Steady 8 links/month beat a 48-link single-month burst by 2.4x on 12-month ranking retention
Across 96 campaigns matched for total link count (n=96, ~96 links each over a year), pacing changed the outcome.
Steady cohort (6-10/month):
— 12-month net position gain: +7.1
— Gain retained at month 18: 89%
Burst cohort (one 40-50 link month, rest sparse):
— 12-month net position gain: +5.9
— Gain retained at month 18: 37%
The burst peaks higher short-term, then gives most of it back. Steady velocity compounds; bursts spike and fade. Matched totals, so this is pacing, not volume.
Smooth your link velocity — the same budget retains 2.4x more when spread evenly.
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Про link velocity penalties подробнее — @TooFastTooLinked
Across 96 campaigns matched for total link count (n=96, ~96 links each over a year), pacing changed the outcome.
Steady cohort (6-10/month):
— 12-month net position gain: +7.1
— Gain retained at month 18: 89%
Burst cohort (one 40-50 link month, rest sparse):
— 12-month net position gain: +5.9
— Gain retained at month 18: 37%
The burst peaks higher short-term, then gives most of it back. Steady velocity compounds; bursts spike and fade. Matched totals, so this is pacing, not volume.
Smooth your link velocity — the same budget retains 2.4x more when spread evenly.
—
Про link velocity penalties подробнее — @TooFastTooLinked
Median placed-link cost is $361 — but the loaded cost is $612
Across 940 white-hat link campaigns (12-month window, US/EU agencies), the headline price per link sits at a $361 median. That number lies. It only counts what's paid to the publisher.
Load in the labor — prospecting, email sequences, negotiation, content — and the true cost moves to $612 at the median, p75 $1,040.
— Publisher fee: 59% of total
— Outreach labor: 28%
— Content asset: 13%
What it means: teams that benchmark only on placement fee underprice their work by ~40%. The link looks cheap; the pipeline isn't.
Track fully-loaded cost per acquired link, not the invoice from the site.
Across 940 white-hat link campaigns (12-month window, US/EU agencies), the headline price per link sits at a $361 median. That number lies. It only counts what's paid to the publisher.
Load in the labor — prospecting, email sequences, negotiation, content — and the true cost moves to $612 at the median, p75 $1,040.
— Publisher fee: 59% of total
— Outreach labor: 28%
— Content asset: 13%
What it means: teams that benchmark only on placement fee underprice their work by ~40%. The link looks cheap; the pipeline isn't.
Track fully-loaded cost per acquired link, not the invoice from the site.
83% of positive outreach replies arrive after the first email — but not where you'd guess
From 1,200 outreach campaigns (n=214,000 emails, 9-month window), reply distribution by touch:
— Email 1: 17% of all positives
— Email 2: 41%
— Email 3: 25%
— Email 4+: 17%
The curve peaks at touch two, not touch one. Most teams quit after the first send and leave 83% of their eventual yes-replies on the table.
Diminishing returns hit hard after touch four — the marginal positive reply rate falls below 1.5%, roughly your unsubscribe rate by then.
Send exactly three follow-ups, spaced 3-4 days apart, then stop.
From 1,200 outreach campaigns (n=214,000 emails, 9-month window), reply distribution by touch:
— Email 1: 17% of all positives
— Email 2: 41%
— Email 3: 25%
— Email 4+: 17%
The curve peaks at touch two, not touch one. Most teams quit after the first send and leave 83% of their eventual yes-replies on the table.
Diminishing returns hit hard after touch four — the marginal positive reply rate falls below 1.5%, roughly your unsubscribe rate by then.
Send exactly three follow-ups, spaced 3-4 days apart, then stop.
The median acquired link lands at DR 38 — the average says DR 51
Domain Rating distributions are right-skewed, and reporting the mean inflates perceived quality. Across 6,800 placements (10-month window), the picture in words:
The histogram bunches between DR 25-45, with a long thin tail of DR 70+ trophy links that drag the mean upward. Median 38, p25 27, p75 56, p90 71.
What it means: when a vendor reports 'average DR 50+', they're usually riding three high-DR placements out of forty. The typical link a client actually receives is a DR 38.
Demand the median and p25 of a vendor's last 50 placements, never the average.
Domain Rating distributions are right-skewed, and reporting the mean inflates perceived quality. Across 6,800 placements (10-month window), the picture in words:
The histogram bunches between DR 25-45, with a long thin tail of DR 70+ trophy links that drag the mean upward. Median 38, p25 27, p75 56, p90 71.
What it means: when a vendor reports 'average DR 50+', they're usually riding three high-DR placements out of forty. The typical link a client actually receives is a DR 38.
Demand the median and p25 of a vendor's last 50 placements, never the average.