SEO Off-Page: Link Building

Guides link building strategy: acquiring quality backlinks to improve domain authority and rankings.

When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1-2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

Scope (Off-Page SEO)

• Link building: Acquire backlinks from relevant, authoritative sites
• Broken link building: Find broken links on others' sites; suggest your content as replacement
• Unlinked brand mentions: Turn mentions into links via outreach
• Guest posting: Contribute to relevant publications; earn links
• Journalist requests: Respond to #JournoRequest; provide quotes/assets
• Digital PR: PR campaigns for backlinks and E-E-A-T — see eeat-signals

Initial Assessment

Check for project context first: If .claude/project-context.md or .cursor/project-context.md exists, read it for product, audience, and proof points.

Identify:

1. Current backlink profile: Domain authority, referring domains
2. Target keywords: What to rank for
3. Linkable assets: Research, tools, guides, data, testimonials

Link Building Strategies

Strategy	Description
Content marketing	Create link-worthy content (guides, research, tools)
Guest posting	Write for relevant sites with author bio link
Broken link building	Find broken links, suggest your content as replacement
Unlinked brand mentions	Turn mentions into links via outreach
Journalist requests	Respond to #JournoRequest; provide quotes/assets
Directory and curated list submission	Get listed on directories (Taaft, Product Hunt, G2) and curated "best-of" lists; cold-start channel—see directory-submission for submission workflow, cold-start-strategy for launch plan
Digital PR	Press releases, news, expert quotes; earn authoritative links at scale
Partnerships	Partner links, co-marketing

Quality Over Quantity

Factor	Good	Avoid
Relevance	Links from related sites	Irrelevant niches
Authority	High-quality, trusted sites	Spammy, low-quality
Anchor text	Natural, varied	Over-optimized, exact match
Context	Editorial, contextual links	Footer, sidebar link farms

Outreach Best Practices

• Personalize each outreach message
• Offer value (content, data, quote) before asking for link
• Follow up politely; don't spam
• Track outreach in spreadsheet or tool

Output Format

• Linkable asset ideas
• Outreach strategy and templates
• Target sites (types, not specific URLs)
• Metrics to track (referring domains, DA, traffic)

Related Skills

• seo-strategy: SEO workflow; link building is Off-Page phase
• backlink-analysis: Analyze current backlink profile
• content-strategy: Content strategy supports link building
• keyword-research: Target keywords inform link targets
• cold-start-strategy: Cold start and first-user acquisition; directory submission as part of launch
• parasite-seo: Parasite SEO; high-authority platforms for backlinks
• github: GitHub repos, gists, awesome lists for backlinks
• directory-submission: Directory and curated list submission--preparation, platform-specific copy, Taaft/Product Hunt/G2; use when user wants to submit product to directories or get listed on best-of roundups
• eeat-signals: E-E-A-T implementation; Digital PR supports authority