Majestic – The Gold Standard for Backlink Analysis
Backlinks remain one of the most important ranking factors for SEO in 2023. The quantity and quality of backlinks pointing to a website have a direct correlation with where that site ranks in Google search results. This makes backlink analysis an essential part of any effective SEO strategy.
Of all the backlink analysis tools on the market, Majestic is consistently regarded as the gold standard. With the largest backlink index and most in-depth data, Majestic provides SEOs the insights they need to evaluate competitor link profiles, identify link building opportunities, and monitor backlink growth over time.
In this comprehensive Majestic review, we’ll cover everything you need to know about using this powerful tool for backlink research and analysis.
Key Features and Benefits of Majestic
Here are some of the standout features and benefits of using Majestic for backlink analysis:
- The Largest Backlink Index – Majestic crawls the web and indexes over 1 trillion backlinks from over 500 million root domains. This provides the most comprehensive backlink data of any tool.
- Historic Index – Majestic stores historic link data and allows you to see the full backlink profile history of any site going back to 2006. This enables analyzing growth and filtering for new, lost, and historic links.
- Multiple Data Points – Majestic provides over 20 data points on each backlink, including anchor text, mozRank, trust flow, citation flow, and more. This detailed link intelligence helps identify the best link opportunities.
- Useful Link Metrics – Majestic has its own Link Explorer metric along with trust flow and citation flow, which are based on link authority and relevance. These metrics make it easy to identify impactful links.
- Flexible Filtering – With an array of filters, you can drill down into Majestic’s massive index to find the most relevant links for research and outreach. Filter by date, domain authority, trust flow, anchor text, and more.
- Competitive Link Comparisons – The comparison tool provides side-by-side views of up to 5 competitor domains so you can analyze which sites have the strongest backlink profiles in your space.
- Custom Reporting and Exporting – Majestic allows exporting backlink data to CSV/XLSX files and custom PDF reports containing exactly what you need for reporting and analysis.
In summary, Majestic offers the largest link index, richest dataset, and most powerful filtering to facilitate detailed backlink research and comparison. The actionable link intelligence Majestic provides is unmatched.
Majestic Index Size and Scope
The number one reason Majestic is the go-to backlink analysis tool is its massive index. Currently, Majestic has surpassed 1 trillion known backlinks, making it the largest link index of any tool on the market.
To discover new backlinks, Majestic crawls at least 300 million pages per day. This frequent crawling ensures the index stays up to date. The index contains backlinks from over 485 million root domains spanning the entire web.
In addition to the size, Majestic’s index contains remarkably comprehensive historical data. Their index dates back to April 2006, enabling 17+ years of backlink profile history.
For niche sites and younger domains that may not have over 1 million backlinks yet, this level of coverage ensures Majestic can provide insights no other tool can match. Even for the largest sites like Wikipedia and YouTube, Majestic has the fullest picture of historic links.
No sampling is used like with other backlink analysis tools. Majestic indexes actual discovered links. This complete picture is why so many experienced SEOs have come to rely on Majestic as their go-to backlink index.
The massive scale of Majestic’s index helps reveal:
- More referring domains – Helps identify more sites to reach out to for link building.
- More URL opportunities – See more pages and content to target for earning specific types of links.
- Historic trends – Analyze links gained and lost month-to-month going back many years.
- Competitive differences – Identify sites gaining more impactful links in your space.
Simply put, bigger is better when it comes to backlink indexes. The larger the index, the more insights it reveals. With the most complete and up-to-date backlink data, Majestic users can make data-driven decisions to build smarter link profiles.
Link Data and Metrics Provided by Majestic
In addition to index size, the richness of Majestic’s link data is what makes it so useful for SEO. Each backlink in the index is analyzed and tagged with over 20 data points. These data points allow filtering and sorting links by the factors that matter most for SEO.
Here are some of the key link data points provided:
- Anchor Text – The visible, clickable text of a backlink. This helps identify optimization opportunities.
- Linking Domain – The root domain where a backlink resides. Used for discerning site authority.
- First Indexed – The date a link was first discovered. Useful for isolating new links.
- Last Indexed – When Majestic last saw and recorded the link. Indicates if a link is live.
- mozRank – Moz’s LINK metric that predicts search ranking ability.
- Link Context – The surrounding text used to qualify relevancy.
- Trust Flow – A Majestic metric scoring root domain authority from 0 to 100.
- Citation Flow – Majestic’s 0 to 100 domain authority metric based on link relevance.
These attributes allow filtering Majestic data to isolate the types of links that matter most for SEO. Sorting by trust flow and citation flow highlights links from authoritative domains. Filtering by anchor text identifies links with keywords you’re targeting.
Majestic also applies its own Link Explorer ranking algorithm to score the relative strength of backlinks. Link Explorer is based on the premise that links from trustworthy sites on relevant topics are editorial votes that confer more authority to pages. This provides an alternate metric to Google’s PageRank for gauging link power.
By combining data filtering with Link Explorer, trust flow, and citation flow scores, Majestic users can drill down into the index to discover the most powerful links pointing to any domain. This level of link intelligence is incredibly valuable for identifying the best link building opportunities.
Comparing Competitors
One of the most useful applications of Majestic is comparing the backlink profiles of competitor websites within your space. The ability to compare link profiles side-by-side highlights sites with stronger rankings signals that are outperforming others.
With the Majestic Compare tool, you can analyze up to 5 competitive domains together. Link metrics like trust flow, citation flow, and Link Explorer are shown for each site along with the number of referring domains and backlinks.
Compare also produces Venn diagrams indicating how many linking domains are unique or overlapping between sites. You can further filter results by date range, trust flow threshold, and other criteria to see where the sites differ.
This competitive analysis reveals:
- Who has more (or fewer) overall backlinks in the industry
- Which domains have a higher concentration of followed, nofollow, or redirected links
- Where competitors are getting more links from high authority domains
- Who has gained more links recently
- Which sites have more keyword-optimized anchor text
Running link profile comparisons helps distinguish why some competitors rank higher than others. The site with more authoritative links in recent months generally outperforms. With this intelligence, you can model the winning links earned by rivals to close the gap.
Competitive backlink audits should be done quarterly to keep track of changes in your space. Over time, the trends revealed in Majestic will highlight successes and deficiencies to address in your strategy.
Link Index Filters in Majestic
One area where Majestic truly excels is the flexibility and precision of its filters. SEOs can apply complex filtering to isolate the most relevant links among billions indexed.
Here are some of the most useful filters for refining results:
Trust Flow – Exclude low quality links by setting a minimum threshold like Trust Flow > 30.
Citation Flow – Increase relevance by filtering for links from sites with higher topical authority.
Link Explorer – Focus on the most powerful links by setting a minimum Link Explorer score.
Domains Only – View referring domains without each individual link to simplify data.
NoFollow Links – Assess sites linking to you with nofollow attributes.
Redirects – Identify redirected links that may impact rankings.
Linking IP Addresses – Uncover paid links or private blog networks by IP patterns.
Link Text – See all links using a certain word or phrase in anchor text.
Link Context – Find links with surrounding content relevant to keywords targeted.
Date Range – Isolate new links gained, historic links, or date ranges like last 6 months.
Subdomain/TLD – Filter by second-level domains or top-level domains like .edu or .gov.
Index Status – Differentiate live versus dead links based on last crawl date.
With millions of data points at your disposal, the ability to narrow in on certain types of links is invaluable. For example, you can isolate high authority .edu links gained in the past 3 months with contextual relevance. The possibilities are endless.
This level of filtering precision paired with the massive link index is what enables Majestic users to answer critical questions like:
- What are the strongest recent links competitors have gained?
- Which high-quality domains can I reach out to for links?
- How many links now point to my site from exact match anchors?
- How has my brand link anchor text profile changed over time?
The flexible filtering makes it possible to dig into the data for actionable insights that would not be possible otherwise.
Reporting and Analysis Capabilities
Transforming link data into presentable reports and spreadsheets is a key part of monitoring SEO efforts and reporting to clients and management. Majestic offers excellent capabilities for formatting and exporting backlink findings in useful ways.
Link data for any domain can be exported in the following formats:
- Spreadsheet CSV/XLSX – Export backlink lists to Excel with data fields of your choosing.
- Backlink Profile PDF – Generates a professional looking PDF report detailing backlinks.
- Annotation Report PDF – Creates a PDF listing all pages on a site with link metrics.
The reporting tools are highly customizable, allowing users to select desired data fields for export. You can build client reports with filters for new links only, export trust flow scores, limit to brand anchor text, and more.
For communicating SEO recommendations, exporting PDFs from Majestic lends credibility. The polished reports quickly convey strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities found in the link analysis.
Clients appreciate visually digestible information. Generating backlink profile snapshots helps justify further investment in link building and optimization.
For internal use, analysts often prefer spreadsheet exports for sorting data and incorporating it into other documents. The XLSX exports integrate nicely with Excel allowing pivot tables and charts.
With its vast dataset and flexible reporting, Majestic answers the need for detailed yet consumable backlink analysis documentation. The exported reports and sheets unlock additional business value from the data.
Key Majestic Products and Pricing
Now that we’ve explored Majestic’s capabilities for backlink research, let’s look at the pricing and main product offerings.
Majestic has 4 key products:
- Majestic Site Explorer – The standard backlink analysis tool starting at $99 per month.
- Majestic Million – Backlink index of 1 million URLs for basic SEO. Just $49 per month.
- Majestic Enterprise – Premium package with multi-user support and white-labeled reporting.
- Majestic API Access – Tap into Majestic data from your proprietary apps.
Majestic Site Explorer
The core Majestic product most SEO professionals use is Site Explorer. This web-based application provides full access to Majestic’s backlink index and filtering for researching any domain.
With Site Explorer you get:
- Standard index filters like trust flow, link text, date, and more
- Competitive link analysis comparing up to 5 domains
- Sorting by trust/citation flow, Link Explorer, and other attributes
- Full data exports to spreadsheet and PDF reports
- Support for bulk domain analysis with upload/download
Site Explorer plans:
- Lite (formerly Majestic Million) – $49/mo for 1 million indexed URLs
- Standard – $99/mo for 5 million indexed URLs
- Plus – $249/mo for 30 million indexed URLs
- Enterprise – quotes available for larger needs
The Lite access allows peeking into Majestic’s data for smaller sites. But for professional SEO use, Standard or Plus is recommended. This provides the depth to properly analyze sites with millions of links.
Majestic Million
Majestic Million is the new name for Majestic Lite. This plan includes 1 million indexed URLs for just $49 per month.
Million works well for basic SEO tasks like:
- Keyword tracking for a few core terms
- Monitoring important competitors
- Seeing sample link data for new clients
- Analyzing smaller niche websites
For comprehensive backlink research, Million has limits. But it remains the most affordable way to access Majestic’s superior index. The plan is ideal for SEO agencies with clients on a budget.
Majestic Enterprise
On the upper end, Majestic Enterprise caters to large sites and SEO teams. This plan provides:
- API access to integrate Majestic data into other tools
- Priority 24/7 support and onboarding
- Multi-user accounts with mirrored dashboards
- Client reporting portal with white-labeled branding
Enterprise pricing is quoted based on expected monthly API calls and indexed URLs required. For companies doing SEO at scale, the ability to fully automate Majestic data flow is a major perk.
The white-labeled reporting dashboards also enable agencies to showcase Majestic findings nicely to clients. This plan option is designed for power users aiming to maximize the platform capabilities.
Majestic API
For developers and companies with custom workflow needs, Majestic provides API access starting at $1,250 per month.
The API allows programmatic access to search results so Majestic data can be used:
- Within proprietary tools and dashboards
- For automating reporting and alerts
- To display key metrics in other applications
- For syncing with database platforms like Google BigQuery
With an enterprise license, the API capabilities are robust:
- Make up to 5 requests per second
- No daily request limits
- Access full historical data since 2006
- Instant access to the latest data
For SEO agencies running multiple scripts and syncing complex systems, no data or speed limits is a major advantage compared to more restrictive APIs. The flexibility empowers data teams to build highly customized solutions.
Is Majestic Worth the Cost?
For professional SEO teams and agencies, the paid Majestic products provide immense value. The actionable link intelligence uncovered from Majestic typically results in positive ROI from ranking increases.
Compared to limited free backlink tools, Majestic is certainly more expensive. However, for serious SEO work, free tools lack the depth and filtering needed for impactful analysis. The data from Majestic is vastly more comprehensive.
Given the direct influence quality backlinks have on rankings and traffic, most find Majestic worth the monthly or annual payment. For enterprise sites and agencies managing an array of websites, the platform more than pays for itself in performance gains.
When choosing any software platform, you get what you pay for. In Majestic’s case, the premium pricing still represents a worthwhile investment for unlocking access to the web’s most authoritative dataset on backlink data.
Who Should Use Majestic for Backlink Analysis?
Here are the SEO professionals and organizations that gain the most from incorporating Majestic into their workflow:
- In-House SEOs – Majestic helps enterprise SEOs benchmark competitors, identify threats and opportunities, and track link velocity for large sites. The data aids in developing link earning strategies and reporting on organic growth.
- SEO Agencies – Agencies use Majestic to audit new clients’ backlink profiles and create roadmaps for improvement. Competitive research and reporting helps retain and expand accounts. Access can be shared across all client projects.
- Web Developers – Integrating Majestic API data into custom platforms allows developers to build robust SEO dashboards and tools leveraging the authoritative link index.
- Link Builders – Specialized link builders rely on Majestic to map out prospects, discover linked pages, and estimate the impact potential of outreach targets based on metrics like Domain Authority and trust flow.
- Paid Media Specialists – To maximize ROI, PPC and paid social experts analyze Majestic competitor links to locate relevant publishers and position new display/native ad placements.
- Content Marketers – When promoting content, analyzing competitors’ most linked pages in Majestic reveals content gaps and opportunities to attract backlinks. Contextual link data aids topic research.
- Gig Economy Workers – Freelance writers, link builders, researchers, and junior SEOs purchase individual Majestic access to complete client projects requiring backlink analysis. Access can transfer from contract to contract.
The actionable intel from Majestic enables each of these professionals to work smarter. For anyone involved in finding link prospects, creating content, building links, or analyzing SEO competitive forces, Majestic is incredibly valuable.
Comparisons to Other Backlink Analysis Tools
The backlink analysis software space has many contenders beyond just Majestic. However, for large-scale professional use, no alternative matches Majestic when you consider index size, retention period, and advanced filtering options.
Here’s how Majestic compares to other popular backlink analysis tools:
Ahrefs – Strong alternative with large index yet more limits on export sizes. More expensive for enterprise use.
Moz – Decent for smaller sites but index is just 35 billion links vs 1 trillion for Majestic.
SEMrush – Very small index size under 3 billion links. Affordable but lacks data depth.
OSE – Outdated interface but low cost. Very small index size under 1 billion links.
Linkody – Innovative prioritization of links by SEO impact but very small index size.
Ubersuggest – Free index of 3 billion links but with minimal filters and data lacking richness.
While Ahrefs offers stiff competition, their backlink index remains significantly smaller. And export limits make large-scale use more difficult than with Majestic’s unlimited reporting.
The other contender tools have strong features in certain areas. But their more restricted indexes hamper their utility for comprehensive analysis. They lack sufficient link volume data for drawing actionable conclusions, especially for larger sites.
For navigating the scale and complexity of modern link profiles, Majestic remains the most robust tool available. The combination of index size, rich metrics, and flexible analysis capabilities is unmatched.
Getting Started With Majestic
For those new to Majestic, the platform offers excellent onboarding resources to help get started:
- Interactive Tour – Highlights key features and filters to familiarize you with navigation.
- Knowledge Base – Well-organized support content answers common questions on using various tools.
- Blog – Regular educational articles and case studies showcase how to get value from Majestic.
- Webinars – The Majestic team hosts free webinars explaining tactics for research, outreach, reporting, and more.
- Help Videos – Short tutorial videos demonstrate how to use comparison, export reports, set filters, and other functions.
Majestic also provides top-notch email support for addressing issues accessing data or using specific platform features. Support agents typically respond very promptly during business hours.
For new users, watching the intro videos, browsing the knowledge base, and experimenting with filters accelerates the learning curve. The interface is intuitive but does provide extensive options. Learning best practices from experts helps maximize the capabilities.
Within a month of consistent use forresearch and reporting, most SEOs find themselves fully leveraging Majestic’s tools to enhance their workflow.
Majestic Browser Extensions
To further improve productivity, Majestic offers handy browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox enabling single-click access to backlink data.
The free Majestic toolbar adds:
- Lookup button to see Majestic metrics for any page with one click
- Page Analysis to see inbound link stats when browsing any site
- Quick Preview to view summary details without leaving the page
With these extensions installed, backlink stats for sites you browse are always one click away. The instant access saves time copying and pasting URLs into Site Explorer.
For power users, the quick lookup ability helps workflow immensely. Reviewing summary metrics onsite provides instant context without disrupting your browsing session. The extensions are highly recommended for frequent Majestic users.
Key Takeaways From Our Majestic Review
To recap our in-depth review, here are the key conclusions on how Majestic enables effective backlink analysis:
- Massive index with unmatched breadth of historic link data
- Precise filtering and comparison tools help isolate impactful links
- Link metrics like Link Explorer and trust flow identify authoritative backlinks
- Custom reporting and exports facilitate analysis and deliverable creation
- Pricing is very reasonable compared to the actionable insights gained
For serious SEO practitioners, Majestic provides the gold standard dataset and toolset for backlink-driven research. The platform delivers on the core need of SEO professionals to identify impactful link building tactics and benchmark performance against competitors.
In our view, no other backlink analysis tool offers the scope of data paired with useful metrics, filters, and exports available in Majestic. The company has rightfully earned its reputation among experienced SEOs as the leader for backlink intelligence.
For anyone seeking more visibility into how backlink profiles influence organic rankings, Majestic is a must-have platform. The monthly or annual fee consistently results in a high ROI from the SEO enhancements achieved from leveraging its data.
To learn more and trial Majestic yourself, visit Majestic.com to explore plans and take advantage of their free 7-day trial. Within a week of hands-on use, you’ll quickly grasp the enormous value Majestic provides for data-driven link building and competitor benchmarking.
