Debug: DB lookup batches (click to expand)
| Domain | Total Backlinks |
Referring Domains |
Followed Backlinks |
Followed Referring Domains |
DA | Spam Score |
|---|
How it works
The Backlink Counter tells you, at a glance, how many backlinks and referring (linking) domains a website has. It reads its data from a local copy of Moz's link-graph index, refreshed periodically. There's no live web crawl, no upstream API call, and no API key needed for the lookup itself. For every domain we know about we store the total backlink count, the referring-domain count, the followed-only subset of each, and two secondary quality signals (Domain Authority and Spam Score).
Single mode shows one domain's counts inline as big-number cards in well under a second. Bulk mode queues up to 100 domains per submission on your plan and processes them in the background into a sortable, exportable table, batched against the local database for efficiency.
Canonical resolution. Many domains exist as two variants in the link graph: example.com and www.example.com. When you enter either form, we look up both and return the variant with the higher Domain Authority in our index (in practice the one the web treats as the site's main address). Subdomains you type explicitly (e.g. support.google.com) are looked up verbatim, we don't silently fall back to the root domain, because returning google.com counts for a support.google.com query would be misleading.
What we count for each domain:
- Total Backlinks, every individual page that links to the domain.
- Referring Domains, the unique websites linking in (the headline figures, shown largest).
- Followed Backlinks + Followed Referring Domains, the dofollow subset of each.
- Domain Authority (Moz's 0-100 ranking-strength prediction) and Spam Score (Moz's 0-100 spam-signal measure), shown as secondary context.
Plan caps. Per-submission bulk cap on the Free plan is 100 domains. Each submission counts as one lookup per domain toward a daily quota shared with other domain-lookup tools (Domain Authority Checker, Website Authority Checker, Spam Score Checker, Subdomain Finder, SEO Analyzer).
Known limitations.
- Moz's counts, not a live crawl and not Google's. The numbers are Moz's index figures, and backlinks are not a metric Google publishes. Every link index sees a different slice of the web, so the totals here will differ from what Ahrefs, Semrush, or Majestic report for the same site. That's normal, use the counts for consistent comparison, not as an exact universal total.
- Snapshot, not real-time. Each row reflects Moz's most recent crawl cycle for that domain. Very recent link-building (or link loss) may take a refresh cycle or two to appear.
- Coverage isn't universal. Domains that are very new, very low-traffic, or have no inbound links at all may not appear in Moz's index. Such inputs return a no data row rather than a count of zero.
- Counts aren't everything. A big backlink number from low-quality or irrelevant sites is worth less than a smaller number of relevant, trustworthy links. The Spam Score column is there to help you spot inflated, low-value profiles.
What the columns mean
- Domain
- The canonical variant of the domain you submitted (
example.comorwww.example.com, whichever has the higher Domain Authority in our index). Click the cross-link icon to open this domain in a related tool, for example the Backlinks Checker to see the actual individual links behind the count. - Total Backlinks
- The total number of individual pages linking to the domain. Multiple pages on the same source site each count as a separate backlink, so this is almost always larger than Referring Domains. This is one of the two headline figures.
- Referring Domains
- The number of unique websites that link to the domain, regardless of how many of their pages do. The other headline figure, and usually the more meaningful one for gauging how broad a link profile is: 500 links from 500 sites is far stronger than 500 links from one site.
- Followed Backlinks
- The subset of total backlinks where the link is followed (dofollow, i.e. not
rel="nofollow"). Followed links pass ranking signals; nofollow links generally don't. - Followed Referring Domains
- The subset of referring domains that have at least one followed link pointing at the domain.
- Domain Authority (DA)
- A secondary metric: Moz's 0-100 prediction of ranking strength, logarithmic. Shown here for context alongside the counts. It is a Moz signal, not a Google ranking factor. For a DA-first view and a 4-year DA trend, use the Domain Authority Checker.
- Spam Score
- A secondary metric: Moz's 0-100 measure of how many spam signals the domain shows. Higher means more spam signals. A big backlink count paired with a high spam score can indicate an inflated, low-value link profile. The Spam Score Checker can audit individual domains in more detail.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check how many backlinks a website has?
Enter the domain (e.g. yourdomain.com) in the box above and click Count Backlinks. We return the total number of backlinks (individual pages linking to the site) and the number of referring (linking) domains behind them, along with followed-link counts and a couple of secondary quality signals (Domain Authority and Spam Score). No signup or API key is needed for the lookup itself. You can check your own site, your competitors' sites, or use bulk mode to count backlinks for dozens or hundreds of domains at once and export the lot to CSV or Excel.
What is the difference between backlinks and referring domains?
A backlink is a single link from one web page to your site. A referring domain (also called a linking domain) is a unique website that links to you, regardless of how many of its pages do. So if one blog links to you from 40 different posts, that counts as 40 backlinks but only 1 referring domain. Total backlinks is almost always the larger number. Referring domains is usually the more meaningful figure for gauging link-profile breadth, because 500 links from 500 different sites is a much stronger signal than 500 links from a single site.
What are followed vs nofollow backlinks?
A followed (dofollow) link passes ranking signals to the destination site; a nofollow link carries a rel="nofollow" (or similar) attribute that tells search engines not to pass that signal. This tool shows both your total counts and the followed-only subset, for backlinks and for referring domains. A healthy link profile naturally contains a mix of both, so a high nofollow share isn't automatically bad, but the followed counts are the ones most directly associated with ranking strength.
How many backlinks does my site need to rank?
There's no universal number, it depends entirely on how competitive your target keywords are. The right benchmark is the sites already ranking on page one for your terms, not an absolute target. Use this tool to count the backlinks and referring domains of the top few results for a query, then compare your own. If the leaders each have 200 referring domains and you have 20, you know the gap you need to close. Quality and relevance matter more than raw count: a handful of links from authoritative, topically-relevant sites can outweigh hundreds of low-quality ones.
Where does the backlink count come from, and is it accurate?
The counts come from Moz's link index (surfaced via our backlink database), not a live crawl we run at request time. Every backlink index, Moz, Ahrefs, Semrush, Majestic, sees a different slice of the web, so the absolute number you get here will differ from what another tool reports for the same site. That's normal and expected. Treat the figures as Moz's index counts, refreshed periodically, and use them for consistent comparison (your site vs competitors, this month vs last) rather than as an exact, universally-agreed total. No single provider has a complete view of every link on the internet.
How often are the backlink counts updated?
The data reflects Moz's most recent crawl cycle for each domain, which refreshes roughly monthly. Newly-earned links may take a few weeks to appear in the counts, and links that were removed can linger briefly until the next refresh. If you just launched a link-building push, give it a refresh cycle or two before judging the impact. Very new, very low-traffic, or link-less domains may not appear in the index at all, in which case the tool returns a no data row rather than a count of zero.
Are more backlinks always better for SEO?
No, quality and relevance beat raw quantity. A large count of links from spammy, irrelevant, or low-quality sites can do nothing for you and, in extreme cases, can be a liability. That's why this tool surfaces a Spam Score alongside the counts: a domain with a huge backlink total but a high spam score may have an inflated, low-value link profile. Focus on growing your referring-domain count with genuinely relevant, trustworthy sites rather than chasing the biggest possible backlink number.
Is the backlink count a Google ranking factor?
Backlinks are widely understood to influence rankings, but the specific count you see here is a third-party (Moz) index figure, not a number Google publishes or uses directly. Google has its own link-graph analysis and weighs links by quality, relevance, and trust in ways no external tool can fully replicate. Use these counts as a practical proxy for "how big and broad is this site's link profile?" and for competitive comparison, not as a literal Google metric. The Domain Authority and Spam Score shown here are also Moz signals, useful context, but not Google ranking factors.