Off-Page SEO
Off-Page Prospect Scoring Template
A practical template for scoring link, mention, PR, review, partner, and citation prospects by relevance, trust, audience, effort, and risk.
Off-page prospecting should prioritize sources that make sense for real readers. This scoring template helps avoid chasing weak links only because a metric looks attractive.
Use it for digital PR, unlinked mentions, partner pages, local sources, associations, review platforms, and resource pages.
Download the working file: Off-page prospect scoring template CSV.
Prospect table
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Prospect source | Publication, site, profile, partner, association, podcast, directory, review platform. |
| Source URL | Exact page or domain. |
| Source type | Editorial, local, review, partner, citation, community, analyst, resource. |
| Target asset | Page worth citing or mentioning. |
| Audience fit | 1-5 score. |
| Topical relevance | 1-5 score. |
| Trust quality | 1-5 score. |
| Link or mention fit | 1-5 score. |
| Effort | 1-5, where 5 is easiest. |
| Risk | 1-5, where 5 is lowest risk. |
| Priority score | Sum of fit, relevance, trust, link fit, effort, and risk. |
| Outreach angle | Why the source’s audience should care. |
| Owner | Person responsible. |
| Status | Researching, pitched, won, declined, not a fit, later. |
Score definitions
| Score | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 5 | Strong audience fit, relevant, trusted, low risk, and realistic. |
| 3 | Some value, but fit or execution is uncertain. |
| 1 | Weak relevance, weak audience, high risk, or no clear reason to reference the asset. |
Do not let a high authority metric override weak relevance or high risk.
Outreach readiness
A prospect is outreach-ready when:
- The target asset deserves attention.
- The source’s audience has a reason to care.
- The pitch is specific to the source.
- The link or mention would help readers.
- The tactic does not rely on payment, manipulation, or fake relevance.
If the only reason to contact the source is “we want a backlink,” the prospect is not ready.