Link Tracker: Check Backlink Index Status Free

A link tracker checks whether the pages that link to your site are still live and indexed by a search engine. With this free tool, you enter your website URL, paste up to 20 linking pages, pick a search engine and click Track Now. You get an Indexed or Unverified status for every page.

What Is Link Tracking in SEO?

Link tracking in SEO means monitoring the pages that carry your backlinks so you know which ones are still working for you. A backlink only helps if the page hosting it exists and a search engine has it in its index. If the page is removed, blocked or never indexed, the link is unlikely to contribute to your rankings.

The phrase "link tracker" also describes click trackers, which add tracking parameters to a URL and count visits. This page is about the other meaning: auditing the pages that link to you. The tool does not count clicks. It reports two things for each linking page: whether the search engine you selected shows it as indexed, and whether the page responded when it was requested.

Why indexing matters for backlinks

Search engines discover links by crawling pages. A page that was never crawled or was dropped from the index cannot pass any signal to your site through its links. Checking indexation is a fast way to separate backlinks that probably count from backlinks that exist only on paper.

How to Use the Link Tracker

You can check a batch of linking pages in under a minute by following these steps.

1. Type your site address into the Your Website URL field, for example https://example.com.
2. Paste the addresses of the pages that link to you into Pages Containing Links to Your Site. Use one URL per line. A counter beside the box shows how many you have entered out of 20.
3. Open the Search Engine menu and choose where you want indexation checked. Options include Google, Bing, Yahoo and dozens of regional Google versions such as Google UK, Google India or Google Germany.
4. Click Track Now. A progress bar and a counter (for example 3 / 8) show the pages being checked one by one.
5. Read the summary: Total Links, Indexed and Unverified. Below it, each URL has its own row with an index status, a live status and the final response it returned.
6. Use the back link under the results to return to the form and run another batch.

Need the list of linking pages first? Run your domain through the backlink checker and copy the referring URLs into this form.

Worked Example: Checking Eight Backlinks

Say you run a bakery site at https://sweetcrumb.example and a link-building campaign earned eight placements. You paste the eight article and directory URLs into the box, choose Google (google.com) and click Track Now.

The summary reads: Total Links 8, Indexed 5, Unverified 3. In the rows, five pages show a green Indexed status and a Responded live status. Two pages show Responded as live but Unverified for indexing. One page shows Unverified for both, with a final response that reports an HTTP error status.

Here is how to interpret that:

• Five indexed and live pages: these are your healthiest placements. Leave them alone.
• Two live but unverified pages: the pages work but Google may not have indexed them yet. Recheck in a week or two. If they are brand new, give them time.
• One page with an error response: the page may have been deleted or moved. Open it in a browser. If it is gone, contact the site owner or replace the link.

In this batch, 5 of 8 links (62.5%) are confirmed working, and you now know exactly which three need attention.

How Do You Read and Act on the Results?

Each row combines an index status and a live status, and the pair tells you what to do next.

What does Unverified mean?

Unverified means the tool could not confirm the status. It is not proof the page is missing from the index. A search engine may simply not return the page for the check, so treat Unverified as a prompt to investigate, not as a final verdict.

The final response line

Under each URL you may see a final response with an HTTP status. A 200 means the page loaded normally. A 404 or 410 means it is gone. A 301 or 302 means the address redirected, so the final address may differ from the one you pasted. Use the final address when you follow up with the site owner.

Who Should Use This Link Tracker?

Anyone who earns or buys backlinks and wants proof they are still doing something benefits from a regular check. These are common situations:

• Link builders verifying that guest posts, directory listings and sponsored placements went live and got indexed before reporting to a client.
• Site owners auditing old placements after a redesign, migration or traffic drop.
• Agencies keeping a monthly record of how many delivered links are indexed.
• Outreach teams finding dead linking pages, then using the broken link outreach template to ask for a replacement link.
• Local and international marketers checking indexation in a specific country version of Google, such as Google Canada or Google Australia.

Best Practices and Troubleshooting Tips

A few habits make the results far more reliable and useful.

• Paste full URLs. Include https:// and the complete path. Use one address per line with no commas or extra text.
• Stay within 20 URLs per run. For a larger list, split it into batches and keep a spreadsheet of the totals for each run.
• Match the search engine to your audience. If you target UK customers, check Google UK. If your site is mostly found through Bing, check Bing.
• Recheck new links after one to two weeks. Fresh pages often take days to get indexed, so an early Unverified result is common.
• Verify the link itself. A live, indexed page can still have removed your link. Run the page through the link extractor to confirm your URL appears, or use the link analyzer to see whether it is dofollow or nofollow.
• Check for broken outbound links. If a partner page looks unstable, the broken links finder can show which of its links are dead.

If the results look wrong

If a page you know is live shows an error response, check for a typo, a missing "www" or a trailing character copied from a document. If every row comes back Unverified, try a different search engine option and run again. Some sites also restrict automated requests, which can make a working page look unreachable.

Limitations to Keep in Mind

The link tracker answers a narrow question: is this linking page live and indexed? It does not measure clicks, referral traffic, anchor text, link value or whether your link is still present on the page. Index status can also change after you check, so a result is a snapshot of that moment.

Pair it with other checks for a full picture. The anchor text analyzer shows how links are worded, and the Backlink Tools collection covers discovery, valuation and outreach. For click tracking, you need analytics software or tagged links, which are outside the scope of this tool.

Run your linking pages through the form above to see which backlinks are indexed and live, then fix the Unverified ones first. A short check once a month keeps weak or lost placements from going unnoticed.