Find my backlink list and set up a monthly watch

Naming, storing and comparing the files

A find my backlink list only helps if the files can be compared without help. A clear naming rule and one folder per month do most of the work. Spend ten minutes on the rule now, because an hour of sorting later is worse. Then never rename them.

Use the same pattern for every domain and every call, so a plain sort lines the files up by month. Mixed patterns break sorting, and a broken sort is how last month's file ends up overwritten.

File names that sort

Put the year and month first, then the domain, then the call name, such as 2026-10 followed by the domain and refdomains. Zero-padded months sort correctly, and a name in that order reads like a log.

Avoid spaces and accented characters in names. Scripts handle them badly, and a failed copy can look like a successful one.

One folder per month

Create a folder for each month and copy the three files for each domain into it. A folder per month keeps last month untouched, so a diff becomes a comparison between two folders.

Mark the folder read-only once the month is closed, if your system allows it. A saved file that cannot be edited is a much stronger record.

A short changelog

Keep a plain text log in the root folder. Write one line per pull with the date, the domains and the calls made. A changelog lets you explain a gap in the series years later, when nobody remembers the reason.

Add the credit cost from each response to the same line, so the log doubles as the bill.

Record every change to the domain list in the same log, with the reason. A domain added in one month explains a jump in that month, and it saves a long search later. Keep the lines plain, so a script can read the log if you ever want an automatic summary.

Automating it

A cron entry on the first of the month is enough. Write the three curl calls into one shell script, add the month to each file name, and let it email you only when the new-domain count passes your threshold.

Authenticated responses include _credits with the cost and remaining balance, so the script can warn you before the balance runs low. Test it once by hand. Then forget it until the email arrives.

For a team, pair the monthly pull with the example thresholds, so everyone reads the same rule.

Keep the script boring. Plain curl, one loop over your domains, one folder per month. Boring scripts survive staff changes.

Handling a failed run

A failed run should leave last month's files alone and write one line to the changelog. The usual trap is a partial download: a file that exists but holds an error body looks like data at first glance. Check the size and the ok flag before it moves. Nothing reaches the monthly folder unchecked.

If the run fails twice in a row, check the key and the domain spelling first. The free overview call tests both at no cost, so a failure there tells you whether the problem is the setup or the paid call.

Keeping the watch inside a budget

A watch is cheap once you know the arithmetic. Each paid call is billed once, whatever the number of rows, up to 1,000 rows per call. Multiply the calls you make by their credit cost, then by $0.0001 per credit, and you have the monthly bill. Do that first.

Here is the arithmetic for three calls on one domain. refdomains, anchors and toppages cost 2 credits each, so six credits, which comes to $0.0006 for the month.

Estimating the monthly bill

Add one bulk_dr call for the newcomers at 1 credit, and the total rises by one more credit. The table on the thresholds page works out the ten-site case, so you can see how the figures grow with the list.

Keep the estimate in the same log as the pulls. A bill that drifts upward is easier to explain when the estimate was written down first.

Stopping before the balance runs out

Authenticated responses include the cost and the remaining balance. Read them in the script, compare the balance with next month's estimate, and warn yourself when the margin is thin. A response with ok set to false should stop the run before any file is saved.

An HTTP 402 means the balance has run out. Top up with USDT (TRC-20) from the account page, then rerun that month's calls rather than skipping the month.

What to do with the files

Open last month's and this month's refdomains files side by side and list the domains that are only in the new one. That list is your reading for the month.

Send the list through bulk_dr for a quick quality score, check the anchors file for any phrase that grew, and read the top pages for URLs you do not recognise. If everything looks ordinary, write one line in your log and close the tab.

If something looks wrong, open the runbook and the disavow decision table. The monthly pull costs a fraction of a cent, so the real cost is your attention.

Writing the monthly note

Write a short note at the end of each month. Name the domains, the new-domain count, the largest anchor share and the decision. Four lines are enough. A note written the same day is worth more than a long one written later.

Keep the note next to the files, not inside them. A future reader should find the decision in one place, with the numbers that justified it. That reader may be you, a year on, with no memory of the month.