What Is a Link Building Plan? Learn the Basics8 min read

Putting random efforts without a link building plan is a guess and will probably not work. Acquiring quality backlinks is already tough, and doing it without structure makes it even harder.

So, At BacklinkManager.io, we’ve compiled research from expert sources, and our own experience to bring you this ultimate guide. From a step-by-step link building plan, and top strategies to common pitfalls—we’ve covered it all.

Let’s get started to level up your SEO!

What is a Link Building Plan? – Summary

1. What is a Link Building Plan and why do you need it?

• A roadmap for acquiring high-quality backlinks.
• Tasks: outreach, follow-ups, budgeting, and content strategy.
• Align goals, deadlines, and KPIs.
• Prevents confusion and costly mistakes.

2. Types of Backlinks:

• Dofollow: Boosts SEO, and passes link equity.
• Nofollow: Doesn’t impact rankings but can drive traffic.
• High-Quality: From authoritative sites.
• Medium-Quality: Moderate value.
• Low-Quality: Spammy, should be avoided.
• Tier 1: Directly links to your site (high-quality).
• Tier 2: Supports Tier 1.
• Tier 3: Supports Tier 2.
• Paid: Immediate but short-term.
• Organic: Takes time but is long-term and credible.

3. Broad Goals of Your Link-Building Plan:

• Traffic: Drive visitors.
• Authority: Build a reputable brand.
• Conversions: Generate tangible results.

4. Audience Research:

• Surveys, social media analytics, Google Analytics.

5. Competitor Analysis:

• Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush to reverse-engineer their backlink strategy.

6. Keyword Database:

• Build a keyword sheet for targeted SEO campaigns.

7. Content Calendar:

• Use WordPress plugins to schedule posts based on your keyword database.

8. Build a link Database with BacklinkManager.io

• Just add all your backlinks and BacklinkManager.io will automatically monitor their status and quality in real time.

9. Additional Link-Building Strategies:

• Guest Posting: Write for niche blogs.
• Broken Link Building: Replace broken links with your content.
• Unlinked Mentions: Convert mentions into backlinks.
• Resource Pages: Get your content listed on relevant resource pages.
• Infographics: Share valuable infographics.
• Expert Roundups: Get experts to share your content.
• Podcasts: Participate in interviews or podcasts to generate links.

What is a Link Building Plan?

A link building plan is like your step-by-step roadmap for getting high-quality backlinks that boost your site’s authority and search engine rankings. It’s all about having a clear, actionable strategy to keep things on track. Here’s what it includes:

• Step-by-step roadmap: A detailed guide on how you’ll find, acquire, and manage your backlinks over time.
• To-do list: Break down tasks like outreach, follow-ups, and evaluation of the quality of your backlinks.
• Setting a link building budget: Figure out what resources you’ll need for tools, outreach efforts, and content creation.
• Content strategy: Develop link-worthy content, like blogs, infographics, or research reports that attract natural backlinks.

Why do you Need a Link Building Plan?

A link building plan is essential as it ensures:

1. Your goals are decided.
2. Your deadlines are set.
3. Your key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been figured out.
4. Your budget is prepared.
5. And your team members are on the same page.

Link-building without planning can cost you more, confuse you, and invite eleventh-hour hassles.

Let’s look at what Dmytro Sokhach, founder & CEO at Editorial.ink believes about the importance of a link building plan:

Your Step-by-Step Link Building Plan

Before jumping to link building plans, let’s understand the types of backlinks. Here’s the classification:

1. Understand the Types of Backlinks

Based on Nofollow and Dofollow

 

Dofollow links are key for SEO because they help boost your site’s authority and rankings by letting search engines discover and credit the linked site.

In contrast, Nofollow links don’t pass SEO value but can still bring traffic and add diversity to your backlink profile.

Note: A healthy, and natural backlink profile has a balance of both Dofollow and Nofollow links. Also, it’s not that Nofollow links serve no purpose in your link building plan. Have a look at their benefits:

Based on Source

The source of a backlink significantly influences its value. Editorial links from authoritative sites are highly regarded, while links from forums or directories may vary in quality. Here is a table summarizing the typical sources and their examples.

 

Based on Quality

The quality of your backlinks is a crucial metric. Studies show that one high-quality backlink can be more powerful than 100 low-quality ones for SEO.

Yet, a natural link profile should have at least some mid-quality backlinks (low-quality links are a strict no-no!).

You can use tools like BacklinkManager.io to analyze the quality of your backlinks. BacklinkManager.io’s backlink evaluator checks for the following metrics:

• Indexability Check: See if search engines index your backlinks.
• Crawlability Status: Ensure search engines can access and crawl your links.
• Follow/Nofollow Insight: Identify if a link passes SEO value (do-follow) or not (no-follow).
• Indexation Status: Confirm if a link is being indexed and if it is affecting your SEO.
• Outbound Link Count: Analyze the number of outbound links on the linking site to detect potential link farms.
• SEO Checklist: Access a supportive SEO checklist to assess the quality of each backlink deeply.

Here’s a video illustrating the steps:

Based on Tier

Backlinks are of three types when classified based on tier. Here is a table summarizing the types and their purpose:

Importance of a Tiered Link Building Plan

In a tiered link building strategy, a lower-tiered link supports the one above it. For example, a good-quality 2-tier backlink increases the SEO juice for the 1-tier backlink.

Paid vs. Organic

The backlinks you acquire can either be organic or paid. Though paid links can provide quick visibility, organic links pass more SEO juice and authority to your website. Let’s look at the key differences:

Criteria	Paid Links	Organic Links
Definition	Acquired through payment.	Earned through content quality.
Cost	Ongoing financial investment.	Generally free; involves SEO costs.
Speed	Immediate results.	Takes time to build.
Sustainability	Short-term; stops when funding ends.	Long-term; ongoing traffic potential.
Control	Precise targeting is available.	Less control; relies on content quality.
Credibility	May be seen as less trustworthy.	Generally more credible.
Examples	Google Ads, sponsored posts.	Editorial mentions, guest posts.
Metrics	CTR, conversion rates.	Organic traffic growth, rankings.
Maintenance	Requires continuous budget.	Needs ongoing SEO efforts.

2. Set Broad Goals for Your Link Building Plan: Traffic, Authority, Conversions

Before we discuss the broad goals, here’s an infographic explaining why you must set goals in the first place.

Link building helps with rankings, but the real deal is about driving leads, making sales, and building your name in the industry, right? Let’s put up these intentions in the following 3 broad link building goals:

• Traffic: Attract more visitors to your site through relevant referral links.
• Authority: Build a trusted reputation in your industry with strong backlinks.
• Conversions: Drive tangible results like sign-ups or sales from your efforts.

3. Understand Your Audience

Understanding your audience is the most important—they're the ones who will ultimately convert into buyers, so knowing their needs is key. In fact, Forbes found that Audience Research is the most important factor for your marketing campaigns. It's even more important than SEO!

Pro Tip: Content that genuinely helps your customers and addresses their pain points will automatically rank better and gain authority and traffic. Such content will generate organic links, bringing even more authority and traffic. Conclusion? User-focused content is a win-win!

How to do Audience Research?

Surveys and Questionnaires

Gather direct data on demographics, interests, and pain points via surveys or questionnaires. Here's what a survey can look like.

And here's a list of several more pointers you can ask about in a survey for your business.

 

Social Media Analytics

Track engagement to see what content resonates. Following is a list of metrics most businesses track:

Category	Metrics/Elements
Performance Analysis	Impressions, Reach, Likes, Comments, Shares, Views, Clicks, Sales
Audience Analytics	Age, Gender, Location, Device
Competitor Analysis	Followers, Engagement Rate, Post Interactions
Paid Social Analytics	Total Active Ads, Clicks, Click-Through Rate (CTR), Cost-Per-Click (CPC), Conversion Rate, Total Ad Spend
Influencer Analysis	Posts Created per Influencer, Total Interactions per Post, Audience Size
Sentiment Analysis	Brand Sentiment Metrics

 

Website Analytics

Using tools like Google Analytics, you can deep-research your audience in terms of various metrics like age, gender, location, interests, and more. Here's a 3-hour course you can watch to learn all about Audience Research with Google Analytics.

​4. Analyze Your Competitors' Link Building Plan (via a 7-step Reverse Engineering Strategy)

After understanding your audience, sneak into your competitor's backlink profile. Reverse engineering will reveal their strategy and you can do the same (or even better). This analysis will uncover their strengths, where they get links from (which you can target too), and what content in your niche attracts the most links.

Here's a 7 steps strategy for competitor analysis:

1. Identify Competitors
   • Start by listing competitors who rank well for the same keywords you're targeting. Tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz can help identify these based on keyword rankings and shared backlinks.
2. Collect Backlink Data
   • Use SEO tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to gather data on competitors' backlinks. Focus on:
     • Total number of backlinks
     • Number of referring domains
     • Domain Authority (DA) of linking domains
     • Anchor text used in backlinks
3. Evaluate Backlink Quality
   • Not all backlinks are equal. Assess the quality by analyzing:
     • Domain Authority: High DA sites pass more SEO value.
     • Relevance: Are these backlinks from industry-related sites?
     • Spam Score: Check for spammy or low-quality links that could hurt SEO (Moz’s Spam Score is helpful here).
4. Analyze Anchor Text Distribution
   • Study competitors’ anchor text. Focus on:
     • Keywords used in anchor texts: Are they related to your target terms?
     • Diversity: A mix of branded, keyword-rich, and natural anchor text helps avoid over-optimization.
5. Find Linking Domains
   • Identify domains linking to your competitors. Focus on:
     • Common linking domains: Sites that link to multiple competitors are likely to be open to similar outreach.
     • Unique domains: Look for exclusive links your competitors have, which could be valuable targets.
6. Benchmark Against Competitors
   • Compare your backlink profile against competitors. Analyze:
     • Total backlinks vs. quality: Is your backlink volume higher, but lower in quality or relevance?
     • Domain diversity: Competitors with links from a wider variety of domains often perform better.
     • Backlink growth rate: Use Ahrefs to track how quickly competitors are acquiring new backlinks.
7. Create an Action Plan
   • Based on your analysis, plan your strategy:
     • Target common domains linking to multiple competitors.
     • Address content gaps: Create similar or better content that attracts links.
     • Use broken link-building: Reach out to sites with broken competitor links, offering your content as a replacement.

5. Create a Keyword Database

After analyzing your broad goals, audience, and competitors, the next step is to set up a database for your target keywords.

That database can be a keyword research sheet including all the keywords you've gathered so far (and any new ones you find later). Include key metrics like competition, search volume, and difficulty to help prioritize them. Here's a template to give you an idea:

6. Create a Content Calendar using WordPress Plugin

• Choose a Content Calendar Plugin:

• • For WordPress, consider using plugins like Editorial Calendar, PublishPress, or CoSchedule. These plugins allow you to visualize your content schedule easily.
• Install the Plugin:
  • Navigate to your WordPress admin dashboard.
  • Click on “Plugins” > “Add New.”
  • Search for your chosen plugin (e.g., "Editorial Calendar").
  • Click “Install Now” and then “Activate” once the installation is complete.
• Access the Content Calendar:
  • After activation, locate the plugin in your WordPress dashboard menu (e.g., under "Posts" or "PublishPress").
• Add Content Ideas:
  • Use the calendar interface to add new content ideas based on your keyword database.
  • Click on the date you want to publish content and select "Add New Post" or similar options provided by the plugin.
• Schedule Posts:
  • Enter the title of your post, select the relevant keywords from your database, and assign a publication date.
  • You can also add details such as post status (draft, scheduled) and any notes related to the content.
• Organize Your Content:
  • Drag and drop posts within the calendar to rearrange them as needed.
  • Ensure that you have a balanced mix of content types (e.g., how-to guides, infographics) scheduled throughout the month.
• Collaborate with Your Team (if applicable):
  • If you have a team, use features within the plugin to assign tasks or collaborate on specific posts directly from the calendar.

7. Explore Link Building Strategies Beyond Content Creation

Apart from creating high-quality content that naturally earns backlinks, here are 15 additional link-building strategies to boost your website’s authority:

Guest Posting

Write high-quality articles for other blogs in your niche, including a link back to your site. This not only builds backlinks but also exposes your brand to a new audience.

Want to know more about guest posting hacks and top examples? Check out our article on Great Guest Posting Examples.

Broken Link Building

Identify broken links on relevant websites using tools like ALerts, Ahrefs, etc.. Reach out to the site owners, suggesting they replace the broken link with a link to your content. This benefits both parties: they fix their 404 error (which harms SEO), and you gain a valuable backlink. Since website owners prefer either fixing or removing broken links, this offers a helpful solution while boosting your SEO efforts. 

Unlinked Mentions

Monitor mentions of your brand across the web that do not include a link. Reach out to the authors and request they add a link to your site.

Resource Pages

Find resource pages in your niche and request inclusion by demonstrating how your content adds value to their list of resources.

Infographics

Create and share infographics that provide valuable information. Encourage others to share them with a link back to your site.

Expert Roundups

Host expert roundups where you ask industry leaders for their opinions on a topic. When published, they are likely to share the post, providing backlinks.

Podcasts and Interviews

Participate in podcasts or interviews relevant to your industry, where you can share insights and include links back to your site in the show notes.

Social Media Promotion

Share your content on social media platforms, encouraging others to link back to it when they share or reference it.

Webinars and Online Events

Host webinars or online workshops and promote them through various channels, leading participants to link back to the event page on their sites.

Directory Submissions

Submit your website to reputable online directories related to your industry, which can provide valuable backlinks.

Testimonials and Reviews

Write testimonials for products or services you use; many companies will feature these on their sites with a link back to yours.

Create Tools or Resources

Develop useful tools (like calculators or templates) that others in your industry may find helpful and link back to as a resource.

Competitor Analysis

Analyze competitors’ backlink profiles using tools like SEMrush or Moz, then reach out to the same sites for potential linking opportunities.

Influencer Outreach

Connect with influencers in your niche who may be interested in sharing or linking to your content if it aligns with their audience’s interests.

HARO (Help a Reporter Out)

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is a tool that connects journalists with experts for quotes and insights. By signing up and responding to relevant queries, you can earn high-quality backlinks from reputable publications. Timely, concise, and valuable responses increase your chances of being featured, enhancing your website's authority and brand visibility.

8. Link Building Budget Allocation

Allocating a budget for lnk building plan is super important and a very detailed topic on its own. We can't list that all here. You'll have to read our comprehensive link building budget allocation guide (just 15 minutes) for this.

Though we recommend you go through the full link building budget allocation blog, here's a summary:

• Assess and Audit Backlinks:
  • Use tools like BacklinkManager.io, Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz to evaluate the quality and quantity of your backlinks.
  • Conduct regular audits to identify strong and weak links, and use downloadable templates to organize findings.
• Set SMART Goals:
  • Define Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals.
  • Focus on quality over quantity and align your backlink goals with broader marketing objectives.
• Budget Allocation:
  • Dedicate 30-40% of your SEO budget to link building. This includes content creation, outreach, and tools.
  • Use the 50/30/20 rule: 50% for tools, 30% for content creation, and 20% for tracking.
• Monitor and Optimize Costs:
  • Keep track of backlink acquisition costs (outreach, content creation) and optimize by streamlining processes.
  • Regularly review and adjust based on performance to avoid overspending.
• Implement Effective Strategies:
  • Zero-Based Budgeting: Allocate funds based on the importance of each activity and expected ROI.
  • Invest in content-driven link building (research studies, guides) for natural backlinks.
  • Budget for high-ROI methods like guest posting, resource page link building, and outreach campaigns.
• Use Tools:
  • Utilize tools like BacklinkManager.io, Ahrefs, and BuzzStream for backlink analysis and outreach efficiency.
  • Automate monitoring to reduce manual effort and potential errors.
• Avoid Common Pitfalls:
  • Prioritize link quality and diversify sources to maintain a healthy link profile.
  • Stay Google-compliant to avoid penalties by following ethical link-building practices.
• Regular Reviews of your Link Building Plan Budget:
  • Conduct quarterly budget and strategy reviews to adapt based on performance and SEO trends.

Pro Tip: Hubspot provides various marketing budget templates you can download like this:

You can download more templates as per your needs.

After all these steps, it's time to execute your link building plan.

9. Prepare a Live Link Database Management System

After executing your link-building plan, you’ll accumulate various types of backlinks—guest posts, paid backlinks, organically acquired ones, and others depending on the strategy. The final step is to maintain a database of all these backlinks for tracking and future analysis.

It's important to track all the backlinks you build because some may go missing, become unresponsive, or switch from dofollow to nofollow. If you're not monitoring, how will you know? Imagine the worst-case scenario: you end up with zero dofollow links because you didn’t track them. All your time, effort, and money wasted! Monitoring also helps you keep tabs on the quality (domain/page authority) of your backlinks. This lets you identify high-quality sources so you can double down on them and know which type of content is attracting the best links.

Tools like BacklinkManager.io can help you with this. The tool lets you see the current status (nofollow/dofollow/missing), and quality (DA/PA/DR) of your backlinks and helps generate reports to share with stakeholders.

Want to know more about how to set up your link database with BacklinkManager.io? Get a free demo now!

10. Calculating the ROI of your Link Building Plan

Last but not least, it's time to see if your link building plan is paying off. Here are the steps to know that:

Step 1: Track Your Link-Building Costs

To get a clear picture of your link-building investment, track all associated costs. Here’s what to include:

• Tools: Expenses for SEO tools (e.g., Ahrefs, SEMrush) and outreach software.
• Content Creation: Costs of hiring writers, designers, or anyone involved in producing link-worthy content.
• Outreach Time: The hours spent on outreach and acquisition. Assign a dollar value to your time to see the full cost.

Step 2: Measure Key Metrics

Once you’ve launched your link-building efforts, it’s time to monitor the impact. Typically, we measure this over six months or more. The key metrics to watch:

• Organic Traffic: Check Google Analytics to track any boost in organic visitors.
• Conversions: Keep an eye on sign-ups, purchases, or any valuable actions taken by these new visitors.
• Keyword Rankings: Use tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to track how your keyword positions improve.

Step 3: Calculate Revenue from Link Building

Now comes the fun part: seeing how much revenue your efforts are driving! You can do this by:

• Calculating the average value of a conversion: Let’s say each sign-up or purchase brings in $50.
• Multiply conversions by that value: For example, if you gain 100 conversions, you’ve earned $5,000 from this traffic.

Step 4: Calculate ROI

With costs and revenue in hand, plug them into this simple ROI formula:

This will give you a percentage showing how much return you’re getting for every dollar spent. The higher the percentage, the better the payoff!

Step 5: Analyze and Adjust your Link Building Plan

Once you’ve got your ROI, it’s time to analyze. Which parts of your strategy worked best? Did guest posting yield high-quality backlinks? Or did resource page outreach bring in better results? Use these insights to tweak your future campaigns.

By following this process, you’ll not only ensure your link-building efforts align with your business goals, but you’ll also be able to justify every dollar spent with solid data to back it up.

Make Your Link Building Plan Drive More Conversions: Bonus Insight

You can use Google Analytics to observe what content is directly getting you conversions, where is it going off, and hence, what should be the priorities of your link building plan. Here's a step-by-step breakdown of how you can drive more conversions using Google Analytics:

Step 1: Understand What Drives People to Your Website 

• Use Google Analytics to find high-traffic landing pages (Behavior > Site Content > Landing Pages).
• Check which content pieces brought them to these pages.
• Use this info to understand what type of content brings the people to landing pages. This type of content is your strength and spend more time building more links for these pages.

Step 2: Identify Barriers that Block Backlink Opportunities

• In GA, go to Conversions > Goals > Goal Flow to see where visitors drop off, which could point to pages lacking in engagement.
• Improve these pages by making them more engaging or removing any obstacles, increasing their linkability.

Step 3: Find What Encourages Link Conversions

• Survey users who completed actions like linking to your content or sharing it.
• Ask questions like:
  • "What made you link to this content?"
  • "What value did you see?"
  • "What almost prevented you from linking?"
• Use this feedback to enhance features that convince people to link, such as high-quality content, authority signals, or influencer mentions. This will guide your link-building strategy towards content that drives more backlinks.

The Ultimate Link Building Plan: Conclusion

A well-structured link-building plan is essential for successful SEO. Without it, you're essentially guessing and hoping for results, which rarely works. By setting clear goals, understanding your audience, and adopting proven strategies, you can enhance your website’s authority and drive more traffic. Tools like BacklinkManager.io make it easier to organize and monitor your efforts. Stick to a strategic approach, and you'll see tangible results.