Tools/Seo Tools/Backlink Snapshot

Backlink Snapshot Free Online - Link Footprint & Crawl Check

Run a free live domain snapshot that checks homepage link signals, robots and sitemap availability, social profile traces, and recent Common Crawl samples.

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About this tool

Full backlink analysis requires paid tools like Ahrefs or Majestic, which crawl and index the web's link graph. This tool doesn't attempt that - it's a different, narrower check: does a domain's homepage load, what does it link out to, is its robots.txt and sitemap reachable, and has Common Crawl's public index captured it.

That's useful technical and crawl-presence diligence on its own, but it's not a substitute for an actual backlink index if what you need is who links to a domain.

This tool fetches a domain's live homepage and reports its own outbound link footprint (internal and external links found on that page), checks whether robots.txt and sitemap.xml are reachable, lists social profile links found on the homepage, and checks whether Common Crawl's public index has captured pages from that domain. It does not check who links to the domain - there is no backlink, referring-domain, or domain-authority data here at all.

How to Use Backlink Snapshot

Add Domain

Enter the domain you are evaluating.

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Run Live Scan

The tool checks live homepage links, robots.txt, sitemap.xml, and free crawl signals.

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View Metrics

Review link counts, external targets, social profiles, and crawl samples.

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Check Anchor Focus

Search a phrase against the homepage's own outbound link anchor text - useful for spot-checking outbound partner links.

Common Workflows

Enter a Domain

Type the domain you want to check - no protocol needed, just the domain name.

Run the Snapshot

The tool fetches the live homepage, checks robots.txt and sitemap.xml, and queries Common Crawl's public index for that domain.

Review the Homepage's Own Link Footprint

See how many internal and external links the homepage itself contains, plus any social profile links found on it.

Check an Anchor Focus (Optional)

Enter a phrase in Anchor Focus to search it against the anchor text of the homepage's own outbound external links - not links pointing to the domain.

Best For

Fetches a domain's live homepage and counts its own internal and external outbound links - not inbound links from other sites.
Checks robots.txt and sitemap.xml reachability, lists social profile links found on the homepage, and checks whether Common Crawl's public index has any recent captures of the domain.
No login, no API keys - runs on live public fetches only, with no backlink index or paid data source behind it.

Examples

Snapshotting a domain with an accessible robots.txt and sitemap

Input

Domain: example.com

Result

Homepage Status 200, internal/external link counts from the homepage, Robots.txt: Available, Sitemap.xml: Available, plus any Common Crawl captures found for that domain

Every field reflects a live check against that one domain's homepage and public crawl records - none of it reflects who links to the domain from elsewhere.

Use Cases

Quick technical read before deeper research

Confirm a domain's homepage loads correctly and has robots.txt/sitemap in place before investing time in deeper diligence.

Checking a domain's own outbound link footprint

See what external sites and social profiles a homepage links out to.

Checking Common Crawl presence

See whether a domain has any recent pages captured in Common Crawl's public index.

Common Mistakes

Problem

Expecting a list of who links to the domain

Solution

This tool has no backlink or referring-domain data at all - it only shows the domain's own homepage links, not inbound links from other sites.

Problem

Treating the Anchor Focus feature as a backlink anchor-text check

Solution

It searches the anchor text of the homepage's own outbound external links - not the anchor text other sites use when linking to this domain.

Problem

Expecting a domain authority or domain rating score

Solution

No such metric is calculated - that requires an index of the web's link graph, which this tool doesn't have access to.

Problem

Treating a Common Crawl match as proof of backlinks

Solution

A Common Crawl capture only shows that Common Crawl has indexed a page from this domain - it says nothing about who links to that domain.

Problem

Checking a subpage instead of the homepage

Solution

The snapshot always fetches the domain's homepage - it doesn't accept or analyze a specific subpage URL.

Tips & Best Practices

Use this as a first technical pass, not a backlink source

Confirm the basics (homepage reachable, robots.txt/sitemap present) here, then use a real backlink index for actual link data.

Check your own site's real backlinks in Search Console

Google Search Console's Links report is a free, accurate source of your own site's actual inbound links - something this snapshot can't provide.

Use Anchor Focus to spot-check outbound partner links

If you're verifying that a homepage links out to a specific partner or resource with expected anchor text, this feature can confirm that.

Don't rely on Common Crawl results alone for competitive research

Common Crawl's index is a public snapshot, not a live, complete record - treat a missing capture as inconclusive, not as proof a domain lacks any web presence.

Limitations

No backlink or referring-domain data

This tool never determines who links to a domain - it only reads the domain's own homepage and public crawl records.

No domain authority or domain rating

No such score is calculated - that metric requires a proprietary link-graph index this tool doesn't have.

Homepage only, not the whole site

Link counts, robots.txt, and sitemap checks all reflect a single fetch of the homepage - other pages on the domain aren't crawled or checked.

Common Crawl coverage is partial and delayed

Common Crawl's public index doesn't cover every page or update in real time - a missing result doesn't mean the domain has no online presence.

Anchor Focus checks outbound links only

It searches anchor text used in the homepage's own external links, not anchor text used by other sites linking to this domain.

No saved history

Each snapshot is a one-time live result - previous domain checks aren't saved between visits.

Comparisons

This Snapshot vs. a Paid Backlink Index

Both are used in domain research, but they answer completely different questions.

	This Tool (Homepage & Crawl Snapshot)	A Paid Backlink Index (Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz)
What it shows	The domain's own homepage links, robots.txt/sitemap status, and Common Crawl presence	Who links to the domain, from where, with what anchor text
Data source	A live fetch of one homepage plus Common Crawl's public index	A proprietary, continuously-crawled link-graph index
Cost	Free, no account	Free tier (limited) to a paid subscription for full access

Which should you use?

Use this tool for a fast technical and crawl-presence check on a domain; use an actual backlink index when the question is specifically who links to that domain.

FAQs

The most common question is whether this shows who links to a domain. It doesn't - there's no backlink, referring-domain, or domain-authority data here. It shows the domain's own homepage: what it links out to, whether robots.txt and sitemap.xml are reachable, and whether Common Crawl has indexed it. For an actual list of who links to a domain, use a paid backlink index like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz, or check your own site's inbound links in Google Search Console.

Do I need API keys?

No. It runs on free public web signals and no-cost crawl data, so there are no API keys or paid subscriptions required.

Does this replace a paid backlink index?

No. It gives a practical free snapshot of link-related signals, not the full backlink depth you would get from a paid index.

Can I compare anchors?

Yes. Add an anchor focus to check whether matching anchor text appears among the homepage's own outbound links - not links pointing to the domain from elsewhere.

Does this show who links to my domain?

No. This tool only reads the domain's own homepage - its outbound links, robots.txt/sitemap status, and Common Crawl presence. For a list of who links to a domain, use a paid backlink index or, for your own site, Google Search Console's Links report.