outreach-link-building

Overview

Link-building outreach is a request to a stranger to spend their effort on your behalf. It works when the email proves you read their site, offers something they would want regardless of the link, and asks for one small thing. This skill covers the copy and the process; link strategy and prospect selection belong to whoever owns the SEO plan, and this skill consumes that list.

Mental model

An editor or site owner asks three questions in order: is this relevant to my readers, is this person real, and what does it cost me. Every template below answers those in that order and keeps the cost near zero. Earning a link is a by-product of being useful, so lead with the usefulness.

Rules

Prospect research before any draft

For each target, record from the live page, not from memory:

• Site, contact name and role, and a contact route they publish themselves.
• One specific recent piece they published, and what is missing or outdated in it.
• Whether they accept guest posts or resource suggestions (read their guidelines).
• Link policy: sponsored and guest-link rules, nofollow habits.
• Why your page deserves the link, in one sentence.

Drop targets with no verifiable contact route or an explicit no-outreach policy.

Template selection

Guest-post pitch

Under 150 words. Subject names the topic, not "Guest post request". Line one cites a specific recent piece of theirs. Then: two or three headline options, why their readers need each, one credibility fact for the author, and the ask. Never send a finished article unasked. Disclose any commercial relationship.

Broken-link report

State the page and the dead URL exactly. Offer a replacement only if it is a genuinely good fit. Keep it to four sentences; the help comes first, the link second.

Link reclamation

Quote the mention and thank them. Make the ask a one-line edit: "could the brand name link to this page?" Keep the tone friendly; this is an existing relationship of attention.

Follow-up

One follow-up after 5 to 7 days with a single new piece of value. After two unanswered touches, stop and record the target as closed.

Rules that keep the programme safe

• Never offer or imply payment in exchange for an editorial link without labelling it sponsored; paid links that pass ranking signals violate search engine link spam policies.
• No reciprocal link schemes, no private blog networks, no fake personas.
• Use the outreach-cold-copy skill for subject and cadence craft, the outreach-deliverability skill before any volume, and the outreach-compliance skill for opt-out and consent rules.

Examples

Bad: "Hi, I love your blog! We'd like to guest post. Please send your guidelines."

Good: "Your March guide to vendor onboarding stops at contracts — nothing on the first 30 days. I can write 'The 30-day vendor onboarding checklist' with real timeline examples. Interested in an outline?"

Bad reclamation: "You owe us a link."

Good reclamation: "Thanks for mentioning Acme in your roundup. Could the name link to acme.com/pricing so readers can find it?"

Checklist

• Each target researched from the live site with one specific recent piece cited?
• Template matched to the situation, one ask only?
• Draft under 150 words (guest) or four sentences (broken link, reclamation)?
• No payment, swap, or network implied without disclosure?
• Follow-up capped at one, with the stop rule recorded?
• Contact route is one the site published itself?

Composition / References

• Pair with outreach-cold-copy, outreach-deliverability, and outreach-compliance for the shared craft, sending, and legal rules.
• Pair with the SEO strategy skills for prospect selection; this skill starts where the prospect list ends.