Backlinks & Link Building
Monitoring Backlink Performance
Tracking the performance of your backlink profile is essential for understanding your website's SEO growth and authority. The Backlink Monitoring dashboard provides a centralized view of all backlinks earned through the network, their verification status, and key authority metrics.
Accessing the Backlink Dashboard
To view your backlink performance, navigate to the Backlinks tab in your main dashboard or visit /dashboard/backlinks directly. Here, you will find aggregate metrics and a detailed breakdown of every link pointing to your site.
The dashboard only tracks backlinks earned through the exchange network. External backlinks built through other methods will not appear here.
Key Performance Metrics
At the top of the dashboard, the Backlink Performance card highlights three primary metrics to help you gauge your link-building success:
Total Backlinks: The total number of verified backlinks pointing to your website from the network since you joined.
Unique Sources: The number of distinct root domains that have linked to your site. A diverse range of sources is generally better for SEO than many links from a single site.
Domain Rating (DR): An Ahrefs metric (0-100) that represents the relative "link popularity" or authority of the source website. Higher DR links typically pass more SEO value.
Understanding Verification Statuses
Every backlink goes through an automated verification process to ensure it remains active and valuable. You can track the status of each link in the Earned Backlinks table:
Pending: The backlink has been created, but the system hasn't verified it yet. We typically perform the first check within 14 days of creation.
Verified: The link was successfully found on the source page. Credits are consumed only for verified links.
Not Verified: The link was not found during the initial scan. No credits are deducted for unverified links.
Refunded: A previously verified link was later removed or became inaccessible. In these cases, the credits used for that link are automatically returned to your balance.
Our system runs an automated scan daily at 5 AM UTC to verify new links and re-check existing ones.
The Earned Backlinks Table
The table at the bottom of the page provides a granular look at your backlink profile. You can use this to inspect individual links and their impact:
Date: When the backlink was first established.
Source Website: The domain providing the link. You can click this to visit the site.
Source Article: The specific page or article where your link is placed.
Credits Used: The number of credits consumed for the link (based on the source's DR).
To participate in the backlink network and monitor performance, you must have an active Articles subscription and a configured "Internal Links Source" in your settings.
Prerequisites for Monitoring
If you don't see any data in your dashboard, ensure you meet the following requirements:
Active Subscription: You must be on a Premium or Enterprise plan.
Own Domain: Backlinks cannot be built for sites hosted on platforms like WordPress.com or Medium.
Content Moderation: Your website must pass our automated content safety checks (no adult or inappropriate content).
By regularly monitoring these metrics, you can ensure your link-building strategy is driving the authority and visibility your website needs to rank higher in search results.