Link builders go about their business in various ways. Some have an “email anything you see approach”, others do a bit here and there and others do a set amount of link requests and hope for the best.

Possibly because I have done link building campaigns for clients I tend to take a very organised approach, complete with a link building plan and schedule.

Here’s an example link building campaign planner:

Link Building Plan Checklist

Assessment
• Domain
• Site’s history if any
• Inbound links (number, type, relevance, quality)
• Rankings if any
• Purpose of site, potential value, objectives
• How many and what type of links are now required to meet the site’s objectives
• How easy/difficult will it be to obtain those links, do we need to buy some (see

Requirements
• Links from our sites?
• Safe links? Org, edu, wiki, dmoz, yahoo directory
• Bought links? Where, what type, how many, budget, can we use existing contacts, can we swap already purchased links
• Directory links? Are they worth it, do we need them
• What other links? Articles, swaps, blogs, forums, be imaginative

Plan
• We require X amount of links from:
o Safe
o Bought
o Directory
o Other (be as specific as possible)
• We can offer:
o links from this site
o our other sites
o payment only
o article placement
o other (be imaginative)
• Our budget is
• Our timescale is (all in a week/several rounds spread over three months, etc)
• Overall responsibility lies with
• The requests/research will be divided as follows:
• An assessment will be done on (date)

Yes, I know it seems like more of a battle plan than a link building campaign but I happen to take it very seriously and after years of promoting websites, both clients’ and my own, I think I can safely say that I know the value of a thoroughly planned and well executed link building campaign.

Link building is an incredibly time consuming process and it is often a very hit and miss affair. Getting all your ducks in a row before you begin could go a long way towards improving your success rate both in finding and obtaining the right type of links.