Link building is something that genuinely becomes an obsession for some.
There’s just something about seeing a website’s organic traffic increase as its backlink profile grows.
But this doesn’t just happen overnight. And it’s not just anyone that can get their website to rank in the top pages of Google’s search results.
A lot of time and effort goes into crafting the perfect link-building strategy to get you the desired results.
No wonder there are so many link-building tools out there on the market. Some link builders will subscribe to as many platforms as possible, thinking it will make their link prospecting easier.
However, in our experience, less is more.
Eventually, costs add up and the financial investment isn’t worth the links you’re able to build with all the platforms you’ve subscribed to.
So let’s narrow the list of link-building tools down to the most essential.
Link Building Toolbox
Every mechanic or builder has tools in his toolbox that he just can’t do without. Take them away and he’d be lost.
Here are our top 4 link-building tools that we use daily.
Using these platforms, we’ve successfully built thousands of white hat manual outreach links.
I’ll also introduce you to a few other tools on the market that might just tickle your fancy.
1. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a popular SEO platform used chiefly by marketers to improve their Google Rankings. (1)
Consider it a toolset, more than one specific tool.
Some of the features that Ahrefs include are tools for:
- link building
- keyword research
- competitor analysis
- rank tracking
- site audits, and more
With many tools available, you can run your entire link-building campaign through Ahrefs alone.
What we use it for
We mainly use Ahrefs for Link Prospecting.
Ahrefs has various filters that can be applied to target websites. This allows us to narrow our search down to find the most valuable websites for your niche.
The interface allows us to build super valuable links as we can narrow results down to:
- a specific Domain Rating
- a minimum amount of Website Traffic
- a specific Website Traffic Value
- a specific Word Count.
We also use Ahrefs for our broken link-building campaigns, where we find broken links on websites and structure a campaign around them for our clients.
Why we love Ahrefs
- It’s an extremely accurate link-building tool, providing precise metrics and data.
- The platform is also easy to use and even the free version comes with a wide variety of features.
- By checking the backlink profile of the websites before reaching out to them, you know that you’re building links that genuinely add value to your site.
- Being able to toggle the criteria for your link-building prospects makes Ahrefs one of the premium link-building tools on the market today.
Price
Ahrefs offers a free web admins tools plan which gives you limited access to Site explorer and Site audit.
With this free plan, you’ll be able to find keywords that rank for your site, download your backlinks, audit your websites, and more.
There is also a tiered pricing structure if you need more features than the free version offers.
Source: Ahrefs
The Lite plan is suitable for small business owners and hobby projects, while the Enterprise plan is ideal for big enterprises and agencies.
You’re sure to find a package somewhere in between to suit your needs.
Alternative Tools to Consider
Here are two link-building tools that you might want to consider. To a certain extent, they do the same as Ahrefs, but you might consider them if your budget doesn’t allow you to start with our first option.
Google probably isn’t the first tool that comes to mind when thinking of link prospecting tools.
But remember that it has the most extensive index of potential websites – and link prospects – worldwide.
The trick is figuring out how to use it correctly.
By typing a keyword in search and adding the (intitle:resources OR intitle:resource) phrase, you can find relevant websites to craft your link-building campaign.
Here’s an example.
I typed the keyword Boating into my google search bar and narrowed the results down from 303,000,000 to 1,300,000 by adding (intitle:resources OR intitle:resource)
On the upside, Google is a free link-building tool. And yes, you have millions of websites at your fingertips.
The downside is that you cant go in-depth and narrow results down to the point that it only displays relevant websites.
There isn’t an option to add filters like organic traffic or domain authority as you would by using other link-building tools.
– Link Prospector
Link prospector is link building tool that integrates strings of relevant websites and data into easily understandable reports with just a few clicks.
Some SEO agencies swear by it as it focuses on speed, meaning that large amounts of data are compiled and sorted in a very short amount of time.
As with Ahrefs, the user can hone in on the target audience by toggling the region, date, and depth of keywords in the results.
You also don’t have to sign up to their client list to use the service, which is a bonus. But no, that doesn’t mean they offer their service for free.
Link Prospector works on a free month-to-month basis, but the user has to pay $5 per credit to use the platform’s link-building capabilities.
It boils down to whether or not you’re willing to pay for premium service or not.
2. Gmass
Gmass is an email plugin that enables you to send emails out in mass from your very own Gmail account. (2)
What we use it for
We use Gmasss for sending out Email Marketing and Outreach Campaigns.
With some tweaking, we link our project management spreadsheets to our Gmass profile. This automates the outreach process and saves both time and money.
Why we love it
- It’s highly efficient. The platform allows for endless filtering that has huge benefits, like ensuring we don’t reach out to the same prospect more than once, decluttering our inbox, and keeping things tidy.
- Their interface allows us to customize our email campaigns and choose when and how often we want to send out our emails. This way, we don’t overwhelm our potential link prospects.
Price
The free version of Gmass suits small companies or individuals compiling a small-scale outreach campaign.
This free version allows users to send out no more than 50 emails within 24 hours.
However, if you’re constantly looking for link-building opportunities and need to run large-scale outreach campaigns, try either the Standard, Premium, or Enterprise package.
Alternative Tools to Consider
– Active Campaign
Active campaign is an email automation and marketing software with added sales CRM. The CRM feature brings all the information needed for a sales strategy into one place, making your workflow more convenient.
On the upside, ActiveCampaign has all the abilities you need to run your outreach campaign and it’s competitively priced, starting at $29 for up to 1000 contacts. Then the price increases along with the number of contacts.
The downside… It may prove to be too powerful for smaller businesses and users. There are so many high-level advanced features that it can take a while to wrap your head around the ins and outs of the platform.
– MailerLite
MailerLite has a bunch of features that will appeal to any link builder. These include Email Marketing, Automation, Newsletter Editors, and transactional Emails.
On the upside, the software allows you to integrate multiple platforms to automate workflows and enhance customer experience. Speaking of customer experience, Mailer Lite is known for their fantastic customer support.
Source: MailerLite.com
So if customer support is essential for you, consider MailerLite to automate your next outreach campaign.
They are also exceptionally well priced. They offer users a free service for up to 1000 subscribers. Prices are then adjusted to the number of emails that need to be checked or sent out.
3. Hunter
The Hunter.io platform has over 100 million emails indexed, making it an extremely helpful link-building tool. (3)
It’s used by SEO agencies large and small to verify the email addresses of link prospects before reaching out to them.
What we use it for
We use Hunter.io to find the email addresses of Link Prospects.
There are so many websites out there that offer a multitude of link-building opportunities. The problem is that many of the key decision-makers in these businesses don’t have their email addresses listed on their websites.
Using hunter.io, we can reach out to the right people, the Editors, Social Media Managers, and Content Managers, to craft a successful Link Building Campaign.
Why we love it
Hunter.io is one of those link research tools that we simply can’t do without.
- It helps us build a strong foundation for our link-building campaigns.
- They offer a free trial and are very well priced.
- We also love the accuracy of the data that’s delivered. This gives us peace of mind that the emails we’re sending out are going to actual people.
Price
The free version of Hunter.io limits you to 25 free searches a month.
Source: Hunter.io
If you’re part of a larger link-building agency with financial resources, there’s a tiered pricing structure to suit your needs.
Alternative Tools to Consider
Not convinced? Try one of these alternatives to help you confirm prospective email addresses exist and are legitimate.
– Sellhack
Sellhack has various link-building features to automate the entire link-building process.
One of which is their Bulk E-mail Verification tool.
On the upside, the platform enables you to find emails usually hidden on social media profiles, widening your prospect funnel to include the most sought-after websites.
They also offer what they call 100% bounce rate protection, which means that Bounced emails will be credited back to your account if emails are sent with Replyify.com.
The downside? At this time, sell hack doesn’t offer a free version. That means you’d have to sign up to be able to verify any emails and the cost can add up pretty quickly.
To give you an idea, their monthly subscription offers 1000 email credits at $49 per month, while the yearly subscription brings that amount down to $30 per month.
– findthat.email
Find-That-Email is a simple and straightforward platform to use.
They have an extensive database which they keep up to date by constantly removing inaccurate data. Verifying e-mails is accurate as it gets with them.
On the upside, they have a Chrome Extension that you can install and use, and they also offer a free start-up and no long-term contracts.
On the downside, The chrome extension needs to improve its UX experience, and some have been grumbling about the time it takes to verify email addresses.
4. Neverbounce
Neverbounce is an email verification tool that helps large businesses, new startups, and non-profit organizations to remove duplicate emails and verify email lists. (4)
What we use it for
We use Neverbounce for validating the email addresses of our link-building campaigns.
Once you have compiled an email list, you want to ensure that those emails are 100% correct and that none of them will bounce or be sent out to the wrong addresses. We use it in conjunction with our Hunter.io platform to verify the contacts before reaching out to them.
Why we love it
We aim to give our customers a high ROI, or in simpler terms, bang for their buck.
Verifying an entire list of 1000+ email addresses at a time helps us to achieve this.
Price
The pricing structure of Neverbounce is very competitive and works on escalating intervals, starting at $8 for up to 10,000 emails.
Source: Neverbounce
A user also has the option of trying the platform free of charge.
Alternative Tools to Consider
Here are two alternatives that you might want to add to your toolbox.
– ZeroBounce
ZeroBounce is a great tool that makes email communication safer, more reliable, and more efficient. Its platform is growing in popularity and currently caters to about 150,000 users.
On the upside, it’s very easy to sign and set up. You start cleaning your email lists in no time.
On the downside, the dashboard can seem unfriendly to some users and sometimes spammy websites filter through their verification process
– Bounceless.io
Bounceless is an email verification software that helps to improve deliverability and boost email marketing metrics.
Because there’s a limit on the number of cancellation requests and bounces tolerated by internet regulators, this platform helps users to safeguard their sender reputation score and ensures that their emails are seen by others.
On the upside, their platform is straightforward and has very competitive pricing. Sign up for premium link-building services at only $19 per month for 2,500 emails.
The downside? Support can take up to 24 hours. This often leaves users scratching their heads in frustration for a while before getting an answer to queries.
We have the right tools for the job.
In this article, we’ve discussed our 4 best link-building tools and given you two alternatives. That’s a lot to take in.
Whether you’re a newbie to the link-building world or a seasoned vet, these link-building tools can benefit you.
As you’ve seen, there’s a learning curb with most of these platforms and you often have to pay a premium fee when using top-tier abilities. And those costs add up fast.
But even if you have the financial backing to pay for these tools, you still need to know how to use them effectively.
At Batlinks, we’ve been fine-tuning our craft and know how to maximize the effectiveness of our link-building strategies.
So why not skip the hassle of figuring things out on your own and focus your valuable time and attention where you need it most, at the front end of your business?
Batlinks would be happy to run your next link-building campaign. See a list of our services here.