Your audience and opportunity
Create transparent client scopes and quality standards
Agencies offering link-building services.
An asset to develop: A client reporting template that distinguishes earned and paid placements.
Do not guarantee editorial placements or conceal purchased links and subcontracted tactics.
Develop a distinctive resource
An asset you could build and maintain: a client reporting template that distinguishes earned and paid placements. It should help agencies offering link-building services with create transparent client scopes and quality standards.
Approaches to consider
- A possible angle, when you have evidence to support it: Defining what an editorial outreach engagement includes.
- A possible angle, when you have evidence to support it: Building an evidence-based placement report.
- A possible angle, when you have evidence to support it: Reviewing a prospective publisher for audience relevance.
- Review rhythm
- Develop gradually as useful information, examples and editorial capacity become available.
- When to revisit
- You have new first-hand evidence, recurring reader questions or outdated material to improve.
- Evidence to watch
- The usefulness, originality and inspectability of the resource, including its sources and limitations.
Understand relevant publishers
Explore Relevant industry publications, Client partner networks, Specialist professional associations. Understand their audience and editorial needs before proposing a contribution.
Approaches to consider
- Read relevant articles and identify the specific need your resource could address.
- Keep notes on editorial guidelines, named contacts and contact preferences.
- Prioritise a real, relevant audience over placement volume or a third-party score.
- Review rhythm
- Keep a small, current view of the publications and communities in your field.
- When to revisit
- A publisher changes its coverage, contacts or guidelines, or you enter a new market.
- Evidence to watch
- Recent relevant coverage, the audience served and a specific reason your contribution would help.
Build relationships
A useful relationship can continue well beyond one campaign or mention. Contribute knowledge and respond to genuine requests without treating every conversation as a link opportunity.
Approaches to consider
- Join relevant conversations with specific, accurate information.
- Keep track of what a contact is interested in and whether they welcome further communication.
- Respect declines and no-contact requests; avoid bulk follow-ups.
- Review rhythm
- Ongoing, guided by mutual relevance and the other person’s preferences.
- When to revisit
- A contact asks for expertise or a development is relevant to an established conversation.
- Evidence to watch
- Substantive replies, useful exchanges and repeat invitations to contribute.
Contribute when useful
Make a specific offer that an editor can assess on its merits. Publication timing and editorial decisions belong to the publisher.
Approaches to consider
- Explain the audience need, share the live resource and point to its strongest supporting evidence.
- Disclose commercial relationships and let the editor choose wording and linking.
- Get permission for client details, quotations and images before sharing them.
- Review rhythm
- When a credible resource and a relevant editorial opportunity coincide.
- When to revisit
- An editor needs clarification, evidence or a correction. Editorial considerations: Do not guarantee editorial placements or conceal purchased links and subcontracted tactics.
- Evidence to watch
- Editorial feedback, accurate attribution and the relevance of any resulting coverage.
Maintain references and evaluate outcomes
Keep cited resources accurate and available. Evaluate useful discovery and business outcomes over time, including relevant mentions that do not carry a link.
Approaches to consider
- Maintain stable URLs and update facts, examples and source material when they change.
- Use a publisher’s correction process if a mention contains an error or broken destination.
- Review referral visits and enquiries across comparable periods, allowing for seasonal demand.
- Review rhythm
- Maintain the resource continuously and review outcomes when sufficient data accumulates.
- When to revisit
- A cited fact or URL changes, new reader questions emerge, or a sustained referral pattern needs investigation.
- Evidence to watch
- Accurate live references, relevant referral traffic and attributable enquiries where your analytics can support them.