The link building agency vetting checklist
Twenty-four checks on one printable page, with a scoring column for each agency you speak to. Take it into the call and fill it in as you go — the point is that four conversations become comparable instead of memorable.
Send me the checklist
One PDF, printable on a single sheet. We will also send the published pricing benchmarks so you can judge quotes against the market.
This is the only thing on the site behind a form. Everything else — the comparison table, the pricing data, the calculator and the fit quiz — is open, and the tools show their results before asking for anything.
01
Seven contract clauses
- Term and exit notice
- Ownership of content and prospect list on termination
- Replacement window for dead links
- Written quality criteria as a schedule
- Disclosed proportion of paid placements
- Page-level reporting specification
- Make-good if a campaign lands nothing
02
Eleven questions, with a scoring column
- What proportion of links involve payment to the publisher
- What disqualifies a site from a campaign
- Five live placements from the last 60 days
- Cost per link, and what is included
- Whether links point at pages you nominate
- How referring domains are reported at page level
- What happens when a link goes dead
- Who writes content, and whether you review it
- Minimum term and notice period
- Who owns the work if you leave
- What would make them tell you not to hire them
03
Six placement-audit checks
- Real organic traffic, not Domain Rating
- Publishes original editorial, not only outside contributions
- Fewer than about 40 outbound links on the page
- Topically relevant to your buyer
- Link still live at time of check
- Would you have been pleased to be featured there anyway
Every item traces back to a guide on this site if you want the reasoning: the contract clauses, the eleven questions and the placement audit.
Then work out what it should cost
Three inputs, published market bands, a budget range in thirty seconds.