A site explorer is an invaluable SEO tool for conducting competitor analysis, finding link-building opportunities, and optimizing your own website. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore what site explorers are, why they're important for SEO, and how to use them effectively.
A site explorer, also known as a backlink checker or backlink analysis tool, allows you to view the backlinks pointing to a particular website.
Backlinks are incoming links to a site from external pages, and they play a major role in search engine optimization.
Site explorers give SEO professionals insight into:
With this data, you can identify new link-building tactics, gauge the SEO success of competitors, and improve your own website's link profile.
Some of the top site explorer tools include:
Site explorers are important because backlinks are one of the main ranking factors used by Google and other search engines. The quantity and quality of backlinks pointing to a page or site indicate its popularity and authority on a given topic.
Specifically, site explorers help SEO in these key areas:
Analyzing the backlinks of rival websites in your space gives you valuable intel about their SEO strategies. You can identify the types of links they're building, topical authorities they've secured links from and patterns in their link-building approaches.
With this information, you can model what's working for the competition and focus your own link-building efforts accordingly.
One of the top uses of Site Explorers is discovering new websites and pages to reach out to for backlinks. For instance, you can find sites linking to competitors but not to you, look for broken backlinks pointing to 404 pages, or search for relevant sites that are yet to link to you.
Anchor text refers to the visible, clickable text of a backlink. The anchor text used in your backlinks is a ranking factor. Site explorers make it easy to analyze the anchor text of competitors' links and ensure you have a natural mix for optimal SEO.
Frequently checking your own website's backlink profile is crucial to monitoring new links gained, identifying toxic or risky links to disavow, and assessing the overall link-building impact over time.
This informs your ongoing link-building strategy and indicates whether changes need to be made.
Many site explorer tools include useful data points like domain authority, traffic estimates, and contact information. You can use these to curate lists of high-quality websites relevant to your content and outreach for link placements.
If your website rankings drop or increase significantly, examining your backlink profile changes around that time can help uncover potential causes. Loss of key links, toxic links, or major gains are all factors that influence search position.
As we'll explore in the next section, each site explorer tool provides its own unique features and data to power these essential SEO activities.
While site explorers serve the same core purpose, their features, data, and pricing can vary widely. Here's an overview of some top site explorers and key details about each:
Ahrefs is one of the most robust SEO tools and its Site Explorer delivers incredibly detailed backlink data. Key features include:
However, Ahrefs is one of the most expensive site explorers with plans starting at $99/mo for the Lite version. It's a top choice for SEO agencies and power users.
Moz has been a trusted name in SEO for years. The Moz Link Explorer offers:
Moz also incorporates its incredible keyword explorer tool for deep link analysis by anchor text or topic optimization. Moz plans begin at $99/mo.
Majestic is the site explorer with the largest backlink index, making it invaluable for comprehensive competitor research. Features include:
Majestic pricing starts at $49/mo for the Lite plan. However, they offer a free version that's ideal for early-stage or basic SEO needs.
Open Site Explorer is a fully free alternative to Moz. Key features are:
The main downsides are a lack of historical metrics and limits like only showing 1,000 links per site. But Open Site Explorer is an amazing free option.
Google Search Console provides backlink data specifically for your own websites. Useful features include:
Search Console should be used to monitor links to your important sites. But it lacks competitor research capabilities.
In addition to backlink analysis, understanding a site's Domain Authority is key for competitor research.
Domain Authority is a score from 1-100 that predicts a site's ability to rank in search. The Domain Authority Checker from SeoToolsPark provides this metric for free along with related scores like Page Authority.
Check Domain Authority when assessing competitor sites and considering link prospects. A higher score indicates greater SEO prowess.
Now that we've compared the top site explorer tools available, let's look at how to use them for common needs.
Site explorers are versatile tools that serve a wide range of link-building and SEO tasks. Here is a step-by-step guide to applying them effectively:
Consistently monitoring backlink data provides powerful insights that inform nearly every aspect of executing successful SEO campaigns. Whether running large agencies or solo sites, site explorers are must-have tools for SEO professionals.
A: The best fully free site explorer is Open Site Explorer from Moz. It provides unlimited searches and basic link data like referring domains and anchor text for comprehensive backlink analysis.
A: Paid site explorer tools range from $49/mo up to $99/mo depending on the features included. Majestic and Moz offer plans starting around $50/mo while Ahrefs is close to $100/mo.
A: Key metrics to analyze in site explorer reports include total backlinks, referring domains, domain authority/page authority, link intersections, link velocity changes, and anchor text percentages.
A: Yes, most site explorers can identify potential toxic links through metrics like low domain authority scores or redirects. You can also filter by site topics and export toxic prospects for disavowal.
A: Using 2-3 site explorers is ideal to cross-check data and leverage different feature sets. For example, Ahrefs and Majestic provide the most robust metrics while Open Site Explorer or Moz offer excellent free plans.
Link building remains one of the most impactful SEO activities for earning higher search rankings. Site explorer tools take the guesswork out of link analysis by providing actionable link intelligence.
Now that you understand the basics of extracting value from site explorers, you can start researching competitor links, finding prospects, and honing your own website's backlink profile.
Remember to tap into both free tools like Open Site Explorer and invest in premium options like Ahrefs or Majestic as your needs grow. With the right site explorer knowledge, your link-building efforts will thrive.
