Backlinks are like “votes of confidence” for your content. Backlinks act as “votes” of confidence for your content.
The Ahrefs backlink checker can help.
This guide explains what SEO is and how to utilize it to rank higher than your competitors. It also includes some practical tips on how to increase the quality of backlinks.
What is the Ahrefs Backlink Checker?
The Backlink Checker allows you to:
- See the links that your competitors (and you) have to your website
- Check the authority and quality of these links
- You can identify spammy or toxic links that harm your SEO
- Discover new backlink opportunities
Consider it a report on the health of your website.
Why backlinks are important in SEO
Backlinks is one of Google’s top ranking factors. Search engines consider your content valuable and trustworthy when reputable websites link back to you.
One link from a reputable website such as Forbes, is more powerful than 100 random links.
It’s important to use tools such as the Ahrefs backlink checker, which can help you distinguish between high-quality links and noise.
How to use Ahrefs backlink checker: A Step-by-Step Guide
Even if you are new to SEO, here’s how to start.
Visit the Tool
Go to Ahrefs backlink checker. you can use the free version for basic data, or login for advanced metrics.
Step 2 Enter a domain or URL
Enter your website (or that of your competitor) and click “Check Backlinks”.
Example:
https://www.codionex.co.uk Step 3: Reviewing the Summary Dashboard
You will instantly notice:
- Total backlinks
- Referring domains
- Domain Rating (DR)
- URL Rating (UR)
- Do follow vs no-follow links
These metrics will give you an overview of the authority of your site.
Step 5: Discovering Referring Domains
will show you which websites link to you.
- Name of the website
- Score DR/UR
- Anchor Text
- Backlinks
You can identify the source of your top links.
Step 5: Analyze Anchor Text
The anchor text is the part of the link that can be clicked. anchor text that is relevant and diverse helps Google better understand your content.
Step 6: Monitor new and lost links
Ahrefs keeps track of how many links you add to or remove in a given period.
Maintaining this trend ensures that your growth is consistent.
Ahrefs Backlink Checker: Key Features
Why do marketers love this tool?
| Features | Description |
|---|---|
| Domain Rating (DR) | The strength of the backlink profile for a website is shown on a scale from 0-100 |
| URL Rating (UR) | Measuring link strength on a specific webpage |
| Referring Domains | Number of unique websites linking to you |
| Dofollow/Nofollow Diagram | Helps you filter SEO-valuable links |
| Anchor Text Analysis | The words that link to your website are displayed. |
| Export Option | Download backlink reports in full for analysis |
How to interpret backlink data
How to interpret your results
- Dofollow link + High DR = Goldmine
– A valuable backlink to boost SEO. - Low DR plus Spammy link = Red Flag
– May need to be disavowed through Google Search Console. - Many Referring Domains = Healthy Profile
– Shows natural link-building.
How to get quality backlinks?
Learn how to to get more.
- Create Shareable content — Guides and infographics attract links.
- Guest post on Authoritative blogs — Add the link to your website in the author’s bio.
- Broken Link Building – Find broken links and suggest that your content replace them.
- Connect with Influencers
- Analyze competitors with Ahrefs – See where they are getting backlinks, and contact those sites.
Combining these strategies with regular checking using Ahrefs’ Backlink Checker will help you to steadily increase your domain authority.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Only relying on quantity instead of quality
- Even if you ignore nofollow hyperlinks, they will still drive traffic
- Disavowal of harmful links
- Forgetting to track links over the time
Real-life Example
The digital marketing agency in Bristol wondered why its website traffic was plateauing. Ahrefs’ Backlink Checker revealed that 60% of the backlinks came from forums unrelated to their business.
Following a clean-up and a build-up of high-quality backlinks their rankings improved in two months.
Knowing your backlinks is a powerful tool.
Why Ahrefs is better than other tools
Although other tools such as SEMrush or Moz Link Explorer may be good, Ahrefs has been widely praised because:
- Fast data refresh rate
- Backlinks database
- An interface that is easy to read
- Accurate DR & UR Metrics
Ahrefs’ Backlink Checker is the tool you should use if backlink analysis forms part of your SEO process.
Add Ahrefs backlink checker to your SEO toolkit
This tool will save you countless hours of manual labor, whether you are a digital marketer or a business owner.