Updated monthly
Check backlinks for website moves, redirects and audits
A runbook for technical SEOs and developers: snapshot every link pointing at the URLs you are about to change, then diff the same data after launch. Our own index holds about 798.5 billion backlinks.
- Free overview and stats calls, no key
- Referring domains for 2 credits a list
- Top linked pages feed your redirect map
$ curl "https://archilinks.com/api.php?action=overview&q=nytimes.com&key=sk_live_..."
Checklist
Before any URL changes: the pre-flight list
- Export the sitemap, the crawl and the Search Console performance data for the last 16 months.
- Pull top linked pages for the old host and store the raw JSON with today's date.
- Pull referring domains and keep the count. It is your baseline for the diff.
- Mark every URL that has an external link as a must-redirect, however thin the page is.
- Write the redirect map from that list first, and from the crawl second.
- Test the map on staging with a status-code script, not by clicking.
- Freeze internal links to the old URLs. Update templates, menus and sitemaps in the same release.
- Book a re-pull for two weeks after launch and again at day 45, once our monthly refresh has landed.
What it is for
Where to check backlinks for website changes in a project
Four moments in a migration need link data. Each one has a page with the exact calls.
Scoping the move
Count referring domains per section so you know which folders carry the equity. See the migration checklist.
Building the map
Rank old URLs by the links they hold and send the top ones to their closest match. The redirect map recipe has the script.
Judging structure
Compare what internal links pass with what outside domains give you, in internal vs external link equity.
Watching after launch
Re-run the pull monthly and diff it. Scripts for that live in the API scripts page.
Three calls that make a baseline
Replace the key and the domain. The first call is free.
# free: DR, referring domains, backlink totals
curl "https://archilinks.com/api.php?action=overview&q=old-shop.com"
# 2 credits: the pages that hold the links
curl "https://archilinks.com/api.php?action=toppages&q=old-shop.com&per=1000&key=sk_live_..."
# 2 credits: who links to the host
curl "https://archilinks.com/api.php?action=refdomains&q=old-shop.com&per=1000&key=sk_live_..." > refdomains-2026-10-29.jsonCompare
Which call answers which migration question
| Action | Cost | Question it settles |
|---|---|---|
| overview | Free | Is the host worth a careful move, and how big is the link base? |
| toppages | 2 credits | Which old URLs must never return a 404? |
| refdomains | 2 credits | Who links to the host? Keep the list for the post-launch diff. |
| anchors | 2 credits | Do the anchors still make sense on the new URLs? |
| intersect | 2 credits | Which sites link to both the old and the new host, a sign the move is registering? |
| bulk_dr | 1 credit | Score up to 2,000 linking domains in one call to rank the outreach for fixes. |
How it works
From key to frozen baseline in four steps
Sign in and copy a key
Google sign-in only. The account page shows the key and the $100 starter credit.
Pull the old host
Run the three calls above. Save each response with the date in the file name.
Commit the files
Put the JSON in the migration repository. A diff in git beats a screenshot in a ticket.
Schedule the second pull
Our link graph refreshes about monthly, so a pull on day 3 is too early. Pick day 30 or later.
FAQ
Questions we hear before a migration
- How do I check backlinks for website sections before a migration?
- Call toppages for the host, 2 credits, and sort by the number of links. Anything with external links goes on the must-redirect list. Run refdomains next and save the file, because you will diff against it later.
- Can I check backlinks for a site I do not own?
- Yes. The data is public link data from our own crawler, so any domain works. That is how you size a competitor's equity or vet a domain you plan to buy, but you will not see its Search Console numbers.
- Will a 301 keep all the link equity?
- Google has said since 2016 that 30x redirects do not lose PageRank. In practice you still lose value when the target is irrelevant, when chains pile up, or when old URLs are left to 404. Match pages carefully.
- How fresh is the link data?
- The index is rebuilt roughly once a month, so a link added last week may be missing. For launch-day monitoring, use Search Console's Links report in addition to this data, then compare both after the next refresh.
- What does it cost to audit one site?
- Four list calls (toppages, refdomains, anchors, backlinks) cost 8 credits, or $0.0008. Overview is free. Even a hundred domains in a portfolio audit stay under a dollar, and the starter credit is $100.
- Is this a replacement for Ahrefs or Semrush?
- No. Those tools are fuller for keywords, rank tracking and daily crawling. This API is for link data at a low per-call price, which suits scripts, diffs and bulk audits more than dashboards.
- Do I need to code?
- Not for the free explorer or the Domain Rating box above. For migrations you want a script, but curl and a spreadsheet are enough. Examples are on the scripts page.