Backlink Tool Finding Links That Aren't Visible
-
I'm using a variety of backlink toolsl; OSE, SEM Rush, Link Research Tools and Google Webmaster Tools.
On some occasions the tools are telling me there is a link to my site on a certain page, however when I open that page I can't see any mention of my company.
I have run all these reports today, so I think it is unlikely that Google is using old data.
Does anyone know why this happens and if I should still be concerned about links that I cannot see but backlink tools are telling me are there?
Thanks guys.
-
Have you tried using ahrefs.com? It seems to update its index on a daily or almost daily basis, which is much faster than OSE and GWT.
-
It doesn't really matter when you run the reports, the bots/spiders are crawling and refreshing their index on set timeframes. When you "run a report" you're doing just that, you're getting a report of the last crawl from that particular bot.
So for example, OSE's last refresh was on **May 21, 2014 **and it's next isn't til June 18th.
That being said, none of them are going to be perfect and complete also.
When you say "unlikely that Google is using old data" it makes me think you're focusing on the GWT backlink analysis which is arguably the weakest of those mentioned.
All of those things combined should explain why you are seeing things that may not be there. Hope that helps.
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
-
Google webmaster tools hiccup?
Our flagship website, up until March 16 was getting 1600 impressions and 300 branded clicks per day as per GWT. After 3/16, branded search fell to 300 impressions and 25 clicks per day. Our rankings haven't changed, and neither has our traffic. We would definitely notice the decline in GA and Core Metrics, and it is running about the same. according to GWT, 75% fewer people started searching for our brand on 3/16, but all of our other metrics are indicating otherwise. Has anyone seen this before? Is it a tracking issue on our side?
Reporting & Analytics | | AMHC0 -
How can you add a rel canonical tag if you haven't created the wrong pages?
For one of our white paper campaigns we are getting multiple URL's some how but we only have one version of the page. So do I put the rel canonical tag on that one single page? Will that fix the other url's from being indexed? I'm assuming people are typing in the urls with underscores and capital or non-capital letters and it's showing up that way in analytics. Thanks!
Reporting & Analytics | | Sika220 -
Is Webmaster Tools Useless as a broken Link Detector?
Buongiorno from yes we still have free parking Wetherby UK!
Reporting & Analytics | | Nightwing
Ok when it comes to detecting broken links I'm getting really frustrated with webmaster tools. Now I'm probably going to end up with egg on my face with this one but here is an example of webmaster tools reporting a broken link which i cant find. http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc53/zymurgy_bucket/phantom-broken-links_zpsb74e1246.jpg Having trawled through the code i just cant see the knackered link? Is it a phantom report or is something usefull being detected here? Grazie tanto,
David1 -
Google analytics for mobile apps - do we need different id's?
Dear all, if I want to implement Google Analytics for my mobile apps: Do I need different accounts or id's to ensure separate tracking of my website and mobile apps? How did you do it? Thanks!
Reporting & Analytics | | HMK-NL0 -
Is Google Webmaster Tools Index Status Completely Correct?
So I was thrilled when Webmaster tools released the little graph telling you how many pages are indexed. However, I noticed with one of my sites, that it was actually going down over the past year. I've only been doing the SEO on the site for a few months, so it wasn't anything I did. The chart is attached to this post. Now here's the funny part. I haven't really noticed anything out of the ordinary for keyword ranking dropping off. I also tested my most recent page that I put up. 3 days after I posted it, I could find it in a Google search. Shouldn't this mean that's it's indexed? I can also find any other page I've posted in the last few months. Another oddity is that I submitted a sitemap a while ago when the site was only 22 pages. The sitemap index count says 20 of those pages are indexed. The chart only says that there are 3 indexed pages right now. However, I can clearly find dozens of pages in Google searches. Is there something I'm missing? Is my chart for this website broken? Should I report this to Google? Has anyone had a similar issue? decreaseIndex.png
Reporting & Analytics | | mytouchoftech0 -
"It appears there's a problem with our connection to your Google Analytics ...
account. Please go to your Settings page to update your connection." I set up a GA account for our website (www.edao.biz) prior to creating the SEO campaign. When I set up the campaign it told me there was a problem. I tried to fix the connection using the Settings page and it created a second account - however, it still cannot connect to it. In the GA account, it shows that I have granted access to pro.seomoz.org. I did not setup a 2-step verification with GA; don't think that's the issue. Should I blow both GA accounts away and try again? I don't think it's working correctly, and I would really like to be able to see the analytics for our site. I did see that in the GA account I had checked [v] Share my Google Analytics data... [v ] with other Google products only. - What should be the proper setting? (BTW I'm a bit lost with the new GA, I still go to the old interface (though ugly, it shows more links and info)) Thank you, Ingrid
Reporting & Analytics | | IngridWood0 -
What impact will Google's 10/18/2011 announcement of 'Making Search More Secure' have on the ability to track specific keyword queries via Analytics?
The full announcement is here: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/making-search-more-secure.html My concern is that the ability for Google Analytics to parse information on specific keyword queries will be diminished. The article hints that Google Webmaster Tools will be exempt from the problem, and I've never relied on Webmaster tools as a go-to for tying specific keyword queries to Goal Tracking (form submissions and sales). The community's thoughts on this one are appreciated. 🙂
Reporting & Analytics | | MKR_Agency0 -
Links and index missing from Google Webmaster Tools!
I've been using a wordpress blog and using google analytics and webmaster tools. I'd never done very much optimizing of my site, my strategy had always been to just keep writing relevant posts and let google do the rest. At some point I installed a SEO plugin to wordpress and did a tiny amount of tweaking, but I noticed that in my webmaster tools page, all my "links to this site" links are gone! My site map says 42 pages submitted, 42 pages indexed, but all the links that I've built over the past few years are missing, and I also notice that I can't find my main landing page in the index anymore. I know there are indexed sites out there that link to me, but they aren't being reflected anymore. Did I anger google by using SEO plugins within wordpress? I'm fairly certain I wasn't doing anything sketchy. Http://brodiegraphics.com RTOH6.png
Reporting & Analytics | | HELPeR0