Link Prospecting: How to Build a List of Sites Worth Pitching

Key takeaways

• Start with one target page and a written reason to link.
• Score each prospect page on fit, reason, standards, links, and activity.
• Hand prospects to outreach with the reason attached.

Link prospecting is the work you do before outreach: finding sites that have a real reason to reference a specific page of yours, then checking each one before anyone writes an email. A good prospect list is short, documented, and tied to one target page. A bad one is a long export of domains sorted by a metric.

This guide gives you a six-step process and a scoring sheet you can copy. The example uses a fictional company, so the sites and scores are illustrations, not data from real campaigns. For the bigger picture of why links matter and which kinds are worth earning, start with the guide to backlinks.

Start with one target page and one reason to link

Prospecting goes wrong when the list comes first. Before you search, write down the page you want referenced and the reason another site would cite it. If you cannot finish the sentence “A writer would link to this because…”, the page is not ready for prospecting.

Strong reasons are specific. A free calculator saves readers a step. A survey adds numbers no one else published. A clear checklist answers a question a writer keeps getting. If the page is still thin, improve it first or turn it into one of the linkable assets that other sites can point to with confidence.

Write the reason at the top of your sheet. Every prospect you add later should connect to it.

Build seed lists from five sources

Seed lists are raw candidates. You will remove most of them. Use several sources so the list does not depend on a single tool’s index.

• Pages that already cite similar resources. Search for the topic plus words like “resources,” “tools,” or “further reading.” These pages already link out for readers.
• Sites that link to comparable pages. If a competitor’s guide earned references, the citing pages show who writes about the topic. Use them to understand the audience, not as a list to copy.
• Your own mentions. Sites that already name your brand are warm prospects. The process for those is different, so handle them with the unlinked brand mentions workflow.
• Dead references. Pages that link to a resource that no longer works may want a replacement. Check your own lost links first with the broken backlinks process.
• Publications in your field. Trade blogs, association sites, and newsletters that publish practical articles. Some accept contributions, which is covered in the guest posting guide.

Google’s site: operator documentation explains how to limit a search to one domain. That helps you check whether a site already covers your topic before you add it.

Qualify every prospect with five filters

Qualification is where prospecting earns its time. Open each page and score it. Do not rely on a domain-level number alone; a strong site can have an unrelated page, and a small site can have the perfect one.

Keep prospects that score 7 or more out of 10. Anything with a 0 on topical fit or editorial standards should go, whatever its total. Google’s spam policies describe link schemes, including paid links and excessive link exchanges. A site whose outbound links look sold is a risk, not a shortcut.

Example: a filled prospecting sheet

Fictional example. Harbor Tide is an imaginary company that sells boat maintenance software. Its target page is a free winterizing checklist for small marinas. The reason to link: “Marina managers can print it and assign each step to a staff member.”

Notice what decided the outcome. The home-improvement page has traffic, but its readers do not run marinas. The directory accepts any link, which is exactly why it is not worth one.

Find the person who can change the page

A qualified page still needs the right contact. Look for the article’s author first, then the editor or the person who maintains the resource page. A general inbox is a last resort.

• Check the byline, author page, and the site’s “About” or “Team” page.
• Look for an editorial contact or a contributor page.
• Record where you found the contact, so you can confirm it later.

Only use contact details people have published for this kind of message. If you cannot find an appropriate contact, mark the prospect as “no contact” instead of guessing addresses.

Keep everything in one sheet

One shared sheet prevents duplicate pitches and makes the handoff clear. Keep the columns few and useful:

• Target page on your site
• Prospect URL (the page, not just the domain)
• Reason this page should reference yours, in one sentence
• Score and decision
• Contact name, role, and source
• Status: not contacted, pitched, followed up, replied, linked, declined
• Date of last action and next step

The reason column matters most. It is the line your outreach message will build on, so writing it now saves time later.

Hand off to outreach with context attached

When the list is ready, the person writing emails should not have to research again. Pass each prospect with the score, the reason, and a note on what part of their page your resource fits. The link building outreach guide shows how to turn that note into a short message and a single follow-up.

Plan small batches. Ten well-qualified prospects for one page are easier to manage than two hundred loose rows. You also learn faster which reasons get replies.

Common prospecting mistakes

• Sorting by authority before relevance. A high domain metric does not create a reason to link.
• Qualifying domains instead of pages. The page you pitch is where your link would appear, so that is the page to judge.
• Keeping sites that sell links. Paid placements that pass ranking credit conflict with search engine policies. Bing’s Webmaster Guidelines also list link buying among practices to avoid.
• Skipping the reason column. Without it, outreach becomes a generic request.
• Prospecting for a page that is not ready. Fix the resource first.

Where DEX fits

DEX plans and writes content around a client’s own products and services, then publishes it and tracks how pages perform. That gives prospecting better starting material: pages built to answer a specific customer question are easier to justify in a pitch. Before you start a prospecting round, you can run a page through DEX’s Health page check to catch on-page and technical issues on the target page.

The pillar guide describes a backlink marketplace that DEX plans for 2027. It is a planned feature, not something available today, and it would not replace the qualification steps above. Each link would still need to make sense for readers.

Prospecting checklist

1. Name one target page and write the reason someone would link to it.
2. Collect seed pages from at least three sources.
3. Open each page and score the five filters.
4. Drop anything with a 0 on fit or standards, then keep scores of 7+.
5. Find a published contact and note where you found it.
6. Hand the list to outreach with the reason attached.

FAQ

What is link prospecting?

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It is finding and qualifying sites that have a real reason to reference a specific page of yours, before any outreach is sent.

Should I filter prospects by domain authority?

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Use relevance first. Judge the specific page where your link would appear, then consider other signals.

How many prospects do I need?

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Start with a small batch for one target page. Ten well-qualified prospects teach you more than a long unfiltered export.

Sources

1. Spam policies for Google web search · Google
2. Google Search site: operator · Google
3. Bing Webmaster Guidelines · Microsoft Bing

Dex SEO

Dex SEO is an AI SEO agent for small businesses. Every article here is planned from search data, drafted by Dex, fact-checked against the sources it cites, and reviewed by the team before it is published.

How this article was made: planned and drafted by Dex from search data, fact-checked by Dex (4 claims checked), then approved by the Dex SEO team.