How to Run a Link Audit: Steps for Velocity, Anchors & Relevance

A solid backlink profile should grow in a natural rhythm, use anchors that help users, and come from thematically relevant sources. In this hands-on tutorial, you’ll build a practical audit workflow to evaluate three pillars of backlink health: link velocity (new/lost trends), anchor text diversity, and topical alignment. Expect a compliance-first approach grounded in Google’s guidance, with clear decision points and troubleshooting for ambiguous signals.

Difficulty: Intermediate
Time: 2–6 hours for a full first audit (site size dependent)
Prerequisites: Access to Google Search Console and at least one third‑party link index (Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz, or Majestic)
Guardrails: Follow Google’s policies on link spam and link schemes; reserve the disavow tool for significant unremovable spam.

Note on “link velocity”: Google hasn’t documented link velocity as a ranking factor. Treat it as a monitoring dimension to spot suspicious patterns, not a lever to manipulate rankings. For background context, see the practical framing in the Search Engine Land link velocity guide.

Step 1: Collect and Normalize Your Link Data

Your conclusions are only as good as your data. Start by aggregating links across sources to reduce blind spots.

Export from Google Search Console (GSC):
- Open GSC > Links > Export “External links” (Top linked pages, Top linking sites, Top linking text).
- GSC is your baseline of links Google reports; it won’t include everything, but it’s authoritative for what Google currently sees.
Export from a third‑party tool:
- Use Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz, or Majestic to pull backlinks, referring domains, and anchors. Export at the page level and domain level.
Create a master spreadsheet or database:
- Consolidate columns: source tool, referring domain, linking URL, target URL, first seen date, last seen date, link type (follow/nofollow/sponsored), anchor text, and any topical/category metadata.
- Deduplicate by the linking URL and normalize URLs (account for canonicalization and redirects).
- Choose a common time frame (e.g., monthly bins) for velocity analysis.

Tip: Keep an audit log. Record decisions (e.g., “outreach sent,” “disavow prepared”) and evidence. This speeds up reconsideration requests if needed.

Step 2: Audit Link Velocity (New vs. Lost Over Time)

You’ll look for natural growth, explainable spikes, and concerning drops. Think of this like monitoring vital signs rather than chasing a number.

Build a time-series chart:
- Plot new and lost referring domains per week or month; apply a moving average (7–30 days) to smooth noise.
- Segment by link type (follow vs. nofollow/sponsored) and by source quality (you can use your tool’s domain metrics directionally, not as hard rules).
Interpret patterns with context:
- Natural signals: Moderate, steady growth; spikes tied to explainable events (new content launch, PR coverage, a viral post); diverse sources and anchors.
- Potentially unnatural signals: Sudden spikes without a clear event; surges from unrelated or low‑quality domains; anchors that heavily skew to exact‑match commercial terms.
- Negative velocity: A sustained increase in lost links. Investigate URL changes, deindexing, or site migrations.
Cross-check against events:
- Maintain a simple “campaign notes” log. If you see a spike, you should be able to point to a press hit, product release, or content launch. If you can’t, dig deeper.

Compliance reminder: Google’s spam policies on link spam explain manipulative patterns (buying/selling links, automated creation, excessive exchanges). Your velocity review should help surface clusters that might match those behaviors.

Troubleshooting:

Unexplained spike: Segment new links by domain quality and topical relevance; manually inspect a sample. If many are low‑quality or off‑topic, consider negative SEO or vendor activity. Initiate outreach; reserve disavow for unremovable, egregious clusters.
Lost‑link surge: Identify affected URLs; check migrations and canonical changes; implement 301s to relevant equivalents and monitor recovery.

Step 3: Audit Anchor Text Diversity

Anchors should help users and search engines understand the destination. Over‑optimized anchors are a classic risk signal.

Classify anchors:
- Branded (your brand name), URL/naked (example.com), generic (“learn more”), exact match (precise keyword), partial match (keyword variant), phrase/broad match, and image (alt text used as anchor).
- If you want a primer on types and best practices, the Moz anchor text overview is a useful reference.
Analyze distributions:
- For your key landing pages, calculate the proportion of each anchor category. You’re not chasing a fixed ratio; you’re looking for healthy variety.
- Red flags include a high concentration of exact‑match commercial anchors, especially from low‑quality or unrelated domains.
Verify anchor descriptiveness:
- Per Google’s guidance, make links crawlable and use descriptive anchors that reflect the destination content. See Google’s links and anchor text best practices.
Plan remediation if needed:
- Pause campaigns producing keyword‑stuffed anchors.
- Earn more branded, generic, and naturally phrased anchors through useful content and genuine editorial mentions.
- Request edits where possible; if links are clearly manipulative and unremovable, consider disavow (see Step 5 for criteria).

Tip: Context matters. A single exact‑match anchor on a highly relevant editorial page can be fine; dozens from low‑quality directories are not.

Step 4: Audit Topical Alignment (Domain and Page Level)

You’re checking whether link sources fit your site’s themes and whether the linking page’s content aligns with the target page.

Domain-level lens:
- Use your tool’s topical/category views or Majestic’s Topical Trust Flow directionally to see dominant categories for referring domains.
- Prioritize domains whose topical focus aligns with your site’s core themes.
Page-level context:
- Open the linking pages and skim the surrounding content, the section containing your link, and the anchor.
- Ask: Does this page’s subject matter genuinely complement the destination page’s intent?
Manual review for edge cases:
- Thin pages, irrelevant directories, template‑footer links, or off‑topic guest posts are frequent risk zones. Flag and sample review.
Synthesis and triage:
- High‑quality, topically aligned domains/pages: keep and cultivate.
- Off‑topic clusters or low‑quality sources: plan outreach to remove or nofollow; consider disavow only if clearly manipulative and unremovable.

Note: Topical alignment is nuanced. Don’t discard legitimate coverage from adjacent industries if the context is clearly relevant.

Step 5: Triaging Actions (Removal, Disavow, and Reclaiming Equity)

Act carefully and document everything. When in doubt, favor outreach and content improvements over aggressive disavow.

Outreach/removal first:
- For paid/sponsored links, ensure they use rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow" per Google’s link schemes policy.
- For manipulative or irrelevant placements, request removal or anchor edits and log attempts.
Disavow only when warranted:
- Use Google’s disavow tool if you have a significant number of spammy/unnatural links you cannot remove. Read the official guidance: Google Disavow Links.
- If you received a manual action, clean up and then submit a reconsideration request with evidence (see Google Manual Actions overview).

Preparing a minimal, precise disavow file:

Prefer domain-level entries for spammy networks you can’t prune link-by-link.
Include comments starting with # to document reasons.

# Unremovable spammy directory cluster
    domain:spam-directory-example.com
    domain:lowquality-pbn-example.net
    
    # Sitewide footer links from templated theme
    domain:templates-example.org

Reclaim lost link equity:
- If valuable links point to moved or 404 pages, implement permanent redirects to the most relevant equivalents and verify indexing.
- For a practical walkthrough, see this guide on mastering 301 redirects.

Tooling note: For planning content that earns naturally aligned links and maintaining topical consistency across clusters, you can use QuickCreator to outline and publish evergreen posts with SEO hygiene. Disclosure: QuickCreator is our product.

Step 6: Prevention and Policy Guardrails

Prevention reduces future cleanup. Establish simple rules and stick to them.

Content that earns links: Build topic clusters and evergreen assets that attract editorial mentions from relevant sites. For practical tips, review this primer on creating evergreen content that boosts SEO.
Qualify paid/sponsored links: Use rel="sponsored"/"nofollow" consistently; avoid keyword‑stuffed anchors in distributed content (press releases, guest posts).
Site hygiene: Keep a clean CMS setup, resolve 404s quickly, and ensure crawlable, descriptive internal links. See this CMS SEO best practices checklist.
Policy reference: Revisit Google’s spam policies on link spam and links/anchor guidance during quarterly reviews.

Step 7: Reporting the Audit and Setting a Monitoring Cadence

Turn your findings into a concise, actionable report—then keep an eye on the vitals.

Velocity snapshot: Include charts of new vs. lost referring domains (monthly), highlight explainable events and any suspicious clusters.
Anchor mix: Show distributions for key landing pages; note pages with over‑optimized anchors and your remediation plan.
Topical map: Summarize domain‑level categories and page‑level relevance notes; list priority outreach targets.
Action log: Document outreach, removals/edits, disavow entries (if any), and redirect fixes.
Cadence: Review monthly for active campaigns or quarterly for steady‑state sites. Maintain a “campaign notes” timeline to explain spikes.

Encouragement: If you’ve completed the first pass of velocity, anchors, and topical checks, you’ve covered the hardest part. The ongoing cadence is lighter and mostly verification.

Quick Troubleshooting Playbook

Velocity spike with no clear event
- Segment links by domain quality and topic; sample inspect. Outreach for removals where appropriate; avoid blanket disavow.
Over‑optimized anchors on a money page
- Pause campaigns that produce keyword‑stuffed anchors; earn more branded/contextual anchors; request edits; keep anchors descriptive per Google’s guidance.
Irrelevant backlink cluster from one domain or network
- Verify manipulative patterns (directories, spun content). Request removal; if uncooperative and clearly spammy, consider domain‑level disavow.
Conflicting counts across tools
- Sample‑verify links. Different tools have different crawl coverage; use multiple sources to reduce blind spots and retain GSC as a baseline.

Compliance References (for deeper reading)

Google Search Central: Spam policies on link spam
Google Search Central: Links and anchor text best practices
Google Support: Link schemes (paid/sponsored links)
Google Support: Disavow Links tool guidance
Google Support: Manual actions and recovery
Search Engine Land: What is link velocity?
Moz: Anchor text overview

By following this workflow, you’ll be able to identify unnatural velocity patterns, anchor over‑optimization, and topical mismatches, take compliant action, and set up a monitoring rhythm that keeps your backlink profile healthy over time.