Monitoring is part of the paid plans. To let you see it working first, a free account can start one trial, on one site, that lasts 7 days.
- Run a free scanThe report offers Try monitoring free under the summary.
- Start the trialPick the site, or paste its sitemap address on the Monitoring page. The first check starts within 5 minutes and records what is already there.
- Get the emailsThe site is then checked every day. You get a “now watching” email, and an alert if something new is flagged.
- It stops by itselfAfter 7 days the checks stop and you get an email saying what we found. Nothing is charged.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Do I need a card? | No. |
| How many trials? | One per account, on one site. |
| Does it use my link allowance? | Yes, a little. Only new or changed links are checked each day, and the allowance is your plan’s. |
| What happens at the end? | Monitoring pauses and the site stays on the Monitoring page. Choose a plan with monitoring to carry on. |
Why try it before you pay
A scan tells you what is wrong today. Monitoring answers a different question: what goes wrong next. Links expire, domains change hands and spam gets injected between your scans, and you only find out if somebody is looking. The trial lets you watch one real site for a few days before deciding whether it is worth a plan.
What you will see during the trial
- A first check that sets the baseline. It records everything already on the site, so you are only told about things that are new.
- A “now watching” email once the first full pass finishes, so you know it is working.
- A daily check after that. Only new or changed links are looked at each day, so it is quick.
- An alert email if a new link is flagged, with the reason and where it is, in the same priority order as your reports.
- A closing email when the trial ends, saying what was found while it ran.
Even a quiet few days is useful. A trial with no alerts shows that the site was checked and nothing new turned up, which is the result you want from monitoring.
Choosing which site to use it on
You get one trial, on one site, so choose the site where a problem would cost the most: the one that earns money, has the most outbound links or has been hacked before. A site with a large blog archive or many user-submitted links is a good candidate, because those are where unwanted links tend to appear.
When the trial ends
Checks stop by themselves and nothing is charged. The site stays on your Monitoring page, paused, with everything it found. If you decide to carry on, choose a plan that includes monitoring. If your site is larger than your plan reads, plan advice tells you the smallest plan that covers it.
Questions
Is a card needed to start?
No. The trial is for free accounts and doesn’t ask for payment details.
Can I try it on a second site afterwards?
A free account has one trial. To watch more sites, choose a plan with monitoring.
Will I be emailed too often?
You get an alert only when something new is flagged, plus the opening and closing emails. See monitoring alerts for what each email contains.
What if I don’t want an alert for a particular link?
You can ignore a finding so that it stops counting and stops being sent.
The scan report shows where to start the trial.
