Tracks Backlink Profile Growth
The tool monitors how many backlinks and linking domains a site has over time, revealing whether link building efforts are working and how quickly authority is accumulating.
Calculates Domain and Page Authority
Link Explorer provides Moz's proprietary Domain Authority and Page Authority scores that predict ranking potential based on backlink profile strength, helping prioritize which sites to target for links.
Identifies Link Sources and Quality
The tool shows which websites link to any domain, along with metrics indicating link quality like domain authority, spam score, and whether links are followed or nofollowed.
Analyzes Anchor Text Distribution
Link Explorer reveals what anchor text appears in backlinks, helping identify over-optimization risks where too many exact-match anchors might trigger spam signals.
Enables Competitive Link Analysis
By examining competitor backlink profiles, the tool uncovers where competitors earn links, revealing outreach targets and content strategies that successfully attract backlinks in your industry.
Discovers Link Building Opportunities
The tool's link intersect feature finds sites that link to multiple competitors but not to you, identifying high-potential outreach targets likely to be receptive to quality content.
How accurate is Link Explorer's backlink data?
Link Explorer has a substantial link index but no tool captures every backlink. Cross-reference with Ahrefs and Semrush for comprehensive analysis, as each tool discovers different links.
What's a good Domain Authority score?
DA is relative to your competition—50 might be strong in some niches but weak in others. Focus on improving your score over time rather than hitting arbitrary targets.
Should you monitor competitor links regularly?
Yes, monthly reviews reveal new link sources competitors acquire, helping identify emerging opportunities and tactics working in your market before they become saturated.
Can Link Explorer help disavow bad links?
The tool identifies potentially spammy backlinks through spam scores, helping compile disavow lists. However, only disavow if facing manual actions, as Google typically ignores low-quality links automatically.RetryW
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Domain Rating
An Ahrefs metric scoring the strength of a website's backlink profile on a scale of 0 to 100. Domain Rating is widely used for competitive analysis and link prospecting, though it is not a Google ranking factor.
Toxic Backlink
A low-quality or spammy backlink that may negatively impact a site's search rankings. Identifying and disavowing toxic backlinks through Google's Disavow Tool helps protect a site's link profile from spam associations.
Google Penalty
A negative impact on a site's search rankings resulting from violating Google's webmaster guidelines. Penalties can be algorithmic (applied automatically) or manual (imposed by Google's human reviewers).
Subdomain
A prefix added before a domain name creating a separate section of a website, such as blog.example.com. Subdomains are treated as somewhat independent entities by search engines, which affects how authority and rankings are distributed.
Related Glossary Terms
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