Backlink Audit Template: Free Spreadsheet (2026)

What does the backlink audit spreadsheet look like?

The template is a single-sheet spreadsheet with 12 columns. Here’s the full column structure and what each field captures.

A backlink audit is the process of reviewing every inbound link pointing to your website, assessing its quality and relevance, and deciding whether to keep, reclaim, or disavow each link.

Column	Data Type	Source	Purpose
Referring Domain	Text (e.g., example.com)	Ahrefs/Semrush export	Root domain of the linking site
Source URL	Full URL	Ahrefs/Semrush export	Exact page containing the link
Target URL	Full URL	Ahrefs/Semrush export	Your page being linked to
DA/DR	Number (0-100)	Ahrefs DR or Moz DA	Authority score of the linking domain
Anchor Text	Text	Ahrefs/Semrush export	Clickable text of the link
Link Type	Dofollow / Nofollow / UGC / Sponsored	Ahrefs/Semrush export	Whether the link passes PageRank
Toxicity Score	Number (0-100)	Semrush Toxicity or manual	Risk level (higher = more toxic)
Organic Traffic	Number	Ahrefs/Semrush	Monthly organic visits to referring domain
First Seen	Date	Ahrefs/Semrush export	When the link was first detected
Status	Live / Broken / Removed	Manual check or tool	Current state of the link
Category	Text (e.g., Blog, News, Directory)	Manual classification	Type of referring site
Action	Keep / Disavow / Reclaim / Monitor	Your decision	What to do with this link

Color-code the Action column: green for Keep, red for Disavow, yellow for Reclaim, gray for Monitor. This visual coding lets you scan hundreds of rows quickly.

What additional tabs does the template include?

Beyond the main audit sheet, the template includes 4 additional tabs for a complete backlink review workflow.

Summary Dashboard – Totals, averages, and distribution charts. Total referring domains, dofollow vs. nofollow ratio, DR distribution, anchor text distribution, and action breakdown (keep/disavow/reclaim/monitor counts).
Toxic Links – Filtered view of links marked for disavowal. Automatically generates the disavow file text in the format Google requires. See our disavow file template for the exact format.
Reclaim Opportunities – Broken or removed links worth recovering. Includes an outreach status column and email template reference.
Competitor Comparison – Side-by-side metrics for your domain vs. 3-5 competitors. Total backlinks, referring domains, DR distribution, and shared/unique domains.
Anchor Text Analysis – Anchor text distribution breakdown. Flags over-optimized anchor text profiles (if branded anchors are below 40%, that’s a risk signal).

How do you conduct a backlink audit step by step?

A full backlink audit takes 2-4 hours for sites with under 5,000 referring domains. Here’s the 7-step process.

Step 1: Export your backlink data

Pull your backlink data from two sources. First, Google Search Console (navigate to Links > External Links > Export). This gives you Google’s actual view of your links. Second, Ahrefs or Semrush (full backlink export with all available columns). Third-party tools typically find 20-40% more links than GSC alone (Diggity Marketing, 2026).

Step 2: Merge and deduplicate

Combine both exports into the template. Remove duplicate rows based on the Source URL column. If a domain appears multiple times (linking from different pages), keep all rows. Each link gets its own row.

Step 3: Add authority and toxicity scores

If your Ahrefs or Semrush export includes DR/DA and toxicity scores, map those to the template columns. If not, use Ahrefs’ Batch Analysis tool or Semrush’s Backlink Audit for bulk scoring. Sites with DR under 10 AND zero organic traffic go into the review pile immediately.

Step 4: Classify each link

This is the most time-consuming step. For each link, decide the Action:

Action	Criteria	Example
Keep	DR 20+, relevant niche, real traffic, natural anchor	Industry blog post linking to your guide
Disavow	Toxicity 60+, PBN pattern, hacked site, foreign spam	Auto-generated pages with exact-match anchors
Reclaim	Was valuable but now broken (404) or removed	DR 50 site that redesigned and dropped your link
Monitor	Borderline quality, new link, uncertain intent	New directory listing you didn’t request

For profiles under 500 referring domains, review every link manually. For larger profiles, batch-classify using Semrush’s toxicity score as a first filter, then manually review anything scored 40-60 (the gray zone).

Step 5: Analyze anchor text distribution

A healthy anchor text profile looks roughly like this: 40-60% branded anchors (“your brand name”), 20-30% naked URLs, 10-20% generic (“click here,” “this article”), and under 5% exact-match keyword anchors. If your exact-match percentage is above 10%, it’s a risk signal (Backlink Grid, 2026).

Step 6: Generate the disavow file

For links marked “Disavow,” generate a .txt file in Google’s required format. Use domain-level disavow (domain:spamsite.com) for entire spam domains. Use URL-level disavow only when the domain has both good and bad pages linking to you. See our disavow file template for exact formatting and submission instructions.

Step 7: Set up reclaim outreach

For links marked “Reclaim,” send outreach emails to recover lost links. Use our broken link outreach template (Template 4 or 5) for this. Prioritize by DR. A lost DR 60 link is worth 10x the outreach effort of a lost DR 15 link.

Download the Backlink Audit Template

Get the Google Sheets template with all 5 tabs, conditional formatting, and built-in formulas for anchor text analysis and toxicity scoring. Download Free Spreadsheet

What mistakes do most people make during a backlink audit?

After running backlink audits for 40+ client sites, we see the same mistakes repeated. Mistake 1: Disavowing too aggressively. Some SEOs disavow every link with DR under 20. That’s a mistake. Many legitimate small blogs, local directories, and niche forums have low DR but send relevant traffic and signals. Google’s John Mueller has said repeatedly that most sites never need the disavow tool (Google Search Central, 2026). Over-disavowing can remove links that were helping you rank. Mistake 2: Only using one data source. Ahrefs and Semrush each miss links the other catches. Google Search Console shows links Google actually knows about but doesn’t give quality metrics. Use all three sources for a complete picture. Diggity Marketing’s 2026 audit guide found 20-40% more links when combining GSC with third-party tools. Mistake 3: Ignoring anchor text distribution. A site with 30% exact-match anchors is a penalty risk, even if every individual link looks fine. The audit isn’t just about link quality. It’s about profile-level patterns. Review anchor text distribution before making individual link decisions. Mistake 4: Auditing once and forgetting. Backlink profiles change constantly. New links appear, old links break, spam campaigns target your domain. Set a quarterly audit schedule. Sites that have been hit by penalties or are in competitive niches should audit monthly.

“The goal of a backlink audit isn’t to build the cleanest profile possible. It’s to understand what you have, protect what’s valuable, remove what’s dangerous, and recover what you’ve lost. We’ve seen clients lose 15% of their organic traffic because a single high-DR link broke during a site migration. That’s recoverable if you’re auditing regularly.” Hardik Shah, Founder of ScaleGrowth.Digital

Disavow File Template

Correct .txt format, when to use it, common mistakes, and how to submit to Google. Get Template →

Link Building Email Templates

Use Template 4-5 for broken link reclaim outreach from your audit findings. Get Templates →

SEO Proposal Template

Include backlink audit findings as part of your SEO proposal’s current state analysis. Get Template →

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

How often should you audit your backlinks?

Audit your backlink profile quarterly for active sites and after any significant ranking drops. Sites in competitive niches or those that have previously been hit by link-related penalties should audit monthly. A full audit takes 2-4 hours for sites with under 5,000 referring domains. For larger profiles, budget a full day.

What tools do you need for a backlink audit?

You need two primary tools: Google Search Console (free, shows Google’s view of your links) and either Ahrefs or Semrush (paid, provides DR/DA scores, toxicity analysis, and competitor comparison). Export data from both sources. GSC gives you Google’s actual link data. Third-party tools give you scoring metrics. Using both provides the most complete picture.

What makes a backlink toxic or low-quality?

Toxic backlinks typically come from sites with no real content, sites in unrelated foreign languages, link farms or PBN networks, hacked sites, and domains with DA/DR under 10 and no organic traffic. A link isn’t toxic just because the DA is low. Context matters. A relevant industry blog with DR 15 and real readers is better than a generic directory with DR 40 and no traffic.

Should I disavow every low-quality backlink I find?

No. Google’s John Mueller has stated that most sites never need to use the disavow tool. Google’s algorithms are sophisticated enough to ignore most spammy links automatically. Only disavow links if you have a manual penalty for unnatural links, or if you have clear evidence of a deliberate negative SEO attack. Over-disavowing can remove links that were actually helping your rankings.

How do I reclaim lost backlinks?

Lost backlinks fall into three categories: removed (the linking page still exists but your link was removed), broken (the linking page returns a 404), and changed (the link now points elsewhere). For removed links, email the site owner to ask why and offer updated content. For broken links, reach out with a replacement URL. For changed links, check if a redirect can recapture the value. Ahrefs’ Lost Backlinks report makes finding these straightforward.

Backlink Audit Template: Free Spreadsheet + Step-by-Step Process (2026)