Automate Backlink Monitoring: SEO Surveillance with n8n and Make.com

Backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors for Google. But who monitors whether your hard-earned links still exist? Or whether competitors are building new links? In this guide, we show you how to fully automate backlink monitoring.

Why Automate Backlink Monitoring?

Typical Problems: Potential impact: A lost link from a DA60+ domain can drop rankings by 5-10 positions.

Backlink Data Sources

1. Ahrefs API

The gold standard for backlink data:

Cost: From $99/month (API access in higher plans)

2. Moz API

Good alternative with Link Explorer:

Cost: From $99/month

3. SEMrush API

Comprehensive SEO suite:

Cost: From $119/month

4. Free Alternatives

Workflow 1: Daily Backlink Health Check

The Goal

Receive a report every morning:

• New backlinks (last 24h)
• Lost backlinks
• Links with issues (became nofollow, etc.)

The Workflow

Schedule Trigger (daily 7:00 AM)
        |
    Ahrefs API: Get backlinks
        |
    Compare with yesterday
        |
    Identify new links
    Identify lost links
        |
    Create report
        |
    Send email/Slack

Implementation with n8n

Step 1: Call Ahrefs API

// Node: HTTP Request
{
  "method": "GET",
  "url": "https://api.ahrefs.com/v3/site-explorer/backlinks",
  "qs": {
    "target": "your-domain.com",
    "mode": "subdomains",
    "limit": 1000
  },
  "headers": {
    "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_AHREFS_API_TOKEN"
  }
}

Step 2: Compare with previous day

// Node: Code
// Compare with stored data

const today = $json.backlinks;
const yesterday = $('Load Yesterday Data').item.json.backlinks;

const todayUrls = new Set(today.map(b => b.url_from));
const yesterdayUrls = new Set(yesterday.map(b => b.url_from));

const newLinks = today.filter(b => !yesterdayUrls.has(b.url_from));
const lostLinks = yesterday.filter(b => !todayUrls.has(b.url_from));

return {
  new: newLinks,
  lost: lostLinks,
  total: today.length,
  difference: today.length - yesterday.length
};

Step 3: Format report

// Node: Code
const report = 

# Backlink Report ${new Date().toLocaleDateString('en-US')}

<h2 class="text-2xl font-bold mt-10 mb-6 text-gray-900">Summary</h2>
Total: ${$json.total} backlinks
Change: ${$json.difference > 0 ? '+' : ''}${$json.difference}

<h2 class="text-2xl font-bold mt-10 mb-6 text-gray-900">New Backlinks (${$json.new.length})</h2>
${$json.new.map(l => - ${l.domain_from} - DR: ${l.domain_rating}).join('\n')}


<h2 class="text-2xl font-bold mt-10 mb-6 text-gray-900">Lost Backlinks (${$json.lost.length})</h2>
${$json.lost.map(l => - ${l.domain_from} - Was: ${l.url_to}).join('\n')}

;

return { report };

Step 4: Notification

Node: Slack
Channel: #seo-alerts
Message: {{ $json.report }}

Node: Email (optional)
To: seo-team@company.com
Subject: Backlink Report {{ $now.format('MM/dd/yyyy') }}

Workflow 2: Competitor Backlink Monitoring

The Goal

Get notified when competitors gain new backlinks - potential link opportunities for you.

The Workflow

Schedule (daily)
        |
    For each competitor:
      Ahrefs: New backlinks (24h)
        |
    Filter: Quality threshold (DR > 30)
        |
    Remove duplicates
    (links you already have)
        |
    Save opportunities to sheet
        |
    Send weekly digest

Define Competitors

// Node: Set
const competitors = [
  { domain: 'competitor1.com', name: 'Competitor 1' },
  { domain: 'competitor2.com', name: 'Competitor 2' },
  { domain: 'competitor3.com', name: 'Competitor 3' }
];

return { competitors };

Evaluate Opportunities

// Node: Code
// Calculate link opportunity score

const score = calculateScore(link);

function calculateScore(link) {
  let score = 0;

  // Domain Rating (0-100)
  score += link.domain_rating * 0.4;

  // Relevance (same industry)
  if (link.category === 'technology') score += 20;

  // Traffic of linking page
  if (link.traffic > 1000) score += 15;
  if (link.traffic > 10000) score += 10;

  // DoFollow bonus
  if (!link.nofollow) score += 15;

  return Math.round(score);
}

return {
  ...link,
  opportunityScore: score,
  priority: score > 70 ? 'HIGH' : score > 50 ? 'MEDIUM' : 'LOW'
};

Workflow 3: Broken Link Monitoring

The Goal

Detect when links to your site lead to 404 errors (e.g., because you changed a URL).

The Workflow

Schedule (weekly)
        |
    Get all backlinks
        |
    For each link: Check target URL
        |
    HTTP Status != 200?
        |
    Alert: "Set up redirect!"

HTTP Check

// Node: HTTP Request (for each backlink)
// HEAD request is faster than GET

{
  "method": "HEAD",
  "url": "{{ $json.url_to }}",
  "options": {
    "redirect": {
      "follow": false  // Don't follow redirects
    },
    "timeout": 10000
  }
}

Categorize Problems

// Node: Switch
const status = $json.statusCode;

if (status === 200) return { category: 'OK' };
if (status === 301 || status === 302) return { category: 'REDIRECT' };
if (status === 404) return { category: 'BROKEN' };
if (status >= 500) return { category: 'SERVER_ERROR' };

return { category: 'UNKNOWN' };

Workflow 4: Toxic Link Detection

The Goal

Detect harmful backlinks before they endanger your rankings.

Criteria for Toxic Links

Automatic Evaluation

// Node: Code
function isToxic(link) {
  const redFlags = [];

  if (link.domain_rating < 10) redFlags.push('Low DR');
  if (link.spam_score > 30) redFlags.push('High Spam Score');

  const toxicAnchors = ['casino', 'viagra', 'porn', 'gambling'];
  if (toxicAnchors.some(t => link.anchor.toLowerCase().includes(t))) {
    redFlags.push('Suspicious Anchor');
  }

  // Link velocity check
  if (link.links_from_same_domain > 50) {
    redFlags.push('Link Farm Pattern');
  }

  return {
    isToxic: redFlags.length >= 2,
    redFlags,
    recommendation: redFlags.length >= 2 ? 'DISAVOW' : 'MONITOR'
  };
}

Generate Disavow List

// Node: Code
// Create Google Disavow format

const toxicLinks = $json.filter(l => l.isToxic);

const disavowFile = toxicLinks
  .map(l => domain:${l.domain_from})
  .filter((v, i, a) => a.indexOf(v) === i)  // Unique
  .join('\n');

return {
  disavowFile,
  count: toxicLinks.length
};

Make.com Scenario: Backlink Alerts

Module Setup

Schedule -> Daily 7:00 AM

HTTP -> Ahrefs API (new backlinks)

Iterator -> Go through each link

Filter -> DR > 40

Google Sheets -> Save

Slack -> Alert for high-quality links

Email -> Daily digest

Aggregator for Digest

Iterator (all new links)
        |
    Array Aggregator
        |
    Text Aggregator (format report)
        |
    Send email

Google Search Console Integration

Free alternative for your own backlinks:

Set Up API Access

Google Cloud Console -> Create project

Enable Search Console API

Create service account

Download JSON key

Retrieve Backlinks

// Node: HTTP Request
// Google Search Console API

{
  "method": "GET",
  "url": "https://www.googleapis.com/webmasters/v3/sites/{{ encodeURIComponent('https://your-domain.com') }}/searchAnalytics/query",
  "headers": {
    "Authorization": "Bearer {{ $json.accessToken }}"
  },
  "body": {
    "startDate": "2024-01-01",
    "endDate": "2024-01-31",
    "dimensions": ["page"],
    "dimensionFilterGroups": [{
      "filters": [{
        "dimension": "page",
        "operator": "contains",
        "expression": "your-domain.com"
      }]
    }]
  }
}

Dashboard with Google Sheets

Sheet Structure

Automatic Charts

With Google Sheets you can automatically create:

• Backlink growth over time
• DR distribution
• Anchor text cloud
• Top referring domains

Alert Configuration

Slack Alerts

// High Priority: Immediate
if (link.domain_rating > 60) {
  // Immediately to #seo-alerts
  await sendSlackMessage('#seo-alerts', High-DR Link: ${link.domain_from} (DR${link.domain_rating}));
}

// Medium Priority: Digest
if (link.domain_rating > 30) {
  // In daily report
  digestLinks.push(link);
}

// Low Priority: Just log
// Save to sheet, no alert

Email Digest Template

<h1>Backlink Report - {{ date }}</h1>

<h2>New Backlinks ({{ newLinks.length }})</h2>
<table>
  <tr><th>Domain</th><th>DR</th><th>Anchor</th></tr>
  {{#each newLinks}}
  <tr>
    <td>{{ domain_from }}</td>
    <td>{{ domain_rating }}</td>
    <td>{{ anchor }}</td>
  </tr>
  {{/each}}
</table>

<h2>Lost Backlinks ({{ lostLinks.length }})</h2>
...

Cost-Benefit Analysis

Investment

ROI

Best Practices

1. Focus on Quality

Not every backlink is equally valuable:

• DR > 50: Immediate alert
• DR 30-50: Daily digest
• DR < 30: Weekly report

2. Understand Context

// Analyze link context
const isEditorial = !link.sponsored && !link.ugc;
const isRelevant = link.category === yourCategory;
const hasTraffic = link.traffic > 100;

const qualityScore = (isEditorial ? 30 : 0) +
                     (isRelevant ? 30 : 0) +
                     (hasTraffic ? 20 : 0) +
                     (link.domain_rating * 0.2);

3. Keep Historical Data

// Save snapshot every day
const snapshot = {
  date: new Date().toISOString(),
  totalBacklinks: backlinks.length,
  totalDomains: uniqueDomains.length,
  averageDR: avgDR,
  backlinks: backlinks
};

// Save to database/Google Sheets

Conclusion

Automated backlink monitoring gives you:

• Early warning system for lost links
• Competitor insights for new opportunities
• Protection from toxic links
• Time savings: 5-10 hours/week

Next Steps

Choose tool: Ahrefs, Moz, or Google Search Console

First workflow: Daily backlink health check

Build dashboard: Google Sheets for overview

Expand: Competitor monitoring, toxic detection

We help you with SEO automation - from setup to ongoing operations.