Most SaaS link building fails because of one thing: no system. Outreach happens in scattered emails, placements get forgotten, and nobody knows which links actually moved rankings. This prospecting sheet is the exact tracking system the Citelane team uses to run editorial link building campaigns – from prospect research to live placement to ranking impact measurement.
What’s Inside the Sheet
Tab 1: Prospect List
- Domain – the target publication or site
- DR (Domain Rating) – from Ahrefs
- Monthly traffic – from Ahrefs or Semrush
- Niche relevance score – 1 to 5 rating of how relevant the audience is to your ICP
- Link type – guest post / niche edit / digital PR / partnership
- Contact name and email
- Outreach status – Not contacted / Sent / Replied / Negotiating / Placed / Rejected
- Pitch angle – the specific article idea or insertion point pitched
- Notes – editor preferences, response details, follow-up reminders
Tab 2: Live Placements
- Live URL – the published page with your link
- Anchor text used
- Target page linked to – which of your pages received the link
- Date live
- DR of linking page
- Ranking before – position of target page on go-live date
- Ranking 30 days after
- Ranking 90 days after
- Traffic impact – estimated additional monthly sessions
Tab 3: Campaign Tracker
- Monthly link velocity by type
- Average DR of placements vs target
- Response rate by outreach template
- Cost per placement (if using agency or paying for placements)
- Ranking movement summary across all target pages
How to Use It
- Make a copy of the Google Sheet to your Drive
- Start with Tab 1 – research 50 to 100 prospects before sending any outreach
- Filter by DR 60+ and niche relevance score 4+ to prioritize your first batch
- Move placements to Tab 2 as they go live
- Review Tab 3 monthly to see which link types are producing ranking movement
Teams that track consistently spot patterns most agencies hide: which placements moved rankings, which were wasted spend, and which outreach angles get the best response rate. The sheet makes those patterns visible in 10 minutes a week.