How to Do a Backlink Audit: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide

If your site’s been around a while, it’s probably picked up hundreds or thousands of backlinks, not all doing you favors. Some sit on irrelevant pages; others come from sites that went dead years ago. That’s the point of a backlink audit, something our team at Linkoryx runs for clients regularly.

Done properly, it tells you who’s linking to you, which pages get attention, what anchor text is used, and where to look closer. Working across markets like the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, or the Netherlands? It sharpens your international SEO too.

What Is a Backlink Audit?

So what does a backlink audit involve? At its core, it’s a review of the external links pointing to your site, but it goes beyond counting them. You need to look at the sites behind those links: who they are, how relevant, and whether context makes sense.

A typical audit covers:

• Referring domains
• Individual backlinks and anchor text
• Link relevance, follow/nofollow status
• Broken and lost backlinks
• Suspicious links
• Important pages receiving backlinks
• Country and language relevance

Why Do a Backlink Audit?

A backlink audit can reveal both problems and opportunities. An important service page may have very few links, while an old blog post attracts most of them.

You might also find:

• Links pointing to deleted pages
• Repeated anchor text
• Irrelevant referring domains
• Lost backlinks from valuable websites
• Strong websites worth future outreach

So an audit is not only cleanup; it also helps plan your next link-building campaign.

What You Need for a Backlink Audit

You do not need a huge collection of SEO tools. Google Search Console is free and a good starting point; the others below add deeper analysis:

Tool	Best For	Free Plan
Search Console	Basic backlink data	Yes.
Ahrefs	Deep link analysis	Limited
Semrush	Competitor backlinks	Limited
Moz	Domain Authority checks	Limited
Majestic	Trust Flow metrics	Limited

A spreadsheet is also useful. Keep columns for Source URL, Target URL, Referring domain, Anchor text, Link type, Relevance, Status, and Action required.

Step 1: Collect Your Backlink Data

Export the available links from Google Search Console and use one or more backlink analysis tools if you have access to them. Every tool may show a different number; their databases are built differently, so results won’t always match. The aim is to collect enough data to spot patterns.

Step 2: Clean the Backlink Audit Data

Combine your data into one spreadsheet and remove duplicate records to make the data easier to review. The same backlink may appear in several tools; that does not mean you have several separate backlinks. This approach mirrors the process outlined in Search Engine Land’s manual backlink audit guide  collect, combine, filter, and then review individually.

Step 3: Review Referring Domains

A good backlink audit looks at referring domains, not just individual backlinks. Ask: Who is linking to my website?

Look for websites that are relevant to your industry, useful to your audience, and linking naturally within genuine content. The strongest links usually come as editorial backlinks earned naturally inside relevant content rather than placed for their own sake.

A relevant German marketing site is more useful for a Germany-focused campaign than dozens of unrelated domains elsewhere. The same applies to France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and the UK.

Step 4: Check Link Quality and Relevance

Do not judge a backlink only by domain rating or domain authority. Open the linking page: Is the site relevant? Does the page have useful content? Does the link make sense for readers? Would you send a potential customer there?

A relevant link from a smaller site can make more sense than a high-metric link from an unrelated one.

Step 5: Analyze Anchor Text

Check how other websites link to your pages’ brand name, URL, generic text, partial-match, and exact-match keywords. You want natural variation.

If many websites use the same commercial keyword as anchor text, look closer at how those links were acquired. That doesn’t mean every keyword-based anchor is bad; context and the overall profile matter.

Step 6: Find Broken and Lost Backlinks

Look for links pointing to 404 pages, deleted articles, old URLs, or replaced content. Some may be recoverable by redirecting the URL or contacting the publisher and suggesting the current page instead. Also check for unlinked brand mentions easy wins to convert into links.

Step 7: Identify Suspicious Backlinks

A strange backlink doesn’t automatically mean a serious problem. You may find links from unfamiliar sites, automated pages, or irrelevant domains. Google ignores many low-quality links automatically, so don’t assume every unusual link needs removal; watch for patterns like large numbers of artificial links or manipulative anchor text.

Step 8: Review Your Best Backlinks

A backlink audit should not focus only on bad links. Look at your strongest backlinks too: Which websites link to you? Which pages attract the best links? Which links send referral traffic? Which publications mention your brand? What type of content attracts links?

These findings help with future link building; if several publications link to original research on your site, more research-led content and guest posting outreach could be worth testing.

Step 9: Decide What to Do With Each Link

After reviewing the data, give each backlink a clear status:

Keep: Relevant, useful link. Monitor: Questionable but not clearly problematic. Fix: Broken URL or redirect issue. Contact: Worth updating or removing. Investigate: Suspicious pattern needing further review.

Do not automatically disavow every low-quality backlink. Google says most websites don’t need the Disavow tool; it’s mainly for cases with a substantial number of spammy links, particularly where a manual action exists or is likely.

Step 10: Turn Your Backlink Audit Into an Action Plan

Your findings may show you should recover lost backlinks and build links to key service pages. One approach worth testing is listicle link building, getting featured inside curated resource roundups. Review suspicious patterns and strengthen pages that already attract links.

How Often Should You Run a Backlink Audit?

There is no fixed schedule. A smaller site with a stable profile might audit a few times a year; sites running active link-building should monitor more regularly. Also audit after a major migration, a sudden ranking change, a large campaign, or a strategy change.

Backlink Audit Checklist

• Collect backlink data
• Combine data from available sources
• Remove duplicates
• Review referring domains
• Check link relevance
• Analyze anchor text
• Find broken and lost backlinks
• Review suspicious patterns
• Identify your strongest links
• Decide the right action for problem links

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a backlink audit? A review of the sites and pages linking to you, showing the quality and relevance of your backlink profile.

How often should I do one? A few times a year is reasonable for most sites.

Best tool for a backlink audit? No single tool like Search Console gives useful data, while Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz, and Majestic add deeper analysis.

Are all bad backlinks harmful? No. A low-quality link doesn’t automatically mean penalization. Look at the pattern, not one link.

Should I remove toxic backlinks? Not necessarily. Confirm they’re genuinely problematic before removing them just because a tool labels them “toxic.”

Can it help with link building? Yes, it shows which sites link to you, what content attracts links, and where competitors are stronger.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, a backlink audit isn’t just about hunting toxic links. It’s about getting a clear picture of your profile so you can make smarter SEO calls going forward.

Pull reliable data, look at links in context, watch relevance and anchor text, and don’t just hunt problems; spot opportunities too. Get that right, and you’re on stronger footing for future link building. For more strategies, browse the blog.

A full audit takes real time, and it’s easy to miss things without a clear process. If you’d rather hand it off, our white-label link building service can handle it for you.