15 Best Link Building Tools to Use in 2023

Working with links manually can be counterproductive and slow, especially when you have large numbers of backlinks to keep track of. SEO link building tools are designed to give you precise data, automate repetitive processes, and find better linking opportunities for your project.

Now, with dozens of useful resources available on the market, choosing the best and most effective ones can be difficult. To save time and effort, check out some of the best SEO link building tools below.

What Are SEO Backlink Tools?

SEO backlink tools are software applications that help website owners and marketers automate or speed up the process of building, analyzing, monitoring, and managing links. The tools fall into four main categories based on their primary function:

Monitoring and managing: Provide real-time tracking of the status of your links.
Checking and analyzing: Help with checking for new backlinks and analyzing the quality of your backlink profile.
Searching and buying: Coordinate your outreach efforts, including finding prospects and pitching.
Outsourcing link building tasks: Find freelance specialists to help with link building efforts.

The Best Backlink Tools in 2023

LinkChecker – Best backlink management & monitoring tool
Google Sheets/Excel – Budget-friendly link building tools
Ahrefs – Best for advanced SEO professionals
Moz Link Explorer – Detailed referring domain analysis
Semrush – Great for large SEO projects
Majestic – Affordable option for backlink analysis
Google Search Console – Official tool for monitoring Google’s index
Respona – Effective outreach campaign organization
Google Alerts – Helpful for finding unlinked brand mentions
Pitchbox – Suitable for large-scale outreach teams
Buzzstream – Comprehensive management of the outreach activities
HARO – Connecting with journalists for high-quality branded backlinks
Shared Domains – Cooperative model for buying auction domains for backlinks
Fiverr – Large choice of SEO freelancers
Upwork – Great variety of professional link builders

Backlink Monitor and Management Tools

A must-have part of building links is managing and monitoring the backlinks your site has amassed. This creates the need for a tool that can track all your backlinks in real time to guarantee they are alive and pass the most link juice. Typically, link monitoring tools work in conjunction with link checking and analyzing tools.

Below are some of the leading backlink monitoring tools to use in 2023:

LinkChecker

LinkChecker is a powerful backlink management software that automatically analyzes the backlinks you add to the tool to determine their real-time availability and any changes in the link parameters. For instance, you can get up-to-date information on backlink status, attributes, and indexability.

Additionally, the backlinks monitor allows you to integrate your Ahrefs, Moz, and Majestic accounts to keep track of referring domains’ quality metrics.

Best for: Seamless Backlink Monitoring

LinkChecker is a backlink monitor tool that provides an easy-to-use solution for individuals and teams looking to track a large number of backlinks effectively. You get real-time backlink monitoring, with email alerts for all issues, minor or major. Monitoring backlinks has never been this simple!

Features

LinkChecker is a versatile backlink monitoring tool for individuals and professional teams. It offers convenient functions for tracking the performance of backlink builders and carrying out bulk batch analysis on your links. This link building management software allows analyzing thousands of URLs and domains at once, which makes it especially beneficial for large-scale projects.

Pros

Checks the presence of referring pages in Google’s index
Suitable for monitoring backlinks in different link building strategies
Allows you to create convenient link building dashboards
Analyzes domains and URLs in batches as large as 100K and more
Has an anchor text plan checker

Cons

Requires knowledge of link research tools
To analyze the quality metrics of referring domains, you’ll need to connect your own Ahrefs, Majestic, or Moz account with an appropriate paid subscription plan

Plans & Pricing

There are three standard monthly plans for those who want to use this backlink management tool: Lite, Standard, and Pro. The Lite package for this backlink monitoring tool costs $25 per month, while the Custom plan starts from $150.

Official Website: https://linkchecker.pro/

Spreadsheets: Google Sheets/Excel

To use Google Sheets or Excel for backlink tracking, you’ll need to paste your backlink data from your preferred link checking or analysis tool into your spreadsheet. Label your columns correctly to prevent mistakes while monitoring the data. Apply conditional formulas and formatting to keep track of your progress.

Best for: Novice SEO Users Looking for Free Tools

All in all, Google Sheets and Excel are powerful tools for link monitoring on a budget.

Features

The best part of using Google Sheets/Excel is their easy-to-use interface for editing, formatting, and analyzing backlink data.

Pros

Great for beginner link builders
Amazing choice for low-budget projects

Cons

Require technical knowledge and experience working with spreadsheets
Lack specialized link building features

Plans & Pricing

Google Sheets is a free tool for monitoring your insights on backlinks. Excel is a part of the Microsoft 365 suite of editing tools that can be accessed with a monthly subscription, which starts from $6.50 for a basic business plan. Microsoft also offers several other plans for different needs, including Business Standard and Business Premium.

Official Websites: https://www.google.com/sheets/about; https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/excel

Backlink Checking and Analyzing Tools

Backlink checking and analyzing tools provide insights into the authority, relevance, and trustworthiness of potential linking domains, For instance, you can determine if a website meets the quality thresholds to point back to your site.

They can also assist with understanding anchor text usage, keywords, and topics associated with different backlinks. You can even use them to spy on your competitor’s backlink profiles to determine their link sources. Here is a list of the best SEO tools to check backlinks and analyze the link profile that you can use in 2023.

Ahrefs

Popular for having the world’s largest live backlink database, Ahrefs is a comprehensive link building tool for SEO experts. It is powered by one of the most active web crawlers, giving it impressive backlink checking and analyzing capabilities.

Best for: SEO Experts

It's an excellent option for advanced users. Designed for professionals, it shows data from different search engines and features a proprietary domain quality metric.

Features

Ahrefs can further help with keyword research, position tracking, and technical SEO auditing. SEO professionals will appreciate the Content Explorer tool, which serves as a search engine for identifying unlinked brand mentions.

Pros

Powerful backlink checking tool
Massive backlink and keyword index
Prompt customer support
Effective data filters

Cons

Expensive plans, especially for small businesses

Plans & Pricing

Ahrefs has four plans: Lite (basic), Standard, Advanced, and Enterprise. The cheapest plan costs $99 per month, while the top package goes for $999.

Official Website: https://ahrefs.com/

Moz Link Explorer

Moz Pro’s flagship feature, Link Explorer, is another top-notch backlink analysis tool that helps site owners to evaluate a site's backlink profile and view comprehensive SEO metrics, including their domain authority, page authority, and ranking keywords.

Best for: Comprehensive Link Quality Analysis

This powerful link building tool provides a detailed analysis of a website’s backlinks with a range of SEO metrics developed by Moz, including domain and page authority, linking domains, and keyword rankings.

Features

Some of the standout features of Moz Link Explorer include a link intersect tool that shows you domains linked to pages on competing sites and a spam score tool that assists in identifying low-quality links. Link Explorer also comes with an anchor text analysis feature that highlights phrases commonly utilized as anchor text in links pointing to your site and competitors. Additionally, Moz features an on-page grader that helps you rank your on-page SEO efforts out of 100.

Pros

Excellent link analysis and keyword explorer tool
Comes with a Chrome extension
Helps in finding link opportunities

Cons

Doesn't offer instant data export functionality
Not the best option for competitive analysis
Relatively pricey

Plans & Pricing

There are four pricing plans that users can pick from, including standard ($99 per month), medium ($179 every month), large ($299 per month), and premium ($599 a month). Moz offers a 30-day free trial where you can test all its pro features.

Official Website: https://moz.com/link-explorer

Semrush

Semrush is one of the best tools for link building. It comes with a robust set of backlink analysis features that allow you to discover new link opportunities, track your competitors' backlinks, and audit your existing links for quality and relevance.

Best for: SEO Investment Projects

If you are searching for an all-in-one SEO tool, Semrush is the ideal option. Although its cheapest package is more expensive compared to its competitors, it provides you with all you need to create a healthy backlink profile.

Features

With Semrush, you can also access features like keyword magic position, position tracking, domain history, and even SEO content templates to guide your content efforts. You can use Semrush's in-built outreach tool to find link prospects from its huge database of over 43 million backlinks. Moreover, you can send personalized messages to webmasters using the outreach tool, which helps you build valuable connections and improve your link profile.

Pros

Offers value for your money
Top-rated keyword research and link building tool

Cons

Considered expensive for beginners

Plans & Pricing

This tool is available in three plans: Pro, Guru, and Business. The prices for the packages range from $119.95 to $449.95 per month.

Official Website: https://www.semrush.com/

Majestic

Majestic is a great tool for analyzing backlinks and linking domains based on its unique site quality metrics, such as Trust Flow, Citation Flow, Visibility Flow, and Topical Trust Flow.

Best for: Backlink Analysis on a Budget

Majestic offers efficient link analysis features for those on a budget. Its extensive link database enables you to perform your backlink analyzing duties efficiently. However, its user interface may be challenging for new users.

Features

Majestic's site explorer summary shows you the main stats of a site, like how many domains link to it, how many URLs it has, and how strong its authority is. The platform’s keyword checker tool lets you check how popular and competitive a keyword is, and how well a site ranks for it. It also features an anchor text analysis tool that helps you understand what words people use to link to a site, and how relevant they are to the topic.

Pros

Extensive link database
Efficiently measures site authority and trust

Cons

The user interface can be challenging to navigate
Not efficient in keyword research

Plans & Pricing

Majestic’s monthly pricing plan starts from $46.99 to $379.99. You can use the Majestic under three plans: Lite, Pro, and API.

Official Website: https://majestic.com/

Google Search Console

Google’s Search Console is the official tool for checking your website’s performance on Google. It will provide a list of backlinks that were indexed by the search engine, allowing you to then use the provided list to monitor them afterward with LinkChecker and perform more advanced backlink analysis with tools like Ahrefs and Majestic.

Best for: Basic Link Analysis

Although you need to use this tool in combination with another backlink-focused tool for a more detailed analysis, it offers a lengthy list of external links pointing to your website.

Features

This tool provides a list of backlinks on pages indexed by Google as well as crawlability reports, website optimization recommendations, site performance, and sitemap functionality.

Pros

Free link analysis tool
Allows you to disavow harmful backlinks
Official tool for monitoring Google’s index
Shows the ongoing performance of websites
Identifies possible issues that may harm the website’s search engine rankings

Cons

Must be used with other link builder software
Can be overwhelming without a deep knowledge of SEO

Plans & Pricing

This is a free SEO tool, and therefore, has no plans.

Official Website: https://search.google.com/search-console/about

Link Building Software for Searching and Buying

Link building requires plenty of persistence, hard work, time, and dedication. Special link building software will streamline the process to help you create a winning link building campaign. Here are some of the best link building software tools to build links in 2023:

Respona

Respona offers prebuilt outreach campaign templates for such methods as guest posting, skyscraper, and product review writing. After selecting your preferred template, you can find high-quality link building opportunities as well as contact data of the site’s managers.

Best for: Any Link Building Agency or In-House Marketing Team

Respona only requires you to select your preferred link building campaign template, and the rest is automated. You will find a list of potential high-quality links and contact information that will significantly save you time during outreach campaigns.

Features

Some standout features of Respona include the customizable outreach templates and its automatic contact finder tool. Its guest posting template allows you to enter a topic you would like to create content on, and the tool provides a list of websites within that niche, searching for guest posts,

Pros

Can provide articles from competing sites and links pointing to them
Helps you find websites that have reviewed your competing domains

Cons

Limited functionality for other SEO processes

Plans & Pricing

You can subscribe to the free 14-day trial and subsequently pay $99 for the cheapest package and $399 for the most advanced tier. Respona only has two plans; the Starter and the Unlimited plan.

Official Website: https://respona.com/

Google Alerts

While Google Alerts doesn't pop up when discussing link building tools, it's actually an efficient service that alerts you whenever your site is mentioned or when content related to your keywords is published online. You also get to see when your competitors are mentioned online and why.

Best for: Finding Unlinked Brand Mentions

By notifying you whenever a site mentions your brand or competitors, it helps you turn brand mentions into quality backlinks. The tool is also simple to use as it sends the alerts directly to your email.

Features

Google Alerts notifies you when your site or competitors are mentioned. It also comes with keyword and activity-tracking functions.

Pros

A free-of-charge resource
Allows to find linking opportunities

Cons

Lacks special link building functionality

Plans & Pricing

It's a free resource that link builders can leverage to find opportunities for obtaining backlinks.

Official Website: https://www.google.com/alerts

Pitchbox

Pitchbox is an all-in-one outreach toolthat guides you through the entire process of finding prospects and obtaining contact data. Not only does it get you targets, but it also creates customized, large-scale campaigns from email templates.

Best for: Large-Scale Outreach Teams

Pitchbox is among the most effective SEO tools for larger in-house marketing teams or SEO agencies. It streamlines your link building process while promoting team collaboration.

Features

Some of its top features include customizable email templates, extensive outreach campaigns, automated workflows, and comprehensive reports for all stages of the outreach campaign.

Pros

Improves the efficiency of teamwork
Helps find prospects and contacts

Cons

Pricing is higher than competitors

Plans & Pricing

Pitchbox’s packages range from $495 to $1550 per month, billed annually.There are only two plans; professional and unlimited.

Official Website: https://pitchbox.com/

Buzzstream

Buzzstream allows marketers to find link prospects, send emails on a large-scale level, track their campaigns, and so much more. Thanks to its integrated CRM system, you and your team members can easily monitor your campaigns by tracking email conversations and managing outreach.

Best for: Organizing Outreach Campaigns

It does all the heavy lifting when organizing outreach processes and simplifies performance monitoring, thanks to its powerful CRM integrations.

Features

Some of its standout features include the research functionality for link prospecting and collection of contact data of relevant parties, a large-scale email-sending tool, follow-up tracking, and reporting.

Pros

Offers good value for money
Makes it easy to organize complex campaigns

Cons

Some users find the interface inconvenient

Plans & Pricing

Buzzstream’s packages range from $24 to $999 per month with a 14-day trial. This tool comes with four plans: starter, growth, professional, and custom.

Official Website: https://www.buzzstream.com/

HARO

Help a Reporter Out, or HARO, is a platform for building high-authority links from reputable publications. It allows you to receive daily emails of writer questions seeking insight on various topics. Not only can you receive a link when you’re credited, but it also increases your exposure.

Best for: Gaining High-Quality Branded Backlinks

It's perfect for creating valuable relationships with other industry professionals and showcases your expertise in exchange for high-authority backlinks.

Features

Top HARO features include its user-friendly interface, prompt email notifications, and an extensive database covering numerous topics. Its “Head Start” function helps you to be among the first respondents, for your answer to stand out.

Pros

Helps increase your exposure by getting backlinks from reputable publications

Cons

Using HARO, you rely heavily on the media and how they treat your response

Plans & Pricing

HARO features a free plan where users receive three email alerts daily. Its paid packages range from $19 to $149 per month.

Official Website: https://haro-seo.com/

Shared Domains

Shared Domains gives you access to link placements on strong domains at a fraction of the price. Basically, multiple users place bids to purchase on an expired domain. The tool buys the domain links and distributes link placements among the bidders.

Best for: Acquiring High-Quality Homepage Links

Shared Domains provides an innovative platform where users can obtain homepage backlinks at affordable rates. However, it is worth noting that getting the backlink takes 8 – 9 weeks.

Features

With Shared Domains you can get a strong homepage backlink for 5-10 times cheaper.

Pros

Allows for extensive customization of link placements

Cons

Makes the linking process more time-consuming

Plans & Pricing

The pricing model is based on how many clients bid for a specific domain and the total purchase price.

Official Website: https://shared.domains/

Tools for Outsourcing Link Building Campaigns

Fiverr

It's a freelancing platform where SEO professionals can help you get SEO backlinks. However, users must exercise care when outsourcing their link building project to ensure they get qualified professionals.

Best for: Finding SEO Specialists for Link Building

Fiverr is a massive freelancing platform where you can find many SEO professionals.

Features

Fiverr has a large database that features professionals from various fields.

Pros

Possible to find specialists with experience in different niches and topics
Suitable for different budgets

Cons

Requires carefulness and consideration for choosing the best service provider

Plans & Pricing

The prices are flexible as they depend on the rates of your preferred executor.

Official Website: https://www.fiverr.com/hire/link-building

Upwork

Upwork is a popular freelancing platform, where you can connect with freelancers and small agencies. But you need to be careful to pick the right person for your gig.

Best for: Sourcing Professional Link Building Freelancers

Upwork provides an extensive database of seasoned link building experts.

Features

Upwork is easy to use by simply submitting your requirements in a job post and interviewing various professionals to get an ideal fit.

Pros

Simple and convenient interface and search system

Cons

Can be difficult to determine the freelancer’s expertise

Plans & Pricing

Prices vary based on your link building project's type, size, and scope.

Official Website: https://www.upwork.com/hire/link-builders/

Conclusion

In summary, here is a table of the different tools across each category:

Backlink Monitor and Management Tools	Backlink Checking and Analyzing Tools Advertisement	Link Building Software for Searching and Buying	Tools for Outsourcing Link Building Campaigns
LinkChecker PRO Spreadsheets: Google Sheets/Excel	Ahrefs Moz Link Explorer SEMRush Majestic Google Search Console	Respona Google Alerts Buzzstream Pitchbox HARO Shared Domains	Fiverr Upwork

While link building is lengthy and time-consuming, the best link building software will streamline the process and provide a smoother workflow. Additionally, if you combine these best link building tools with the right outreach campaign strategy, you will obtain numerous high-quality backlinks from high-authority domains. Choose your preferred tool from our list and boost your link building efforts today.

FAQ

What is backlink checking?

Backlink checking entails using link building tools to check the performance of a website's backlink profile.

What are backlink checker tools?

They are tools that analyze websites’ backlink profiles to identify link opportunities and errors.

How to monitor backlinks?

You need to start by selecting reliable software with backlink monitoring features. Linkchecker will help you to continuously monitor backlinks, including their status (found, not found, or undefined) and the state of the page they are placed on (including indexability, crawlability, and domain metrics if you connect your Ahrefs, Majestic, or Moz account).

Of course, sometimes, you may need more than one tool to get all the functions you need. For instance, Ahrefs and Majestic are great for finding linking prospects and analyzing their quality.

What is backlink monitoring and management?

It's the process of monitoring and managing the quantity and quality of your backlinks to ensure that you don’t have a toxic profile with low-quality or spammy links.

What is the best backlink management software?

While numerous tools can help you check the quality and quantity of your backlinks, LinkChecker provides comprehensive monitoring of all linking parameters, including external links count, link status, rel attributes, and more.

What are SEO link building tools?

They are tools, special software, or platforms, that help identify websites that can link to your website. Some even provide contact details of relevant people to reach out to.

What is the best link building tool?

The answer to this question depends on your needs. Linkchecker is the best tool for monitoring backlinks (spreadsheets like Google Sheets are an alternative for tight budgets); Ahrefs, Moz, and Semrush are powerful options for backlink checking and analysis; Respona and BuzzSteam are great for organizing link building outreach. Using several tools in combination is the best way to create an effective and well-rounded link building strategy.

Disclaimer: The above is a sponsored post, the views expressed are those of the sponsor/author and do not represent the stand and views of Outlook Editorial.