A link that exists is not always a link that counts
When you buy a placement, swap links or are promised a mention, the first question is whether the link is on the page. The second question matters just as much and is easier to miss: does it pass anything? A link can be live and still be worth nothing, because of a single word in its markup or a single tag in the page's head.
What this checks
- Is it there. Every link from the page to your site, including links to subdomains, with the exact anchor text. If you gave a specific page, a link to a different page on your site is reported as the wrong page.
- Is it followed. A link marked
rel="nofollow",sponsoredorugcis not a normal link, and a page whose robots meta tag saysnofollowturns every link on it into one. - Is the page indexable. A
noindexin the robots meta tag or theX-Robots-Tagheader means Google is told to leave the page out, and a canonical pointing at another URL asks Google to treat the page as a copy. - Where does it sit. A link inside the article is worth more than one in the footer, sidebar or menu. Those are the first links to be discounted, and the first to be removed in a redesign.
How to read the verdicts
- Live and followed: a normal link on an indexable page. This is what you paid for.
- Live, not followed: it is there but passes little or no ranking value. Ask for the rel attribute to be removed.
- Live, page may not count: a followed link on a page set to noindex, or one that points its canonical elsewhere.
- Wrong page: a link to your domain, but not to the address you asked for.
- Not found: none of the page's links go to your site.
What it cannot see
The checker reads the HTML the page's server sends, the same first response a search engine reads. A link that a script adds after the page loads will not appear here, and neither will a link on a page that needs a login. It also cannot tell you whether Google has indexed the page. For that, search for the page address in Google Search Console's URL inspection.
How often to re-check
Links disappear. Pages are redesigned, articles are updated, and a placement that was live in March is gone by autumn. Check a new link a few days after it goes up, then again every month or two. On Backlink Market this is done for you: every delivered link is read again regularly, and a seller who lets one lapse has 7 days to restore it. See the Buyer Rules.
Frequently asked
Is a nofollow link worthless?
No. Google treats nofollow as a hint, and such links still send visitors and can help a page get discovered. They just should not be what you paid a dofollow price for.
Does it matter if the link is in the footer?
It counts for less. Site-wide links in a footer or sidebar are repeated on every page and carry little editorial signal, so a placement inside the article is the one worth paying for.
Is there a limit?
Ten pages at a time, and a daily limit per connection so the tool is not used as a crawler.