Backlinks are like badges of trust that help websites rank better on Google. Getting these badges is not easy, but once you start getting them, more people visit your website. A recent study by Ahrefs, a tool that helps with this, suggests that you should get backlinks from pages that are popular and trustworthy.
The process of getting these backlinks is like making new friends. You have to send emails to people you don’t know and ask them to add links to your website. It can feel a bit weird. To do this successfully, you need to build good relationships with the owners of other websites. They will only add your links if it makes their website better, too.
Getting these backlinks takes a lot of work. There are different steps involved:
- Finding websites that might want to link to you.
- Checking if those websites are good for your website.
- Finding the email addresses of the people who own those websites.
- Making sure the email addresses are correct.
- Sending emails and reminding them if they don’t reply.
How to build backlinks for free
It’s important to know that doing this without using backlink building tools is really hard. In the ever-evolving landscape of SEO, utilizing the right tools can make all the difference in enhancing your website’s visibility and authority. In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the realm of link building software tools, unveiling the top solutions that empower marketers and businesses to conquer the challenges of modern online promotion. Join us as we explore the tools that can revolutionize your link building efforts and drive sustainable growth.”
Top Link Building Tools
| S. No. | Tool | Key Features | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ahrefs | Backlink analysis, keyword research, competitor insights | ★★★★★ |
| 2 | SEMrush | SEO audits, PPC tools, keyword tracking | ★★★★☆ |
| 3 | Hunter.io | Email finder, domain search, email verification | ★★★★☆ |
| 4 | NeverBounce | Real-time email verification, bulk cleaning, API integration | ★★★★☆ |
| 5 | BuzzStream | Influencer outreach, email tracking, CRM for link building | ★★★★☆ |
| 6 | HARO | Journalist–source connection, PR link building, daily queries | ★★★★☆ |
| 7 | Moz Link Explorer | Link metrics, spam score, competitor backlinks | ★★★★☆ |
| 8 | Pitchbox | Automated outreach, personalization, campaign management | ★★★★☆ |
| 9 | Majestic | Trust Flow, Citation Flow, backlink history | ★★★★☆ |
| 10 | Respona | Blogger outreach, PR campaigns, AI-powered personalization | ★★★★☆ |
| 11 | Link Whisper | Internal link suggestions, automation, reporting | ★★★★☆ |
Ahrefs
| Website | Ahrefs.com |
|---|---|
| Rating | 4.7 out of 5 |
| Free Trial | Not Available |
| Platforms supported | Web |
| Best For | Competitor Research, Link Building, Keyword Research, Website Audit, Content Research, Rank Tracking |
Link builders would agree that finding suitable links is a lengthy and boring task. When it comes to building links to make your website shine, Ahrefs’ Content Explorer is your trusted companion. This tool is like a treasure map for finding valuable websites that could link to yours. Here, you can find fresh links that accurately match your requirements.
For instance, if you’re looking for “best mouses for gamers”, you can:
- Search for ‘best mouses for gamers’ in the content explorer
2. Filter the search for “in title”
3. Filter the timeline. [you can search pages published during a specific time period to get fresh results]
4. Select the language of your preference
5. Filter referring domains (preferably, more than 10)
You’ll have an updated list with fresh links instead of an outdated one. Download these links and add them to your collection.
Pros
- Ahrefs is incredible for building links and other SEO aspects like keyword research.
- The platform educating the community is a big bonus.
- The tools allow users to select the language of their preference.
- With Ahrefs, users can filter over ten referring domains.
Cons
- The platform doesn’t guide users about what they are missing and how they can utilize Ahrefs tools at their full potential.
- New startups or small businesses can find Ahrefs a very costly tool.
- The platform doesn’t offer solutions for local SEO.
- Only users with the enterprise version can get API access.
Ahrefs Pricing Plans
| Plan | Yearly Price | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|
| Lite | $83 per month | $99 per month |
| Standard | $166 per month | $199 per month |
| Advanced | $333 per month | $399 per month |
| Enterprise | $833 per month | $999 per month |
Abinaya Arangarajan
SEMrush
| Website | www.semrush.com |
|---|---|
| Rating | 4.7 out of 5 |
| Free Trial | Available |
| Platforms supported | Web |
| Best For | keyword research, tracks competitor keyword strategy, SEO audit, backlinking opportunities, and lots more. |
Do you ever wonder where your competitors are getting backlinks from? With SEMrush’s Competitor Gap Analysis tool, you can keep an eye on your competitors’ link-building strategies and explore their backlinks to find suitable ones for you.
Enter your and your competitors’ domains, and you’ll get a list of sites that link back to them.
You can see if they’re using guest posts, citations, or sponsored posts. It’s almost like spying. These are prospects that you can pitch to link back to your website.
By default, the software shows ‘Best’ links, which are the sites that link to your competitors, and not to you.
You can also see shared, weak and unique domains. ‘Shared’ means sites that only link to both of you, ‘Weak’ means sites that link only to your competitors, and ‘Unique’ means sites that link to only one domain only.
Use this data to bridge the backlink gap by finding newer sites that don’t link to your competitors. This way, you’ll always stay on top of them.
Pros
- With SEMrush, users can find new link-building opportunities and manage their outreach campaigns.
- The link-building tool allows users to analyze whether the domain is authoritative.
- It’s an easy-to-use platform allowing users to evaluate and compare link profiles in a few clicks.
- SEMrush can be integrated with Google Search Console to have a complete picture of the backlink profile.
Cons
- SEMrush link-building tools only cover data for Google.
- The platform’s user interface is a bit cluttered with enormous data and several features.
- The pricing plans of SEMrush are a little expensive for small businesses.
- Its learning curve can be difficult for some users.
SEMrush Pricing Plan
| Plan | Yearly Price | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|
| Pro | $108.33/month | $129.95/month |
| Guru | $208.33/month | $249.95/month |
| Business | $416.66/month | $499.95/month |
Moz Link Explorer
| Website | moz.com/link-explorer |
|---|---|
| Rating | 4.4 out of 5 |
| Free Trial | Available |
| Platforms supported | Web |
| Best For | Create a link building strategy |
Moz Link Explorer is a vital component of Moz Pro, focusing on early link building stages.
By entering a specific domain or URL, this tool dissects the backlink landscape, offering a comprehensive breakdown. Key metrics like domain authority and spam score shed light on the quality of these backlinks, aiding in informed decision-making. Not limited to analysis, Moz Link Explorer also identifies prospects for further link building, maximizing your site’s online authority. It’s an essential compass for navigating the complex realm of link building techniques, providing insights that guide both novices and seasoned SEO professionals towards strategic and impactful link acquisition.
Pros
- The platform has a straightforward and easy-to-use user interface.
- Users can easily navigate and understand the data.
- With the anchor text tool, users can quickly know the most widely used anchor texts other sites use to link to their websites.
- Moz Link Explorer provides an overview of site and web page authority.
Cons
- The platform doesn’t provide complete data as Ahrefs or SEMrush.
- Moz Link Explorer lacks the incorporation of an app messaging tool to remove spammy links.
- It offers limited lists of inbound links.
- The platform doesn’t enable instant data export; instead, it adds to the queue.
Moz Link Explorer Pricing Plans
| Plan | Yearly Price | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | $79/month | $99/month |
| Medium | $143/month | $179/month |
| Large | $239/month | $299/month |
| Premium | $479/month | $599/month |
Bharath
Pitchbox
| Website | Pitchbox.com |
|---|---|
| Rating | 4.7 out of 5 |
| Free Trial | Available |
| Platforms supported | Web |
| Best For | Influencer outreach, link prospecting, link vetting |
Pitchbox stands out as a dedicated link outreach platform, catering to both businesses and agencies. It empowers you to locate and establish connections with prominent influencers and publishers within your specific field. Seamlessly utilizing its outreach templates, you can readily approach them to explore link-building collaborations.
Using Pitchbox’s prospecting features, you can discover relevant websites and influencers in your niche. Once you’ve crafted valuable and engaging content, segment your prospects based on relevance and authority. Pitchbox’s personalized outreach templates enable you to establish a connection by addressing recipients personally and showcasing the value your content offers. Automated follow-ups gently remind unresponsive recipients, while performance metrics help you fine-tune your approach.
However, its significance surpasses that of a mere email marketing tool due to its seamless integration with key SEO tools such as SEMrush, Moz, and Majestic. This integration facilitates the retrieval of essential SEO metrics, enhancing the link vetting process for better-informed decisions.
Pros
- Pitchbox is an excellent tool to crawl the web, find content, and focus on keyword-relevant link-building opportunities.
- The tool facilitates robust search functionality, advanced reporting features, and personalized outreach templates.
- It’s capable of sourcing potentially hundreds of outreach opportunities.
- The tool offers the functionality of automatic email search.
Cons
- The platform’s interface is a bit outdated and not friendly for inexperienced users.
- Sometimes, users don’t get all the replays in their inbox.
- Some users find that the platform’s features are overabundant.
- Users can experience email connectivity issues.
Pitchbox Pricing Plans
| Plan | Yearly Price | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|
| Professional | $495/month | $550/month |
| Enterprise | $1350/month | $1500/month |
Alan Joseph
Majestic
| Website | Majestic.com |
|---|---|
| Rating | 4.4 out of 5 |
| Free Trial | Available |
| Platforms supported | Web |
| Best For | SEO backlink checker |
As a prominent figure in the SEO arena, Majestic provides a suite of tools that empower you to enhance your backlink strategy. By tapping into its extensive repository of backlink data, you gain insights for strategic prospecting and identifying authoritative websites that align with your niche. The metrics, such as Trust Flow and Citation Flow, guide you in assessing link quality and domain credibility.
Furthermore, Majestic allows you to unveil competitor strategies through comprehensive backlink profile analysis, inspiring your own approach. Beyond analysis, the platform assists in maintaining link health by detecting potentially harmful links. With its insights extending to influencer identification and real-time tracking, Majestic equips you to fortify your link-building endeavors, fostering website authority, visibility, and SEO performance.
Pros
- The new link graph lets users see tiers of links and analyze the competition better.
- Majestic’s historic index feature is proven to be helpful for users when conducting link detox campaigns.
- The platform has a user-friendly interface, making it easy to use and navigate.
- It provides good link data volumes.
Cons
- The data provided by Majestic is not entirely accurate.
- Majestic can improve data downloading and exporting functionality.
- The user interface is a bit outdated.
- Majestic doesn’t offer a mobile app version of the software.
Majestic Pricing Plans
| Plan | Yearly Price | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|
| Lite | $41.67/month | $49.99/month |
| Pro | $83.33/month | $99.99/month |
| API | $333.33/month | $399.99/month |
Respona
| Website | Respona.com |
|---|---|
| Rating | 4.8 out of 5 |
| Free Trial | Available |
| Platforms supported | Web |
| Best For | Link-building outreach platform |
Respona streamlines the process of finding and connecting with potential link prospects, bloggers, and influencers. By combining AI-powered search capabilities with robust database integration, Respona identifies relevant opportunities based on your niche, ensuring precision in your outreach efforts.
Its intuitive platform facilitates the crafting of personalized outreach emails, enhancing engagement with your prospects. Moreover, Respona offers automated follow-up sequences, ensuring no opportunity slips through the cracks. With performance tracking and analytics, you can refine your strategy for optimal results. Respona redefines link building, providing a comprehensive toolkit that accelerates your outreach, nurtures relationships, and elevates your website’s authority through quality backlinks.
Pros
- Respona allows users to find contacts from within and send emails automatically.
- Users can edit and tweak the platform’s in-built templates.
- The platform’s dashboard provides all the necessary information for effective link-building.
- Users can track every link-building campaign and view metrics like the number of opportunities, open rates, reply rates, etc.
Cons
- The platform can improve its contact search automation functionality.
- Sometimes, Respona fails to find an email.
- The tool’s standard plan offers limited credits.
Respona Pricing Plans
| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| Starter | $197/month, billed monthly |
| Unlimited | $399/month, billed annually |
Hunter.io
| Website | Hunter.io |
|---|---|
| Rating | 4.6 out of 5 |
| Free Trial | Available |
| Platforms supported | Web |
| Best For | Email finder and marketing management solution |
After finding the right website, you need to find the owner. You can go scouting on their social media accounts or let Hunter ‘hunt‘ it for you. You have to provide the name and domain associated with the person.
If you’d like to pitch a company website for link building, you provide its domain to find relevant emails associated with it.
Hunter also provides a Google Sheet add-on, which is a Godsend. Suppose you’ve collected the links of useful websites to pitch. The Google sheet add-on finds e-mails, complementary to those links, and adds them to the sheet.
This saves searching and copying time. You can pitch these prospects directly to build more backlinks.
Pros
- Hunter.io’s user interface is super simplistic, with easy navigation and modern design.
- The platform offers a helpful Chrome extension.
- The free plan of Hunter.io is feature-rich, making it perfect for beginners.
- It offers a vast library of pre-designed email templates belonging to different categories.
Cons
- The platform doesn’t offer social media research tools.
- Hunter.io doesn’t verify personal emails created via Outlook or Gmail.
- The pricing plan of Hunter.io is quite expensive for beginners.
- It doesn’t facilitate LinkedIn integration.
Hunter.io Pricing Plans
| Plan | Yearly Price | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 |
| Starter | $34/year | $49/month |
| Growth | $104/year | $149/month |
| Business | $349/year | $499month |
NeverBounce
| Website | www.neverbounce.com |
|---|---|
| Rating | 4.4 out of 5 |
| Free Trial | Available |
| Platforms supported | Web |
| Best For | Real time email verification and email list cleaning service |
Acquiring wrong emails is common. You send personalized e-mails to your prospects, only for them to be bounced. This slows down the link-building campaign.
But, there’s a solution. Upload the list of e-mails you have to NeverBounce. It checks each e-mail and tells you if it’s “valid”, “invalid” or “disposable”. Also, it duplicates e-mails so you have to pay for verification only once.
To automate the whole process, you can add the Zapier integration to combine NeverBounce with Google Sheets. Then, it will automatically tell you if the e-mail you’ve got is right or not.
Note: You can automate half of your link-building campaign by connecting Google Sheets and NeverBounce. If you’ve already added the hunter.io extension, use Zapier filters to trigger the automation when you need it. This way, you only need to find and vet link prospects, and the next three steps will happen on their own.
Pros
- NeverBounce is an easy-to-use link-building tool.
- The platform lets users verify emails in bulk and an individual email address at a time.
- The chances of bouncing an email are negligible with NeverBounce.
- It’s the best email verification online tool in terms of accuracy.
Cons
- Many users find NeverBounce an expensive tool.
- The platform doesn’t facilitate PayPal payment options.
- Sometimes, the tool provides unverifiable emails as a result.
NeverBounce Pricing Plans
Pay As You Go Rates
| Emails | Price per email |
|---|---|
| up to 10,000 | $0.008 |
| up to 100,000 | $0.005 |
| up to 250,000 | $0.004 |
| up to 1,000,000 | $0.003 |
Note: Its Enterprise Packages (Custom Price) includes email over 1,000,000.
Buzzstream
| Website | www.buzzstream.com |
|---|---|
| Rating | 4.5 out of 5 |
| Free Trial | Available |
| Platforms supported | Web |
| Best For | Influencer outreach management platform |
BuzzStream is a comprehensive outreach and relationship management software designed to streamline and enhance the process of influencer marketing, link building, and PR outreach. It offers a range of tools and features that help individuals and businesses effectively manage their interactions with influencers, bloggers, journalists, and other online contacts.
For those involved in link building, it’s a common occurrence to visit a website and wonder whether your team has previously reached out to them. Alternatively, you might wish to get in touch with the author of the content.
Buzzmarker (BuzzStream’s extension for Google Chrome) comes to your aid by extracting contact details like social profiles and email addresses directly from the website, eliminating the need to navigate away. This tool proves invaluable in identifying connections across different websites.
Imagine this: You’re on the lookout to add new bloggers to your list. You visit a blog that features prominent bloggers in your field. Buzzmarker’s highlighting feature simplifies the process. It shows you which bloggers you’ve already established contact with and flags the ones that are new to you. This way, you can easily keep your connections up to date.
Buzzmarker allows you to compose and send e-mails right there by using their templates. Reaching out doesn’t get easier than this.
Pros
- BuzzStream automatically conducts influencer research involving locating relevant contact information, social profiles, and site metrics.
- The platform provides a unified workspace allowing all team members to work together on tasks, compare notes, and manage projects.
- It allows users to manage and monitor all emails, tweets on social media, and status updates.
- The tool allows users to select in-built templates or create them and compose a personalized message.
Cons
- It merges multiple URLs from a single domain into the same record.
- Sometimes, BuzzStream directly sends emails through users’ domain/IP.
- The platform lacks responsive customer support.
- The functionality of BuzzStream is pretty clunky, as users can’t add a link-building contact to more than one project or client.
BuzzStream Pricing Plans
| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| Starter | $24/month |
| Growth | $124/month |
| Professional | $299/month |
| Custom | starting at $999/month |
HARO
| Website | Haro-seo.com |
|---|---|
| Rating | 4.4 out of 5 |
| Free Trial | Available |
| Platforms supported | Web |
| Best For | Earn links from strong domains |
HARO, which stands for “Help A Reporter Out,” is a platform that acts as a bridge between journalists, bloggers, and other content creators seeking sources, and individuals or experts who can provide valuable insights for their stories.
Journalists often use HARO to find experts, quotes, and information to enhance their articles, reports, and news pieces. HARO helps them by pitching multiple users to provide them. This is how it works:
- You upload your request to HARO.
- It pitches people via email to find someone who can provide the information.
- Interested people or websites can reply to the request.
But how does it help you?
Suppose you’re a software engineer with a blog about coding. You get a request for suggestions on top coding languages to learn in 2022. Reply to the request with your suggestions and they’ll link their content to your blog.
This is a brilliant method to acquire backlinks. Whatever your business is, look for relevant requests and provide insightful opinions for a backlink in return.
Pros
- The platform can help users get links from high-quality sources.
- It’s a great tool to build relationships with reporters and influencers.
- With HARO, users can get exposure to their brand and website.
- HARO helps users build authority and credibility in their industry.
Cons
- With HARO, it can be time-consuming for the users to respond to reporters’ requests and track the correct contact information.
- Sometimes users might get inundated with responses from individuals who aren’t a good fit for their business.
- Without screening, any random person can quickly sign up to become a source on HARO.
- With HARO, users also need to look out for questionable queries.
HARO Pricing Plans
| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| 3 qualifying links | $975 |
| 7 qualifying links | $1,995 |
Niku Mandal
Link Whisper
| Website | LinkWhisper.com |
|---|---|
| Rating | 4.6 out of 5 |
| Free Trial | Not Available |
| Platforms supported | WordPress Plugin |
| Best For | Internal linking automation & SEO optimization |
Link Whisper is a smart internal linking tool that uses AI to suggest relevant links inside your content, making the process quick and simple. It also gives useful reports like the Orphaned Content Report, which shows pages with no internal links. Features like the URL Changer automatically fix links when URLs change, and bulk editing saves a lot of time on large websites. Overall, it’s a handy tool to improve site structure and SEO. It helps boost page visibility, improves user navigation, and makes managing links effortless even on large, complex sites.
Pros
- AI-powered link suggestions
- Orphaned Content report to fix hidden pages
- URL Changer prevents broken links
- Bulk editing saves time on large sites
- Improves SEO and user experience
Cons
- Only works on WordPress
- No free trial available
- Can slow down very large sites if not optimized
Link Whisper Pricing
| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| 1 Site License | $77 / year |
| 3 Sites License | $117 / year |
| 10 Sites License | $167 / year |
Conclusion
In the ever-changing realm of digital marketing, mastering link building is crucial. Our exploration of top link-building software tools reveals how these tools empower marketers for greater visibility and growth.
From Ahrefs’ insights to BuzzStream’s outreach, each tool simplifies prospecting and relationship-building. This synergy of human and tech prowess reshapes link building, making it strategic and impactful.
Whether you’re an SEO pro or a newbie, these tools pave the way to stronger online presence. As you navigate the dynamic SEO landscape, let these tools catalyze your strategies and drive your digital success.
FAQ
What are link building software tools?
Link building software tools are digital solutions designed to assist marketers and businesses in identifying, acquiring, and managing backlinks to enhance their website’s online presence and search engine visibility.
Which are the top backlink tools to use in 2023?
SEMRush, Ahrefs, Moz Link Explorer, and Majestic are some of the best link building tools you can use in 2023.
Are these tools suitable for beginners?
Absolutely. Many link building software tools offer user-friendly interfaces and step-by-step guidance, making them accessible and effective for both beginners and experienced marketers.
Why should I use link building software tools?
Link building software tools streamline the process of finding potential link opportunities, reaching out to website owners, and managing relationships, saving time and effort while optimizing link-building strategies.
What is the best link building strategy?
Creating high-quality, valuable content that naturally attracts authoritative backlinks is often considered the best link building strategy.
How can you make your backlinks stronger?
You can make your backlinks stronger by obtaining them from authoritative and relevant websites within your niche.
How do link building software tools help with outreach?
Link building tools facilitate outreach by automating email communication, tracking responses, and assisting in personalized follow-ups, thereby streamlining the process of building relationships with website owners.
