Why do 0 back links show for my website in Open Site Explorer?

[Grateful_Monk]

I've read and understand that all back link tools results will vary from one another but Open Site Explorer and some others find 0 linking to my site. Webmaster tools show 46 back links. Is this because they are all "no follow"? I'm trying to get a grip on SEO but am very confused from the get go.

Thanks, Todd

[ErinMcCaul]

Hi Todd,

Thanks for writing in to Q&A! I know all of this can feel confusing sometimes, but don't worry! We're all in this together, and we're here to help!!!!

There could be a few things going on here. For starters, if your inbound links are "no follow," then we won't follow them. That could cause a problem.

It could also be that we don't have your inbound links in our index. One way to test this is to find a URL that you know is linking to you, and put it in OSE. If it doesn't show up there, it definitely means it's not in our index.

If you ever need more help, you can always reach out to us as help@moz.com!

Have a great rest of your week!

Cheers!

Erin