Introduction
If you have invested effort and time in keyword research and creating high-quality content and are still stuck on the 2nd and 3rd page of Google you might be missing an important factor which is backlinks.
As you might already know backlinks are links from other websites that direct users to your content. An indicator of trustworthiness and credibility that signals Google that your content is worth linking to. Backlinks from high-quality websites significantly influence your website’s search engine ranking.
When it comes to tracking, measuring, and managing your backlinks, staying efficiently organized can be challenging. One of the best skills you can have in SEO is the ability to remain organized. You can make better decisions about what to do next by keeping track of your actions and their results.
In this Guide, I will share with you my techniques to track and manage your backlinks because Tracking backlinks allows you to understand who is mentioning your site, which can provide valuable insights into your online performance and areas for improvement.
The Importance of Tracking SEO Results
Managing your backlink profile is crucial for your website’s SEO. High-quality backlinks that are relevant today can deteriorate over time, and poor-quality links can negatively impact your search engine rankings. Both off-page and on-page SEO are crucial to your site’s success.
Regular backlink management is necessary to:
- Get Rid harmful and spammy backlinks
- Prevent Google Penalties
- Ensure indexing by avoiding broken links
- Maintain a good backlink profile
Essentially, it’s important to ensure that your external links come from quality, relevant sources. Links from spammy sites can be seen by Google as attempts to manipulate search rankings, which can lead to penalties. Since search engines prioritize link quality when determining page rankings,
it’s vital to consistently monitor and remove any links that could damage your SEO efforts. While managing an external backlink profile can be difficult, the goal is to retain beneficial organic links and eliminate harmful links, which requires a thorough analysis of each backlink you possess.
What You Need to Track
Knowing what you need to track is as important as understanding the importance of tracking. Let’s dive into what exactly you need to track.
1. Backlinks
Keeping track of your backlinks is an important step in maintaining your website’s SEO performance. It’s essential to look out for all the links that point back to your site. This includes links from blog comments, press releases, Web 2.0, and other websites. The is to ensure these links are tracked once search engines index them.
By consistently monitoring your backlinks, you’ll get a clearer picture of who’s linking to you and the value of each link. This diligent supervision helps you spot any low-quality or harmful links early on while also revealing opportunities for reaching and building connections.
Here is what you need to analyze track and manage.
- Anchor text
- Referring Domain
- Time Tracking
- DO-follow or No-follow
- The targetted URL
- Is the link indexed
- Ranking
2. Anchor text
Properly managing the anchor texts associated with your backlinks is an insightful technique for enhancing your SEO strategy. These anchors shed light on the keywords tied to your site and their relevance. By keeping a well-documented and frequently updated record of the anchor text distribution—ideally visualized with an auto-updating pie chart—you can ensure that your site’s link profile aligns with the target keywords for your niche.
This helps not only in identifying and rectifying SEO issues but also in understanding the kind of content that truly engages your audience. Simplifying it: keep a keen eye on your anchor texts—they’re a compass to the health and direction of your website’s SEO.
3. Referring Domains
To enhance the quality of your website’s SEO, paying close attention to where your backlinks come from is as important as the content itself. You’ll need to verify that these links are from sources that relate closely to your niche and are recognized for providing valuable information.
Not only that, but it’s vital to ensure these links lead to the correct pages on your site—especially the ones you’ve optimized to climb the search rankings for specific keywords. Keeping your backlinks relevant and pointing in the right direction makes sure they work for you, boosting your site’s authority and search visibility.
4. Time Tracking
Tracking the time when you earned the links is an essential part of link-building. It gives you insight into how long it takes for particular websites to give you a backlink, giving you a more accurate idea of when to expect results from your efforts.
By monitoring these durations, you can also prioritize your outreach, focusing on websites that are known to deliver quicker backlinks and thus possibly achieve faster SEO improvements. Moreover, a sound understanding of the timelines involved helps you to set realistic expectations for your link-building campaigns and allocate your resources more efficiently.
5. DO-follow or No-follow
Dofollow links are like votes of confidence, passing on SEO benefits to the target page, whereas nofollow links do not pass on link juice and are often used when linking to unverified sources or in sponsored content.
In the eyes of search engines, a higher ratio of do-follow links can act as an endorsement of your website’s credibility and authority. Aim to acquire a strategic balance, focusing on quality do-follow backlinks, as this can have a more significant impact on enhancing your website’s search engine ranking and overall visibility.
6. Targeted Keyword and URL
Targeted Keyword and URL tracking is pivotal for optimizing your backlink strategy for your SEO goals. For each keyword that your website aims to rank for, identify and document the specific pages that are optimized for these keywords.
In most cases, it’s advisable to limit the use of the same anchor text to one or two backlinks to avoid appearing manipulative to search engines. Each instance where the exact match anchor text is used should be carefully recorded in your tracking spreadsheet. This approach not only prevents over-optimization but also helps in maintaining a natural backlink profile, which search engines tend to favor.
7. Is The Link Indexed
Ensuring that your earned backlinks are indexed by search engines is another critical factor in your SEO strategy. A backlink that isn’t indexed carries no weight in terms of SEO value and won’t contribute to your website’s rank in search results.
Therefore, it’s important to periodically check and confirm that search engines have discovered and indexed each link. You can do this by searching for the URL where your link is placed or using various SEO tools that track indexation. If you find that some backlinks are not indexed, you might consider methods such as sharing the URLs on social media or incorporating them into fresh content to help search engines locate and recognize them.
8. Rankings
When adding new links to your website, it’s important to monitor their impact on your SEO performance. By making a note of your site’s ranking before and after the addition of each link, you’ll gain insights into which links and anchor texts are benefiting or hindering your position in search results.
Utilizing rank-tracking tools can simplify this process; however, I also suggest jotting down weekly updates on your rankings alongside your backlink records. This proactive habit not only eases the task of tracking progress but also provides a clear picture of the strategies that are working.
3 Ways To Track And Manage Your Backlinks
here are three effective ways to track and manage backlinks:
1. Backlink Analysis Tools
Utilizing specialized backlink analysis tools is a fundamental approach to monitor and manage your backlinks. Tools such as Ahrefs, Moz, or SEMrush provide comprehensive insights into your website’s backlink profile.
They offer features like real-time link tracking, anchor text analysis, and competitor comparison. By regularly using these tools, you can identify new backlinks, assess the quality of your existing links, and even monitor the backlink strategies of your competitors. This information is invaluable for making informed decisions about your link-building efforts.
2. Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google that offers valuable data on your website’s performance in search results. Within the Search Console, there is a dedicated section for links, allowing you to view the external websites linking to your pages. It provides information about the number of backlinks, referring domains, and the pages with the most links.
Regularly checking Google Search Console helps you stay informed about your backlink profile, identify potential issues, and ensure that Google is aware of the links pointing to your site.
3. Spreadsheets and Manual Tracking
While automated tools are powerful, maintaining a manual record in a spreadsheet is a complementary and insightful method. Create a spreadsheet to document each backlink, including the source, anchor text, and the date acquired. Additionally, categorize links based on relevance and authority.
This manual approach allows for a detailed, customized analysis of your backlinks, helping you identify patterns, track outreach efforts, and assess the overall effectiveness of your link-building strategy. It’s a hands-on method that ensures a personalized understanding of your backlink profile.
Wrap-Up: Track And Manage Your Backlinks
Regularly tracking and managing your backlinks is important to safeguard your website from any actions by Google that could harm your search rankings. Routine monitoring helps you to take prompt action on any harmful links.
The tips I’ve shared here will help you track and manage your backlinks more effectively. This way, you’ll always know what’s going on with your website’s backlink situation, making it easier to handle any issues right away.
