If you want to rank well in organic search, you need links.
Google has told us as much, revealing that links are one of the top 3 ranking factors.
Quality links increase the overall authority and trustworthiness of a page.
Quality links to multiple pieces of content regularly can increase domain-wide rankings with time.
Not too long ago, creating links went through a few dark seasons where almost every link we built was boring and spammy. No personalized email, content not needed, and only a dab of brand mentions.
Link building was all about quantity instead of quality.
But then the term “link building” began to transform.
We heard new terms like link earning, link giving, link acquisition, and relationship building.
Link earning is about building relationships, being a part of a community, and developing content ideas that are actually worth sharing.
This emphasis on quality, meaning, and engagement has restored balance to the link building universe.
But you also need a diverse link profile.
That’s where this link building checklist comes in.
What follows is a recap of everything we will discuss in our link building guide so far, with tasks broken down by month and week.
Rather than rehashing all the same information again, I’ve provided links to the relevant chapters of the guide so you can get more detailed information about whichever topics interest you the most.
Happy link building!
Do Not Pass Go Without Technical SEO
Ask yourself these questions:
- What happens when you build links to a poorly built website?
- Can you rank a website based on backlinks alone?
This might be a me problem, but I’m willing to bet that I’m not the only one that leans to “nothing” and “no.”
The colossal pool that is search engines fills up with fast, mobile-friendly, clean websites.
Will Google rank your poorly designed website with high-quality backlinks?
Or, will Google rank your fast, mobile-friendly, clean website with high-quality backlinks?
Do the technical SEO work before you start to worry about backlinks. Or, work in tangent to get both done at the same time.
Plus, a webmaster is more likely to link back to your website naturally if it’s technically sound with a clean user experience.
Breakdown of Link Building Activities
I created this handy yearly calendar of all the link building activities listed in the chapters below.
Here is a link to the template. Please make a copy for yourself to edit.
Quarterly
Here are the link building tasks I complete monthly:
Backlink Audit
Export a full list of your backlinks from Google Search Console. Then, begin to manually review the sites, adding irrelevant, low-quality sites to your disavow file.
Update Disavow List
I always review my disavow file quarterly. It’s a good chance to remove sites or add more to the list.
Competitor Backlink Analysis
Every quarter, I pull the backlink data for three of my top competitors. I analyze the data and build a list of sites that would be good for my clients.
Monthly
These are the link building tasks you should plan to do every month:
Email Outreach
Depending on the size of the site, I aim to pitch at least 10 new sites per month along with maintaining my ongoing editorial relationships. This also includes emailing websites I’ve mentioned or linked to in my articles.
Brand Mention Monitoring
Set-up Google Alerts or mention tracking to review competitor mentions, brand mentions, and even your CEO’s mentions are a good place to start.
Guest Blogging
Writing authentic, high-quality guest blog posts is a great way to earn links. The goal is to build ongoing content relationships with editors to maintain a monthly contribution.
Content Syndication
If you’ve for really amazing content, like Larry Kim-worthy style content, you can work with publishers to syndicate content that you’ve already written. Win-win!
Testimonials & Reviews
Testimonials and reviews are an untapped link building activity that is easiest done monthly. If you provide a testimonial for another brand, you could gain a link back to your website. Spread the love!
Directories
Directories are not so outdated when it comes to gaining foundational links. After you’ve submitted your site, you still want to continue to monitor the NAP.
Affiliate Links
Growing a loyal, affiliate audience is another awesome way to start building links. Plus, your backlink’ers will add a little coin to their bank too!
Broken Link Building
An oldie, but a goodie! Broken link building is one of the quickest and easiest ways to gain backlinks. Finding a broken competitor link is like finding a burrito with your name on it!
Content
As we all know, content still reigns supreme. But, using ego bait, controversy, or data to create quality content that will generate backlinks naturally, is one of the best ways to use content to build links.
Charities & Events
Charities and events are another good way to build backlinks. By donating your time or money to charity, you’ll get lucky with a .org or .gov backlink.
And, with events, you could co-sponsor an event. Plus, you’ll gain access to other sponsors that make for quick wins.
Breakdown of Weekly Link Building Activities
Week 1 & 2
Link builder runs an internal backlink audit and competitor backlink audit to identify topics for different verticals of link building.
Week 3
Brainstorm article titles for creating content.
- Send article titles to the client for approval.
Week 4
Prospect link opportunities.
- Build out email templates for client approval.
- Find opportunities for co-citation.
- Outreach to 50 high-quality prospects.
Week 5
Start writing
- Get the client to review content.
Here is an example of my favorite link building spreadsheet.
