This guide walks through setting up Backrefs, from creating an account to reading your first backlink report. It sticks to the general workflow and does not quote plan limits, prices or feature allowances. Those change, so confirm current details on the official site at backrefs.com before you commit to anything.
Before You Sign Up: Decide What You Need
Spend five minutes on this first. It saves you from tracking the wrong things later.
- Your main domain. Pick the one site you most want to understand. Add others later.
- Two to five competitors. Choose sites that actually compete for the same search results, not just the biggest names in your industry.
- One question. For example: "Who links to my competitors but not to me?" or "Did I lose any links this month?" A clear question makes the first report far easier to read.
If you are still deciding whether Backrefs fits, read the Backrefs Features Overview for what the platform does and does not cover, and Features & How Backrefs Works for the bigger picture.
Step 1: Create Your Account
- Go to the official site and start the signup flow.
- Check which plan or trial option is offered right now. Read what it includes and any limits on projects, tracked domains or exports.
- Confirm your email and sign in.
Trade-off: It is tempting to pick a plan by price alone. Check the features you will need first, such as alerts, API access or the browser extension. The integrations, API, alerts and extension breakdown explains what to look for.
Step 2: Add Your First Project
- Enter your domain exactly as it is served (with or without www, HTTPS). Mismatches can make the data look thinner than it is.
- Decide whether you are tracking the whole domain or a specific section, if the tool offers that choice.
- Save the project and allow time for data to load.
Do not panic if the first view looks sparse or incomplete. Link data is collected and refreshed over time, not instantly. How Backrefs Collects, Refreshes and Scores Link Data covers why, and why no link index is ever a complete picture of the web.
Step 3: Add Competitors
Add the competitors you chose earlier. Keep the list short at first. A tight set gives you comparisons you can act on, while a long list gives you noise.
- Include one direct rival and one smaller site that ranks well despite fewer resources.
- Avoid giant publishers unless they truly rank for your terms. Their link profiles are rarely a realistic benchmark.
Step 4: Read Your First Backlink Report
Resist the urge to look at everything. Work through the report in this order.
1. Overview
Note the total number of links and referring domains. Treat these as rough indicators, not scores to chase. Any score shown is a model's estimate, so check how it is calculated before relying on it.
2. Referring domains
Sort by the metric the tool provides and scan the top sites. Ask whether these are relevant, real sites that you would be happy to be associated with.
3. New and lost links
This view shows movement. A lost link is worth a look only if the page was valuable or the loss was unexpected. To see how this works, read Does Backrefs show new and lost backlinks?
4. Anchor text and target pages
Check which pages attract links and what the anchors say. A profile heavy on exact-match commercial anchors may deserve a closer look, but one data point is not a diagnosis.
Recommended for youBackrefs Features Overview: What the Platform Does and What It Doesn'tStep 5: Run One Comparison
With competitors added, look for domains that link to them but not to you. These are leads to investigate, not guaranteed opportunities. Many of those links come from paid placements, directories or relationships you cannot replicate. The full process is in Finding Competitor Link Gaps in Backrefs.
What Backrefs Setup Does Not Do for You
Setup gives you visibility, not links. If you plan to contact sites, you will need your own process. See Does Backrefs include outreach or email tools? before assuming it will cover that step.
| Task | Where to start | Caveat |
|---|---|---|
| Check your current links | Overview and referring domains | Index coverage is never total |
| Spot changes | New and lost links | Recent changes may lag |
| Find gaps | Competitor comparison | Not every gap is winnable |
| Share findings | Reports and exports | Check export options on your plan |
Step 6: Save, Export and Set a Rhythm
Export your first report as a baseline. Next month you can compare against it and see real change. For dashboards, CSV files and client-ready output, see Backrefs Reports and Exports.
Then build a habit rather than a one-off audit. A Weekly Backrefs Routine shows how to do this in about 30 minutes.
Common Setup Mistakes
- Tracking too many competitors. You end up with data and no decisions.
- Judging by one number. Always look at the actual linking pages.
- Expecting instant data. Give new projects time to populate.
- Assuming links equal rankings. Backlinks are one factor among many, and no tool can promise a result.
Is Backrefs the Right Fit?
If your needs are mainly monitoring and competitor comparison, setup is quick and the workflow is straightforward. If you need heavy outreach, content or rank-tracking tools, check whether you would need other software alongside it. Compare current plans and limits on the official site, and test with a real project before deciding.
Keep reading
How Backrefs Collects, Refreshes and Scores Link DataEvery backlink tool is a snapshot of the web taken by someone else's crawler, on someone else's sch…
Workflow Walkthrough: Finding Competitor Link Gaps in BackrefsA link gap analysis answers one question: which sites link to your competitors but not to you? It i…
A Weekly Backrefs Routine: Day-to-Day Use in 30 MinutesThis is a routine for checking your backlink data once a week without letting it eat your calendar.…