Why don't directory backlinks show up in Open Link Explorer?
-
Why don't we see linking root domains like yelp, google, yahoo, etc? Is there any way to get a more accurate list of links to a domain where webmaster tools are not an option?
-
Thanks Everybody for the quick and thoughtful responses. I'm sure I'll find the data I'm looking for with the suggested tools.
-
Hi Scott,
Sadly, we don't have quite the server farms and processing power and PhDs that Google and Bing have to throw at this, so we don't have as robust an index. For sites that you can't verify in Google Webmaster Tools, don't forget to check out Bing. They announced at SMX Advanced in June of 2012 that they're again offering up a ton of link data for even non-verified sites.
-
SEO SpyGlass is not a half-bad additional link tool to check out as well. SpyGlass is slower and will not pull data instantaneously like Majestic or OSE. However, what I like about SpyGlass over the other tools is it will actually visit the sites and see if the links still exists, which is why it takes so long to get all the data together.
-
Open Site Explorer actually has quite a limited crawl. We don't find it unusual for OSE to report under 5% of the links that something like Majestic reports. However it does try to target the top end, so you don't end up wading through page upon page of dross.
You should also be aware that it isn't updated as often as some of the other tools. That can mean that newer links don't appear.
OSE is good for finding a picture of the links that are likely to actually be helping in rankings. If you want a full and fresh set then it probably isn't the best tool, but you might find that "full and fresh" isn't always the most useful.
As broadbeach says, Ahrefs or Majestic would be good options (I love ahrefs at the moment). Raven just uses data from OSE and majestic, so there are no new sources in that, although it is a great tool for many other reasons.
-
Hi Scott,
If you believe that Open Site Explorer doesn't show every single link (which may well happen), you can always double check a website by using the following tools:
-
Majestic SEO (very very good)
-
Ahrefs
-
Raven Tools
I believe the best one is still the link report you can find in Google Webmaster Tools (with Majestic SEO second), but as you say, that is not always an option.
Best of luck.
-
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Domain Authority and Page authority for external links. What's the difference in value?
Hi Guys. I understand the difference between page authority and domain authority in terms of how likely that page is to rank. But what about a links from a high DA site, but from a low PA page? We’ve identified a client with extremely high DA (73/100), but their blog page has a PA of 1/100. Would a link from this page be pretty much valueless due to the low PA? Or would it still be quite strong as the DA is so high? Perhaps you could point me to some good reading or Moz post on this topic? Thanks guys. Isaac.
Link Building | | isaac6631 -
Is a no-follow link/sponsored link a good editorial link?
Ok maybe this is a dumb question. I really need some better, more quality backlinks pointing to my site. There is a site that has domain authority of 72, page rank 5 that is offering me a sponsored blog post. Do sponsored posts count as a good editorial link? Also what if they are no-follow (and how would I find out ahead of time), does that still give me link juice?
Link Building | | tutugirl0 -
Links not showing up in Site Explorer?
Why aren't some backlinks showing up in Site Explorer? I have links to my home page (www.mortgagesbymark.com) from Trulia at http://www.trulia.com/blog/mortgagesbymark/ but they're not showing up in Site Explorer. Thanks for your help!
Link Building | | MortgagesByMark0 -
I've just started my backlinking research on dentists. What are these links?
When you go to the URL and the link isn't there, what does it mean? Looks like the link may have been around since 2011. Any clues? What is an old comment on the story or something? From openexplorer URL: http://espn.go.com/espn/espys/?ov=bestplay Title: 2011 ESPYS - July 2011 ESPNHD Anchor Text: http://www.l a d e n t i s t.c o m (I don't want a link to them so I spaced it) Page Authority: 51 Domain Authority 100 Number of Links: 7 Followable = YES Origin = External Target URL: http://www.l a d e n t i s t .com/
Link Building | | Czubmeister0 -
Backlink's using duplicate content in article directories
I've had a link build report of all the links an SEO company have got us but a simple search for some of the content in Google with phrase match brings up about 3 pages of the same content posted to different article sites. I think it is doing something but will it just be penalised over time?
Link Building | | acs1110 -
What are your views on link submitters / directory submitters?
I have no real opinion on them to be honest, I don't really have any experience with them personally: eg: http://www.fastdirectorysubmitter.com/downloads.html http://www.thelinksubmitter.com/ http://www.dumpblaster.com/ I presume they will be negative or a waste of time?
Link Building | | Benj250 -
Has anyone seen positive results from using Submiteaze to submit to directories? I know an SEM agency that uses it for clients' link building campaigns, but I don't know if it is worth buying. Are there better alternatives?
I would like to start a link building initiative at my company for a new website, and would like to know if the value of the links built using Submiteaze would be worth the money.
Link Building | | pbhatt0 -
Panda Update: Isn't a link still a link?
I was doing some link building and some SEO's said that the Panda update affected many websites. I am going to use eZineArticles.com as my example. EzineArticles was affected by the Panda update and does not show up in the SERPs as much as before. But they still have doFollow Links coming from the articles I am submitting. QUESTION: Regardless if EzineArticles was affected by the Panda Update, isn't a "Follow Link" still a "Follow Link" OR am I completely wasting my time on this devalued website? Edit: Yes I know a PR 0 page is not as valuable as a PR 9 page. I am asking from the standpoint of the affected Panda Update domains overall.
Link Building | | Francisco_Meza0