Best Link Building Tools
A number of new web based link building tools entered the market. While most of these tools have innovative research and data features, there of course seems to be no one tool that can do everything. To help sort through each, I have put together a list of the best link building tools.
Finding Prospects
Open Site Explorer – In early 2010, SEOmoz released Open Site Explorer for their members providing expanded link research data on up to 10,000 links per website. This tool provides link builders with a way of measuring web page authority (Page Authority) and site authority (Domain Authority) to help compare prospects. Moz has since merged the tool with their other campaign management tools.
Majestic – Majestic has been one of the leaders in SEO link research data for the past few years, providing historical link reports to help you measure your campaign success and compare your competitor’s link metrics. Majestic has a very robust data set that includes links, image links, citations and more.
Google Webmaster Tools – Webmaster Tools is one of the best ways to find out where your links are coming from. The problem with this tool is it limits the amount of data you can see. Google only shows a fraction of the link data for most websites. One might say this data is the only data that Google considers, but its likely a lot more link data than what you see in this tool.
Ontolo – Ontolo’s link prospecting tool came onto the scene mid 2010 and has become one of the leading tool sets for link builders looking to gain research efficiencies. In some recent testing I have seen an increase in link prospect quality with 30-50% gains in research efficiency. For SEO consultants and agencies looking to scale their linking activities, I recommend testing this tool on your own to see what it can do for your campaigns.
Managing Prospects
Raven – Having tested Raven’s link management tool in early 2010, I found it to be very helpful in managing link prospects. This tool also does a great job of collecting information on prospects and helping link builders manage contacts. Raven is also great for teams working on the same project and provides automation to some of the more common linking activities.
Link Cleanup
Google Link Disavow – Google released a link disavow tool in 2013 to help website owners clean up their link profile post-Penguin update. WARNING: Only disavow if you feel your website has been impacted by any Google Penguin updates. We have performed link cleanups for clients, so if you feel you have been penalized by Google and you’re not sure why, give us a call and we’ll check your SEO link profile to make sure you’re site is OK.
Having trouble getting results from your link building prospects? Contact us today for a SEO link building campaign analysis.