Metrics We’re Looking For #

We’re not overly focused on metrics: our primary link-building approach is much more interested in the relevance of the page/website/link than just the pure DR/DA type of metrics.

Once a site has been chosen based on its relevance, we do have a few metrics we try to stick to, but do not strictly enforce them. Our rule of thumb for a link exchange or request is the DR/DA is at least 15 ( will consider lower if the client site is brand new).

We look for at least 1-2k in traffic, however, if the site is growing and we can see potential, we will consider that as well if the traffic is relevant.

Above, is a good example of a great site to outreach to. Notice they have a pretty high DR, they are travel related and have quite a bit of organic traffic. You can also see they have ramped up their link-building in the past year, so they are most likely willing to do a swap of some sort.

Quick cheat sheet:

• No specific DR minimum, however our best links tend to be DR 15 or higher
• Ideally at least 1,000 organic visitors showing via Ahrefs “organic search traffic” report
• Look for organic traffic growth (or least somewhat stable traffic)
• Sites with quickly falling/crashing organic traffic are bad targets – no matter what the DR metrics are

Ways To Maximize Link Success #

If you are looking for a link exchange, ensure that you have good and helpful information for their site as well. Our site should be a resource for their readers just like theirs should be informative for ours.

To maximize link success you have to match your search intent. We aren’t interested in linking to a page that doesn’t match our user intent.

Focus on high-quality links if possible. All links are not created equal. We would rather have one good link that is relevant, than 10 irrelevant links.

Quick cheat sheet:

• Focus on relevancy to the specific client site or group of client sites for round-up articles

Reasons To Exclude/Omit A Link Opportunity #

Because of our focus on relevancy, we’re particular on content on the target site.

Although a site may have a piece or two about our desired target, we care about the overall site image as well. For example, if there is a piece about our chosen destination on a tech site, it’s probably not a good fit. We are focused on sharing link-building wins with clients that we are proud of. This excludes many sites, as we are looking to drive more converting traffic to their site, not just any traffic.

See the example below of a site that may look like a good fit, but we would pass up.

While this site has a few mentions of destinations we cover, ultimately the traffic would not be beneficial for our clients.

An example of a good option would be something like this.

This site doesn’t do the amount of volume the first site does, but the views are much more targeted to the audience we are trying to reach. Sometimes less is more in terms of audience reach if the audience is super targeted.

Quick cheat sheet:

• All of the content on the target site matters, not just the URL that we can get a link from
• You can disqualify many sites by visiting the homepage or blog page and viewing titles of articles/content that they’ve published
• Any adult content, CBD content, poker content, pharma content or ANY irrelevant industry content should disqualify a site as a link target