Anyone who link builds needs to keep track of their backlinks. There are several internet marketing tools available to SEOs, but at One Click Ventures we use Raven. I can’t speak on behalf of the rest of the office, but I love it.

The first thing you need to do is set up an account and add your websites/campaigns and users. At One Click, we do e-commerce, and Raven lets us easily set up an account for each store, as well as each link builder. I’ve tested out some other platforms, and from what I’ve seen, Raven the most organized.

Once you’re up and running, you’ll be taken to your dashboard. From here, you have access to everything. You’ll notice at the top that you can easily switch between profiles and websites.

The first thing I suggest to new Raven users is to poke around and get familiar with the interface. Raven does a lot, and it can seem overwhelming.  In the image above, you can see the main toolbar. Under each section are more options, and I’ve expanded them for you below. I ensure, in Raven they’re much cleaner.

 

Raven gives you the option to add Modules to your dashboard. These can monitor anything from your Google Analytics data to your social media accounts, and it can give you a breakdown of your link summary.

 

You can add as many modules as you want, or you can keep it empty; it’s up to you. Since each link builder has their own profile, you can add the only the modules you want to see. Once you have some data entered, your modules will become very useful.

 

Now you’ll want to add some links. There are two ways of doing this: adding links via the Raven website and adding links via the Firefox toolbar. To add links via the website, you can either add them one at a time or you can do a bulk import.

To add a link via the Raven website, make sure you’re in the Link Manager section. Near the top of the page, click the green “Add Link +” button. Clicking will take you to this page:

 

From here, you can add as little or as much data as you want. You can select the link owner and the status of the link (queued, requested, active, inactive, declined, or ignore). You can select a link type if you wish, and these can be added and customized by an administrator. Next, you input your link data: anchor text, link URL, tags, and a description. You can provide information about the linking website, such as the domain URL and the website type. When you’re finished adding information, click the green “Add Link +” button.

If you build multiple links, or add links at selected times, you may wish to do a bulk upload. Near the toolbar, click the “Import Data” icon.

Tip: Make a Raven template in the form of a CSV, based on the sample they give. Add your link information to the template before you import to be sure the information is uploaded correctly.

 

On this screen, you can import links via CSV files. Simply upload the file, select “link monitoring” if you want your links monitored (I always select this), and upload links. From here, you’ll be taken to a confirmation screen, giving you a chance to see the links again before you upload. If there are any links that are grayed out, this shows the link has already been added to Raven.

Raven also gives you the option of adding a link via a Firefox toolbar. Currently, there is no toolbar for Chrome (though I hope it’s coming soon…?). Uploading a link this way is easy if you’re browsing and spot an organic link and want to upload just that single link.

I came across a link to our site from The Sassy Stylista. With the page that has my link pulled up, and my Raven toolbar installed, I’m ready to add the link.

 

By clicking the globe button in the toolbar, I can select the store or campaign I’m working on. This is a link to AffordableScarves.com, so that’s the store I’ll pick. With the store selected, I’ll choose the “Add Link” button from the toolbar, the one that looks like a chain link.

 

Similar to adding a link via the website, a pop-up will appear and let you add data. Sometimes, the data is automatically pulled for you, but sometimes it isn’t. If it’s not, just manually enter it. Add all the data you wish, verify that it’s correct, then scroll to the bottom and select “Save.”

What would happen if the link has already been added? This can be an issue if your link building team has multiple people, but Raven catches this.

 

In reality, this link has already been added to Raven. So when I just tried to add it again, this pop-up appeared. It shows the information from when the link was added, as well as other links from the same website. If this really is an additional link, just select “Create New Link Record” and proceed.

Once you have some links under your Raven belt, you’ll see them show up in your Link Manager.

 

From here, you can search for links, categorize them a number of ways, export data, and so much more.

This is a very basic showcase of what all Raven can do. Check them out at raventools.com to learn more, and take advantage of their free 30 day trial! Raven offers tools for SEO, social media, and advertising.

Also, no one at Raven asked me/paid me to write this post. I just genuinely love them and their product.