A practical checklist for evaluating a backlink prospect

Start with the page and its audience.

• Is the site relevant to your topic and to the people you want to reach?
  
• Does it publish original material with a clear editorial purpose?
  
• Would the placement make sense to a reader without SEO being involved?
  
• Is the page accessible and part of a coherent site structure?
  
• Are commercial relationships disclosed?
  

Third-party authority scores can help organize research, but they do not tell the whole story. Record your reasoning alongside the metrics.

What signals make you reject a prospect immediately?

Add a “why this reference helps the reader” field to the prospect sheet. If that field cannot be completed with a specific explanation, the prospect probably needs more investigation.

I would also keep editorial contact information separate from mass mailing lists. A relevant article and a credible resource are a better starting point than an impressive metric with no topic fit.

A useful prospect note should identify the specific source section and the visitor's next question. That makes it easier to evaluate a reference than a domain-level label alone.

I would keep the placement rationale beside the metric fields. If the rationale is missing, the prospect still needs investigation before it belongs in an outreach plan.