Moz Link Explorer, Keyword Explorer & MozBar Guide

Few SEO tools have shaped the way people talk about websites like Moz. Domain Authority, often shortened to DA, became a shorthand for “how strong is this site”, and countless link-building deals have been priced around it. Behind the score sits a full toolset: Link Explorer for backlinks, Keyword Explorer for keyword research and MozBar, a free browser extension that shows metrics as you browse.

This guide explains what each tool does, how to use it step by step, and where its limits are. You will see what Domain Authority really measures (and what it does not), the free allowance, a summary of Moz Pro plans and a clear view of when paying for Moz makes sense. The numbers come from published reviews, so confirm current limits on Moz’s own site before you buy. If you are comparing several backlink tools, our guide to the best backlink and domain authority checker tools puts Moz alongside its main rivals.

What Moz Offers at a Glance

Tool	What it does	Best for
Link Explorer	Shows backlinks, linking domains, anchor text, Domain Authority, Page Authority and Spam Score	Backlink audits and competitor link research
Keyword Explorer	Suggests keywords and scores them for volume, difficulty and opportunity	Choosing topics and prioritising content
MozBar	Free Chrome extension that overlays DA and PA on search results and pages	Fast checks while browsing
Site Crawl and rank tracking (Moz Pro)	Finds technical issues and tracks keyword positions	Ongoing monitoring of your own site

Domain Authority: What It Is and What It Is Not

Domain Authority is a score from 1 to 100 that Moz created to predict how likely a website is to rank in search results compared with other sites. A higher score suggests a stronger link profile. Moz’s own guidance, as summarised by the agency RhinoRank, makes three points that every user should know.

It is not a Google ranking factor. Moz states that Domain Authority has no effect on search results, and Google has said third-party tools do not have access to its internal ranking data.
It is relative. There is no universal good or average score, so the useful comparison is with the sites that rank for your target queries and with your direct competitors.
It is not linear. Moving from DA 20 to 30 is easier than moving from 70 to 80.

According to the same source, Moz calculates the score with a machine learning model built mainly on its own link index, using inputs such as the number of linking root domains and the quality of those links. It replaced an older linear model with a neural network in the Domain Authority 2.0 release in 2019.

One more detail catches people out: your score can fall without anything changing on your site. Moz updates its index constantly, but your DA moves only when Moz finds new links to you, and because the score is relative, it can drop when other sites gain links faster than you do.

How to use DA sensibly

Use it as a quick filter, for example when judging guest-post or link opportunities.
Compare it among similar sites. A DA of 35 may be excellent in a small niche and weak in a crowded one.
Look beyond it. Check whether a site has real traffic, relevant content and natural-looking links before you accept it as a link source.
Never promise a client a ranking because of DA. It is a prediction, not a lever.

Moz Link Explorer: Backlink Research

Link Explorer is the heart of Moz’s offering for many users. You enter a URL and the tool queries Moz’s link index. According to a published overview of the tool, it reports the following:

Total backlinks and the number of linking root domains
The split between followed and nofollowed links
Anchor text distribution, which shows the words other sites use when linking to a page
Domain Authority and Page Authority, which are Moz scores rather than Google metrics
A Spam Score that flags links and sites that look risky
New and lost links over time

The same overview notes that Moz’s link index is large but not complete, and that no index covers the entire web. This is why two backlink tools report different link counts for the same site, and it is a good reason to cross-check important decisions with a second tool.

Free access

Reviews describe a free Moz account that needs an email address and includes about 10 queries per month. One review words it as 10 keyword queries and domain analyses a month, without splitting the allowance between tools. Ten lookups goes quickly, so use them on the pages that matter most, such as your own site and your three closest competitors.

How to run a backlink check, step by step

Sign in to your free account and open Link Explorer.
Enter your own domain and note your Domain Authority, linking domains and top linking sites.
Open the anchor text report and look for patterns. If one exact-match phrase dominates, that may look unnatural.
Check the Spam Score of your strongest and weakest linking domains so you can spot risks.
Repeat for a competitor. Look for links they have that you do not, such as industry directories, partners or editorial mentions.
Make a list of realistic targets. Start with relevant sites that link to several competitors but not to you.

Moz Pro adds Link Intersect, which automates that last step by finding sites that link to competitors but not to you. If link building is a priority, that feature is often the reason people upgrade.

What to do with the Spam Score

Spam Score is a warning light, not a verdict. A high score means a site shares characteristics with sites that were penalised, but it does not mean Google has penalised it. Review flagged links by hand, and think about asking for removal only where a link is clearly manipulative. Do not remove natural links just because a number looks bad.

Moz Keyword Explorer

Keyword Explorer helps you find topics and judge whether they are worth targeting. According to one review, it blends volume, difficulty and click-through potential into a Priority Score, and it estimates organic click-through rate so you can see how many searchers are likely to click rather than just how many search.

How to use it

Enter a seed keyword related to your business or product.
Review the suggested keywords and group them by theme.
Check difficulty and the Priority Score to find phrases with reasonable demand and manageable competition.
Look at the search results Moz displays to see who already ranks.
Save promising keywords to a list and map each one to a page you will write or improve.

Keyword tools differ in how they estimate volume and difficulty, so use Moz’s numbers to rank your options against each other rather than as absolute facts. Our guide to the top free keyword generator tools shows how to compare ideas from several sources.

MozBar: The Free Extension

MozBar is a browser extension that shows DA, PA and basic link data as you look at any page or search result. A review reports that it is free and has more than 700,000 active installs, with page-level link metrics and on-page analysis reserved for Moz Pro subscribers.

Useful ways to use MozBar

Search results analysis. Run a search for your keyword and see the DA of every site on page one. If most results have DA 70 and above and your site is DA 15, you know the competition is tough.
Link prospecting. Check a potential guest-post site in seconds instead of opening a separate tool.
Quick competitor checks. See a competitor’s DA and basic link counts while you read their page.
Spotting nofollow links. The extension can highlight link types on a page, which helps when you audit your own outbound links.

Moz Pro Plans and Pricing

Moz Pro is the paid suite that combines Link Explorer, Keyword Explorer, rank tracking and site crawling. One third-party review lists the following monthly prices. These can change, so use them only as a guide.

Plan	Price per month	Tracked sites	Keywords	Notable limits
Starter	$49	1	50	Limited Link Explorer
Standard	$99	3	300	Full Keyword Explorer and Link Explorer, MozBar premium
Medium	$179	10	1,500	Two seats, API access, custom reports
Large	$299	25	3,000	Three seats, priority support

The same review says annual billing can save up to 20 percent and that Moz offers a 30-day free trial without a credit card. Again, confirm these on Moz’s pricing page before deciding.

Moz Compared With Other SEO Tools

Question	Moz	Other options
Best known metric	Domain Authority (1 to 100)	Other tools use their own authority scores, so numbers are not interchangeable
Free access	About 10 queries a month plus free MozBar	Many tools give a limited number of free daily checks
Strength	Clear, simple link metrics and a long-established brand	Larger link indexes or bigger keyword databases in some rivals
Weakness	Free allowance is small	Some competitors cost more at similar levels

The right answer depends on your needs. If you mostly want to vet link opportunities and compare competitors, MozBar and the free account may be enough. If you manage several sites, need detailed rank tracking or want automated link prospecting, a paid Moz plan or a rival suite makes more sense. Our guide to the Ubersuggest review and keyword research workflow is a good option to compare if budget is tight.

A Practical Moz Workflow for a Small Site

Install MozBar and search for your main keyword. Note the DA range of the top five results.
Use one free Link Explorer query on your site and one on the closest competitor.
Write down three types of links the competitor has that you lack, such as local directories, supplier mentions or resource pages.
Use Keyword Explorer for a short list of related topics and pick two to publish this month.
Create content that earns links naturally, then ask relevant sites to reference it.
Review your progress after three months. Look at real traffic and rankings in Google Search Console, not DA alone.

Common Mistakes With Moz

Treating DA as a Google ranking factor.
Chasing a higher DA with low-quality links, which can hurt you if Google sees them as manipulative.
Comparing DA from Moz with another tool’s authority score as if they were the same metric.
Using up your free queries on random sites rather than priority ones.
Disavowing links without a clear reason. Moz’s Spam Score is a clue, not proof.

Using Moz to Vet Guest Post and Link Opportunities

Many site owners first meet Moz when someone offers them a link or asks for one. A short checklist keeps you from relying on DA alone.

Check the DA with MozBar so you have a quick baseline, but treat it as one signal.
Open the site and ask whether you would read it. Real articles, clear authors and a clear topic are good signs.
Look at the traffic trend in a separate tool. A decent DA on a site with collapsing traffic is a warning.
Check where the site links out. If every article links to casino, loan or pill sites, walk away.
Look at the Spam Score and the linking domains in Link Explorer if you have queries left.
Make sure the link will be placed inside useful content, not in a footer or sidebar.

Remember that Google does not use DA. A link is valuable because it is relevant, editorial and sends real readers, not because a third-party score is high.

Reporting Domain Authority Honestly

If you report on SEO for clients or managers, explain DA in plain words. A short line such as “Domain Authority is a Moz prediction of how strong our links are compared with other sites; it is not a Google score” saves a lot of confusion. Track it alongside real outcomes such as organic clicks, rankings for target keywords and leads, and show them on the same page.

A useful habit is to record DA once a month in a spreadsheet next to three competitors. Because the score is relative, what you want to see is whether the gap is closing, not whether the number alone goes up.

When Moz Is Worth Paying For

You do regular link audits and want Link Explorer without a small monthly query cap.
You want automated link prospecting such as Link Intersect.
You manage a few sites and want rank tracking, crawling and reports in one place.
You work with clients who expect DA in reports.

If you only check a few sites a month, the free account and MozBar are probably enough. Try them first, keep a list of what you could not do, and only pay if that list is long.

Limits of Moz’s Data You Should Remember

Every link database has gaps, and Moz’s is no exception. A review of Link Explorer notes that the index is large but not complete, and that it can miss links from new or obscure sites. That means a link you built last week may not show up for some time, and a competitor’s profile may include links Moz has not found.

Use more than one source for important decisions, for example Moz plus Google Search Console’s links report.
Do not panic if a new link is missing from Link Explorer. Check again in a few weeks.
Do not compare DA across tools. A score of 40 in Moz and a score of 40 in another tool are different measurements.
Keep screenshots or exports of your reports so you can see long-term change even when the index updates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Moz free to use?

Partly. MozBar is free, and a free account is reported to include about 10 queries per month. Full features need a paid Moz Pro plan, and a 30-day trial is reported.

Does Domain Authority affect Google rankings?

No. Moz states that Domain Authority is not a Google ranking factor. It is a prediction of how likely one domain is to outrank another.

What is a good Domain Authority?

There is no universal good score because DA is relative. Compare your score with the sites that rank for your target keywords.

Why did my Domain Authority drop?

DA is relative and based on Moz’s index. It can fall when other sites gain links faster than you do, even if your own link profile has not changed.

Is Moz better than Ahrefs or Semrush?

Each has strengths. Moz is simple and well known for DA, while rivals may offer larger indexes or more features. Try the free options and compare them on your own site before paying.

Final Thoughts

Moz remains a useful, approachable way to check links and plan keywords, as long as you understand what its numbers mean. Use Domain Authority as a rough guide for comparing sites, use Link Explorer to find real link opportunities and use MozBar to speed up everyday checks. Keep your attention on what actually matters: relevant content, earned links and measurable growth in your own analytics.

Sources used: RhinoRank, The ultimate Moz DA guide; Growthpedia, Moz Link Explorer overview; TechCognate, Moz Pro review.