manual action or a large number of clearly bad links you can’t remove.
  • Log dates, emails, responses, and whether the URL was removed.

Step 8 — Re‑crawl and monitor

  • After taking action, re‑export and compare (use timestamps or “first seen/last seen” fields).
  • Schedule regular checks (quarterly for active sites, monthly if recovering from manual action).
  • Keep an eye on new link velocity and unusual anchor text spikes.

How to check backlinks to my site / website — quick checklist

  • Start in Google Search Console → Links → External links export.
  • Cross‑check with at least two of Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, Majestic and export full crawls.
  • Crawl linking pages with Screaming Frog to verify placement and rel attributes.
  • Merge, deduplicate, append the metrics listed above, and tag by page, domain, placement and risk.

Final practical tips

  • Treat the spreadsheet like a living database — add timestamps and action history.
  • Automate metric pulls where possible (APIs from Ahrefs/SEMrush/Majestic/Moz save time).
  • Don’t rush into disavows. Follow John Mueller’s common advice: focus on removal first, disavow only if removal fails or a manual action is present.
  • Keep it simple: export → dedupe → enrich → tag → prioritize → act → monitor.

You now have a clear, repeatable workflow. Start with exports from GSC and two third‑party tools, append the key metrics, and systematically tag by page/domain/placement/risk. Follow that method and you’ll convert noise into a tight, defensible link profile.

Why this matters to you: one bad backlink can drag rankings or trigger a manual action, while good links keep traffic steady. But how do you tell which is which?

Start with the right data sources

  • Export links from Google Search Console first — it’s your authoritative list from Google’s view.
  • Supplement that with crawls from Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, and Majestic so you don’t miss links those tools see. Each tool catches different pieces of the web.
  • Use Screaming Frog to fetch the actual linking page and check on‑page context quickly.

Which quantitative signals to use
Combine these clear metrics so you’re not guessing:

  • Domain Rating/UR (Ahrefs): shows overall link authority for the domain and URL.
  • Trust Flow (Majestic): estimates how trustworthy the linking site looks based on trusted seed sites.
  • Spam Score (Moz): highlights signals commonly seen on spammy domains.
  • Number of referring domains: one link from many domains usually beats many links from one domain.
    These numbers give you a shortlist — they don’t make the decision for you.

Don’t skip qualitative checks
Numbers point you to problems; context tells you what to do. For each suspicious link ask:

  • What’s the link context? Is the link in a natural paragraph, or buried in a footer or a list of paid links?
  • What’s the placement? In-content links are far more valuable than footer/sidebar/comment links.
  • Is the linking site topically relevant (topical relevance)? A gardening blog linking to a car-parts page is a red flag.
  • Is the anchor text unnatural (unnatural anchor text)? Repeated exact-match commercial anchors (e.g., “buy cheap widgets”) scream manipulation.

How to use automated toxic backlink checkers — and their limits
Tools like SEMrush Backlink Audit, Moz Spam Score, and Majestic Trust Flow are excellent for flagging risky links fast. They’ll:

  • Score links by risk,
  • Group obvious patterns (huge link farms, PBN-style networks),
  • Help you prioritize which links to review first.
    But automated flags are not a verdict. Human review matters because tools produce false positives — a low-DR niche blog might legitimately link to you, and an industry directory could be perfectly fine.

A practical workflow you can follow

  1. Pull link lists from Google Search Console, Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, and Majestic. Merge and dedupe.
  2. Run a toxic check with SEMrush Backlink Audit or similar to assign risk scores.
  3. Filter your list by quantitative reds (very low Trust Flow, high Spam Score, low DR/UR, suspicious number of links from one domain).
  4. Manually inspect the top-risk links with Screaming Frog or by visiting the page. Check context, placement, topical fit, and anchor text.
  5. Triage into actions: Keep / Request removal (outreach) / Disavow. Prioritize outreach for high-impact links.
  6. Document everything: source, reason, outreach attempts, dates, and outcomes.

A note on disavow and what John Mueller says
John Mueller has repeatedly reminded site owners not to overuse the disavow tool — Google often ignores spammy links, and disavow is mainly for serious cases (manual actions or known large-scale bad practices). So:

  • Try outreach and removal first.
  • Reserve disavow for links you can’t get removed or if you have a manual action that points to link issues.
  • Record your rationale before uploading a disavow file.

Quick red flags to watch for

  • Links from pages with massive outbound links or only ads.
  • Pages with no real content but lots of links.
  • Repeated exact-match anchors coming from lots of low-quality domains.
  • High Spam Score, low Trust Flow, and near-zero organic traffic.

What’s the payoff for doing this right?

  • Less risk of manual penalties.
  • Better signal quality for Google — your natural links will count more.
  • Focused effort: you’ll spend time fixing the few real problems, not chasing every minor suspect.

Ready to act? Run the automated checks to prioritize, then put on your reviewer hat. The combination of metrics and human judgment is what separates noisy lists from a cleaned, defensible backlink profile.

Why bother looking at competitors’ backlinks? Because they reveal the paths others took to get attention — and which paths are realistic for you to follow. But where do you start?

Identify competitor linkers (fast)

  • Use Ahrefs Site Explorer or SEMrush Backlink Gap/Link Intersect to find domains that link to competitors but not you. These are your highest-value outreach targets. Why? They already link to similar content, so the ask is a smaller leap.
  • Pull the list of competitor domains into a simple spreadsheet. Include the linking domain, URL, anchor text, and the metric that matters to you (DR/Domain Rating, Authority Score, Trust Flow).

Build a comparison checklist
Think of this like comparing job applicants: which candidate (link) actually fits the role? Compare:

  • Link quality — use Ahrefs’ DR, SEMrush Authority Score, Moz Domain Authority or Majestic Trust Flow. Higher isn’t everything, but it filters noise.
  • Anchor diversity — are links mostly branded or heavy exact-match anchors? Repeated exact-match anchors signal manipulation; varied anchors are more natural.
  • Linking page relevance — is the link in a relevant article or a generic list/footer? In-content, editorial links are worth more.
  • Number of linking pages — one strong, relevant page beats dozens of low-value footers.
  • DoFollow vs NoFollow — note the type but don’t discard nofollow links entirely; they can still bring traffic and visibility.
  • Placement and context — a link inside a how-to paragraph is easier to replicate than a sponsorship credit buried on every page.

Verify before you prioritize

  • Export the candidates from Ahrefs/SEMrush/Moz/Majestic and cross-check with Google Search Console for any overlap with your existing links. GSC is the authoritative source for your own backlink data.
  • Use Screaming Frog to crawl the linking page and confirm placement, anchor text, and any on-page signals (thin content, ads, obvious link schemes).
  • Look for red flags: irrelevant topical matches, repeated exact-match anchors like “buy cheap widgets,” or links from large site-wide link lists.

Prioritize realistic opportunities
Not every competitor link is attainable. Use these filters to rank opportunities:

  • Topical match: does the linking page naturally cite content like yours?
  • Link type: editorial in-content > resource page > blogroll > footer.
  • Effort required: can you earn it with a short outreach and content tweak, or does it need a major asset (study, tool, original data)?
  • Relationship potential: is the linker an individual blogger (easy) or a publisher with a formal process (harder)?
  • Risk profile: avoid chasing links that look paid or spammy — John Mueller has advised focusing on earning links from good content and using the disavow tool only when necessary.

Turn opportunities into links (practical outreach)

  • Start small: pick the top 20 realistic targets. Personalize outreach explaining what you’ll add — a better resource, updated data, a clearer example.
  • Show value: mention the exact page you’d like them to link from and what improvement you’ll provide. Editors say yes when you solve their problem.
  • Offer multiple assets: suggest a paragraph, a free image, or updated stats — something that makes linking to you an easy win.
  • Track responses in your backlink spreadsheet and mark status (Contacted / Follow-up / Won / Rejected).

Measure and iterate

  • After you earn links, monitor the impact on referral traffic and rankings. Some links open doors to more natural mentions.
  • Repeat the intersection analysis quarterly. Competitor profiles change fast; fresh opportunities appear as new pages are published.

Tools—who does what, quickly

  • Google Search Console: authoritative for your backlinks.
  • Ahrefs Site Explorer: excellent for link intersect and detailed referring domains.
  • SEMrush Backlink Gap/Link Intersect: great alternative for gap analysis and quick comparisons.
  • Moz & Majestic: useful secondary metrics (DA, Trust Flow) for confidence.
  • Screaming Frog: on-page verification and context checks.
  • John Mueller (Google): a reminder to prioritize earning useful, natural links and be cautious with manipulative tactics.

Final thought
Competitor backlink analysis isn’t about copying every link your rivals have. It’s about scouting feasible opportunities, verifying quality, and doing outreach that adds value. Do that, and you’ll convert a shortlist of competitor linkers into real, sustainable links for your site.

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Conclusion

Cleanup, disavow and monitor: practical steps you can take now

Think of cleanup like pruning a wardrobe: you want to keep what fits and serves you, and remove what drags you down. But you don’t throw everything away at once. You start by checking what you have, try to fix what you can, and only discard what’s clearly harmful.

How to check backlinks (quick, repeatable)

  • Start with Google Search Console (GSC). Go to Links > External links and export everything. Why? GSC is Google’s own view of what it knows about your site.
  • Pull data from at least two third‑party tools for broader coverage: Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, and Majestic. Each tool finds slightly different links; combining them reduces blind spots.
  • Use Screaming Frog to crawl the specific source pages (the pages that link to you). Screaming Frog verifies the link is actually on the page, shows anchor text, and confirms placement (in-content vs footer) and attributes (rel="nofollow" etc.).
  • Merge exports into one list, deduplicate, and include these columns: source URL, target URL, anchor text, link type (nofollow/dofollow), tool(s) that found it, and a metric like DR/Authority/Trust Flow.
  • What should you look for? Topical mismatch, obvious spammy directories, repeated exact‑match anchors, high‑volume low‑quality domains, links from hacked pages, and strange link velocity.

First attempt: manual removal

  • Why bother? Because removal removes the signal entirely. A disavow is a last resort.
  • How to proceed:
    • Identify the contact (site’s contact page, WHOIS, or stable admin email).
    • Use a short, professional outreach: state the offending URL, ask for removal, include the target URL on your site, and give a reasonable deadline (e.g., 7–14 days).
    • Track outreach attempts in your master list (date sent, response, outcome).
  • If the webmaster removes the link, verify with Screaming Frog or wait for the link to disappear in Ahrefs/GSC exports.

When to disavow and how to submit

  • First rule: try removal first. If that fails and the links are clearly harmful (hacked pages, spam networks, manual action in GSC), then prepare a disavow.
  • John Mueller’s guidance: use the disavow sparingly—mainly for manual actions or obvious spam. Don’t disavow randomly or because a tool flags low authority.
  • Building the disavow file:
    • Use plain text (.txt), UTF‑8 encoded.
    • Lines should be either full URLs or domains, e.g.:
      • domain:spamexample.com
      • http://spamexample.com/badpage.html
    • Add short comments with a hash for your records (# reason).
  • Submit via Google Search Console > Disavow links for the property. Note: Google can take weeks to process disavow files and usually won’t send an explicit confirmation that every link was ignored. Be patient.

How to verify disavowed status (what to expect)

  • Google won’t give a clear “disavow applied” stamp. Instead:
    • Check GSC Manual Actions and Security Issues for any status changes.
    • Monitor rankings and organic traffic for improvements over weeks to months.
    • Re-export backlinks from Ahrefs/SEMrush/Majestic periodically to confirm the links still exist on the web (disavow tells Google to ignore them, but they may still be live).
    • Use Screaming Frog to re-crawl the source pages to see whether the link was actually removed (manual removal) or remains (disavowed).
  • Remember: Google may take time to re-evaluate, and some changes are slow.

Ongoing monitoring: schedule and tools

  • Don’t rely on one-off checks. Set alerts and cadence:
    • Configure Ahrefs/SEMrush alerts for new backlinks and lost backlinks (daily or weekly).
    • Export a snapshot monthly for a high-level check and push full exports quarterly.
    • Re-run a full backlink audit every quarter (minimum). For higher‑risk sites, do it monthly.
    • Use Moz and Majestic reports as secondary confirmations; they offer different scoring signals (e.g., Trust Flow).
    • Run targeted Screaming Frog crawls after outreach or disavow submissions to verify on‑page context.
  • Why this matters? New harmful links can appear anytime; regular monitoring catches problems before they escalate.

Practical next-step checklist (use this now)

  • Export GSC Links and at least two third‑party tool exports (Ahrefs + SEMrush recommended).
  • Merge, dedupe, and tag each link: Keep / Outreach / Disavow.
  • Start outreach for “Outreach” links — log every attempt and follow up once.
  • For confirmed removals: verify removal with Screaming Frog and mark as resolved.
  • For non-responsive or confirmed spam links: build a disavow file (domain-level when in doubt) and submit in GSC.
  • Set up Ahrefs/SEMrush alerts and schedule monthly exports; plan a full audit quarterly.
  • Document everything: who you contacted, dates, file versions, and reasons for disavow entries.

A final word
Disavowing is a safety valve, not a toolbox for tidy metrics. Be methodical: verify, reach out, document, then disavow only when necessary. If you stay disciplined with scheduled exports, alerts, and quarterly audits, you’ll keep bad links from becoming long‑term problems and protect your site’s search presence.

Author - Tags - Categories - Page Infos

  • fuxx
  • December 5, 2025
  • backlink audit, backlink profil, backlink report

Questions & Answers

A backlink audit is a systematic review of all the sites linking to yours to judge quality and risk. Think of it like cleaning your social circle — you want links that help your reputation and remove or disavow links that hurt it. The goal is to protect rankings and avoid manual or algorithmic penalties.
Backlink analysis is the process of examining the links pointing to a site to understand authority, relevance, anchor text, and growth patterns. It helps you spot strengths, content that attracts links, and weaknesses you can fix or exploit.
Competitor backlink analysis looks at the link profiles of rivals to find where they get links, which pages attract backlinks, and which tactics work in your niche. You use those insights to replicate good opportunities and to find gaps you can exploit.
Collect all inbound links from tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz or Majestic and export them. Score links on metrics (authority, relevance, anchor text, traffic), flag toxic ones (spammy anchors, link farms, foreign-language irrelevant pages), attempt manual removal by contacting webmasters, and use Google's disavow as a last resort. Keep a record and repeat audits every few months.
Start by gathering backlinks from multiple sources to get a fuller picture. Analyze domain authority, referring domains, anchor text distribution, dofollow vs nofollow, and linking page relevance to prioritize actions and opportunities.
Pick 2–5 competitors, pull their backlinks from an SEO tool, and sort by authority and relevance. Identify high-value linking pages, common link sources (guest posts, directories, industry sites), and content that attracts links; then create a plan to replicate or improve on those assets.
Use Google Search Console for an official baseline and one or more third-party tools (Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz, Majestic) to expand the list. Export links, deduplicate, and combine sources so you don’t miss important referring domains.
Use a backlink tool like Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz or Majestic and enter the competitor's domain to view their referring domains and linking pages. Focus on high-authority sources and patterns you can replicate, such as recurring guest blogs or resource pages.
Open Google Search Console under 'Links' for Google-reported links and use at least one external crawler-based tool for broader coverage. Regularly compare reports, export CSVs, and review newly acquired links and lost links.
Look for low-authority sites, link farms, irrelevant foreign-language pages, spammy anchor text, and sudden spikes from many low-quality domains. Use spam/toxicity scores in your SEO tool, inspect linking pages manually, and mark them for removal or disavowal.
Good backlinks come from relevant, authoritative sites with natural anchor text and real referral traffic. Identify pages that attract links in your niche, replicate their content or outreach approach, and build relationships with those sites through useful content and outreach.
If you mean inbound links to a site, use backlink tools to list referring domains and pages. If you want outbound links from a specific site, crawl it with a tool like Screaming Frog or inspect the page source and follow anchor tags to see where it links.