When it comes to improving your SEO strategy, you’d think search engines were still stuck in high school.

The more popular a website is, the more likely a search engine will recommend it to its users.

In order to get your content to the top of SERPs, you need to prove your worth.

Unfortunately, the popularity contests never end—even if you graduated from high school long ago.

Let’s think of the top spot in a search engine results page as your high school’s Prom Queen.

This coveted position is the most popular and gets the most attention, but it isn’t just handed out to the person who wants it most.

Instead, the Prom Queen wins her title with votes, campaigning and proving she deserves that spot.

Reaching the top of SERPs is the same. If you want your content to reach the Prom Queen position, you need to get the support of your community.

In this case, your votes come in the form of backlinks.

Each time a new website links back to a page on yours, you’re showing search engine crawlers that you’re contributing high-quality and valuable content to your audience.

The more “votes” you collect, the more value crawlers will see on your website and content—pushing you further and further to the top of the results pages.

However, just like campaigning for Prom Queen, you can’t expect to secure votes without first building trust.

It takes time.

But if you put in the work to build a strong base of backlinks, you can improve your website’s popularity and—more importantly—your online authority.

How the Right Backlink Building Software Can Boost Your Online Authority

Securing strong backlinks can be a challenge.

Because you want the majority of your backlinks to come organically from high-quality sources, you can’t afford to cut corners. If you’re simply trying to collect as many backlinks as possible, you may actually be penalized by search engines.

There are a number of services out there that offer to generate dozens and dozens of backlinks for your website.

Unfortunately, just like the Prom Queen stuffing the ballot box, you can seriously damage your reputation if a search engine crawler picks up on this behavior.

If you’re found using black hat backlink building strategies, you will find it more difficult to reach even the first few pages of search results.

But luckily, not all backlink building software providers focus on black hat practices.

Using the right backlink monitoring software can actually directly influence your backlink building, and help you improve your online authority the right way.

Monitoring your backlinks can help you keep an eye on the number, authority and quality of links you have pushing back to your website.

Through proper tracking, you’re able to find opportunities to create new links, improve upon the links you’ve already secured and measure how well your backlinks are contributing to your SEO strategy.

Popularity Contest: The Best Backlink Building Software to Get You In with the Cool Kids

There are a number of different backlink building and monitoring software options available to help you take out the coveted top spot. Let’s take a look at four of the strongest.

Check My Links

Check My Links is actually a Google Chrome extension that you can add to your web browser. When you run the Check My Links software, it will comb through your web browser to find any broken links on the selected web page. It will then generate a report that tells you which links are broken and will need to be replaced.

You can use this information to reach out to high-quality websites to inform them of broken links and suggest a replacement for that link.

Through identifying links that have changed, moved or been deleted—and providing them with a replacement—you’re saving the website owner time while also encouraging them to link to your own content.

What Are the Benefits of Check My Links?

Check My Links is a simple Chrome addition that allows you to easily scan any webpage. It also allows you to check multiple pages at the same time, giving you the opportunity to comb through a number of sites in very little time.

You can then reach out to a number of website owners and bloggers to inform them of broken links, improving your chances of getting high-quality links back to your site.

How Much Does Check My Links Cost?

Check My Links is a free extension through Google Chrome.

Who Should Use Check My Links?

Because Check My Links is free, fast and easy to use, just about everyone can include it as a simple starting point for their link building strategy. Both large and small companies in all industries can use Check My Links to begin finding new link building opportunities.

Monitor Backlinks

Monitor Backlinks is a tool that allows you to monitor your own domain, your competitors and your keywords to identify how well your backlink building strategy is working.

Through automating your backlink monitoring system, you’re able to receive daily and weekly updates about your backlinks—meaning you don’t need to worry about anything.

The Monitor Backlinks dashboard provides you with an overview of your website and backlinks. Within the main page, you can track your progress, identify your change in organic visitors and track your new backlinks. Additionally, you can keep an eye on your average keyword position to see how well you’re ranking.

What Are the Benefits of Monitor Backlinks?

Monitor Backlinks helps connect your backlink building strategy with the rest of your SEO campaign. Through providing all your information in an easy-to-read dashboard, you can track exactly how your backlinks are contributing to your search engine ranking.

When you’re able to look at the bigger picture, you can track how small changes in backlinks can influence your ranking, allowing you to make changes whenever necessary.

How Much Does Monitor Backlinks Cost?

The cost of Monitor Backlinks depends on how much you’d like to track. With a Start plan beginning at $24.90 per month, you can keep an eye on one domain and two competitors. Start by registering for a free 30-day trial, and from there, you can adjust your pricing to meet your unique needs.

Who Should Use Monitor Backlinks?

Because Monitor Backlinks only requires you to pay for what you need, it can make an excellent addition to teams of any size. Monitor Backlinks is a great tool for individuals who want to see how their backlinks are improving their SEO strategy.

Majestic SEO

Majestic SEO, which is offered as both a website and a Chrome plugin, provides users with an overview of the quality of links pushing back to their page. By scanning a URL, domain or phrase, Majestic SEO will pull information including the number of backlinks, the anchor text associated with those backlinks and the trust flow of the page.

Using Majestic SEO can help users identify the strength of each individual backlink. By taking a closer look at how the backlinks are contributing to their SEO, Majestic SEO allows users to track whether or not they’re connecting with the right website owners and bloggers and if they’re improving their online authority.

What Are the Benefits of Majestic SEO?

Majestic SEO is quick and easy to use. The tool also allows you to compare websites, giving you the ability to directly relate how your search engine strategy is comparing to your competitors. It’s a useful tool that can help you make necessary changes to overcome your competition.

How Much Does Majestic SEO Cost?

The most basic Majestic SEO package begins at $49.99/month. This LITE version gives you basic abilities for one million analysis units. The most popular plan, the PRO plan, costs $99.99/month and is designed for professionals. For full API, you can get custom pricing based on the number of analysis units you’re looking for.

Who Should Use Majestic SEO?

Majestic SEO is a bit more expensive than other software programs on this list. For that reason, it probably shouldn’t be recommended for companies just starting out. Instead, websites with an already-established backlink strategy can use this tool to take a closer look at the backlinks they’re securing.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is a big name in backlink building, not only allowing you to monitor your own domain and keyword, but also helps you keep an eye on your competition.

However, Ahrefs is more than just a backlink building tool.

Ahrefs provides a number of additional features, including a broken link checker and a backlink monitor, making it an all-in-one tool for improving your search traffic. With a focus on monitoring your competition, you’re able to identify exactly what your competitors are doing right and where you can improve your own strategy.

What Are the Benefits of Ahrefs?

Because Ahrefs does more than just monitor your backlinks, you can get an all-in-one guide to improving your search and ranking. This is ideal for businesses who want to reduce the number of dashboards they need to check. With new tools and features added every week, Ahrefs is a great addition to any marketer’s toolkit.

How Much Does Ahrefs Cost?

Ahref begins at $99/month for the Lite version. The Standard plan costs $179/month, while the Advanced plan runs at $399/month. For those with larger needs, the Agency plan begins at $999/month.

Who Should Use Ahrefs?

Ahrefs is the most expensive tool on this list, but it provides an all-in-one tool for search engine monitoring. It is ideal for businesses with a bit of a budget to spend, but who also want to reduce the number of tools they’re using and streamline their marketing processes.

Win More Votes with Backlink Building Software

When it comes down to it, your backlink building software can’t do all the work for you. It can help you find opportunities and guide your overall strategy, but you still need to put the time and work into winning those votes and creating more organic links to your website.

So while none of these options is an instant backlink solution (there’s no such thing, I’m afraid!), using the right software can help you create and support a link building strategy that improves your online popularity and gets you another step closer to taking out the title of Prom Queen.