build-links_skill

Overview

This skill designs targeted link building campaigns that combine prospect identification, asset mapping, and outreach sequence design. It guides you from diagnosing backlink profile weaknesses to selecting tactics, scoring prospects, and running measurable outreach. Use it to create repeatable, ethical link acquisition programs that prioritize quality and topical relevance.

How this skill works

The skill first gathers site context (domain, niche, backlink profile, assets, budget, constraints) and diagnoses which authority dimension is weakest (citation, identity, trust, eminence). It recommends tiered strategies—from original research and tools to guest posting and digital PR—then scores prospects with a six-factor Link Quality Score (LQS). Finally it produces a campaign plan with prospect lists, outreach templates, timelines, and tracking benchmarks.

When to use it

• Planning a new backlink acquisition campaign for a website
• Improving domain authority or referral traffic for a niche site
• Recovering or cleaning a spammy link profile before outreach
• Designing outreach sequences for guest posts, broken links, or resource pages
• Running digital PR or journalist outreach tied to original data or commentary

Best practices

• Diagnose the weakest authority dimension and prioritize tactics that address it
• Build or promote genuinely link-worthy assets (original data, tools, 10x guides)
• Score prospects by authority, topical relevance, traffic, position, anchor quality, and follow status
• Personalize every outreach; avoid mass generic templates and limit follow-ups
• Track outreach and conversion metrics; expect modest response and conversion rates

Example use cases

• A SaaS company creates an ROI calculator (tool) and targets industry blogs and resources pages
• An ecommerce brand publishes original pricing research and pitches journalists via query platforms
• A niche publisher runs broken link outreach replacing dead resources with updated comprehensive guides
• A local business cleans toxic backlinks first, then pursues citations in trusted directories and local press
• A startup prioritizes guest posts on relevant trade publications to build topical relevance quickly