How to Verify a Published Backlink

A campaign report can say a link was placed, but the source page may be missing, redirected or pointing somewhere unexpected by the time you review it. Verification means checking the public page itself and recording the exact state you observed. It does not mean that a link will improve rankings or that a search engine has indexed its source page.

Open the exact source page

Start with the full referring-page URL from the report. Check that it loads and that the link appears in the page content, not only in a search snippet, account dashboard or submitted profile preview. Record the final URL after redirects and the date checked. If the page is unavailable, record not verified and preserve any prior observation separately.

Check that the link points to the intended Exendia destination. Follow the link or inspect its target and record both the declared destination and the final URL after redirects. A homepage destination is not interchangeable with a service page or resource page.

Record context and link details

Save enough information for someone else to repeat the check:

• Referring page URL and referring domain.
• Destination URL as declared and after redirects.
• The surrounding sentence or page section.
• Anchor text, if present.
• rel attributes such as sponsored, ugc or nofollow, when observable.
• Date checked and the source of the observation.

Context matters. A relevant editorial link can help a reader reach a useful resource; a directory field, navigation link and paid placement are different kinds of references. Report what the page shows without assigning a third-party authority score as a quality verdict.

Keep publication and indexing separate

Use distinct statuses such as reported, visible, changed, missing and redirected. A submitted listing is not necessarily published. A visible link does not prove that Google crawled or indexed the referring page. If you need an index status, collect evidence for that exact source URL through an authorized Google workflow and keep it separate from backlink verification.

Search performance is another measurement. A link appearing before impressions change does not show that it caused the change. Preserve the observation dates and evaluate multiple explanations rather than attributing a result to one placement.

Google’s published spam policies describe link schemes intended to manipulate rankings. Keep reporting factual and review the purpose, context and disclosure of a placement instead of treating link count as the outcome.

For broader campaign planning, review Exendia’s link-building service. Its scope should define what counts as delivery, what evidence is provided, and how changed or removed links are handled.

Verification record

For campaign criteria and reporting context, see what to prepare before a link-building campaign and how to choose a link-building strategy.