How Can Moz Backlink Checker Help Identify Toxic or Spammy Backlinks?

Backlinks are vital for SEO, but not all links are good for your site. Some backlinks—especially from low-quality or spammy websites—can hurt your rankings. That’s where the Moz Backlink Checker comes in. It helps you uncover harmful backlinks and maintain a clean, strong link profile.

What the Moz Backlink Checker Does

The Moz Backlink Checker scans your entire backlink profile and assigns each referring domain a Spam Score, which predicts the likelihood that the linking site could be penalized by Google. It also shows:

Linking domain authority (DA) – a measure of the domain’s SEO strength.
Anchor text distribution – to detect over-optimized or keyword-stuffed anchors.
Follow vs. nofollow ratio – a natural mix helps reduce red flags.
Link sources and destinations – for spotting patterns of manipulative links.

How Moz Helps Detect Toxic or Spammy Links

Spam Score Analysis
Moz’s Spam Score uses 27 factors (like low site trust, thin content, and over-optimized anchor text) to calculate link quality. A high score (above 60%) signals potentially toxic backlinks.
Domain Authority Comparison
The Moz Backlink Checker helps you compare linking sites’ Domain Authority (DA). Backlinks from domains with very low DA or unrelated niches can indicate spam.
Anchor Text Monitoring
If too many links use exact-match commercial anchors, Moz flags them as suspicious—helping you spot over-optimization risks.
Link Source Review
The tool lists all referring domains, so you can manually review shady sources such as link farms, hacked sites, or irrelevant blogs.
Toxic Link Removal Guidance
Once harmful links are identified, Moz lets you export them for cleanup or disavow through Google Search Console.

Why Regular Backlink Audits Matter

Running frequent checks with the Moz Backlink Checker ensures your backlink profile stays healthy. Removing or disavowing spammy links prevents penalties and maintains steady SEO growth.

Final Thoughts

The Moz Backlink Checker is not just about counting links—it’s about understanding their quality. By tracking Spam Score, DA, and anchor text, you can protect your website from SEO risks and build a trustworthy link profile.

Explore the full open-source version here: Moz Backlink Checker on GitHub and start analyzing your backlinks today.