Yes, Backrefs is built to track new and lost backlinks over time, so you can see which links appeared and which disappeared between checks. How current that view is depends on how often the underlying data refreshes, so a link that vanished yesterday may not show up yet. Confirm the current refresh behavior and what your plan includes on the official site.
How to read new and lost links
A "new" link is one the index found since the previous check. A "lost" link is one it saw before and can no longer confirm. Neither label tells you the full story, so treat them as leads to verify.
Why a lost link isn't always lost
- The linking page may have been temporarily down when it was re-crawled.
- The link may have moved to another URL or been changed to a redirect.
- The crawler may simply have skipped the page this cycle.
Why a new link isn't always new
Sometimes a link has existed for months and was only just discovered. "New" means new to the index, not necessarily new to the web. Don't use the discovery date as the publish date in client reports without a caveat.
A practical workflow
- Open the new and lost views for the domain you're monitoring.
- Sort the lost links by the linking page's quality signals and by the page they pointed to.
- Open the highest-value ones in a browser and confirm the link is really gone.
- If it is gone and the page matters, decide whether a polite email to the site owner is worth the effort. Backrefs doesn't send outreach itself; see Does Backrefs include outreach or email tools?
- Note the new links worth keeping an eye on, and recheck them next cycle.
Doing this weekly is usually enough for most sites. The routine is laid out in A Weekly Backrefs Routine: Day-to-Day Use in 30 Minutes.
Recommended for youBackrefs Features Overview: What the Platform Does and What It Doesn'tTrade-offs to know about
- No backlink index sees the whole web. Expect gaps, and expect other tools to disagree with it.
- Freshness varies by page and site. How that works is covered in How Backrefs Collects, Refreshes and Scores Link Data.
- Whether alerts, exports or API access for link changes are available depends on your plan. Check what each plan includes and the official site for current details.
Related
- Features & How Backrefs Works
- Backrefs Features Overview: What the Platform Does and What It Doesn't
- Backrefs Reports and Exports for sharing link changes with clients
- Finding Competitor Link Gaps in Backrefs
- How to Set Up Backrefs
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