Looking for the Best Tool for Backlink Analysis Part 1: Overview of Backlink Tools

Analyzing existing backlinks for your own domain, for a competitor, or – in our case – for a client is part of the daily tasks related to search engine optimization. While the on-page analysis of a site is primarily done manually, backlink analysis is not possible without the use of suitable tools.

This often leaves us with the problem: Which tool provides the most meaningful data? Which backlink tool is worth the money, and which one offers the analysis necessary for a deeper understanding? From the many tools available, we selected a few and took a close look at them. The result is this detailed comparison, showing what can be expected from each tool.

In the first part, we provide an overview of the tools we compared. In the second part, the results of our comparison can be read.

SEOmoz Open Site Explorer

• Over 65 billion URLs

• Over 9.2 trillion links

• 140 million domains

• No data on the number of keywords

The SEOmoz Open Site Explorer is part of the SEOmoz suite, which is claimed to be the most popular SEO software on the internet. All tools are only available with an SEOmoz Pro membership, costing between $99 and $499 per month, depending on the number of campaigns and monitored keywords.

Majestic SEO

• Fresh Index: over 100 billion URLs, over 18 billion crawled pages

• Historic Index: over 3.7 trillion URLs, over 365 billion crawled pages

The Majestic SEO tool from Majestic-12 Ltd. in England offers only backlink analysis. Additional modules like SEO or SEM are missing. According to their own statement, Majestic SEO is the largest link database with the most current data. Analysis for your own site is free, but for competitors or other domains, there are three price levels ranging from €39.99 to €299.99 monthly, depending on the number of domains and analysis options available.

Sistrix Toolbox

• Over 1 million keywords and over 10 million long-tail keywordsNo data on the number of domains

The Sistrix Toolbox is one of the traditional German SEO tools. The backlinks module can be booked individually for €100 per month, with a discount available when booking additional modules from the third module onwards. According to their own statement, the 'largest data base' and the most extended history speak for the tool, but the stated numbers are somewhat confusing in light of this claim.

Searchmetrics Essentials

• Over 100 million keywords

• 75 million domains

Essentials is the latest tool from the German SEO agency Searchmetrics, which gained fame primarily with the Searchmetrics Suite. Essentials replaces Searchmetrics Rapid, a simplified and cheaper version of the suite in individual modules. The link module, which is still in beta, can currently be used for free with registration. However, the display and export functions are limited. Once the beta testing phase is complete, the tool will be integrated into the Essentials pricing model. In addition to the usual data such as the number of backlinks, Searchmetrics provides values like link strength, SEO visibility, or page strength, calculated by their own algorithm to help evaluate backlinks.

SEOlytics

• No data on the number of keywords or domains

The SEO tool from SEOlytics GmbH offers a comprehensive software package available only as a complete package. In the starter version, SEOlytics costs €39, and the extended Pro version is available from €299 per month. This tool also offers a proprietary value to help assess domains: the SEOlytics Visibility Rank (SVR).

Sitefactor

• No data on the number of keywords or domains

The Sitefactor SEO tools from seonative GmbH are comparatively less known than their older counterparts. The backlink analysis is one of the tool's four modules, costing between €24 and €59 per month depending on the scope. Unfortunately, there is no information about the extent of their own backlink database.

Raven Tools

• No data on the number of keywords or domains

Raven Tool is a US-based tool with various modules, offered as a complete package for €99 per month for up to two users. The Backlink Explorer accesses data from MajesticSEO and the SEOmoz Open Site Explorer. The total data volume is not revealed. Raven Tools also offers a metric to assist in evaluating backlinks: the ACRank.

Xovi

• No data on the number of keywords or domains

The tool from Xovi GmbH consists of several modules, booked as a package for €99 monthly. The Backlink Tool cannot be booked separately. Although the site mentions a comprehensive data base, precise information comparable to other tools is missing. Xovi's own value for domains is called OVI (Online Value Index) which displays a domain's visibility. The OVI is meant to aid in the evaluation of individual links in the backlink tool.

This concludes the summary of our selection of the most important backlink tools on the market. Other paid tools that could not be considered here due to time constraints include SEO Diver, LinkResearch, and the wise SEO Suite. The real excitement comes in the second part with the actual evaluation.

Part 2>