People overlook the importance of link building tools in the SEO sphere. We know keyword optimization is paramount but quality backlinks are even more powerful. The sad part is that obtaining quality backlinks takes a lot of hard work and dedication.
However, using an excellent backlink builder can ease the process. Link building tools allow you to gain new backlinks and boost your Google ranking swiftly. Backlinks act as recommendations, which you surely want to get. They’re flattering, to say the least.
For this reason, today’s focus will be on these nifty little tools that will help you out. We’ll see what they have to offer and how you can use them to obtain backlinks from other websites. Don’t go anywhere yet. We have a vital topic to unravel and discuss.
Best Link Building Software for 2024
Before we move on with the ranking, we should clarify that our team tested each tool. Some of them we use daily, like Semrush and SE Ranking, while the other less favorable tools are used seldom. Either way, every tool on this list went through our experts’ hands.
Having explored their features and functions, we’re ready to present to you our top 10 favorite link building software for 2024.
1. Semrush
Semrush is the most capable link building software according to our experts.
First, it offers a dedicated link-building tool with a CRM-like experience for finding hundreds of backlink opportunities. We love this tool because there’s an outreach function.
This allows you to contact the website owner directly and ask for a backlink or guest post. Furthermore, Semrush allows for in-depth backlink analysis with a backlink gap function.
We love this one because it allows you to see which sites link to your competitors.
This way, you can close the gap and use the link-building tool to contact these sites and request a backlink. Semrush comes with the Backlink Audit function to detect and repair broken backlinks. As a result, you can prevent them from harming your ranking.
Semrush is perfect for discovering backlink opportunities with high authority scores, which sets you up for success. However, it’s more than your run-of-the-mill backlink tool. This one includes keyword research, content marketing, advertising research, and other options.
Let’s not forget that Semrush is an all-around marketing tool, which allows you to track your social media presence, audit your site, and improve your overall SEO. Semrush isn’t free but there’s a 14-day free trial through our site that allows you to use it for free.
This backlink builder isn’t overly expensive, albeit, it’s a bit pricey compared to some competitors. Our team recommends its annual plans- the Guru plan in particular. It’s discounted by 17% and costs $208 a month.
Try Semrush Now
Users can opt for the Pro plan, which is still great, at $108 a month. Semrush offers a Business plan for the most demanding users. It’s at $416 a month but offers everything you want/need and even more.
2. SE Ranking
SE Ranking allows you to thoroughly analyze your backlink profile.
It has no link building tool like Semrush but we still think it’s very handy. This service is cheaper but offers the option to discover toxic backlinks and remove them in seconds.
Moreover, you’ll find broken backlinks that you can fix and improve your optimization. SE Ranking shows ALL backlinks on your site, with their domain trust and page trust scores. This enables you to evaluate the backlink profile and remove links you don’t want.
SE Ranking can monitor individual backlinks for potential changes. There’s also the option to see how diverse your external links are, with the percentage of Follow and NoFollow links. We love SE Ranking for its other features as well.
One of them is the Keyword Manager where you can create keyword clusters for in-depth topic coverage. SE Ranking includes an AI writer, which can produce new content based on the given keyword. No doubt, in our SE Ranking test, this was one of our favorite features.
While not a capable backlink builder like Semrush, SE Ranking includes a solid array of tools to aid the process. Besides, producing quality and optimized content is vital for obtaining new backlinks. SE Ranking, thankfully, eases this process even more.
The price of this service isn’t high. It’s lower than Semrush and the Essential plan starts at a measly $44 a month for the annual plan. Our recommendation is the Pro plan at $87 a month with 2,000 trackable keywords.
Try SE Ranking now
Users get access to a 14-day free trial without credit card info, which allows them to test the service thoroughly before buying it. Be sure to check its latest and greatest deals below and snatch SE Ranking at an all-time low price.
3. Hunter
Semrush and SE Ranking are capable of link building and much more. However, Hunter is a more “narrow” tool specifically made with this in mind. It allows you to discover email addresses and get in touch with many website owners from your niche.
Type in the website domain and you’ll get the email address of its owner – voila! Hunter even includes an email verifier, which tells you if the given email address is still active. Another perk is the ability to use automated follow-ups and personalized sending schedules.
Furthermore, there’s a welcome Chrome extension that you can install for free. It’ll display email addresses for every visited site. If you think it’s a nice opportunity for a backlink, contact the owner via email and see what you two can come up with.
Hunter is a free link-building tool whose non-paid plan is a bit stingy. However, you have the Starter plan at $34 a month for the annual variant, with 500 monthly searches and 2,500 recipients per campaign. This plan is enough for most.
If you want more, the Growth plan is perfect at around $105 a month. It allows for 5,000 monthly searches, 10,000 verifications, and 5,000 recipients per campaign. Hunter is a tad expensive for what it is but we can’t deny its usefulness.
4. HARO (Help A Reporter Out)
HARO is neither your typical link building tool nor keyword research software. It’s just a platform that connects journalists with sources with expertise on a specific topic.
However, it can also be used to make new backlink opportunities given its ability to connect people.
For example, sources can have journalists help them include a backlink to a specific post or page in the publication. HARO is great for both small-time and big-time reporters and companies. On its site, you’ll see companies like Mashable, Reuters, and Time.
All of these use HARO to improve their backlink profile. But how does the thing work? Well, sources get three daily emails on working days, where emails come with requests from journalists who want expertise on a specific topic.
You can respond to these requests by providing this expertise and answering the questions thoroughly. If a reporter decides he wants to use your answer, he will include it as a quote, and most of the time, add a link to your site, which creates a backlink.
Help A Reporter Out, or HARO, is free and there aren’t premium plans. All you have to do is sign up for HARO, select your function (reporter or source), and start using the platform. We recommend testing it, as it’s a great and atypical link building tool.
It’s far simpler than, let’s say, Semrush and all you need is expertise in your niche. In return, you’ll be able to receive several backlinks, usually from websites with an authority score of above 70 or 80.
5. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a household name in the link building industry. It offers a robust SEO suite with tools designed for intermediate and advanced users.
Ahrefs is often compared to Semrush with whom it shares many features but at a higher price.
In terms of backlink building, you’re looking at the Content Explorer page, which is a huge database with more than 9B pages. In a way, it’s similar to Semrush’s Link Building Tool where you can find hundreds, if not thousands of link prospects.
The goal is to search for the topic in your niche, find the websites you think will be good backlink sources, and reach out to them. Unlike Semrush, Ahrefs doesn’t allow you to do that directly, so you’ll have to use Semrush or Hunter to find an email from the site.
However, Ahrefs displays the domain ranking score, which helps decide whether the backlink you receive will be of exceptional quality. Ahrefs includes a load of other tools, such as rank tracking, site audits, keyword research, SERP comparison, competitive analysis, and others.
It’s also a benchmark for things like keyword difficulty and authority scores that Ahrefs estimates nearly perfectly. Pinned against Semrush, it’s pretty close to this extraordinary choice but this comes at an eye-watering price that increases exponentially.
Ahrefs starts at $83 a month for the annual variant of the Lite plan. This plan is still a tad limited, making Standard and Advanced plans at $166 and $333 a month better deals. Sadly, their prices are way higher and to make things worse, there’s the credit system.
Ahrefs requires you to have credits for pretty much every action within the app. This will often mean additional credit purchases on top of your subscription, resulting in an opulent experience. It’s not strange that Ahrefs competitors like SE Ranking and Semrush are more popular.
6. Moz Link Explorer
Moz is a reliable backlink builder with a tool called Link Explorer. The company has 44 trillion links in its database, allowing you to discover a heap of them in seconds. The tool lets you enter the domain address and get data immediately.
Granted, you’ll need a free account or better, a paid one to get more daily searches. This software lets you see information about domain authority, linking domains, inbound links, and types of backlinks like Backlink Analytics in Semrush.
However, we love the option to discover backlink anchors and direct URLs with the page authority. This way, you can find websites that link to your competitors and contact them for a quality backlink given that you can now see their page authority score.
Besides, Moz offers additional tools like Link Intersect, where you can compare your domain with 9 others to find new backlink opportunities. Like SE Ranking and Semrush, this is an all-around backlink builder with many carefully crafted SEO tools.
There’s competitive research with in-depth keyword research and on-page grader for the ultimate on-page SEO audit. Moz also includes the Rank Checker tool and updates keyword rankings daily, allowing you to stay on top of your game and monitor your site accurately.
Moz has a generous 30-day free trial, so you can enjoy it for 30 days for $0.00.
Its Link Explorer tool is also free but you’ll get only 10 daily searches. If you’re looking to unlock all of its features, the starting price is $79/mo for the Standard plan.
Again, we think the Medium plan is the top choice and it’s the most popular according to Moz. At $179 a month, it can track 1,500 keywords and search for 20,000 backlinks a month. Plus, it includes 2 user seats, which can be handy if you work in a smaller team.
7. BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is primarily a content marketing tool but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a reliable backlink builder.
Obtaining backlinks sometimes comes down to improvisation and BuzzSumo is here to help you find influencers interested in your content.
Of course, your content should be top-quality first so that the influencer will want to link to it. We use it to find influencers who share content from our competitors and reach them, for instance. BuzzSumo functions like Google Alerts thanks to its Brand Mentions tool.
It will alert you when someone mentions your website, which you can set up manually. You can also add specific keywords and BuzzSumo will alert you with each mention of the brand AND these keywords – pretty useful.
BuzzSumo is great for detecting backlink opportunities and reaching people willing to share your content. It can also be used for guest post opportunities on websites that mention your brand. We love BuzzSumo’s simplicity and unlimited searches in all plans.
Speaking of which, BuzzSumo starts at $159 a month for the annual payment. The Content Creation package includes 1 user seat, 2 custom alerts, and tools like question analyzer, content analyzer, and trending fees.
Its Suite plan at $399 a month is frequently purchased as well. It’s expensive but allows for 10 user seats, 10 alerts, and even things like YouTube analyzer, Slack integration, and many others. BuzzSumo can be expensive but it works like a charm. It’s all that matters!
8. Pitchbox
Pitchbox is one of our favorite link-building tools because it’s yet another all-rounder. It doesn’t come with robust rank-tracking options but you get the option to find backlink prospects, which eases the process of obtaining backlinks.
We like its broken-link-building page, where you can fix broken backlinks and prevent them from harming your SEO. Pitchbox lets you import prospects manually and use them to start backlink campaigns. It resembles Semrush’s Link-Building tool with a CRM-like interface.
Moreover, Pitchbox includes an outreach function, which means you can reach websites directly through the app! Pitchbox will provide you with contact information and offer various parameters, such as the domain authority score to determine your next step.
If the website is high in domain authority and is in your niche, you can contact the owner and arrange a guest post or a backlink. Finally, when you start a backlink campaign, multiple people can participate in it, so you can leave the task to your team members.
Pitchbox is one of the most powerful backlink software in 2024, so it’s not the cheapest. There are two plans – Professional and Enterprise.
The first is likely going to be your choice but just so you know, it starts at $495 a month for the annual plan.
This makes it the most expensive link building tool today. It allows for 5,000 outreach emails, which should be more than enough. Users can opt for 15,000 outreach emails at $745 a month and the Enterprise plan starts at $1,350 a month, which is unfathomable for many.
9. Respona
Respona is an intuitive link building platform for website outreach. It has a search engine that people can use for backlink opportunities discovery. Better yet, Respona allows you to select from a wide variety of campaigns, such as guest posts, product reviews, podcast outreach, skyscraper technique, and at least 10 more.
We love Respona’s dedication to the cause. For instance, its Skyscraper Technique is similar to the Backlink Gap because it lets you see the domains linking to your competitors’ articles.
Conversely, the Guest Post campaign allows you to find websites that accept guest posts.
Select your campaign and Respona will carefully guide you through the process. It’ll help you find backlink opportunities and additional contact information that you can use to send an email and get in touch with the website you want to work with.
Respona can even automate this process based on your website. It’ll automatically find backlink opportunities with contact info without hassle. The link building tool can also be used by teams and multiple users can work on establishing new backlink prospects.
Respona includes an AI that helps you personalize your emails and sound more professional. We know how handy can AI tools be, especially when they’re this capable (Semrush also has a few AI tools). To cut it, this is an impressive backlink builder.
Impressiveness costs money and Respona is no exception. Yes, it has a 14-day trial but once you decide to pay, you’re looking at the starting price of $399 a month. It allows for 5 email accounts with 300,000 data credits yearly.
This plan is unlimited in terms of number of campaigns, users, and sent email. Then, there’s the “real” Unlimited plan at $799 a month with unlimited email accounts and 600,000 data credits. This one includes priority support and 3 strategy sessions.
Bear in mind that Respona bills you annually, so multiply these prices by 12 and you’ll pay that much every year. Expensive, isn’t it? We’d much rather use Semrush whose link building capabilities are no less impressive for a two-times-lower price.
10. Ontolo
If you prioritize ease of use and want to use a simple backlink tool, Ontolo is a phenomenal option. It advertises itself as a time-saving tool with hundreds of backlink prospects at your hand’s reach. Ontolo uses around 80 sources for this purpose.
It checks all of them to find suitable backlink opportunities. Ontolo even allows you to upload your list of backlink opportunities and employ its hi-tech search functions to filter through the best opportunities promptly.
The platform is dedicated to discovering prospects not only for backlink building. It’s great for advertising, content production, social media, and even driving more sales to your brand. Ontolo’s interface is intuitive and you don’t have to be an expert to use it.
However, this isn’t a free tool but it’s affordable enough to make it worth your money. At the time of writing, it has 3 plans. The Pro plan is $97 a month, with 1M URLs in your index and 200,000 URLs per day. Then, there’s the Agency plan.
This one has 5M URLs in the index and allows you to discover 1M URLs per day at $297 a month. Ontolo offers a custom plan too but its price isn’t on the site, as the price is determined by your requests. All plans have a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Conclusion
Link building tools are essential for obtaining new backlink opportunities and prospering in the long run. They’ll directly help you rank higher and appear in SERPs, which will drive more visitors to the site and highlight your hard work.
Our team recommends Semrush as the most capable backlink builder. It offers everything you need, from a CRM-like link building tool with thousands of prospects to other features like keyword research, advertising tools, and social media monitoring.
Start a 14-day Free Trial on Semrush
SE Ranking is focused more on backlink analysis rather than discovering new opportunities. However, we found this tool useful for managing and improving our backlink profile while not breaking the bank. Other options on the list are stellar but slightly less awesome.
Moz and Ahrefs are reliable all-in-one tools, for example. However, if you’d like dedicated link building software, try Ontolo, Pitchbox, Hunter, or Respona. Just bear in mind they won’t provide you with additional SEO functionalities like Semrush or SE Ranking.
Semrush
