Link Building Playbook - Quick Reference Guide | Notion

The essential checklist version for daily use

🎯 Core Principles Checklist

[ ] Every link should pass the "would this exist without SEO?" test
[ ] Prioritize relevance over DR/DA metrics
[ ] Maintain 70-20-10 distribution (Natural-Strategic-Foundation)
[ ] Track link efficiency (ranking improvement ÷ links acquired)
[ ] Focus on entity authority, not just page authority

📊 Key Metrics to Track

Metric	Target	Check Frequency
Referring Domain Growth	15-20% monthly	Weekly
Link Velocity	(Current RDs × 0.15) + (Competitor Avg ÷ 10)	Monthly
Anchor Text Distribution	40% brand, 30% URL, 20% generic, 10% partial	Monthly
Link Efficiency Score	>0.5 position improvement per link	Per campaign
Referral Traffic Quality	>2 min time on site	Weekly
Link Decay Rate	<10% after 90 days	Monthly

🚀 Quick Campaign Launcher

Week 1: Foundation

Identify 20 link targets using Authority Hijack Method
Create superior resource (10x better than current top result)
Set up monitoring for brand mentions and relevant keywords
Begin social pre-warming of outreach targets

Week 2-3: Initial Outreach

Send Touch Zero value (no ask)
Wait 3-5 days
Send Touch One with relevant insight
Track opens/responses