A strong backlink profile doesn’t appear out of nowhere.
It takes years of link building, content marketing, and, of course backlink management to build a link profile that actually helps you rank.
In this article, we’ll teach you how to manage your backlinks in 10 simple steps.
- Why is Backlink Management Important?
- 1. Check Referring Page Traffic
- 2. Check Dofollow vs Nofollow Link Ratio
- 3. Check Link Velocity
- 4. Check Referring Domains
- 5. Identify Backlink Gaps
- 6. Check Anchor Text Distribution
- 7. Reclaim Lost Backlinks
- 8. Claim Unlinked Mentions
- 9. Disavow Toxic Links (Only If Your Site Was Penalized)
- 10. Build New Links
- Now Over to You
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Link building cheat sheet
Why is Backlink Management Important?
Backlink management is the process of building, monitoring, analyzing, and maintaining the backlinks to your website.
Backlinks are links from other websites to yours.
They are a crucial factor in search engine optimization (SEO).
High quality backlinks pass what is known as PageRank, or “link juice” – which is a core part of Google’s algorithm.
More link juice = better rankings for your pages on search engine results pages.
Link management is important because it helps you grow and maintain a quality backlink profile, which in turn will help you rank higher in Google.
Without a strategic approach to your link building process, you’re unlikely to make a difference on your ranking.
There are many tools available for backlink monitoring and management, namely Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz.
We use Ahrefs, so that’s what we’re going to focus on in our examples.
In no specific order, let’s walk through the 10 steps of managing your backlinks.
1. Check Referring Page Traffic
Besides PageRank, backlinks pass on another vital element of SEO – and that is referral traffic.
Logically, inbound links from pages that generate a lot of traffic are more valuable, because they can pass more of it to your website.
Referral traffic is also oftentimes much more targeted and has a higher chance of yielding conversions than organic traffic coming from Google.
To see how much traffic any referring page gets, go to your backlink report and look for the “Page Traffic” column.
To check how much traffic you’re getting from your backlinks, you’ll need the help of Google Analytics.
2. Check Dofollow vs Nofollow Link Ratio
Dofollow links pass on link juice, nofollow ones do not.
So, for search engine ranking purposes, dofollow links should be a priority.
But that doesn’t mean that nofollow links are useless – they still direct valuable traffic to your website.
A healthy backlink profile consists of both – at a roughly 3:1 ratio, with the majority of your incoming links being dofollow.
However, when looking at your backlink report, you should look at followed vs nofollowed domains rather than backlinks themselves.
This is because the total number of links includes ones from low-quality websites, social media, automated listings, and so on – which come and go every day.
These don’t count as “real” backlinks – but they don’t hurt your SEO either.
3. Check Link Velocity
Link velocity is the rate at which you’re obtaining – or losing – backlinks.
Of course, you want to always maintain a steady, positive link velocity.
If you’re losing more links than you’re earning, you either have to step up your backlink building game, or check with your partner website in case they are removing your links.
4. Check Referring Domains
Referring domains are even more important than individual backlinks.
This is because having, for example, one link from 10 different domains is much more valuable than having 10 links from the same one.
While it’s completely fine to have multiple links per referring domain, you should always prioritize getting new domains to link to you as opposed to building links from the same resources over and over.
5. Identify Backlink Gaps
A backlink gap happens when a website links to your competitor but not you.
You always want to find and eliminate these gaps to even the playing field between you and the competition.
Especially if you’re offering very similar products and have the same kinds of content that perform similarly in search.
If they have more unique referring domains than you, it might just be the deciding factor that helps them outrank you on Google.
To find backlink gaps, go to the Competitive Analysis report in Ahrefs – it’s neat because you can check multiple competitors at once.
As well as backlinks, it also shows you missing keywords and even individual referring page gaps.
6. Check Anchor Text Distribution
Anchor texts serve a very specific purpose in SEO.
Besides giving the reader an idea of what they can expect to see on the page, they actually help your pages rank on Google based on the keywords included in the anchor text.
Even if the keywords aren’t used on the actual page.
So, for example, if you have a page about link building with links pointing it with “how to get backlinks” in the anchor text, you will start ranking for that keyword as well.
At the same time, it’s important to avoid over-optimization.
You should use both exact-match (the same keywords your page targets), and partial-match keywords (some variations of that keyword) in your anchors.
To check your anchor text distribution in Ahrefs, go to Backlinks > Anchors.
7. Reclaim Lost Backlinks
Links get removed all the time – it’s just part of their lifecycle.
Whether the linking page underwent an update, or the website editor no longer deemed it relevant to link to you, it’s important to check your lost backlinks from time to time and try to reclaim them.
Especially if you acquired them as part of an ABC link exchange and the other party removed it after some time.
To check lost links, simply use the “Lost” filter in your backlink report.
8. Claim Unlinked Mentions
Unlinked mentions are the easiest links to obtain because half the job is already done – the page is already talking about you.
All you have to do is find a contact email of the editor, reach out, and politely ask to turn the mention into a proper backlink.
Now, be prepared that some webmasters might ask for something in return, like an ABC link exchange.
Depending on the quality of the link, it may very well be worth it.
9. Disavow Toxic Links (Only If Your Site Was Penalized)
Now, in 2025, toxic backlinks aren’t nearly as much of a problem as they used to be.
If your website has never received a Google penalty, and you don’t engage in shady practices like paid links or direct exchanges, you don’t have to disavow anything.
But if you have been hit with a penalty (or suspect you are going to), you’ll have to disavow harmful backlinks to slowly restore your rankings.
For this, use the Google Disavow Tool.
Once again, do not disavow links as a preventative measure – Google is great at spotting toxic links on its own.
If you have never been hit with a penalty, manually disavowing links can do you more harm than good and actually hurt your rankings.
10. Build New Links
Now, arguably the most important step of managing your backlinks is constantly building new ones.
We recommend using a mix of strategies, such as guest posting to set up ABC link exchanges (by offering your link partners links from your guest articles), link insertion, skyscraper technique backed up by other, more niche-specific strategies like product review and broken link building.
As an example, let’s run through a quick guest posting campaign with Respona.
While you can manually search Google using strings like “intitle:”write for us” + your keyword” to find these opportunities, this approach can be incredibly time-consuming.
You might spend hours hunting for suitable sites and their contact information, only to secure a handful of guest post placements.
Respona streamlines this process with its dedicated guest post outreach campaign template, automating everything from prospecting and contact discovery to personalized outreach.
To get started, you simply input the general topics you want to cover and provide a sample of your writing.
These inputs inform your search strings and personalize your outreach emails, respectively.
Clicking “Use this template” takes you to the campaign editor.
Respona provides a pre-built email sequence that you can tailor to your needs.
Customize it with your own voice, add unsubscribe links, check for spam words, and adjust the timing of your follow-ups.
Our favorite feature is the AI-powered Icebreaker variable.
This generates unique, personalized opening lines for each outreach email, going beyond a generic “first_name” and creating a more engaging introduction.
It can even suggest guest post topic ideas!
Respona offers two default AI variables (Icebreaker and “P.S.”) and allows you to create your own.
Next, time to find relevant guest blogging opportunities.
It automatically uses search operators with common “write for us” page title variations and your target keywords to run multiple Google searches.
You can refine the results using SEO filters based on your specific criteria.
Respona also automatically finds contact information for content and SEO managers at the target websites.
You can then provide guidelines for the AI variables, specifying the desired tone, feeding it examples, and outlining requirements for each personalization, including examples of your writing style.
To keep your campaign fresh, enable the recurring campaign option.
This will automatically re-run the search every few weeks, adding new guest posting opportunities to your pipeline.
Clicking “Run automation” sets Respona in motion.
It simultaneously finds opportunities, contact details, and personalizes emails using AI, displaying the results in real-time.
The final step is review and launch.
Carefully examine all variables, both standard and AI-generated, and add any manual personalizations you deem necessary.
Respona also provides LinkedIn profiles for additional context and connection possibilities.
Before sending, Respona performs pre-launch checks for unsubscribes, recent contacts, and empty placeholders, ensuring a clean and effective outreach.
Once your campaign is live, monitor responses and start writing those guest posts!
Respona’s shared inbox centralizes all your email accounts, eliminating the need to juggle multiple tabs.
For optimal email deliverability, consider using multiple sender emails with a low daily sending limit (15-45 emails per day.
Link building cheat sheet
Now Over to You
In conclusion, to effectively manage your backlinks you need to:
- Constantly evaluate the quality of current and potential referring domains (backlink analysis)
- Do backlink monitoring and lost link reclamation
- Track unlinked mentions and turn them into proper backlinks
- Consistently generate a steady stream of high quality links
Need help growing your link profile?
Don’t hesitate to start your 14-day free trial with Respona to see it in action.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is a backlink?
A backlink is simply a link from one website to another.
Search engines like Google see backlinks as votes of confidence, indicating that the linked-to website is trustworthy and relevant.
How do I get backlinks?
There are many ways to get backlinks, but some common methods include guest blogging, creating high-quality content that others want to link to, and reaching out to reputable websites and asking them to link to your site.
How do I know if a backlink is good or bad?
Generally, a good backlink comes from a high-quality, relevant website.
A toxic backlink might come from a spammy website or a website that is not relevant to your niche.
How many backlinks do I need?
There is no magic number of backlinks that you need.
The number of backlinks you need will depend on factors like your niche, your competition, and your overall SEO strategy goals.
How often should I check my backlinks?
It’s a good idea to run a regular backlink audit at least once a month to ensure that they are still active and relevant.
You can use a link management tool like Ahrefs or Semrush for backlink tracking and getting alerts for lost backlinks.
