Different number of backlinks (Search console - Majestic)
-
Hi there,
I saw a notable difference between the number of backlinks from ref domains to my website in search console and majestic.
I basically have two questions: why such a difference? And which tool gives me the most accurate number between these two?
Thank you!
-
Google's primary objective is to give users the best experience, off course they do so by crawling the entire web for the most relevant results based on their search queries.
Google's Search Console is a free service that provides you with links Google the came across / found in the before mentioned proces.
With this in mind, be aware that Google does not crawl the web to give you as a webmaster the most recent en relevant backlink reports.
many links in Google's Search Console can therefore be old, non-existing links (even in most recent link reports)
Another shortcoming of Search Console in my opinion, is that is show where links are/were FROM, but not where they link TO.I personally think paid services such as MOZ, Majestic en Ahrefs do better jobs at this, because their primary objective is to give webmasters / SEM's the best experience, not searchers.
-
There will likely always be a significant variance between backlink tools. They have to first discover the links, and later determine if the links are still there. It's a pretty big job to do, for the entire internet.
Google Search Console will show you a sampling of links. You'll seldom ever get anywhere near the whole story from them. Unless, the site is new. I've still seen months long delays in reporting totally legit backlinks.
Majestic is pretty good. I've always found their metrics to be something of a gobble-dee-guk, which is only useful for comparisons between sites - within Majestic.
aHrefs is another backlink tool. And they do a fine job. But still, they have to update their database after crawls. The same as anyone else.
Open Site Explorer has always kind of lagged, but it's another source you should consider for backlink data.
So, no one tool has all of the information. I don't think that will happen for at least 10 years, if not more.
The reasons various tools lack certain information varies. Some tools, like ahrefs, are actually on the 'bad bots list'. And some webmasters use that to block their official bot from crawling their site. Thus no links would be discovered through their official bot, where sites block their bot.
Backlink research is as post-modern as it gets. (read: literature) You're seldom privileged with all the information. The sources you think should be authoritative aren't.
The answer has been, and will be for a while, seek out an array of backlink data information. No one thing is going to do it for you.
-
It'll vary because of the crawlers, each company will have a different amount of sites in their database, and they will also have a different process to get their data live in their console. Honestly I would take each with a grain of salt and just try and use them as a rough guide.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Backlink builder (Professional)
If I wanted to hire a professional person to build high quality backlinks for me, where would I look? I'm asking here because I'd rather go on the recommendation of other businesses owners, than a google search. Does anyone have a person that they can recommend? It's for an insurance agency in Texas. Many thanks
Link Building | | laurentjb1 -
HTTS vs HTTPS Backlinks
So I am going to change my entire site from HTTP to HTTPS, but SEMrush shows 21 backlinks on HTTP and 0 on HTTPS. How can I make sure I don't lose them after the switch?
Link Building | | moon-boots0 -
SEO value to Reddit backlinks?
Can someone point me to an authoritative article on the value of Reddit links? I'm trying to determine if it's something we want to put effort into doing on a regular basis. Are reddit links followed? It seems like some are and some are not.
Link Building | | BostonWright0 -
Why are Backlinks not showing up?
I've been building backlinks for about 2 months now, but the links are not showing up in seomoz. What is going on? I've built backlinks across many different domains and using a variety of techniques including: directories blog posts blog commenting pr websites industry sites that allow blog posting and press release posting industry forums Some of the links I built were from finding links competitors had and then creating a similar link, like blog commenting. In some cases I took blog articles from our site and published them on industry blog sites. I've searched for many of the pages and I CAN find them, so they ARE being indexed by Google, but they are not showing up as backlinks. I've read some posts that say it can take anywhere from 2 to 5 months or longer before the links show up. I've also read that Google's Webmaster Tools may show the links before seomoz does. Couple questions: Why don't the links show up as backlinks in seomoz? Will they show up eventually in seomoz and, if so, when? Should the links show up in Google Webmaster tools before they do in seomoz? Is there any good reason to believe some of the links will never get recognized, or should I be confident that they will eventually get recognized?
Link Building | | rickt0070 -
How does the number of obls on a page affect link juice?
If you have acquired a link on a home or other page; just how can you value the contribution of that link. If a home page has a DA=50 and 100 obls (outbound links) should the DA be discounted significantly and is there an equation which can be applied to help quantify eg 50/100 *10 therefore link from this page is same value as link from DA=5 with only one link? Just how diluted does juice become if number of obls is high?
Link Building | | seanmccauley0 -
Paul and Angela Style Backlinks
Do Forum Profile Links provided by Paul and Angela hold any SEO merit ? Will it help in improving SER?
Link Building | | krishrun0 -
How can i boost my backlinks if it is possible.
Hi, I got a bunch of backlinks and im starting to get boring of waiting to SERPS see them. Im looking for some kind of "thing" that can boost my backlink, some like ping the website that links to me. I see a website that promise to do that, it find my backlink and boost the page that links to me. It really works?
Link Building | | Ex20