---
title: Backlinks and site audit
description: Review inbound links, run a technical crawl, and turn visible SEO issues into a safe improvement plan.
---

Backlinks and Site audit help you inspect off-site references and on-site technical problems from the same SEO workspace.

> **Conditional:** Both sections require an eligible analyzed target. Link and crawl data can be incomplete, and optional Lighthouse results depend on a successful page check.

## Entry path

Open a store project → **SEO** → **Backlinks** or **Site audit**.

## Before you start

- Publish and open the target storefront successfully.
- Complete the initial SEO analysis.
- Decide whether you need link context, a technical crawl, or both.
- Do not remove or redirect pages solely from an automated issue label; inspect the affected page first.

## Backlink controls and results

| Control or section | What it shows or does |
| --- | --- |
| **Backlinks** | Opens total links, referring domains, top domains, and top linked pages. |
| Follow / Nofollow view | Separates link types when the provider includes that information. |
| New / Lost history | Shows link changes recorded by the provider. |
| Broken backlinks | Lists links that appear to lead to an unavailable destination. |
| Spam score | Provides a provider signal for review; it is not proof that a domain is harmful. |
| **Ask Runner to audit these** | Opens a new Runner conversation with the saved backlink evidence and an audit request. It does not remove links or change the store. |

## Site-audit controls and results

| Control or section | What it shows or does |
| --- | --- |
| **Start New Audit** | Opens the crawl setup. It does not change the storefront. |
| Maximum-pages control | Limits how much of the public site the audit attempts to crawl. |
| **Include Lighthouse** | Adds supported performance, accessibility, best-practice, and SEO checks. |
| **Run audit** | Starts the configured crawl. |
| **Issues** | Lists grouped findings so you can open the explanation, recommendation, and affected pages. |
| **Pages** | Shows each crawled URL with status, title, H1, word count, image count, and response time. |
| **Fix all with Runner** | Opens a new Runner conversation with the saved audit evidence and a broad fix request. It does not edit or publish the store by itself. |
| Issue row | Opens why the issue matters, the recommendation, and affected pages. |
| **Fix with Runner** | Opens a new Runner conversation with the selected issue, affected URLs, and a fix request. It does not edit or publish the store by itself. |

## Run a focused audit

1. Open **Site audit**.
2. Select **Start New Audit**.
3. Choose a page limit appropriate for the public store.
4. Enable Lighthouse only when you need the extra page-quality checks.
5. Select **Run audit** and wait for completion.
6. Use **Issues** to start with high-impact findings, then use **Pages** to inspect the affected URLs and page-level data.
7. Open an issue and verify its affected pages manually.
8. Use **Fix with Runner** for one appropriate finding, or **Fix all with Runner** for a broad review request; both open a Runner conversation and require you to review any proposed work before accepting or publishing changes.

## Troubleshooting

| State | Meaning and next step |
| --- | --- |
| No backlinks | The provider found no link data for the target; this is not proof that no links exist. |
| Lost link | The provider no longer sees a prior link. Open the source and destination before acting. |
| Crawl failed | Confirm the public URL is reachable and not blocked, then run a smaller audit. |
| Lighthouse unavailable | Use the crawl results that completed and retry the optional check later. |
| Issue count is zero | No matching issues were returned by this audit; continue normal storefront review. |

## Related guides

- [SEO overview](./seo-overview)
- [Search performance](./search-performance)
- [Troubleshoot data and publication](./troubleshoot-data-and-publication)