Weekly Backlink Monitor: BuzzSumo to Google Sheets and Slack

Build me a deterministic code workflow that tracks new backlinks to my domain every week. Trigger: a cron schedule that runs every Monday at 6am in my local timezone.

Step 1: Call BuzzSumo's Search Backlinks operation for a configured root domain (make the domain a workflow input). Use the result set as this week's snapshot of backlinks pointing at the domain.

Step 2: Call Google Sheets Get Values on a configured spreadsheet ID and tab (also workflow inputs) to read the existing backlink log. The first column of the log holds source URLs that have already been recorded.

Step 3: Diff the BuzzSumo result set against the logged source URLs to identify backlinks discovered this week (URLs in the BuzzSumo response that are not already in the sheet). Deduplicate within the new set as well.

Step 4: Call Google Sheets Append Values to add one row per new backlink, with these columns in order: source URL, source domain, domain authority, anchor text snippet, evergreen score, discovered_at timestamp (ISO 8601, the time the workflow ran).

Step 5: Call Slack Send a Message to a configured channel (workflow input) with a single summary message. The message should include: the total count of new backlinks this week, a breakdown by domain authority bucket (high = 60+, medium = 30-59, low = under 30), and a link to the Google Sheet. If zero new backlinks were found, post a short message confirming the check ran with no new links.

This is a code workflow, not an agent: every step is a known operation with structured inputs and outputs, no reasoning or drafting is required. Keep the flow strictly deterministic.

Additional information

What does this prompt do?

Pulls a fresh list of every site linking to your domain from BuzzSumo each Monday at 6am.
Compares the list against your existing backlink log in Google Sheets so only links discovered this week are added.
Appends each new backlink as a row with source URL, source domain, domain authority, anchor text, evergreen score, and a discovered date.
Posts a single Slack summary to your SEO channel with the total count, a breakdown by high, medium, and low authority, and a link to the sheet.

What do I need to use this?

A BuzzSumo account with API access and the root domain you want to monitor.
A Google Sheets spreadsheet with a tab set up for the backlink log (the workflow can use any column layout you choose).
A Slack workspace and the channel where the weekly summary should be posted.

How can I customize it?

Change the schedule from Monday at 6am to any day or time that fits your reporting cadence.
Adjust the domain authority buckets (high, medium, low) or add filters so only links above a certain authority show up in the Slack summary.
Swap the Slack channel, change the message wording, or add tagged reviewers for new high-authority wins.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a paid BuzzSumo plan?

Yes. Backlink data is part of BuzzSumo's paid tiers, and you'll need API access on your account so the workflow can pull the list each week.

What if the same backlink shows up two weeks in a row?

It won't be added twice. The workflow reads the existing log first and only appends links it hasn't logged before, so the sheet stays a clean record of new finds.

Can I track more than one domain?

Yes. The simplest approach is to clone the workflow once per domain so each one writes to its own sheet tab and posts its own Slack summary. You can also extend a single workflow to loop through a list of domains.

How do I change which Slack channel the summary posts to?

The channel is a setting on the Slack step. Update it in the workflow editor and the next Monday's run will post to the new channel.

What if no new backlinks are found that week?

The workflow still runs and posts a short Slack message confirming there were zero new links, so your team always knows the check happened.

Weekly new backlinks tracker in Slack and Sheets

Additional information

Frequently asked questions

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