Free Link Prospect Scorer — Decide Whether a Site Is Worth Pitching Before You Email It
Answer a few questions about a page or site you are thinking of approaching and this link prospecting tool scores it out of 100, flags red lines such as a site that sells links, and tells you whether to pursue, hold or skip it. The scoring is our own working method, explained below. It never contacts the site, and nothing leaves your browser.
Answer the questions to see a score.
How the Link Prospect Scorer Works
Link prospecting is the step before outreach: listing sites where a link would make sense and checking each one. The scorer turns that check into a number so you can compare prospects quickly. It is our own working method, not a Google metric. Relevance carries the most weight (30 points), then audience (20), freshness (10), how many other links the page carries (10), indexing (10), placement (15) and a named contact (5). The link attribute adjusts the verdict, and a site that sells links or swaps them is flagged as a skip whatever its score.
What the Verdict Means
- Pursue (70 and above): a relevant, live page where an editorial link is plausible. Write a specific, short email.
- Hold (45 to 69): worth a closer look. Check relevance and readers again, or find a better page on the same site.
- Skip (under 45, or a red line): the effort is unlikely to pay back, or the site sits close to what Google calls link spam.
Why These Factors
Google says it uses links as a signal when determining the relevancy of pages and to find new pages to crawl, so a link from a relevant page that Google has indexed is worth more than one from a page it has not. Real readers matter because a link on a page nobody visits sends no one. A page with dozens of other external links dilutes the attention each gets, and a curated list that has not been updated for years is less likely to be maintained. Google also lists buying or selling links for ranking purposes and excessive link exchanges as link spam, which is why the scorer treats a site that advertises paid links or swaps as a skip. Our guide to relevant backlinks explains the relevance check in detail.
What to Do After You Score a Prospect
- Check the attribute. Use the dofollow link checker on the page.
- Check indexing. Search Google for the exact URL with
site:. - Write the email. Draft it with the outreach email generator.
- Plan the work. Fit your list into a link building campaign with goals and a report.
Link Prospect Scorer FAQs
What is link prospecting?
It is finding and checking sites that could link to you, before you reach out. The aim is a short list of relevant, live pages instead of a long list of anything.
Is the score a Google metric?
No. It is our own checklist turned into points so prospects can be compared. Google does not publish a prospect score.
Does the tool visit the site or check its authority?
No. It uses only your answers. Authority scores come from third-party tools and are not part of the score, because relevance and readers say more about a link's value.
Why is a site that sells links an automatic skip?
Google's spam policy lists buying or selling links for ranking purposes and excessive link exchanges as link spam. A link from such a site carries risk whatever the rest of the score says.
What score should I aim for?
Pursue prospects at 70 or above, look again at 45 to 69 and skip the rest. Adjust the thresholds to your own results after a few campaigns.
Does this tool store or send my data anywhere?
No. Everything is calculated in your browser with JavaScript — nothing is uploaded, logged, or stored on any server, including ours.
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