7 Smart Ways to Use an External Link Extractor Tool

Introduction

Managing links on your website is more important than ever. External links—links pointing from your site to another domain—play a key role in SEO, user experience, and site credibility. A good External Link Extractor tool lets you quickly find, audit, and manage all outbound URLs. In this article, I’ll walk you through 7 powerful ways you can leverage such a tool—complete with practical advice and real-world examples.

1. Audit Outgoing Links in Bulk

With dozens or hundreds of web pages, tracking all external links manually is impractical. An extractor tool sweeps through your site and presents a complete list of URL, anchor text, rel attributes, and status (as shown on Megri Tools). megritools.com

Use this audit as the foundation to spot broken links, links to low-quality sites, or unnecessary nofollow attributes that could be hurting SEO Tools or trust.

2. Spot Broken or Redirected External URLs

External links can break or change over time. By regularly running an extractor, you can flag:

  • 404 (Not Found) external pages
  • URLs that now 301/302 redirect
  • Links to domains that no longer exist
    Then fix or replace them to avoid a poor user experience or penalty by search engines.

3. Check Anchor Text Diversity

Anchor text diversity signals to Google that your link usage is natural. Use the extracted list to:

  • Identify overused anchors (e.g. “click here”)
  • Enforce descriptive, varied anchor text
  • Ensure consistency with your site’s topical relevance

4. Review rel Attributes (nofollow, sponsored, ugc)

Any good extractor gives you the “rel” attribute associated with each external link. megritools.com

This helps you:

  • Confirm paid or affiliate links are tagged as rel=”sponsored”
  • Check user-generated content links (forums, comments) are appropriately rel=”ugc”
  • Ensure purely editorial links carry rel=”nofollow” if necessary

5. Generate External Link Reports for Clients

If you run SEO strategies for clients, a clean external link report is a strong deliverable. Use the CSV/Excel export options (available on Megri Tools) to present:

  • Number of outbound links per page
  • Top domains you link to
  • Status of each link
    These insights help clients see where improvements are possible.

6. Uncover Unwanted or Hidden Links

Sometimes themes, plugins, or ads sneak in external links without you realizing. An extractor reveals:

  • Links hidden in scripts, footers, or widgets
  • Links with minimal anchor text or hidden styling
    Once found, you can decide to remove or nofollow them to protect SEO.

7. Monitor Competitors’ External Linking Strategy

Many external link extractors aren’t limited to your own domain. Use them to scan competitor sites to see:

  • Which external resources they rely on
  • What types of sites they’re linking out to (blogs, tools, affiliates)
  • How they diversify anchor text and link placement

This intelligence can fuel your content, partnership, or outreach strategies.

FAQ

Q: How often should I run external link audits?
At least once per quarter, or after major site updates or content additions.

Q: Will this tool also show internal links?
No — an external link extractor focuses only on outbound (external) URLs. For internal link audits, you need a separate internal link crawler.

Q: Can I export the results?
Yes — Megri Tools supports CSV / Excel download of the extracted data.

Conclusion

An External Link Extractor is a deceptively simple but powerful SEO utility. Whether you’re cleaning up broken links, auditing attributes, or spying on competitors, it provides clarity and control over your outbound linking profile. Make link extraction a regular part of your site maintenance routine—you’ll preserve SEO value, user trust, and domain authority over time.