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Link standards · Links & PR

White SEO is the foundation. Every link earns its place.

How we choose sites, check each placement and report it — for guest posts, niche edits, digital PR and outreach. The same rules for every client, market and budget.

Every siteapproved by you before writing[X] checksper site, read by a person[N] monthsfree replacement window
Site check[SITE]
Topic fitSame field
Organic traffic[X] / month · stable
Traffic from your market[X]%
Indexed pages[X]
Outbound links per article[X]
Editorial reviewPassed
Sent to you for approval[DATE]
Sample format. Not client data.
01 / The foundation

White SEO comes first. Always.

Every plan starts with work that search engines reward and readers can see. Nothing else is sold instead of it.

In every plan

The foundation is what rankings stand on

  • Technical health — a site search engines can crawl, render and index
  • Content that answers the query better than the pages above you
  • Editorial links from real sites: guest posts, niche edits, digital PR
  • Mentions in the lists, reviews and sources AI answers draw on
This page covers the links part of it: how sites are chosen, checked and reported.
Only on top, only with consent

Add-on methods

PBN, tiered and automated links, and traffic generation are separate services. They don’t meet the standards on this page — that is why they are kept apart: own scope, written risk disclosure, own line in the report.

How we handle add-ons →
02 / Site criteria

What a site needs before we offer it to you

Tools narrow the list. A person checks every site against six criteria before it reaches you.

  1. 01Topic fitThe site writes about your field or a close one. Its readers are people who could plausibly click through.
  2. 02Real organic trafficMeasured, not claimed: a stable or growing trend over the last 12 months, not a sudden spike.
  3. 03Your market and languageReaders in the country you sell to, in the language they search in.
  4. 04Editorial standardsNamed authors, edited articles, an editor who can say no. Not a feed of paid posts.
  5. 05A clean outbound profileA few links per article, to sources that make sense. No pages selling links on every topic.
  6. 06Indexed and visiblePages are indexed and the site ranks for its own topics — so a link on it can be found.
Declined

Sites we don’t offer, whatever their metrics

  • Sell links on any topic to anyone
  • Lost most of their traffic in the last year
  • Publish mostly sponsored content
  • Have no authors or editorial contact
  • Are not indexed or are blocked from search
  • Get their traffic from a market you don’t sell to
03 / Metrics we check

What we measure — and what we don’t trust alone

Third-party metrics are estimates. We use several, check them against each other and read the site.

Metrics checked for every site
MetricWhat we look atWhy it mattersOur threshold
Organic trafficMonthly estimate and the 12-month trendReal readers. A falling trend is a warning.[X]+ / month, stable or growing
Traffic by countryShare of visits from your target marketA UK link should have UK readers.[X]%+ from your market
Domain ratingAhrefs DR or Moz DA — a first filter onlyEasy to inflate. Never the only reason to choose a site.Tier: DR20+ to DR60+
Ranking keywordsWhat the site ranks for, and on which topicsShows what search engines trust the site for.Matches your topic
Outbound linksLinks per article, and where they pointToo many paid links dilute value and attract attention.Up to [X] per article
IndexationSite pages indexed; your page indexed after publishingA page that isn’t indexed passes nothing.Checked on placement
Content qualityRead by a person: authors, editing, ads, spun textMetrics can’t see quality.Pass or fail by an editor
Spam signalsSponsored-post footprint, “write for us” farms, sudden dropsTypical of sites that exist to sell links.Any one — declined

Thresholds are set per project and market in the brief. [X] values: confirm before publishing.

04 / Process

From brief to live link

Six steps, the same for one link or a hundred. You see every site before anything is written.

  1. 01BriefTarget pages, markets, languages, anchor policy and any sites to avoid.
  2. 02ProspectsFiltered by tools, then checked by hand against the six criteria.
  3. 03Your approvalEvery site with its metrics, before any writing starts. Reject any without a reason.
  4. 04ContentWritten for that site’s readers, edited and fact-checked. Your link where it helps the reader.
  5. 05Placement checksLive URL, indexation, link attribute, anchor and the text around it.
  6. 06ReportEvery link with its URL, metrics and date — the same day it goes live.
Anchors and attributes

How links are placed

  • Anchor mix agreed in the brief: brand, URL and natural phrases first
  • Exact-match anchors used sparingly, only where they read naturally
  • Links to the pages that need them — guides, categories, tools — not only the homepage
  • One link per article to your site, in the body text, not in footers or author boxes
  • Where a publisher charges a fee, Google asks for rel=“sponsored”. The publisher decides; we record every link’s attribute so you know exactly what you have
05 / After placement

A link is checked after it goes live, too

Placements change: sites get redesigned, pages get pruned. We watch for it so you don’t have to.

MonitoringEvery link checked [monthly] for live status, indexation and attribute. Changes appear in the next report.
Free replacementIf a link is removed or its attribute changes within [N] months, we replace it at no cost on a site you approve.
Removal on requestWant a link gone? We ask the publisher and confirm when it’s done.
06 / Report

What the report shows

One row per link. Exportable to CSV or Google Sheets, and part of the monthly report.

Sample link report
Live URLSite · DR · trafficAnchorTarget pageAttributeIndexedLive since
Foundation · editorial links
[URL][SITE] · [X] · [X]/mo[BRAND]/followYes[DATE]
[URL][SITE] · [X] · [X]/moguide to [TOPIC]/guide/followYes[DATE]
[URL][SITE] · [X] · [X]/mo[URL]/category/sponsoredPending[DATE]
Add-ons · only if ordered · reported separately
Own section: method, volume, dates and the consent reference. Never mixed into the rows above.

Sample format. Not client data.

07 / Add-on methods

Add-ons: separate, disclosed, with consent

Some clients ask for PBN or tiered links, automated links or traffic generation on top of the foundation. Before you decide, you should know what they are and what they risk.

Know the risk

What you should know before ordering

  • They go against Google’s spam policies — link schemes and automated traffic are named there.
  • Google can ignore such links or take manual action against the site. The effect can range from nothing to lost rankings.
  • Results are not guaranteed and may not last.
  • They never replace technical work, content and editorial links — and we don’t sell them without that foundation.
Read Google’s spam policies ↗
How we handle them
  1. 01On top of the foundation onlyAvailable to clients with an active foundation plan. Never as a stand-alone shortcut.
  2. 02Written consent firstYou sign a risk disclosure for the specific method before any work starts.
  3. 03Separate scope and invoice lineOwn scope, own price, own line — so you always see what you pay for.
  4. 04Separate report sectionMethod, volume and dates, apart from editorial links.
  5. 05Stop at any timeYou can stop an add-on at any time. We tell you what can and can’t be undone.
Inherited links like these from a past provider? Start with a link audit.Link audit & penalty recovery →
08 / Questions

Questions about links

TopClick SEO strategist
Still choosing?Book a 20-min call with a strategist. No pitch, just a look at your site.Book a call →
01Do we approve every site?

Yes — before any writing starts. You see each site with its metrics and can reject any of them without giving a reason.

02How many links do we need?

It depends on the gap between your pages and the ones ranking above them. We estimate it from that gap and agree the number in writing — no packages sold by volume.

03What if a link disappears?

If a link is removed or its attribute changes within [N] months, we replace it at no cost on a site you approve.

04Are the links follow or nofollow?

We record the attribute of every link — follow, nofollow or sponsored — in the report. A natural profile has all three.

05Do you use PBNs or automated links in regular plans?

No. They are separate add-ons, available only on top of the foundation, with written consent and a separate line in the report.

06Can you clean up links from a previous provider?

Yes. A link audit finds risky links, prepares the disavow file and, if there is a manual action, the reconsideration request.

Start here

Plan your links

  1. 1Send your site — we’ll propose sites for your approval
  2. 2We check search and AI visibility
  3. 3PDF by email: five website problems and AI visibility, within two business days of receiving your website URL
Suggested start: Digital PR or link building · from $[X] /campaign
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