A worthwhile backlink connects the right readers to a useful page in a credible context. Use this checklist when you already have a candidate: screen for obvious mismatches, check the proposed placement and terms, then record a decision you can act on.
Open the candidate page and your proposed destination side by side. Work down the checks below. Stop early if the audience is wrong or the link has no useful place in the article.
| Check | What to look for | When to pause or skip |
|---|---|---|
| Reader fit | The page addresses the people and task your resource serves | The topic matches only at keyword level |
| Added value | Your example, data or tool adds something current references do not | You would repeat the same answer |
| Placement |
READY WHEN YOU ARE
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Start using Tomako| A specific passage or resource section where the link helps |
| An unrelated footer, hidden slot or arbitrary insertion |
| Editorial quality | Coherent advice, credible authorship and sources that support important claims | Unsupported claims or unrelated commercial links dominate |
| Reach | Relevant page visits or a credible audience path, where available | A seller substitutes site-wide traffic for placement evidence |
| Link behavior | Correct destination, usable link and observed attributes | Redirects lead elsewhere or the link cannot be verified |
| Terms | Clear fee, duration, work required and disclosure | A promise of rankings is the main reason to pay |
| Destination quality | Your page works on mobile and delivers the promised resource | Broken assets, misleading claims or an unusable template |
These checks are not a points system. A severe mismatch does not become acceptable because seven other boxes look good. Nor does an unknown traffic estimate automatically make a relevant editorial suggestion unworthy of a few minutes.
Name the task a person is doing when they encounter the link. “Marketing audience” is too broad. “Combining campaign click-through rates in a monthly report” is specific enough to assess.
Then compare the resources. If a page already links to a clear definition, another definition may add little. A worked spreadsheet example could add value if the reader now needs to apply the formula. Open the current reference before declaring a gap.
Domain metrics summarize aspects of a website; they do not certify an individual placement. A high-scoring domain can contain an irrelevant or neglected page. A small specialist publication may have precisely the readers you need.
If you use a third-party domain score, write down the provider, date and scope. Compare like with like. Do not impose a universal minimum score or treat one provider’s number as equivalent to another’s.
For traffic, ask what the number describes: the whole website, the specific page, an email issue or an ad slot. Estimates can support a decision, but they are not observed clicks to your business. Check whether the geography and topic fit your audience as well as the size.
For an existing backlink, click it and confirm that the final destination works. On desktop, right-click the linked text, choose Inspect and find the enclosing <a> element. Record its href and rel values. If the link is still only proposed, write “not placed”; check publisher policy separately.
An ordinary link needs no special rel value. Google prefers sponsored for paid links and accepts nofollow; ugc describes links in user-generated content. These attributes are not a score for relevance or referral value. Google’s link qualification guidance.
Use the page itself to inspect attributes. Search Console’s Links report does not tell you whether links are nofollow. Search Console documentation.
Ask what you are buying, for how long, at what total cost and with what reporting. A relevant sponsored placement can be evaluated on audience value. It should not depend on hiding the commercial relationship or promising search rankings.
Google permits appropriately qualified advertising links, while buying or selling links to manipulate rankings falls under its link-spam policy. Google’s policy on link spam.
Use one copy per candidate. Keep answers brief; a sentence and a source are usually more useful than an unexplained score.
Tiny
Candidate page URL:
My destination URL:
Checked on:
Reader and task:
What my resource adds:
Relevant heading or placement:
Editorial quality: observation and source
Audience evidence: source, period and page/site scope; or unknown
Link: existing / proposed; final destination; observed rel or not placed
Terms: editorial / paid; fee; duration; work required; or unknown
My destination: resource, links and mobile use checked?
Decision: Proceed / Check / Skip
Reason:
Next action:
Owner and follow-up date:
“Unknown” is useful when it is accurate. Follow it with a check only if the answer could change your decision. A free, relevant editorial suggestion needs less commercial evidence than an expensive sponsored placement.
Record the evidence that could change your decision, then name the next action. The record below uses DeltaV’s CTR glossary as an example.
Filled example
Next action
Open the existing references and look for a worked example of combined CTR.
Outside references are a reason to investigate, not evidence that a submission will be accepted.
The Excel file includes English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese sheets. Each has one filled example, 10 blank records, filters and a Proceed / Check / Skip dropdown.
Proceed: You can explain the reader benefit, the placement makes sense and the next step is proportionate. Proceed means take that next step, not “the backlink is secured.”
Check: One unresolved issue could change the answer. Name the check and its effort limit. “Research more” is not a useful action; “open the existing template to see whether it already covers combined CTR” is.
Skip: The readers do not fit, the resource adds nothing, the placement is unsuitable or the terms are unacceptable. Keep a brief reason so you do not review the same poor prospect again.
For comparison, consider an illustrative offer from a general directory with a high third-party domain score that places a marketing worksheet in an unrelated footer. Skip it for poor fit and placement. The domain score does not fix either problem. A smaller specialist page with a relevant resource section may deserve a short editorial suggestion even when traffic data is unavailable.
After a placement goes live, revisit its destination, wording, attributes and actual usefulness. Keep acquisition decisions separate from performance results. A completed checklist tells you why you chose an opportunity; it does not prove that the link improved rankings or brought customers.
Tomako Co-founder, Growth Marketing & Creator Growth
Tiny is a co-founder of Tomako, working across the full path from growth strategy to channel execution. His experience spans influencer marketing, affiliate marketing, SEO/GEO, and paid acquisition. As an indie maker and creator, he is especially interested in how small teams can make better growth choices with limited resources. On the Tomako Blog, he writes about channel decisions, practical execution, and lessons from building and growing products.
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