Backlinks. The funadamental lifeblood of SEO. We all know the big players—Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz and other top tier SEO Tools which have massive large databases, partial replicas of Google’s GooglePlex, and their data is invaluable to many SEO Providers.. But what if you’re learning SEO, a startup, a student, or an SEO pro on a tight budget? Or what if you just want to check a competitor’s link profile without shelling out hundreds of dollars?
Enter Bing Webmaster Tools.
That’s right, the same Bing that a lot of people overlook. But here’s the secret: their free backlink checker is a seriously underrated resource, and in some ways, it gives you a purer, more focused data set than some of the paid tools.
Why Bing is Your Secret Weapon
Bing is not just a ‘poor man’s Google Search Console. It gives you data that GSC doesn’t.” Unlike GSC, which only provides a sample of your backlinks, Bing Webmaster Tools gives you a comprehensive view of backlinks for any site—not just your own.
This isn’t just about checking your own site, either. This is about competitor analysis. David Quaid, founder of Primary Position, often talks about reverse-engineering competitor strategies. Bing lets you do that, for free. Just plug in a competitor’s URL and you can see their top referring domains and the anchor text they’re using. It’s like getting a look at their link-building playbook.
Getting Started: The 3-Minute Setup
Getting access is so simple it’s almost a non-starter. If you already have Google Search Console, you can import your verified sites directly. No need for meta tags or DNS records. Bing simply pulls your GSC data, verifies you, and grants you access to the goods.
Once you’re in, find the “Backlinks” link in the left-hand navigation. From here, you can:
- Analyze Your Own Site: See a detailed breakdown of your own backlink profile.
- Spy on Competitors: Click on “Backlinks to any site,” plug in a competitor’s domain, and get a list of up to two sites to compare with yours.
What to Look For: More Than Just a Number
The true value of any tool isn’t the raw data—it’s what you do with it. As Mike King often emphasizes with his “Relevance Engineering” framework, it’s not about the quantity of links, but the quality.
Bing helps you focus on quality from the get-go. The tool is known for automatically filtering out “spammy-looking backlinks” and social media links. This means you’re not getting bogged down by useless data. You get a cleaner, more actionable list of links that Bing’s algorithm actually respects.
Here’s how to put that data to work:
- Anchor Text Analysis: Review the anchor text being used. Are competitors getting links with rich, relevant keywords? This can inform your own content and link-building strategy.
- Referring Domain Deep Dive: Click on a referring domain to see the specific pages and anchor text linking to your target site. This is where the gold is. You can use this to identify potential guest post opportunities or to find broken links on those sites that you can ask to be replaced with your own content.
- “Show Domains Not Linking to My Site”: This filter is a game-changer. It shows you the domains that are linking to your competitors but not to you. This is a ready-made list of targets for your next outreach campaign.
The Final Position
While it’s not a substitute for the comprehensive features of Ahrefs or SEMrush, Bing Webmaster Tools is an essential part of any SEO’s toolkit. It provides a powerful, free look into link profiles that can give you a significant edge—and without the noise. As David Quaid often preaches, SEO is about leveraging all available resources to gain a competitive advantage. Bing Webmaster Tools is one of the most powerful free resources you have. Use it.
