Why Freelance SEOs need this
A client reads your monthly report, sees twelve hours of outreach activity and asks the only question that matters to them: where are the rankings? Nobody can guarantee a number one position, and Google says so itself, which means a freelance SEO specialist has to reset expectations with evidence rather than promises. Links are one of the few deliverables you can point at on a live page. The Backlink Checker / Verifier gives you two pieces of that evidence. Enter a client or prospect domain and it lists referring domains from SeoMods' own link index, strongest first, each with a 0-100 authority score. Then paste up to ten pages you know should link to the site, and each one is fetched live and reported with a status, anchor text, rel attribute and notes. That turns 'we placed a guest post' into a line the client can check themselves. Treat the list as what the index has observed so far, not a complete inventory. A dash on a row means that domain is not processed yet, not that the link is missing.
Freelance SEOs specific guidance
What to run before a pitch call
Type the prospect's bare domain, for example example-client.com, and read the cards: Referring domains, Listed below and Strongest authority. In the next ten minutes, run your own client the same way, then open the Link profile and note the share of domains with a followed link and the most common anchor texts. If the top anchors are all exact-match money phrases, that is a conversation worth having. None of this proves the links caused any ranking, and a small or new site may show a short list simply because the index has not reached it yet. Very large sites show a total without a list, so a count alone says little about quality. It is one domain per run, so a competitor is a separate run that you compare by hand.
Verifying the links you delivered
For outcome-based reporting, collect the URLs of the guest posts, resource pages and directory listings you delivered, such as example-blog.com/guides/link-building-basics, and paste them into the second field, up to ten per run, optionally with the anchor you expected. Each row shows status, source page, anchor text, rel and notes. A Live status with rel dofollow is a clean placement. Page unavailable, No link found or a note that the expected anchor was not found is something to raise with the publisher this week. Read the notes for noindex or a canonical pointing elsewhere. A live link does not prove the page is indexed or that any value passes, and the result only reflects the moment you ran it.
Recording the numbers for the monthly report
The tool keeps no history and has no export, so write the figures into your own report with the date: referring domains, strongest authority, pages checked and live backlinks. Next month, run the same domain and the same pasted pages again. Read the difference with care, because the index grows daily and a rise in referring domains may come from coverage rather than from new links. The live verification of your own placed pages is the steadier number to lead with. Free members can save the site under My sites and re-test a list of links by hand. Nothing here shows lost links, toxicity or a disavow need, and the authority score is SeoMods' own scale, not a Google metric or DA/DR.
Example scenarios
1. Guest post delivered, client doubts it
- Situation
- Illustrative example: A freelancer placed a guest post for a client's bakery supply shop 21 days ago, and the client's accountant asks what the retainer paid for.
- Input
- Domain: example-bakery-supply.com. Pasted page: example-foodblog.com/guides/bread-baking-equipment
- Reading the result
- If the row shows Live, anchor 'commercial proofing cabinets' and rel dofollow, it is a clean placement to quote with today's date. If it shows No link found, the publisher may have edited the post, so ask them before the next invoice.
2. Sponsored tag on a paid placement
- Situation
- Illustrative example: A freelancer bought a feature on a niche directory for a client and expects a normal followed link in the monthly report.
- Input
- Domain: example-physio-clinic.com. Pasted pages: example-directory.com/health/physiotherapy/example-physio-clinic and example-directory.com/health/physiotherapy/page-2
- Reading the result
- Pages checked would read 2. If the first row shows rel sponsored and the second shows Page unavailable with HTTP 404 in the notes, report one live but sponsored link and one dead page. Say plainly that the sponsored link is not a followed link.
3. Quick link profile for a new prospect
- Situation
- Illustrative example: A prospect with a four-year-old online course site asks for an audit and a retainer quote before any contract exists.
- Input
- Domain: example-course-site.com, with the second field left empty
- Reading the result
- Suppose the cards show 38 referring domains, 38 listed, and the strongest authority at 61 out of 100. If the Link profile shows most processed domains with followed links but one anchor text dominating, flag anchor mix as a topic for the kickoff call. Do not present it as a penalty risk.
Common mistakes
- Reporting the count as growth. Comparing referring domains between two months and calling the rise new links ignores that the index itself grows. Anchor the story on the pasted pages you verified live.
- Reading a dash as a missing link. A dash in the example link columns means that domain's pages are not processed yet. Use the pasted-page check to confirm a specific placement.
- Calling the authority score a Google metric. It is SeoMods' own 0-100 score and not Moz DA or Ahrefs DR. Never put it in a client deck as if it were a ranking factor.
- Pasting only homepages. A link lives on one specific page, such as a post or resource URL. Paste the exact page you placed the link on, or the check has nothing to find.
- Treating a live link as a ranking result. A Live status confirms the placement exists today. It says nothing about indexing, traffic or position, so keep promises out of the report.
Frequently asked questions
How do I show a client that a link I built is actually live?
Put the client's domain in the first field and the exact URL of the page that should carry the link in the second. The result gives a status (Live, Live with notes, No link found or Page unavailable), the anchor text and the rel attribute, fetched live at that moment. Copy those lines and the date into your report. It confirms the placement exists today; it does not show the page is indexed or that the link has influenced any ranking.
Can I use this as an SEO audit example for a prospect?
It covers one section of an audit: the link side. Run the prospect's domain, note referring domains, strongest authority and the most common anchor texts from the Link profile, then add your own findings from other checks. It will not give you a full audit, a competitor comparison or a toxicity verdict. Say in the report that the figures come from SeoMods' own link index, which is still growing, so a small site may look thinner than it is.
Why does my client's site show so few referring domains?
SeoMods' own link index is still growing, and no index sees the whole web. A new or small site may be missing or only partly listed, and an empty result does not prove there are no links. Verify a few pages you know link to the site using the second field; that check fetches each page live and does not depend on the list. Tell the client the list is what has been observed so far.
Can I track backlinks month over month for SEO client reporting?
Not inside the tool: there is no history, no lost or new link report, no scheduled report and no export. Record the numbers yourself with the date each month. Compare the pasted-page results first, since those are live checks. A rise in referring domains between two dates can come from the index growing rather than from new links, so word that line carefully. Free members can save a site and re-test their list of links by hand.
Does the authority score match Moz DA or Ahrefs DR?
No. It is SeoMods' own 0-100 score, and it is not a Google metric. Use it to rank referring domains within one run, for example to see which five are strongest. If a client asks for DA or DR by name, explain that these are different scales and do not convert between them. Treat the score as a sorting aid, not a promise of ranking value.
Reference: Google's guidance on hiring an SEO states that no one can guarantee a number one ranking and tells clients to ask what results to expect, in what timeframe, and how success is measured.