How to check the backlinks of a domain name and spot toxic links
Backlinks make a domain's authority… and its toxicity. A natural link profile shows in its anchors, its countries of origin and its diversity. Here is how to check the backlinks of a domain and spot toxic backlinks, even without an SEO tool subscription.
Test a domain now:
Anchors tell the whole story
A normal site gets links with brand, naked URL or generic anchors ("here", "this site"). A spammed domain piles up exact-match anchors ("online casino", "buy viagra", "fast loans"), anchors in Cyrillic, Chinese or Japanese on an English-language site, or thousands of links with the same anchor. DomaineScore lists the main anchors and highlights the risky ones; see toxic backlink anchors.
Spam score, dofollow and referring domains
The spam score estimates the share of referring sites that are themselves dubious. A very low dofollow ratio, or on the contrary 100% dofollow from sites without traffic, is suspicious. Count referring domains rather than raw backlinks: 50,000 links from 12 domains are worth less than 300 links from 200 domains.
Countries and languages of referring sites
A domain whose audience is in one country but whose links come 80% from Russia, Vietnam or Indonesia has almost certainly been used as a spam network. The geographic spread of links is a quick and reliable indicator.
What DomaineScore shows
The link profile summary (referring domains, backlinks, dofollow, spam score), the anchor distribution, the top 20 links in detail (source page, anchor, dofollow, rank, spam score, date) and the monthly curve of referring domains since 2019. For your own sites, Google Search Console remains the reference; for an exhaustive audit before a significant purchase, a complete backlink tool is essential.
Frequently asked questions
What is a toxic backlink?
A link from a spam site, an artificial link network, a hacked site or a low-quality directory, often with an off-topic commercial anchor. In large numbers, these links can lead to a Google manual action.
How can I analyse backlinks for free?
For your own sites: Google Search Console (Links report). For a third-party domain: DomaineScore shows referring domains, spam score and the main anchors, for free.
Should I disavow the toxic backlinks of a domain I bought?
If the domain received a manual action or toxic anchors dominate, yes: a disavow file in Search Console is the first step after the takeover.