Last week Yahoo finally lay to rest the tool which has kept SEOs up to speed with the complexion of the web since 2005. Yahoo Site Explorer has been used by Search Marketers for more than 6 years as the authority on backlink profiles, indexed sites and tracking XML feeds, but from November 21st 2011 we will have to find a new favourite to feed our hunger for online info.
YSE had always been ahead of the game in their indexing of the web and was always open in sharing the data it had accumulated over the years. It was used as the source for many backlink tools across the internet that will now have to find a new source for their data if they are to continue to be useful.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Other great tools have sprung up and followed in YSEs footsteps, such as Open Site Explorer and Blekko which will now become ever more important in YSE’s absence. Whilst their data may not be quite as comprehensive at this stage, it is presented in exciting ways and gives users plenty to work with when analysing the World Wide Web in their
link buiding efforts.
Where Next?
So YSE’s gone. Where do we go now for our link data I hear you cry!
Well, as mentioned above, Open Site Explorer and Blekko are two well used platforms which offer great data and tools for backlink analysis. Majestic SEO also has a great index of sites but there are a number of other resources, free and paid for, which will help pull you out of your YSE mourning:
- Open Site Explorer – A free account will get you a limited amount of searches per day. Upgrade to a PRO account and you can get all the juicy link data you want!
- Blekko – A search engine with the facility to hunt down link data using the (search [domain] /SEO) command.
- Bing Webmaster Tools – The named successor for YSE, though data will be limited to your own sites. It’s nice and free though.
- Google Webmaster Tools – Whilst it doesn’t have the integration of YSE like Bing, Google obviously has a mass of link data and indexed sites unlike any other. With the incorporation of Analytics data it is a vital source of information, both for links and other information.
- Majestic Site Explorer – Register for free and you can get reports for your own sites and site explorer summaries for any site on the web. A paid account opens up more data and analysis.
- Raven Tools – Raven requires a paid account, but offers a wide variety of SEO tools to give you your fill of link data and analysis.
All of these tools will help you continue your quest for a comprehensive analysis of the web, with each providing a slight twist depending on your needs. Choose wisely from them and, whilst your emotional yearning for Yahoo Site Explorer data may prolong for a little while yet, it can do so with plenty of link data in you back pocket.