Many SEO professionals utilize the Google function for finding opportunities for acquiring backlinks and for monitoring their own backlink profile since the results are the most authentic ones. Though other software’s are helpful, they do not display the backlinks in the manner in which they are calculated by Google.
There are often discrepancies between the numbers shown in counterparts such as SEMrush and Ahrefs and what is presented in the Google Search Console. This is because the two use their own crawlers. The Google Search Console provides information about how the Google algorithm considers your backlinks.
This is where learning the skill of acquiring backlinks from Google Search itself becomes valuable. You can gain information about backlinks from Google itself without depending on a separate service.
It means understanding how to track the websites that link to your site, the number of backlinks you have, and the source of the backlinks. It also involves searching for new backlink opportunities on niche-related websites, analyzing the links to other websites that come from your site.
Why is Tracking Backlinks important?
Backlinks are the main ingredient in off-page SEO, and it is vital to check backlinks regularly. Tracking backlinks will help you see what strong links you have and the weak ones, and the areas to work on when it comes to building better website authority.
Google views backlinks as trust signals, so when other credible websites link back to your content, that means your site can be trusted by Google because it’s something worthwhile. The right balance of quality and quantity of backlinks will greatly determine the success of an SEO effort.
Backlinks are a confirmed Google ranking factor. MonsterInsights lists them as the second most important factor in Google search rankings and describes backlinks as a “vote of confidence” for your website.
Quality backlinks are like recommendations. When quality or authoritative websites link to you, they are, in fact, validation of your content. The more quality or trustworthy websites linking to your site, the better your reputation becomes in Google’s algorithm for improving your ranking.
How do I check backlinks on Google?
Backlink quantity matters, but quality carries more weight. Monitoring referral links and referring domain metrics helps ensure your backlink profile remains strong and capable of improving search engine rankings.
An overall good back link profile will yield better visibility, increased traffic, and ultimately better leads and conversion rates.
Types of Backlinks: What Truly Counts
Talking about backlinks, the worst thing you can do is concentrate on the number of backlinks you have accumulated. The truth of the matter here is the quality of the backlinks and the origin of the backlinks you have amassed. This explains why very successful SEO consultants always concentrate on the quality of backlinks while always categorizing the backlinks in relation to their quality.
Google is thought to categorize backlinks into several levels of quality. While links from authoritative sites are worth a great deal more and can greatly improve a site’s visibility, sometimes a link from a quality site is worth more than dozens from low-quality sites.
Generally, backlinks can either be do-follow or no-follow backlinks. Here is what it really means:
Do-Follow Links: The Ones That Boost SEO
Do-follow links: These are the kinds of links that pass authority from one website to another, the ones that directly help your rankings, and strengthen your domain. When Google finds a do-follow link pointing to your website, it is like a vote of confidence.
Do-follow links usually come from:
- Blog posts and editorial mentions
- Guest blogging on authority sites
- Resource pages on authoritative sites
- News articles & press mentions
- Partner or sponsorship pages
These links make a massive contribution to improving your site’s authority and visibility.
No-Follow Links Still Matter
The no-follow links contain a tag informing the search engine not to pass authority. Though they don’t directly impact rankings, they’re still useful.
You’ll get no-follow links from the following:
- Forums/Discussion boards
- Social media sites
- YouTube video descriptions
- Adwords/Paid ads
- Press release sites
- Forums like Reddit, Quora
- Newsletters by email
These links help in bringing traffic, creating brand awareness, and maintaining a natural look of your backlink profile.
As such, Which Backlinks Are the Most Valuable?
The strongest backlinks are naturally acquired and originate from authoritative and relevant domains. Although this may depend on the industry, certain types of backlinks will always provide excellent link value:
- Editorial links – When your content is mentioned as a reliable source
- User-generated links – When users share or recommend your content
- Referral Links = Partnerships, Guest Posts, Brand Mentions, and more.
- Digital PR Links: These are the mentions or links that come from reputable sources and are newsworthy websites.
These types of links assist with building trust and authority.
Can Google Assist in Tracking Backlinks?
Yes—and it absolutely should.
Google Search and Google Search Console display backlinks exactly as Google views them. This makes them highly accurate tools for tracking your backlinks and catching any problems early on.
Google has one major benefit: it has the ability to spot spam or private network links that other tools might not detect. It is good to spot this while you are still safe.
Finding Backlinks with Google Search
You can manually check backlinks by searching using these operators:
link:marqetric.com
This indicates the number of websites linking to your domain, though Google has made it less effective over time.
You can also unearth link opportunities using niche-related searches for the following:
- Guest posting sites
- Resource pages
- Business directories
- Forums and discussions
- Competitor mentions
Analyzing competitive backlinks is particularly helpful. Seeing where your competitors are obtaining their links is a great way to target similar sites for outreach.
Tracking Backlinks in Google Search Console
Through Google Search Console, the existing backlinks to the site are easily identified.
In the Links section, the following can be viewed:
Which websites link to you
Which pages get the most links
The anchor text used
Your referring domains
This data can also be exported in order to identify trends and clean up a backlink profile.
Using GA4 to Discover Backlinks
GA4 helps you find backlinks through referral traffic. In the Traffic Acquisition report you get to know:
Which sites send visitors to your website
How users behave after clicking those links
Whether the traffic looks useful or spammy
That is especially useful for detecting low-quality or abusive links.
Finding and Removing Harmful Backlinks
Not all backlinks help your site; some can actually hurt your rankings if left unattended.
Toxic backlinks may include:
Paid or unnatural links
Links from spam or irrelevant websites
Comment spam
Self-referrals
PBN-related links
To deal with them, you can:
Ask site owners to remove the links
Filter and exclude them in GA4
Running regular backlink checks will help you in keeping your profile clean and healthy.
FAQs
Why does Marqetric recommend using Google to find backlinks?
Marqetric suggests the use of Google because it displays the backlinks as how the Google algorithm interprets them. Google Search Console is the most accurate and reliable source for the number of backlinks displayed, as opposed to third-party analytic tools.
Is there a way to obtain backlinks without the use of paid SEO software?
Yes, According to Marqetric, you can track your backlinks using free web search engines like Google Search or Google Search Console. This helps you view your backlinks without necessarily using a cost-based program.
According to Marqetric, which type of backlinks are the most valuable?
Marqetric has a focus on premium backlinks like editorial backlinks, referral backlinks, Digital PR Backlinks, and relevant mentions from high-quality websites. Such backlinks increase authoritative and long-term SEO rankings and efficiencies.
How frequently should back links be checked?
According to Marqetric, backlinks should also be checked periodically, at least once a month. This will enable you to detect the spammers sooner, thus keeping the backlink profile clean and healthy.
Can bad backlinks harm my website rankings?
Yes, According to Marqetric, having poor quality backlinks, ‘spam backlinks,’ or ‘paid backlinks’ can hamper search rankings. Thus, the significance of using the Google Disavow Tool to remove hazardous backlinks or GA4 to filter them out in the process of SEO.
