Struggling to choose the best link building tools for your agency?
Our guide looks at the best link building software or tools for agencies for all the stages of your campaign, from link-building opportunity research to outreach campaigns, relationship management, link monitoring, and content creation.
Best Tools for Link Building Agencies: Summary
- Ahrefs offers a comprehensive suite for link building research, including tools like Content Explorer and Site Explorer, aiding in finding link prospects and analyzing competitors’ backlink profiles.
- SEMrush is a versatile digital marketing suite with features for finding link opportunities, conducting link audits, and monitoring both linked and unlinked brand mentions.
- Moz Pro is known for its user-friendly interface and accurate data. It offers tools like Link Explorer and Keyword Explorer for finding link prospects and analyzing competitors.
- Majestic SEO specializes in link intelligence data, featuring tools like Keyword Checker and Backlink History Checker for finding link opportunities and analyzing competitors.
- While Google Search Console is not specifically designed for building links, provides valuable insights through External and Internal Link reports.
- HARO (Help a Reporter Out) serves as a platform connecting journalists with industry experts, resulting in high-quality backlinks and increased brand visibility.
- Apollo, Buzzstream, Respona, Postaga, and Pitchbox are pivotal link building campaign outreach tools. Each offers unique features for personalized email campaigns, prospecting, automation, analytics, and team collaboration.
- SurferSEO AI excels in content creation, offering rapid, SEO-optimized content generation.
- Link-tracking tools like BacklinkManager and RankTracker enable 24/7 link monitoring and offer link status notifications that allow you to respond quickly should a link disappear.
- BacklinkManager is a dedicated CRM for link-building, offering features like Link Partnership Scorecard and chat and comments for effective relationship management and reciprocal link building.
- To see how BacklinkManager can help you keep track of the links you build for your clients and manage relationships with your partners, book the demo!
Best tools for researching link building opportunities
Researching link building opportunities is the first step.
A few common ways to identify your prospects include:
Competitor Backlink Analysis
Sites linking to competitors are ideal prospects, as they’re already interested in your niche and open to backlinks.
Unclaimed Brand Mentions
Bloggers may mention your brand without a backlink. Approaching them often results in easy link acquisition.
Broken Links
Replacing defunct links with your content benefits both parties, improving their site’s functionality.
Link Inserts
Find high-authority websites and identify spots like roundups or resource pages where your link adds value.
Tools for Efficiency
Advanced search operators are useful but time-consuming. Most agencies use tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz, or Majestic to streamline backlink research and assess site quality through domain authority.
Now, let’s look at the best link building software or tools for finding opportunities.
Ahrefs
How exactly can you use different Ahrefs tools for finding link-building opportunities?
Here’s how:
- Content Explorer: Search for relevant websites, articles, and resources using specific keywords to align with your link-building strategy.
- Competitor Analysis:
- Site Explorer: Analyze competitors’ backlink profiles to understand their strategies.
- Link Intersect: Identify websites linking to competitors but not to your site.
- Broken Link Checker: Find broken links on relevant websites within your niche.
- Unlinked Brand Mentions:
- Content Explorer: Discover unlinked mentions by entering your brand name and filtering for non-linking pages.
- Alerts: Set alerts for your brand name to get notified of new unlinked mentions online.
With Content Explorer, you can identify niche-relevant websites that accept guest posts, Site Explorer allows you to monitor the effectiveness of your link building efforts by regularly assessing your website’s backlink profile and Ahrefs alerts can notify you whenever new backlinks are detected.
Lastly, for outreach, Ahrefs provides an Email Finder feature to locate contact information for potential link partners, while the Outreach Tool facilitates efficient management of your email outreach campaigns.
Ahrefs pricing
Ahrefs offers 4 paid plans:
- Lite – from $79/month
- Standard – from $159/month
- Advanced – from $319/month
- Enterprise Plan – custom pricing
SEMrush for researching links
Semrush is a comprehensive digital marketing suite offering tools for SEO, PPC, and social media marketing.
It empowers businesses with valuable insights and supports data-driven decisions across digital channels.
- Link Audits: SEMrush provides tools for link audits, ensuring a healthy backlink profile vital for effective SEO.
- Finding Link Prospects: The Link Building Tool generates potential link opportunities by entering your domain and target keywords.
- Keyword Research: Use the Keyword Magic Tool to identify relevant niche keywords and discover websites for link building.
- Competitor Analysis:
- Backlink Analytics: Analyzes competitor backlinks to uncover new opportunities.
- Backlink Gap: Compares your backlinks with competitors, highlighting outreach prospects.
- Broken Link Building:
- Site Audit: Identifies broken outbound links on relevant websites.
- Backlink Audit: Locates broken or lost backlinks to your site for reclamation.
SEMrush pricing
There are 3 Semrush plans:
- Pro – from $129.95/month
- Guru – from $249.95/month
- Business – from $499.95/month
MOZ
Moz is a leading SEO tool suite that helps businesses optimize their online presence and enhance digital marketing strategies.
Renowned for its user-friendly interface and accurate data, it is a trusted resource for improving website visibility and organic traffic.
Moz Link Explorer provides a range of powerful features for managing your website’s backlink profile and uncovering new opportunities:
- Finding Link Prospects
- Link Explorer Moz’s Link Explorer helps you identify and prioritize potential websites and platforms relevant to your niche for link building.
- Keyword Explorer Leverage Moz’s Keyword Explorer to uncover relevant keywords in your industry. Analyzing the SERP features for these keywords can reveal platforms and websites that could offer backlinks to your site.
- Competitor Analysis
- Link Intersect Moz’s Link Intersect tool enables you to analyze your competitors’ backlink profiles and identify websites that are linking to them but not to you.
- Broken Link Building
- Link Explorer The Link Explorer tool can help you identify broken links on suitable websites within your niche.
Moz Pro pricing
To take full advantage of the Moz Pro features, you need one of its 4 paid plans:
- Standard – from $79/month
- Medium – from $143/month
- Large – from $239/month
- Premium – from $479/month
Majestic for link analysis
Majestic SEO is a specialized SEO tool suite known for its extensive data for building links.
It offers a variety of features that assist businesses and marketers.
It helps in enhancing their online presence, analyzing backlink profiles, and developing effective link-building strategies.
Majestic SEO offers several robust features for discovering link-building opportunities:
- Finding Link Prospects
- Keyword Checker Use Majestic’s Keyword Checker to find relevant keywords and explore your niche. This tool provides insights into potential websites and platforms where you can contribute content and secure link placements.
- Competitor Analysis
- Backlink History Checker The Backlink History Checker allows you to analyze the backlink profiles of your competitors, uncovering their link-building strategies and revealing new opportunities for link acquisition.
- Clique Hunter Majestic’s Clique Hunter helps you identify potential link opportunities by revealing websites that link to your competitors.
- Broken Link Building
- Site Explorer Majestic’s Site Explorer can be used to find broken links on relevant websites.
- Unlinked Brand Mentions
- Link Context Filtering Majestic SEO offers a Link Context Filtering feature that tracks mentions of your brand across the web.
Majestic SEO Pricing
There are 3 Majestic SEO paid plans:
- Lite – from $41.67 per month
- Pro – from $83.33 per month
- API – from $333.33 per month
Google Search Console for link data
GSC is a free service offered by Google that helps website owners, webmasters, and SEO professionals monitor and maintain their site’s presence in Google Search results.
It’s an essential tool for anyone looking to understand their website’s visibility, improve site performance, and uncover opportunities for its growth.
While GSC isn’t specifically for link building, it offers useful features for identifying new link prospects:
- External Links Report: Shows which pages on your site receive the most backlinks, helping you create similar, link-worthy content.
- Internal Links Report: Displays how your pages link to each other, aiding search engine navigation and increasing traffic across your site.
HARO
Help a Reporter Out (HARO) connects journalists with industry experts seeking insights for their stories.
Journalists submit queries, and experts respond.
This creates a mutually beneficial relationship where journalists gain valuable expertise, and experts have the opportunity to be featured in publications.
Here are the benefits of using HARO:
- Backlinks: Being featured in a journalist’s article often results in high-quality backlinks from reputable publications, boosting SEO.
- Brand Visibility: Quotes and mentions in respected publications enhance brand visibility and credibility.
- Authority Positioning: It establishes the expert or business as an authority in their field, fostering trust among readers and potential customers.
- Media Coverage: HARO provides opportunities for media coverage, significantly amplifying clients’ reach and influence.
HARO Pricing
There are 4 HARO plans, including a free one:
- Basic – free
- Standard – $19 per month
- Advanced – $49 per month
- Premium – $149 per month
Best tools for link building outreach management
Once you’ve identified target websites, it’s time to focus on link building outreach.
Gathering the contact details of editors or website owners is essential. While manual extraction of email addresses can be necessary at times, dedicated outreach tools can automate the process.
These tools are invaluable for executing campaigns, enhancing your efforts for building links through personalized email sequences and performance tracking.
Popular link-building outreach tools include Apollo, BuzzStream, Respona, Postaga, and Pitchbox.
Apollo.io
Apollo.io is a robust sales intelligence and engagement platform that helps businesses find, contact, and close clients.
It features a living database of over 265 million contacts.
Apollo offers accurate data and AI-powered engagement workflows for streamlined prospect connections.
The platform is tailored for sales and marketing teams to generate more opportunities with minimal effort, making it a top choice for link-building outreach campaigns.
Apollo.io outreach features:
- Vast database of contacts Apollo boasts the world’s most up-to-date lead database, allowing users to find thousands of new leads, verified emails, and phone numbers.
- Custom sequences The platform offers a Workflow feature for creating custom sequences, enabling users to email, call, and connect on LinkedIn with ideal buyers.
- Apollo AI Apollo AI supports users in sending the right message at the right time, enhancing the effectiveness of outreach campaigns.
- Integration with CRM systems Apollo integrates with popular CRM systems, like Hubspot, ensuring seamless data synchronization
- Chrome extension The Apollo Chrome Extension allows users to gather verified email addresses and phone numbers directly from LinkedIn.
Apollo pricing
Users can choose from 4 plans, including a free one:
- Free
- Basic – $39 per user per month
- Professional – $39 per user per month
- Organization – $79 per user per month
Buzzstream
BuzzStream is a renowned digital PR and link building outreach platform.
BuzzStream helps organize your link building campaigns, build more links, and secure increased traffic and coverage.
Key Buzzstream outreach features include:
- Prospecting: BuzzStream helps gather prospect metrics and contact info, building a strong promoter database for more links and traffic.
- Outreach: Enables personalized emails at scale, ensuring effective communication and reducing lost or overloaded inboxes.
- Analytics: Tracks open rates, replies, placements, and team activity to optimize outreach ROI.
Buzzstream pricing
There are 4 Buzzstream plans available, all of them paid:
- Starter – $24 per month
- Growth – $124 per month
- Professional – $299 per month
- Custom – $999 per month
Respona
Respona is a cutting-edge email outreach tool, meticulously designed to streamline the process of connecting with influencers, publishers, and prospects.
It combines advanced search capabilities with personalized email outreach, making it an invaluable asset for digital PR and link-building campaigns.
Respona features:
- Prospecting: Respona’s App Search builds a database of high-quality contacts for successful outreach.
- Outreach: Email Finder and Personalization enable tailored, effective communication with verified contacts.
- Automated Outreach: Automates email campaigns with built-in templates for efficient, personalized outreach at scale.
- Analytics: Provides Email Analytics to track campaign performance, including open and reply rates.
- Team Collaboration: Offers tools for seamless collaboration among team members, ensuring effective outreach management.
Respona pricing
Respons offers just 2 plans:
- Starter – $99 per month
- Unlimited – $399 per month
Postaga for email outreach
Postaga is an email outreach tool with AI-powered technology, and personalized outreach, making it a go-to platform for digital PR campaigns.
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Key features:
- Prospecting: Postaga’s Opportunity Finder and Contact Finder help users build a comprehensive database of relevant contacts.
- Outreach: Verified contact info and email personalization enable effective communication and strong relationships with prospects.
- Automation & Analytics: Automates email outreach at scale and offers campaign analytics for performance optimization.
- Team Collaboration & Resources: Provides collaboration tools and educational resources to enhance outreach efforts.
Postaga pricing
Just like in Respona, there are 2 pricing plans available:
- Pro – $84 per month
- Agency – $250 per month
Pitchbox
Pitchbox stands as a comprehensive solution for SEO agencies, brands, and publishers aiming to optimize their link-building efforts and secure high-quality backlinks.
Key features:
- Prospecting: Pitchbox helps users find and connect with niche-relevant contacts.
- Custom Outreach Templates: It offers personalized templates for impactful communication.
- Automation & Tracking: Automates follow-ups and tracks performance, providing essential outreach insights.
- SEO Tool Integration: Seamlessly integrates with Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, and Majestic for streamlined access to valuable data.
Pitchbox pricing
Pitchbox is a premium tool and so is its pricing. Neither of the 2 plans is affordable for small agencies or freelancers:
- Professional – $495 per month
- Enterprise – $1350 per month
Best tools for link-building agencies: Managing Contacts through a CRM
Managing contact information is pivotal for optimizing outreach and fostering relationships with link-building prospects, partners, and vendors.
A link-building CRM system acts as a centralized hub for essential data which enhances organization and communication.
Let’s look at BacklinkManager as a dedicated link-building CRM.
BacklinkManager
It offers a suite of features and tools that cater to various aspects of link-building, ensuring that users can effectively manage relationships and assess the value of their backlinks.
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Key features:
- Link-building Client Relationship Management The link-building CRM feature enables users to efficiently manage and nurture relationships with clients. This functionality is crucial for maintaining clear communication and ensuring that client expectations and goals are met. The feature also allows users to streamline interactions with vendors and freelancers. This feature ensures that collaborations are well-coordinated and that the link-building process is seamless and productive.
- Chat and comments BacklinkManager incorporates chat and comments features, facilitating real-time communication and feedback within the platform. This enhances collaboration and allows for immediate resolution of queries and discussions, contributing to the overall effectiveness of link-building campaigns.
- Link Partnership Scorecard BacklinkManager introduces the Link Partnership Scorecard, a tool designed to assess the value and effectiveness of link partnerships. The scorecard helps you keep track of who acquired which backlinks for whom.
- Link Matchmaking Tool (coming soon) Excitingly, BacklinkManager is set to launch an innovative Link Matchmaking Tool. This upcoming feature promises to further streamline the process of finding and connecting with potential link partners, enhancing the platform’s capabilities in fostering valuable link-building relationships.
BacklinkManager pricing
BacklinkManager offers 3 pricing plans:
- Free
- Pro: $49 per month
- Enterprise: $500 per month
To learn more about each plan and get started, visit BacklinkManager’s pricing page.
Best link-building tools for monitoring and tracking links built
As a link-building agency, your responsibility extends beyond just acquiring links for clients; you must ensure their long-term value to foster repeat business.
Link monitoring tools serve two primary purposes: tracking the links you’ve secured and monitoring their status.
SEO platforms like Ahrefs and SEMrush provide features for tracking links. However, dedicated tools like BacklinkManager and RankTracker excel in link monitoring.
BacklinkManager for Link Monitoring
Apart from being an excellent link-building CRM, BacklinkManager is also a robust tool for link monitoring.
It offers a suite of features designed to provide continuous insights and updates and keep users informed and in control of their hard-earned links:
- 24/7 Link Monitoring: Provides real-time insights into the status of backlinks.
- Reliable Link Crawler: Efficiently scans the web for accurate and up-to-date backlink information.
- Link Status Notifications: Sends alerts for any changes in link status, allowing for quick responses.
- Link-Building Targets: Enables users to set specific link-building targets and tailor strategies to reach the right audience.
- Monitoring by Status: Categorizes backlinks based on their current status for easier assessment.
RankTracker
RankTracker is a link monitoring tool offering a range of features that allow professional link builders to stay on top of the links they’ve secured for their clients.
Key RankTracker features include:
- Backlink Checker: Scans the web to identify backlinks to a user’s website.
- Backlink Monitor: Continuously tracks the status and health of backlinks.
- Historical Data: Provides insights into the evolution of the backlink profile.
Best link-building tools for content creation
Link building and content creation go hand-in-hand. When reaching out, link builders need to offer valuable content that would interest potential partners. Let’s look at a tool we use.
SurferSEO AI
SuferSEO combines advanced AI technology with SEO optimization to ensure that the content produced is not only engaging but also ranks in SERPs.
Core Features:
- Fast Content Creation: SurferSEO AI helps generate high-quality content quickly, ideal for maintaining a consistent output.
- Great Value: It offers a strong quality-to-price ratio, perfect for producing budget-friendly guest posts.
- SEO Optimization: SurferSEO enhances content performance by combining SEO features with AI writing assistance.
- Customizable Outlines: Users can tailor content structures to create well-organized, coherent pieces.
- Avoid AI Detection: It helps ensure the generated content appears natural and human-written to bypass AI detection tools.
Surfer AI Pricing
Articles generated by SurferSEO AI cost $29 a pop. On top of this, you will need a subscription to one of its paid plans:
- Essential – from $69 per month
- Advanced – from $149 per month
- Max – from $249 per month
- Enterprise – custom pricing
Conclusion
Choosing the right tools for your link-building agency is essential for optimizing processes and meeting SEO goals. Here’s a quick guide:
- Campaign Size: Match tools to the scale and volume of your link-building efforts.
- Content & Industry: Ensure tools align with your content strategy and target audience.
- Automation vs. Personalization: Find a balance between automated and personalized features.
- Budget: Choose tools that fit your financial plan—consider trials and tiered pricing.
- Support & Training: Opt for tools with strong training resources and customer support.
Evaluate these factors to streamline your selection process and boost your link-building success.
If you want to try BacklinkManager for free and see how it can help you monitor your clients’ backlinks and manage relationships, sign up now.
