Since the demise of Yahoo Site Explorer, we have reviewed many Site Explorer alternatives to helping you review and analyze backlinks to any given website.   If you are looking for a backlink checker, we have put together our scoring matrix of features in a backlink explorer to better help you decide which tools are worth spending time on and adding to your arsenal.  We’ve run across many tools we were previously unfamiliar with, and there will surely be more to come!   Analyzing back-links has never been so easy, so you can now check your backlinks with ease once you decide on which tools are right for you.

We feel that this list at SiteExplorer.co is one of the most accurate and complete picture available on the Internet of all the possible Site Explorer varieties available, and we hope that this will help you find exactly what you need for your marketing, SEO, and backlink checking and analyzing needs.

Site Explorer Rankings

The following Site Explorer Alternatives have been reviewed on the site to date:

SEO SpyGlass
Open Site Explorer
Ahrefs
Link Research Tools
Web SEO Analytics 
SEO Attack 
Majestic SEO Site Explorer
Blekko
Link Diagnosis
Linkdex

In addition, if you are the webmaster of a given domain you’ll want to consider these backlink explorer tools:

Google Webmaster Tools
Bing Webmaster Tools

Please stay tuned for a full feature matrix and scoring based on our findings thus far on all the backlink checkers.   Backlink analyzers come in all shapes and sizes, but not all are created equal.  Our goal is to analyze the analyzers and to save you time and money when making up your mind on which tools you wish to use in your marketing needs.

Site Explorer Tool Summary

SEO SpyGlass – Software based tool, but they offer a Free version that lets you check up to 1000 backlinks.  It can scan results from many search engines and aggregate the results in an easy to use interface that runs on your machine.  One of the best tools out there for backlink checking.  Although it is not a web based, it is easy to install and you can get going in minutes.  Their backlink explorer is one of the best tools in the business and has earned our coveted five star rating.

Open Site Explorer –  Feature rich web based tool run by SEOMOZ.  They offer site comparisons, reporting, and even social media tracking in the PRO version.  You can get a free 30 day trial for full account access.   They allow you to explore and analyze backlinks to any website of your choosing.

Ahrefs - Well established tool that provides up to 500 results per report on a Free account, and 100 queries per day.  Reasonable fees for upgraded accounts.  Unique features to them include .gov/.edu tracking, backlink trending over time, CPC value, and overall keyword volume.  Their wholistic approach to SEO and backlink analysis is well worth a look.

Link Research Tools - Uniquely uses combined knowledge from 53 sources and  22 link backends to create a well rounded view of known backlinks for a given domain or URL.   Includes social media support for  Facebook, Twitter and others.  Broad range of options available with affordable price points.   This backlink checker is worth a close look.

SEO Attack - Great tool that uses SEOMOZ Open Site Explorer link database to show results, but in a different way, and with a different price point, including Free account levels as well.  You really have to register to get much use out of their GUI.   They have a very useful explorer option where you can browse the internal links of a page by link juice, or browse a URL by external linking domains and their inbound link juice.   It also has a very handy anchor text view.

 Web SEO Analytics – Very useful tool that pairs up nicely with a data feed from Majestic SEO Site Explorer.  They offer a host of tools for a full suite of features that rivals many of the other backlink checker tools out there.  The free interface allows a review of the backlinks to a given website or page, although the paid version is really where you will see the best results.

Majestic SEO Site Explorer - They have one of the largest and most complete databases of online web links with fresh daily updates.   No free option unless you are the site owner, and then you are likely better off with Google or Bing Webmaster Tools.

Blekko - Up and coming search engine company that is very transparent about the uncovered links and back-links.  You must register for an account, but visibility into their data is free of charge.   Uses custom search syntax keywords, but easy to pick up.  Offers a duplicate content detection engine which can be useful for back-link analysis.

Link Diagnosis - Similar to Yahoo Site Explorer and uses the SEOMOZ Open Site Explorer data set.   It is Free of charge and theoretically there is no limit on the number of backlinks they will show, although you’ll get the most out of it if the Firefox toolbar is installed.

Linkdex - Designed as a general SEO Toolkit for tracking, optimization, and link analysis.  They are not a strong contender compared to other Site Explorer options, although you may find some of their features useful such as the project management.  Many parts of their service are not Free.

With that, we leave you with the Top 10 results!  If you still have not found what you are looking for in the backlink checking tool list, have a look around the rest of the pages on the site and I’m sure you will come across some other tools that may be more to your liking.   Remember, we are always reviewing additional tools, so feel free to stop by again to check on our updates, and bookmark this site for easier reference.