If you’re starting from scratch on a link building campaign, there are a number of crucial considerations, from competition to available resources to your website’s linkability.
Basic planning goes a long way though, and can really help accelerate your link acquisition. Jumpstart your link building campaign design with these 22 questions from 7 professional inhouse link builders…
I sourced these campaign jumpstarts by asking this question:
“If a fellow SEO asked for help in developing a link building campaign, what questions would you ask them?”
These campaign jumpstarts are from our inhouse link building interview project.
Target SEO Keywords
- What are the key terms you want to be associated with your site? (3 similar)
- What are your link anchors?
- Can you long-tail any of those terms?
- What are your current rankings?
Market Intelligence
- What’s your target market + how competitive is it? (3 similar)
- What does your current link profile look like?
- Who is the industry leader for your target terms?
- Have you looked at what your competitors have that works?
Link Building Resources
- What is your budget? (2 similar)
- Is your on-page sufficiently automated so you can dedicate most of your time to linkbuilding?
- How much time will you be able to devote to linkbuilding
- Do we have a team of SEO copywriters.
- What resources do you have?
Prospecting for Link Targets
- Who are your link acquisition targets? (2 similar)
- What is the basis on which you plan to identify categories of sites, and specific sites within those categories, to target?
- What are your core MDKWs (market defining keywords)?
- Do you have a major brand or authority site partners?
Linkability
- What on-site assets do you require in order to maximize the chances of acquiring links for this campaign?
- What do you think the primary impetuous for those sites to provide a link to you, and is it realistic to think that the identified impetuous is adequate?
- What unique content offering can you offer these people?
Internal Communications + Influence
- How might other members of your SEO team (if it exists) and other units in your organization benefit your link building efforts?
- How much control do you have over your company website? If you have little, then this will be tough. I’ve worked for a company in which I had to fight for every little change.
Special Thanks to Our Inhouse Link Building Contributors
- The Inhouse Link Building Group Interview Project: 14 Answers (Aaron Bradley)
- In-House Link Building Survey (Phil Buckley)
- Gonzo (Inhouse) Linkbuilding Survey (Don Rhoades)
- In House Link Building Interview (Al Scilitani)
- Inhouse SEO Link Building Interview (Nadeem Anjum)
- Inhouse Link Building Interview: Dan London (Dan London)
- Inhouse Link Building Interview: Ross Hudgens (Ross Hudgens)
Other Articles in The Inhouse Link Building Series
9 Vital Tasks of the Inhouse Link Builder 4 Core Advantages of the Inhouse Link Builder




I love it when people ask themselves questions before they start building links. It makes their life a whole lot easier, and usually leads to much better results as well.
Some more questions that you could ask:
– What is your favorite website in your industry, and why?
– Which one of your competitors do you look up to, and why?
– What websites currently link to you, and why have they linked to you? Do you happen to know someone at one of these websites?
– What kind of content do you think is still missing in your industry?
– Which other industries are slightly related to yours, and could therefore be targeted during a link building campaign?
A good way to find relevant link partners is Linker, which today announced they are offering unlimited free matches. Read more here:
http://linker.eightfoldlogic.com/blog/
Erik, Linker content engineeer
Hi Garret, and thank you for structuring a tremendously useful article on how and where to focus ones thoughts when it comes to Link Building. Link Building, for me, has been hugely intimidating, however these guide lines certainly present a solid structure to begin with, work through, and follow. If that’s what the experts ask then so will I. Much Appreciation.
I am new to the world of link building. If anyone has any suggestions for finding do follow blogs for a highly specialized niche, let me know. Thanks for the good article. :sigh: