Task Library
Earn backlinks from publications, podcasts, and industry sites Google already trusts – never bought, always descriptive-anchored, and routed to the right page by the entity-linking decision tree.
Category: SEO & Content Architecture
Use this when the internal architecture is sound and the next constraint is authority – the site needs trusted third parties pointing at it.
Inputs
- Target list of authoritative sources where the brand has genuine standing: industry publications, podcasts, conference/event sites, peer brands
- Something worth citing: original frameworks, real results, useful data
- The entity-linking decision tree (/entity-linking) for destination routing
Steps
- Build the target list from sources Google already trusts and where there is a real relationship or real standing – no cold link directories.
- Earn the placement, never buy it: pitch podcast guest spots, speaking engagements, collaborative content with industry peers, and original frameworks or data worth citing.
- Give every host or editor the correct destination per the decision tree: person mention → the personal site, company mention → the company site, concept mention → that concept's definitive article.
- Request descriptive anchor text – the entity's name or a 3-6 word description of the destination – never 'click here'.
- Log every earned link: source, authority level, target page, anchor, date.
- Reuse each win twice: add the mention to the relevant hub's E-E-A-T section (Requirement 9, highest authority first), and send the host a public thank-you (Thank You Machine) to compound the relationship.
- Track referring domains and target-page rankings through the MAA loop (/maa); double down on the source types that actually move pages.
Definition of done (QA checklist)
- Target list built on genuine standing; zero paid or scheme links
- Every earned link logged with source, target, and anchor
- Destinations follow the entity-linking decision tree; anchors descriptive
- New mentions added to hub E-E-A-T sections, highest authority first
- MAA tracking live; linked back to the definitive article (/link-building) and relevant siblings
Example(s)
- Example needed – run the Meta-Article Prompt (/meta-article-prompt-template) after the first earned placement lands.
File in the zip: skills/seo-content-architecture/build-external-backlinks-from-authoritative-sources.md. Download the Task Library zip.
Index: Task Library. Article guidelines.