Why is the number of backlinks imported using the SEOmoz API different than the number of links I see in the OpenSiteExplorer.com website?

Question: When I try to import backlinks into Backlink Monitor using the SEOmoz API I get fewer backlinks than OpenSiteExplorer.com shows for my website. I thought these two websites were the same. Why don’t I get all my backlinks?

Answer: These two sites do have the same data, but the API has some restrictions. The total links for a website shown in OpenSiteExplorer includes internal links, but Backlink Monitor only uses the API the request external links.

Additionally, the API only exports the top 25 links from each linking root domain. This means that, if the majority of the external links are coming from a small number of domains, the API only returns a small percentage of those links. This is a limitation of the SEOmoz API and is outside our control.