AI SEO Tools/Moz Link Explorer
Moz Link Explorer logo

Moz Link Explorer

Link Building

Best for: SEO specialists, content marketers, and agencies seeking reliable backlink analysis, competitive insights, and link opportunity identification with industry-standard metrics.

Research backlinks with Domain Authority and spam score metrics

4.5on G2(500)
4.5on Capterra(200)
Free trial (30 days)Free plan

Company

Founded 2004
Seattle, USA
201-500 employees
Acquired by Ziff Davis

Pricing

Starting at Free

Setup

Beginner
5 minutes to get started

What is Moz Link Explorer?

Moz Link Explorer stands as a foundational tool within the SEO landscape, primarily focused on backlink analysis and research. It empowers users to delve into the intricate web of links pointing to any domain, offering a comprehensive view of a site's link profile, including referring domains, anchor text distribution, and the quality of incoming links. At its core, Link Explorer is renowned for popularizing metrics like Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA), which serve as widely adopted indicators of a website's and page's ranking potential.

The tool caters broadly to SEO specialists, content marketers, and agency teams who require robust data to inform their link building strategies, competitive analysis, and site audits. Its user-friendly interface makes complex link data accessible, allowing even those relatively new to SEO to grasp key insights. Moz Link Explorer is particularly valuable for identifying high-quality link opportunities, uncovering toxic backlinks through its Spam Score, and understanding competitor link acquisition tactics.

Strengths include its intuitive design, the clarity of its DA/PA metrics, and features like Link Intersect, which pinpoints domains linking to competitors but not to your site. The Spam Score is also a notable asset for proactive link profile hygiene. However, while effective, Moz's backlink index, though substantial, may not always be as extensive or as frequently updated as some of its direct competitors, potentially leading to a less complete picture for sites with very large or rapidly changing link profiles. The free version, while a good starting point, is quite limited in query volume, necessitating an upgrade for serious analysis.

Ultimately, Moz Link Explorer remains a reliable and essential component of any SEO toolkit. It provides actionable insights for improving organic search performance through strategic link acquisition and risk mitigation. Its balanced approach to data presentation ensures that users can make informed decisions, whether they are auditing their own site or reverse-engineering a competitor's success.

Moz Link Explorer interface screenshot

Key Features

Backlink Analysis

Provides detailed insights into any domain's incoming links, crucial for understanding link profiles and identifying opportunities.

Domain Authority (DA) & Page Authority (PA)

Moz's proprietary metrics for predicting a website's and page's ranking strength, widely used as an industry benchmark.

Spam Score

A metric that estimates the likelihood of a website having low-quality or manipulative links, helping users identify and disavow toxic backlinks.

Link Intersect

Allows users to find domains linking to competitors but not to their own site, revealing untapped link building opportunities.

Anchor Text Analysis

Shows the most common anchor texts used for incoming links, vital for understanding link context and avoiding over-optimization penalties.

Competitor Backlink Research

Enables side-by-side comparison of backlink profiles with competitors, highlighting gaps and strengths in link acquisition strategies.

Broken Link Building Opportunities

Identifies broken links on other websites, offering a chance to suggest your content as a replacement.

Link Tracking & Monitoring

Helps users monitor new and lost links over time, providing alerts for significant changes in their backlink profile.

Who is Moz Link Explorer For?

Integrations

Use Cases

Competitor Backlink Strategy

Analyze a competitor's backlink profile to understand their link acquisition tactics, identify their most valuable links, and find new outreach targets for your own site.

Toxic Link Identification

Utilize the Spam Score to pinpoint potentially harmful or low-quality backlinks pointing to your site, enabling proactive disavowal to protect your SEO health.

New Link Opportunity Discovery

Employ the Link Intersect feature to discover websites that link to multiple competitors but not to your domain, uncovering highly relevant and actionable link prospects.

Website Migration Link Audit

Before or after a website migration, audit your entire backlink profile to ensure valuable links are preserved, redirects are properly implemented, and no significant link equity is lost.

Pricing

Free

Free

limited queries

  • 10 monthly queries
  • Limited link metrics
  • Basic domain analysis

Best for: Casual users or those exploring basic link data

Standard (Moz Pro)

$99/mo

billed annually

  • Full Link Explorer access
  • Keyword research tools
  • Site crawl audits
  • Rank tracking for 300 keywords

Best for: Freelancers and small businesses needing comprehensive SEO tools

Medium (Moz Pro)

$179/mo

billed annually

  • Expanded Link Explorer data
  • Increased keyword tracking (1,500)
  • More site crawl pages
  • Multi-user support

Best for: Growing businesses and agencies managing multiple client sites

Large (Moz Pro)

$299/mo

billed annually

  • Extensive link data
  • Higher limits for all tools
  • Advanced reporting
  • Dedicated support

Best for: Larger agencies and enterprise teams with significant SEO needs

Pricing may have changed. Verify current plans on Moz Link Explorer's website.

Pros

Industry-standard Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA) metrics.
Intuitive and clean user interface, making complex data accessible.
Effective Spam Score for identifying potentially toxic backlinks.
Link Intersect feature for discovering unique competitor link opportunities.
Comprehensive data for competitive backlink analysis and gap identification.
Offers a free version for basic link metric queries and exploration.

Cons

Backlink index size can sometimes be smaller than top competitors like Ahrefs or SEMrush.
Data freshness may occasionally lag, impacting real-time link monitoring.
The free version is very limited, requiring a paid subscription for serious work.
Pricing for the full Moz Pro suite can be a significant investment for small budgets.
Some advanced filtering and segmentation options might be less granular than alternatives.

Moz Link Explorer vs Fonzy: Feature Comparison

FeatureMoz Link ExplorerFonzyTogether
Link Opportunity IdentificationMoz Link Explorer identifies high-DA domains, competitor backlinks, and broken link targets.Fonzy helps generate content ideas specifically tailored to attract links from identified opportunities.Moz finds *where* to get links, Fonzy creates the *what* (content) to earn them.
Content Ideation for Link BuildingMoz shows successful content types based on competitor link profiles and popular pages.Fonzy generates comprehensive, topically authoritative content outlines and drafts for specific linkable asset ideas.Moz reveals link-worthy content types; Fonzy rapidly produces that content.
Link Asset CreationMoz helps define the content's purpose by analyzing what earns links in your niche.Fonzy writes the actual blog posts, guides, or data-driven articles designed to be linkable assets.Moz guides the strategy; Fonzy executes the high-quality content creation.
Topical Authority BuildingMoz helps identify key topics and subtopics where competitors are earning links.Fonzy creates clusters of interlinked, in-depth content around those key topics, building expertise.Moz uncovers topical gaps for link acquisition; Fonzy fills them with authoritative content.
Outreach StrategyMoz provides contact information and domain metrics for potential link targets.Fonzy can help draft compelling outreach emails highlighting the value of your newly created content.Moz identifies targets and their value, Fonzy helps craft the message for successful outreach.
Moz Link Explorer logo+
Fonzy

Better Together

Moz Link Explorer + Fonzy

Moz Link Explorer reveals your link opportunities — Fonzy creates the content assets that earn those links through topical authority.

Link Opportunity Identification

Moz finds *where* to get links, Fonzy creates the *what* (content) to earn them.

Content Ideation for Link Building

Moz reveals link-worthy content types; Fonzy rapidly produces that content.

Link Asset Creation

Moz guides the strategy; Fonzy executes the high-quality content creation.

Topical Authority Building

Moz uncovers topical gaps for link acquisition; Fonzy fills them with authoritative content.

Try Fonzy Free

3-day free trial. No credit card required.

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