The Link Building Checklist: Everything Before You Start

Most link building campaigns fail in the preparation phase.

Not because the outreach is bad. Not because the content is weak. Because nobody checked the basics before spending time and money on execution.

This checklist covers every phase of a link building campaign — from pre-launch setup through to tracking and reporting. Work through it in order. Do not skip sections.

Phase 1: Pre-campaign site audit

Before you pitch anyone a link to your site, make sure your site is worth linking to.

Technical health

[ ] Crawl your site with Screaming Frog — identify broken pages (4xx), redirect chains, and pages that return errors
[ ] Check your robots.txt — confirm you are not accidentally blocking important pages from crawling
[ ] Verify your XML sitemap is up to date — it should include all pages you want indexed
[ ] Check page speed — use Google PageSpeed Insights; target 70+ on mobile. A slow site loses referral traffic from links
[ ] Confirm HTTPS is active — links to an HTTP page on an HTTPS site can lose equity through redirect
[ ] Check for canonical issues — duplicate content can dilute the link equity that arrives at your pages
[ ] Verify Google Search Console is set up — you need this to track impressions, crawl errors, and incoming links

Content quality check

[ ] Audit the page you are building links to — is it genuinely better than the top-ranking competitor for your target keyword?
[ ] Check word count — is it comprehensive? 1,500+ words for competitive keywords is a baseline
[ ] Check for thin sections — does every section add value, or are some just padding?
[ ] Update statistics and data — outdated figures weaken your pitch and your content's credibility
[ ] Ensure the page loads correctly on mobile — editors will check the link before publishing
[ ] Check for broken internal links — a site that links internally to dead pages looks neglected

Phase 2: Competitor gap analysis

You need to understand what you are competing against before you build a single link.

[ ] Pull top 3 competitors for your target keyword using Ahrefs or Semrush
[ ] Record their Domain Rating / Authority Score and number of referring domains
[ ] Run a Link Intersect (Ahrefs) or Backlink Gap (Semrush) — find sites that link to competitors but not to you
[ ] Identify their top linked pages — what content type attracted the most links? (guides, tools, research, listicles)
[ ] Check their anchor text distribution — what anchors dominate? Branded, generic, keyword-rich?
[ ] Find competitor broken pages with backlinks — these are broken link building opportunities (use Ahrefs Best by Links report, filter 404 pages)
[ ] Record the minimum referring domains needed to compete in the top 3 for your target keyword

Phase 3: Anchor text analysis

Your anchor text profile needs to be natural before you add more links. Over-optimised anchor text is a penalty risk.

[ ] Export your full anchor text profile from Ahrefs or Google Search Console
[ ] Calculate your anchor text breakdown:
- Branded anchors (your brand name): should be 40–60%
- Naked URLs (yoursite.com): should be 10–20%
- Generic anchors (click here, read more): should be 5–10%
- Exact-match keyword anchors: should be under 10%
- Partial-match keyword anchors: should be under 15%
[ ] If exact-match anchors exceed 15%, adjust your outreach — request generic or branded anchors from new links until the ratio normalises
[ ] Plan your anchor text mix for new links based on the current profile — build toward natural distribution, not away from it

Phase 4: Setting targets

Vague goals produce vague results.

[ ] Set your target DR increase for the next 12 months (e.g., DR 38 → DR 50)
[ ] Set your target referring domain count for the next 12 months
[ ] Set a monthly link acquisition target — how many new referring domains per month?
[ ] Define the minimum DR floor for links you will pursue (e.g., DR 30+ only)
[ ] Define the minimum relevance standard — what niche / topic proximity do target sites need?
[ ] Identify 3–5 priority pages to build links toward first
[ ] Record baseline rankings for the target keywords on those pages — you need this to measure progress

Phase 5: Linkable asset checklist

People link to content. Not to service pages. Not to homepages.

Before you run outreach, confirm you have something worth linking to.

[ ] Your target page is genuinely useful — does it answer a real question better than anything currently ranking?
[ ] You have at least one of these asset types:
- Original data, survey, or research study
- Comprehensive guide (1,500–5,000 words)
- Free tool, calculator, or template
- Unique visual (infographic, custom chart, illustration)
- Controversial or contrarian take backed by data
- Curated resource list of genuine value
[ ] The asset has a clear "link to this because..." pitch — can you explain in one sentence why someone would link to this?
[ ] The asset is not behind a paywall or form gate — links go to accessible content
[ ] You have a canonical URL for the asset — consistent and clean

Phase 6: Prospecting checklist

Before adding a site to your outreach list, check every item below. Sending to bad prospects wastes your time and damages your sender reputation.

Domain quality checks

For each prospect, verify:

[ ] Domain Rating / Authority Score is above your minimum threshold
[ ] The site has real organic traffic — check in Ahrefs Site Explorer or Semrush. Avoid sites with under 1,000 organic visits/month unless there is a specific reason
[ ] The site is topically relevant — would a link from this site make sense to a human reader?
[ ] The site has real content — not thin, spun, or AI-mass-generated
[ ] The site has a real editorial team or identifiable author — anonymous mass-content sites are red flags
[ ] The site does not appear in known PBN lists — you do not want links from sites Google has already devalued
[ ] The site is indexed by Google — use site:targetdomain.com to confirm
[ ] The site's own link profile is healthy — not a link farm linking to gambling and pharma sites
[ ] The page you are targeting for a link is indexed and accessible

Contact quality checks

[ ] You have a real email address — not a generic info@ if possible
[ ] The email is verified — run it through Hunter.io or NeverBounce verification
[ ] You have the right person — editor, content manager, or webmaster. Not the CEO or intern

Phase 7: Email authentication and outreach setup

Skipping email setup is the fastest way to end up in spam folders.

[ ] SPF record is configured for your outreach domain
[ ] DKIM is set up for your outreach domain
[ ] DMARC policy is in place — at minimum p=none while you monitor
[ ] You are sending from a custom domain email — not Gmail or Outlook personal
[ ] Your sending domain has been warmed up — if it is a new domain, run a warm-up sequence for 3–4 weeks before sending cold outreach
[ ] Your outreach tool is connected and tested (BuzzStream, Mailshake, Instantly, or equivalent)
[ ] Tracking is configured — open tracking, click tracking, reply detection
[ ] You have set a daily sending limit — do not exceed 50–100 emails per domain per day until the domain is established
[ ] Your unsubscribe process is ready — respect opt-outs immediately

Phase 8: Outreach personalisation checklist

Per-email checks before you send any outreach:

[ ] The subject line is specific and under 50 characters
[ ] The opening line is unique to this recipient — it references something specific about their site, recent content, or audience
[ ] The opening does not start with "I hope this email finds you well" — delete this phrase from every template you own
[ ] The pitch explains the value to their readers, not just to you
[ ] The email is under 150 words — editors do not read essays
[ ] You are not attaching anything — attachments trigger spam filters
[ ] You have a clear, single call to action — not three questions, not a paragraph of options
[ ] You have checked the name spelling — getting someone's name wrong instantly destroys credibility
[ ] The email reads like it came from a person — no corporate language, no jargon, no sycophancy

Phase 9: Follow-up sequence checklist

[ ] Follow-up 1 is scheduled for day 5–7 after the initial send — short, direct, not passive-aggressive
[ ] Follow-up 2 is scheduled for day 12–14 — try a different angle or add new information
[ ] Maximum 2 follow-ups to a non-responder — three total emails maximum. Beyond that, you are spam
[ ] Replies trigger immediate removal from the automated sequence — do not let your system send follow-ups to people who already replied
[ ] Follow-up content is different from the original — do not just say "just checking in"
[ ] Positive replies are handled manually — do not automate your responses to interested prospects

Phase 10: Tracking and reporting checklist

You cannot improve what you do not measure.

Link tracking

[ ] Every placed link is logged — URL, anchor text, date placed, DR, referring domain, target page
[ ] Ahrefs alerts are set up for new and lost backlinks to your domain
[ ] Monthly backlink audit is scheduled — check for lost links, deindexed pages, changed nofollow status

Campaign tracking

[ ] Open rate is tracked per campaign — benchmark is 40%+
[ ] Reply rate is tracked per campaign — benchmark is 8–15%
[ ] Link conversion rate is tracked — replies that convert to links; benchmark is 20–30% of positive replies
[ ] Cost per link is calculated — time + tools + content costs / links acquired

Ranking and traffic tracking

[ ] Target page rankings are tracked weekly in Ahrefs, Semrush, or Google Search Console
[ ] Organic traffic to target pages is tracked monthly in GA4
[ ] Google Search Console impressions and clicks are reviewed monthly for target pages
[ ] DR progression is reviewed monthly — are you on track for your 12-month target?

Monthly report structure

[ ] Links acquired this month (count and average DR)
[ ] Links lost this month
[ ] Net referring domain change
[ ] Target page ranking movement
[ ] Outreach metrics (emails sent, open rate, reply rate)
[ ] Progress against monthly and annual targets
[ ] Next month's priorities

The quick-start version

If you are starting a campaign tomorrow and you need the minimum viable checklist:

Confirm your target page is technically clean and content is genuinely good
Know the DR and referring domain count of your top 3 competitors
Have a minimum DR floor for prospects (recommend DR 30+)
Verify email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
Have a real email address for each prospect (verified)
Write a personalised opening line for every single email
Set up a follow-up sequence at day 7 and day 14
Log every link in a spreadsheet from day one

That is the foundation. Build from there.

For the strategy behind the checklist, start with the link building plan guide. For the full range of tactics to execute once your setup is in place, the link building strategies guide covers everything.

And if you would rather have someone else run through this checklist and execute the campaign for you, link building services is the starting point.

Save this page. Run through it at the start of every new campaign. The campaigns that skip the checklist are the ones that report back in month three with nothing to show for the outreach.