Link quality standards
How we vet every backlink.
No link goes live until the site and the page pass all ten checks below. This is the full standard: what we look at, why it matters, and what gets a site turned down.
- High-quality links
- Live-link guarantee
- Cancel anytime
The ten checks, one by one.
A site that fails any one of them is turned down, however good the rest looks.
Relevant industry
Your niche, or one closely related.
- Why it matters
- A link from a site about your category tells search engines what your product is. A link from an unrelated site says little.
- Rejected
- Sites outside your niche and its close neighbours, and general sites that publish on any topic for a fee.
Real organic traffic
Measurable search traffic, not just a high metric.
- Why it matters
- Real search traffic means Google trusts the site enough to send it visitors. A metric alone can be manufactured; traffic is much harder to fake.
- Rejected
- Sites with a strong-looking authority score but little or no measurable organic traffic.
Minimum authority
DR 30+ or DR 40+, depending on your plan.
- Why it matters
- Authority is how much weight a link can pass. Your plan sets the floor: DR 30+ for authority links, DR 40+ for elite authority links.
- Rejected
- Any site under your plan’s floor, even when everything else about it fits.
Indexed in Google
Both the site and the page are indexed.
- Why it matters
- A link only counts once Google has indexed the page it sits on. A site Google has dropped passes nothing.
- Rejected
- Sites missing from Google’s index, and pages Google hasn’t indexed or is blocked from crawling.
Contextual placement
Inside the article body, never a footer or sidebar.
- Why it matters
- Links inside the body of a relevant article read as editorial references, which is the kind of link search engines value.
- Rejected
- Footer, sidebar, author-bio and site-wide links, and pages written only to hold a link.
No link farms
We screen out sites that exist to sell links.
- Why it matters
- Networks built to sell links are what search engine spam policies target. Being linked from them is a risk, not an asset.
- Rejected
- Link farms, private blog networks (PBNs) and sites whose content exists to sell placements.
Healthy outbound links
The page isn’t stuffed with outbound links.
- Why it matters
- Every outbound link on a page shares its weight. A page linking out to dozens of sites gives each one very little, and looks bought.
- Rejected
- Pages stuffed with outbound links, and sites where most articles link out to unrelated businesses.
Natural anchor text
A mix of branded, partial and descriptive.
- Why it matters
- A natural link profile mixes branded, partial and descriptive anchors. The same exact-match phrase over and over looks engineered.
- Rejected
- Anchors that break your link plan’s mix, and placements where the publisher insists on keyword-stuffed text.
Matching market
Audience and language match where you sell.
- Why it matters
- A link from a site your buyers read, in their language, sends relevant visitors and relevant signals.
- Rejected
- Sites whose audience or language doesn’t match the markets you sell in.
Verified live
Live, dofollow and pointing at the right URL.
- Why it matters
- A placement only counts once it’s live, followed and pointing where your plan says. We check before it reaches your dashboard.
- Rejected
- Nofollow links, wrong target URLs, wrong anchors, and placements that aren’t live yet.
After a link goes live.
Verified on day one
Confirmed live, dofollow, on the right URL with the right anchor, then added to your dashboard.
Monitored every day
Every link is checked daily for as long as it is guaranteed.
Guaranteed for 12 months
If a link is removed within 12 months of placement, we replace it free.
Link quality questions
How do you vet backlinks?
Every site and page goes through a 10-point review: relevant industry, real organic traffic, minimum authority, indexed in Google, contextual placement, no link farms, healthy outbound links, natural anchor text, matching market, and verified live. A site has to pass all ten.
What is the minimum DR for your links?
DR 30+ for authority links and DR 40+ for elite authority links, depending on your plan. Authority alone isn’t enough: the site also needs real organic traffic.
Will these links get my site penalised?
We only place links contextually, inside relevant articles on real sites with genuine organic traffic, and never use link farms, PBNs or site-wide links. The goal is links that look and work like the editorial links you’d earn naturally.
What happens if a link is removed?
We monitor every link daily. If one is removed within 12 months of placement, we replace it free.
Guides on this topic.
- How to vet a backlink: a 10-point checklist before you accept a linkA practical checklist for judging a backlink before it goes live: relevance, real traffic, authority, indexing, placement and the red flags of link farms.
- DR vs DA: what Ahrefs Domain Rating and Moz Domain Authority measure, and how they compareDR and DA both score a site’s authority out of 100, but measure different things. How they compare, why they differ, and which to trust when buying links.
See which sites would pass for your SaaS.
Enter your website. The agent maps your niche and competitors, then builds your free link plan.
- High-quality links
- Live-link guarantee
- Cancel anytime