Moz Link Explorer is a backlink research tool for reviewing inbound links and linking domains. Use it to investigate who links to a site, compare relevant competitors and create a shortlist for manual review. It is not a traffic analytics tool, a Google penalty checker or a service that builds links for you.
This guide explains a repeatable workflow. Report names, access and export limits can change with your account; check the current Moz interface before choosing a plan. Older references to Moz Open Site Explorer concern an earlier product, so begin with the current Link Explorer entry point.
Start with the right URL scope
Enter the domain or page you want to investigate, then check the selected scope before interpreting the results. A whole domain, a subdomain and an exact page answer different questions. Use domain scope to study a business's overall profile and exact-page scope to examine a specific article or landing page.
Record your choice in your notes. If you later compare Moz with another tool, match that scope and the collection date. Many apparent disagreements between tools begin with different inputs rather than different judgments about link quality.
For your own site, export the Google Search Console Links report as a complementary source. Google explicitly notes that it is not comprehensive. It should not be treated as a complete inventory of all backlinks or proof that every reported link contributes ranking credit.
Read the key metrics in context
| Metric or report | Useful question | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Domain Authority | How does this domain compare with peers in Moz's model? | A Google authority score or guaranteed rank |
| Page Authority | How does this particular page compare in Moz's model? | That every link on the page is valuable |
| Linking domains | How many distinct sites does this report identify? | That every domain is independent or relevant |
| Inbound links | Which source pages can I investigate? | That each link is live or credited by Google |
| Spam Score | Which sites deserve closer contextual review? | A penalty, malicious intent or an automatic disavow instruction |
A site's Domain Authority should be compared with relevant peers. Avoid universal cutoffs such as “anything below DA 30 is worthless.” A modest specialist publisher can be more useful to your audience than a large unrelated site. Page Authority and the actual source page help you narrow the investigation.
Review inbound links step by step
- Open the inbound-link report for your selected scope.
- Inspect filters before exporting. Record whether the view includes live links, lost links, follow attributes or one result per domain.
- Sort or group results to make a manageable review set. High scores can help you order work, but should not automatically approve a site.
- Open the source URL and find the link in context. Read the paragraph around it.
- Confirm the destination, redirects, visible anchor text and link attributes.
- Add a note explaining the link's relevance and any action you need to take.
A repeated footer link on hundreds of pages deserves a different interpretation from independent editorial mentions. Group by referring domain before concluding that a large raw link count represents a broad audience. Our referring domains vs backlinks guide explains the distinction.
Use the free backlink audit template to keep source URLs, target pages, attributes and review notes together. Document evidence before making changes to a live site's link profile.
Find competitor opportunities without copying blindly
Choose competitors serving the same audience, rather than simply the largest domains in your industry. Review the pages that earned their links and ask why a publisher linked: an original statistic, a product listing, a useful tool, a local relationship or an editorial reference.
Build a shortlist of opportunities you can legitimately qualify for. A competitor's association membership, sponsorship or integration page may not be replicable. A resource page may be relevant only if you have a genuinely useful resource to offer. Record the reason a reader would benefit from your inclusion before looking for a contact.
For example, a project-management startup might find that a competitor is mentioned in a university's teaching resources. The next step is to inspect the resource and its audience, not pitch the university a generic product link. Your product may not meet the same educational need. A relevant software directory could be a better fit.
For a ready-made starting list, preview the Complete Backlink Database Bundle. It contains 276 opportunities with recorded categories, costs and submission information. It complements manual prospecting; it does not provide live Moz data or guaranteed placements. Use the prospecting workflow to qualify each candidate.
Investigate missing or lost links
A link missing from a tool is not necessarily missing from the web. Open the source page yourself and check:
- Does the page still return useful content?
- Is the link present in its HTML, or inserted only after interaction?
- Does the target redirect or use a different hostname?
- Is the report using the right domain or page scope?
- Has the source changed since the tool last visited it?
A discovered date describes a crawler observation, not necessarily the date the publisher added a link. Similarly, a lost observation is a reason to investigate, not immediate evidence of a publisher removing your placement. Verify before sending a reclamation message. If the link exists and the issue appears to be reporting, use the vendor's support documentation.
Can Link Explorer find unlinked mentions or pageviews?
A backlink report is built around links. An unlinked brand mention may never appear there. To find mentions without a link, use a separate mention-search workflow and inspect the pages. Do not confuse an inbound-link report with a comprehensive brand-monitoring service.
Link Explorer also cannot reveal a competitor's actual unique visitors or pageviews. Those are analytics concepts. When another product displays estimated traffic, label it as an estimate and keep it separate from directly measured website analytics.
What should you do with Spam Score?
Treat it as a prompt for investigation. Read the site, assess relevance and check whether there is a pattern of manipulative linking. A metric alone is not sufficient evidence to remove or disavow a link. Google's disavow tool is intended for specific circumstances and misuse can harm performance; follow the disavow guide and the official instructions before acting.
A monthly review you can repeat
Keep the same scope, filters and export format. Review newly observed referring domains, investigate lost links to important pages and compare the actual organic landing-page performance in Search Console. Log what changed and why. This produces a more useful record than chasing small DA fluctuations.
Separate outputs from outcomes. “Ten relevant prospects reviewed” is work completed; “three accepted placements” is an intermediate result; qualified visits, leads and sales are business outcomes. Neither link counts nor domain scores alone establish revenue impact.
Check a placement independently
Provider reports are useful for discovery, but a known placement can also be checked at its source. Use the backlink verification checklist, then investigate Search Console reporting differences before treating a missing row as a lost link.
When a known placement is missing from Link Explorer
Open the exact public source and verify its website link before interpreting the report. The backlink indexing guide distinguishes live placement, crawlability, source indexing and vendor coverage. Align domain or exact-URL scope and collection dates when comparing tools.
If the task is checking one known page, use the live backlink checker and record raw-HTML limitations. If the task is choosing a broader research subscription, the refreshed Semrush vs Moz comparison provides a reproducible evaluation checklist.
What to read next
- Ahrefs vs Moz: metrics and accuracy
- Free backlink checkers by use case
- Backlink audit fundamentals
- Authority metrics explained
Sources
Consult Moz Link Explorer for the current product and Moz's published DA methodology for its comparative model. Google's Links report documentation explains that report's limitations. This guide is editorial instruction, not a vendor-certified course or an independently measured index benchmark.