What this checker looks at
Paying for a guest post or niche edit is only half the job. The other half is making sure you actually got what you paid for. In one check, this tool tells you:
- Is your link live? We find every link to your domain in the article and show its anchor text and exact URL.
- What type of link is it? Dofollow, nofollow, sponsored or ugc, read straight from the link’s
relattribute. - Can Google index the page? We check the robots meta tag, the X-Robots-Tag header, robots.txt and the canonical tag.
- How crowded is the page? The number of external domains the article links to.
- Is it in a bad neighbourhood? We flag links to casino, CBD, payday loan and adult sites in the same article.
- Is it labelled? We spot “sponsored”, “partner content”, “contributor” and similar labels on the page.
- Is the content substantial? Word count and publish date.
How to read your results
Green means the check passed. Yellow means something to review, such as a nofollow or sponsored link, a crowded page or thin content. Red means a real problem: the link is missing, the page can’t be indexed, or it sits next to spam-niche links.
A yellow result isn’t always bad. Reputable publications often label partner content and use rel="sponsored", as Google asks for paid links. Those placements still bring brand visibility, relevance and referral traffic. What matters is that the result matches what you were promised.
Red flags worth acting on
- Link not found on a post you paid for. Ask the vendor to restore it.
- noindex or robots.txt block. Google won’t index the page, so the link carries little SEO value.
- Casino, CBD or loan links on the same page. It’s a sign of a link-selling site.
- A canonical pointing elsewhere. Google may treat another URL as the real page.
Why checking every placement matters
Links get removed, edited and changed to nofollow more often than most people realise, especially on sites that sell placements in bulk. Google’s link spam policy also means the page around your link matters as much as the link itself.
Check each placement when it goes live, then again a few weeks later. Pair it with our free guest post finder to find sites, and vet them before you order.
How to check a backlink placement, step by step
- Get the exact live URL. Your vendor’s report should give you the article URL, not just the publication’s homepage. If it doesn’t, ask – a placement you cannot open is a placement you cannot verify.
- Enter the page URL and your domain. Paste the article URL, add the domain the link should point to, and add your email for the result. The check reads the live page itself, the same page Google sees.
- Read the verdict in order. First: is the link there at all? Second: what type is it? Third: can the page be indexed? Only then look at the softer signals – how crowded the page is, what else it links to, and whether the article is substantial.
- Keep the result. Save the result page or a screenshot with the date. If the link changes later, that record is the difference between a quick vendor conversation and an argument.
- Recheck after 30 days. Removals and attribute changes usually happen in the first month. One recheck catches most of them while the vendor still remembers your order.
What each result means, and what to do about it
| Result | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Link not found | The article does not link to your domain in its body | Send the result to your vendor and ask them to restore the link or explain |
| Sponsored or nofollow, when you ordered dofollow | The link exists but passes less authority than promised | Raise the mismatch – you paid for a different attribute |
| Page can’t be indexed | A noindex tag, robots block or wrong canonical keeps the page out of Google | Ask for a different page or a refund; an unindexed link does very little |
| Crowded page | The article links out to many external domains | Not fatal alone, but a pattern worth questioning if every placement looks like this |
| Spam-niche neighbours | The same article links to casino, CBD, loan or adult sites | Ask for removal of your link – that neighbourhood can hurt you |
| Thin content | The article is very short for the publication it sits on | Note it; thin, templated articles are the first thing spam updates discount |
Dofollow, nofollow, sponsored and ugc, in plain English
Every link carries a rel attribute that tells search engines how to treat it. A link with no attribute, or none of the values below, is what people call dofollow: it can pass ranking authority in the normal way. nofollow tells Google not to count the link as a vote, though it may still be used as a hint. sponsored is the label Google asks for on paid placements – it is honest labelling, not a penalty, but it passes less than a dofollow link. ugc marks links inside user-generated content such as comments and forum posts.
None of these is automatically bad. The question this checker answers is narrower and more practical: does the link you received match the link you were promised? Our link acquisition guide covers how the attributes fit into a natural overall profile.
When to check your placements
- On delivery, before you pay the balance or approve the report.
- A week later, to confirm the page has been indexed with your link in place.
- At 30 days, when most removals and quiet attribute changes have happened.
- Quarterly for placements that matter – the ones carrying important pages or serious money.
Want placements that pass every check?
Every Linkuild placement is checked by a person before it reaches your report: live link, link type, indexability and page quality. See our guest posting services and niche edits, read our case studies, or start with a free SEO audit.
FAQ
Is the backlink checker free?
Yes. Each email address gets 5 free checks. Checks that fail because a site blocks automated tools aren’t counted.
Why do you ask for my email?
It keeps the tool free by stopping automated abuse. We don’t share it, and we won’t add you to a mailing list without asking.
Why couldn’t the tool check a page?
Some large publications block automated requests or load content with JavaScript. In that case, open the page, right-click your link and choose “Inspect” to see its rel attribute.
How do I check if a backlink is dofollow?
Enter the page URL and your domain. The tool reads the link’s rel attribute: if there’s no nofollow, sponsored or ugc value, the link is dofollow.
Does a sponsored or nofollow link have any value?
Yes. It can bring referral traffic, brand visibility and relevance, and Google may use it as a hint. It passes less authority than a dofollow link, so make sure the type matches what you ordered.
Can I check a page that links to someone else?
Yes. Enter any public page URL and any domain, and the checker reports whether that page links to that domain and how. It is useful for seeing how a competitor’s placements are labelled, as well as for verifying your own.
What should I do if my link is missing or has changed?
Send the vendor this checker’s result and ask them to restore the link as ordered. Vendors who placed the link genuinely can usually fix it quickly. If the link type was changed from dofollow to sponsored or nofollow after delivery, that is a change to what you bought – raise it the same way.