What is backlink monitoring software, and why do I need one?

A backlink monitoring software is a tool that tracks the links pointing to a website and alerts you about new or lost links, and their status changes (for example, from dofollow to nofollow). Monitoring backlinks to your website allows you to assess the effectiveness of your link-building efforts and keep backlink vendors and partners accountable. The sooner you spot links that disappear, the higher your chances of getting the links restored. For SEO and link-building agencies, using backlink monitoring software helps spot lost links before their clients notice them, so you can replace them before the damage is done.

Which backlink monitoring tools offer real-time alerts?

Apart from GSC, all the backlink monitoring solutions above offer new or lost backlink alerts. However, their frequency depends on their crawl frequency. Out of the five tools, Ahrefs and Semrush update their indexes most often — every 15 minutes or so — making them the closest to real-time trackers.

Do free backlink monitoring tools provide accurate data?

Many tools, including Ahrefs and Semrush, offer free versions of their backlink monitoring tools. The quality of data is as accurate as in their paid versions, but you get limited insights. For example, Ahrefs limits the results to 100 rows, and you can't filter them. As for completely free tools, the quality varies. GSC has accurate data but only provides a sample of the results, so you can get an incomplete picture.

What’s the difference between backlink monitoring and link-building tools?

Backlink monitoring tools focus on tracking and analysing links that already exist. They provide alerts for new or lost links, metrics to assess link quality, and reporting dashboards that allow you to monitor your backlink profile health. In contrast, link-building tools are designed to secure new links. These tools discover link opportunities, manage outreach campaigns, and track results. For example, a link-building platform might include a prospect CRM, email outreach automation tools, and a backlink tracker.