Backlink monitoring tool
Monitor the Backlinks You Earn
Earning a link takes weeks. Losing it takes one edit. BacklinkDone is a backlink monitoring tool for the links you actually worked for: it watches each one and flags when it is lost, its destination or anchor changes, it turns nofollow or its source page becomes unavailable, with the context you need to fix it.
- oldbloghq.comLink lost
- saasstackhq.comDestination changed
- growthweeklyhq.comAnchor changed
- devresourceshq.comLive
The problem
Earned links change quietly
Links are not permanent. Editors refresh old articles and cut entries. Sites migrate to a new CMS and lose half their outbound links. A roundup gets rewritten and your anchor becomes "this tool". A partner page starts redirecting. None of this comes with a notification, and most teams find out months later, if at all.
Backlink data platforms will eventually show a link as lost in a whole-profile report, mixed in with thousands of other rows. What they do not show is that this was a link you earned, which page it supported, and who to ask about it. That is the gap backlink monitoring in BacklinkDone is built for.
What it watches
Six changes the backlink monitor checks for
Monitoring covers the backlinks you acquired. When one of these changes is detected, it is flagged on the acquired backlink it affects.
New backlink detected
A new link to your site is detected, so a link you earned shows up as live instead of waiting for someone to notice it.
Lost backlink detected
The page is still there but your link is gone. This is the core of lost backlink monitoring, and the change most worth acting on quickly.
Destination changed
The link now points at a different URL than the target page you agreed on, often after an edit or a redirect on your side.
Anchor changed
The link text was rewritten. Sometimes harmless, sometimes it drops the words that made the link relevant to the target page.
Nofollow or status change
The link attributes changed, for example to nofollow or sponsored. The link still exists, but its value to you may not.
Source page unavailable
The linking page can no longer be reached. That can be temporary, which is why it is reported as its own change rather than as a lost link.
Changes with context
A backlink monitoring tool that tells you who to ask
A change that just says "link lost" is only half useful. In BacklinkDone each monitored link is still connected to the opportunity that produced it, so you see what changed next to which page it supported, who placed it and what you offered.
- What changed: lost, destination, anchor, nofollow or status, or the source page.
- The target page the link was meant to support, so you know what is at stake.
- The original contact from the link building CRM, with the relationship history.
Every change comes with who to ask
- What changed
- Now points to an old blog post instead of /integrations/
- Page it supported
- /integrations/
- Who to contact
- The editor who placed the link
- What earned it
- Integration screenshots
Backlink health
What each change usually means, and what to do
Not every change needs action. This is our advice on reading them.
| Change | Common cause | Usual response |
|---|---|---|
| Lost backlink | Article refreshed, entry cut, CMS migration | Contact the person who placed it with an updated reason to keep you |
| Destination changed | Redirect or URL change on your site, or an editor's edit | Fix your redirect first; if it was an edit, ask for the original URL |
| Anchor changed | Copy edit or rewrite of the article | Usually leave it; act only if the new anchor loses the topic entirely |
| Nofollow or status change | Site-wide policy change or a sponsored label | Check whether the change is site-wide before asking |
| Source page unavailable | Outage, deleted page or moved URL | Check again in a day or two; if it stays down, find where the content moved |
Worked example
Monitor backlinks for one target page
The /integrations/ page on uptimelyapp.com has three earned links. Here is a few months of monitoring on them, using example data.
The roundup link is flagged when its destination changes, because the team had renamed a URL without a redirect. Adding the redirect fixes it within the hour. The partner page becoming unavailable is flagged too; the team checks it a day later and it is back, so no outreach is needed. The lost link on a refreshed article goes to the original editor with a new screenshot set, and is detected again two weeks later.
- Lost backlink detectedtechrounduphq.com refreshed the article
- You wrote to the original editorWith a new set of screenshots
- New backlink detectedThe link is back, pointing to /integrations/
Why BacklinkDone
Backlink monitoring that starts from the work you did
Focused on earned links
Monitoring covers the links you worked for, so every flagged change is about a link that matters instead of noise from your whole profile. Use the backlink audit for the full picture.
Connected to people
Every monitored link remembers the contact, offer and conversation behind it, so fixing a problem starts with the right person.
Part of one workflow
Links arrive in monitoring straight from backlink tracking, so nothing has to be copied between tools when a link goes live.
FAQ
Backlink monitoring FAQ
What does a backlink monitoring tool do?
A backlink monitoring tool watches the pages that link to you and tells you when something changes. BacklinkDone watches the links you earned for six kinds of change: a new backlink detected, a backlink lost, the destination changed, the anchor changed, a switch to nofollow or another status change, and the source page becoming unavailable. Each change is flagged on the acquired backlink it affects.
Which backlinks does BacklinkDone monitor?
It focuses on the links that matter to your link building: the ones you acquired through opportunities in BacklinkDone. It is not built to watch every scraper or directory that happens to point at your domain. For a review of your whole profile, use the backlink audit tool.
How is backlink monitoring different from backlink tracking?
Tracking covers the path to a link: discovered, qualified, contacted, replied and acquired. Monitoring starts once the link is live and watches its health from then on. In BacklinkDone, Monitoring is the stage that follows Link Acquired in backlink tracking, so the link keeps its contact and relationship history.
What should I do when a backlink is lost?
First check why. A page may have been rewritten, moved or trimmed, or the link may have been swapped for a competitor. Because the link came from an opportunity in BacklinkDone, the contact and the offer that won it are on the record, so you can write to the right person with context. Often an updated asset or a corrected URL is enough to restore it.
Does BacklinkDone fix lost backlinks for me?
No. BacklinkDone detects the change and keeps the context: the target page the link supported, the contact and the offer behind it. Restoring a link is a conversation with the site, which you have from your own email or outreach tool. The pricing page shows what each plan includes.
Does monitoring tell me about backlink health beyond live or lost?
Yes. A link can still exist and be worth less than when you earned it: the anchor may have been rewritten, the destination redirected to a different page, or the link made nofollow. BacklinkDone treats each of those as a separate change, so you can judge backlink health rather than just presence.
Backlink Tracking
Follow every opportunity from discovery to a live link, with the history of what happened at each stage.
Learn morebacklink audit toolBacklink Audit
Review your own backlink profile and backlink health, and decide which links need attention.
Learn morebacklink management softwareBacklink Management
One pipeline for every opportunity, contact, offer, target page and acquired link.
Learn more14-day free trial
Keep the backlinks you worked for
Add your domain and competitors to find opportunities worth pursuing. Every link you earn moves into monitoring, so you know when it is lost or changes.
No credit card required.