Link Vendor Scorecard & Placement Approval Template

Publisher Placement Approval Form (fill-in)

When to use: One row per proposed placement: publisher, target URL, anchor, link attribute, total cost and approval, with owners and a completion check.

Publisher placement approval form

One row per proposed placement. Fill it before anything is written, published or paid for. A row with an empty cell is not approved.

Campaign: [campaign or client] - Vendor: [vendor or publisher contact] - Form date: [YYYY-MM-DD]

Per-row detail (fill for every placement)

• Publisher page: [section or existing article URL where the link will sit]
• Placement type: [sponsored article / guest article / editorial mention / listing / link in existing post]
• Who writes it: [us / vendor / publisher] - Draft approved by: [name, date]
• Anchor type: [brand / URL / generic / descriptive]. Exact-match keyword anchors need a written reason.
• Attribute set by: [publisher name], confirmed in writing on [date]
• Disclosure label on the page: [Ad / Advertisement / Sponsored Advertising Content / none, editorial]
• Cost breakdown: [placement fee + writing + images + revisions + VAT/tax + payment fees] = [total]
• Payment terms: [on publish / net 30 / prepaid] - Invoice to: [entity]
• Vendor scorecard total: [score] / 45, scored on [date]
• Reader evidence on file: [link to analytics screenshot or traffic proof]
• Minimum live period: [months] - Replacement terms: [replaced within N days if removed]
• Decision: [approved / changes requested / declined] - Reason: [one sentence]

Two sign-offs, not one

• Editorial approval: [SEO lead, name] on [date]. Confirms the site, page, anchor, attribute and label fit.
• Spend approval: [budget owner, name] on [date]. Confirms the total cost and the purchase route.

An email that says "looks good" is not approval. Both names and dates go on the form.

Next action

• Link builder: [name] - action: fill every row and attach the scorecard by [date]
• SEO lead: [name] - action: give editorial approval or request changes by [date]
• Budget owner: [name] - action: give spend approval and raise the purchase order by [date]
• QA owner: [name] - action: check the live link, attribute and label within [N] days of publishing

Completion check

• Every row names the publisher, target URL, anchor, link attribute, total cost and approver with a date.
• Every paid placement is marked rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow" in writing.
• The disclosure label is agreed, if the piece is paid content.
• Total cost includes every fee, tax and extra, in one currency.
• Editorial and spend approvals are both signed, by two named people.
• A QA owner and a check date are set before the link goes live.

Check the publisher's own link profile with the free Backlink Analyzer before you sign, and log each approved cost in the Link Building Budget Tracker Template.

Link Vendor Scorecard

When to use: Score every vendor on the same 9 rows before price, with hard stops that override any total.

Vendor scorecard

Score every vendor on the same 9 rows before you look at price. Then score each site they pitch the same way.

Scoring

• 5: evidence supplied, in writing, specific to your market.
• 3: claimed and plausible, no evidence yet.
• 0: refused, dodged, or answered with a metric screenshot instead of an answer.

Total: [score] / 45 - Scored by: [name] - Date: [date]

Hard stops (score does not matter)

• The vendor refuses to name the publisher before payment.
• The vendor promises a paid link that passes ranking credit, with no sponsored or nofollow attribute.
• No written replacement terms.

Compare totals only when every row is filled. A high score on a half-filled card means they answered the easy questions.

Qualify the sites themselves with the Link Prospect Qualification Sheet Template.

Relevance and Reader Evidence

When to use: The questions that separate a site with readers from a site with metrics, and the answers to keep on file.

Relevance and reader evidence

Ask for these in writing. A vendor who cannot answer them for a site they sell does not know that site either.

Relevance

• What does this site publish, in one sentence? [answer]
• Name 3 recent articles our buyers would read: [3 URLs]
• Would the link make sense to a reader who never heard of us? [yes / no, and why]

Where its readers come from

• Which countries? [answer] - Matches our market? [yes / no]
• Mostly search, social, newsletter or referral? [answer]
• Analytics screenshot with dates visible? [yes / no, evidence link]
• How many other paid links are on the same page? [number]

Signals that lower the score

• Every page links out to unrelated industries, in several languages.
• The site has a "write for us" price list but no named editor.
• A price list covering hundreds of sites, with no editorial contact for any of them.
• Authority metrics quoted with no reader evidence at all.

Run each pitched domain through the free Backlink Analyzer to see its link profile, anchors and referring IPs and subnets. Far fewer IPs than referring domains can point to a link network.

Compare pitched sites with the ones already linking to your rivals in Competitor Analysis. Sites your rivals earned are a better shortlist than a vendor's list.

Link Attribute and Disclosure Check

When to use: Check each paid placement against Google's link spam policy and FTC labeling guidance before approval.

Link attribute and disclosure check

Run this check on every paid placement before you approve it. It is based on Google's and the FTC's own pages, checked on 10 November 2026.

What Google's spam policies say

• Buying or selling links for ranking purposes is link spam. That includes paying with money, goods or services.
• Paid links for advertising or sponsorship are fine when they are qualified with rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow".
• Advertorials where payment is received for articles with links that pass ranking credit count as link spam.
• So do links with optimized anchor text in articles, guest posts or press releases distributed on other sites.
• Google's link attribute guide says to use sponsored for paid placements. You can combine values, for example rel="sponsored nofollow".

What the FTC says about labels (US readers)

• Paid content that looks like editorial needs a clear and prominent label.
• The FTC native advertising guide says to put the label in front of or above the headline.
• Labels it lists as likely understood: Ad, Advertisement, Paid Advertisement, Sponsored Advertising Content.
• It calls "Promoted" or "Promoted Stories" at best ambiguous.

Check before approval

• Paid placement? [yes / no]. If yes, attribute is [sponsored / nofollow / both].
• Anchor: [brand / URL / descriptive]. Not a keyword anchor on a paid or guest post.
• Label above the headline: [exact label text]
• Who confirmed it: [publisher contact, date]

This is not legal advice. For regulated sectors or other countries, ask your legal team which rules apply.

After publishing, crawl the target page and your site for broken or redirected links with Website Audit.

Terms, Exclusions and Replacement

When to use: Agree attribute, anchor, exclusions and what happens when a link is removed, before the order is placed.

Terms, exclusions and replacement

Write these into the order. The time to agree what happens when a link disappears is before you pay for it.

Link terms

• Attribute agreed: [sponsored / nofollow] - set by: [publisher name]
• Anchor text: [exact words], changed only with our written approval
• Minimum live period: [months]
• Disclosure label: [label text and where it sits]

Exclusions we require

• No placements on [sites, sectors or networks you will not appear on]
• No pages that exist only to host links: [yes / no]
• No changes to the agreed text after our sign-off: [yes / no]
• No resale of our placement to another client: [yes / no]

If it goes wrong

• Link removed inside the live period: [replaced within N days, no cost, on a site of equal relevance]
• Page deleted or 404: [same remedy]
• Attribute or anchor changed without approval: [remedy]
• Site later found in a link network: [remedy, including refund terms]
• Who checks, and how often: [name, cadence]

Check every new link with the Backlink Delivery QA Checklist Template. When a link drops later, follow the Link Reclamation Template.

Spreadsheet Header (CSV)

When to use: A paste-ready header row and allowed values to run the approval form in Google Sheets or Excel.

Paste-ready spreadsheet header

Paste this row into cell A1 of Google Sheets or Excel, then split text to columns by comma. One row per proposed placement.

placement_id,campaign,vendor,vendor_score,publisher_domain,publisher_page_url,placement_type,target_url,anchor_text,anchor_type,link_attribute,attribute_confirmed_by,disclosure_label,writer,draft_approved_by,fee,writing_cost,other_costs,tax,currency,total_cost,payment_terms,reader_evidence_url,live_period_months,replacement_days,editorial_approver,editorial_date,spend_approver,spend_date,decision,live_url,qa_owner,qa_date,status

Allowed values

• placement_type: sponsored_article, guest_article, editorial_mention, listing, existing_post
• anchor_type: brand, url, generic, descriptive, keyword
• link_attribute: sponsored, nofollow, sponsored_nofollow, none_editorial
• decision: approved, changes_requested, declined
• status: proposed, scored, approved, drafting, live, qa_passed, replaced, removed

Sheet tips

• Highlight rows where link_attribute is none_editorial and fee is above zero. That is a paid link with no attribute.
• Highlight rows where anchor_type is keyword. They need a written reason.
• Block status approved until editorial_date and spend_date are both filled.
• Sum total_cost by vendor and by month to compare against your budget.

Worked Example (fictional fleet software brand)

When to use: A completed approval form for an invented brand, with one approved and one declined placement.

Worked example: Drovemoor placement approval

Example only. Drovemoor, Ostlerbay Media and Quarnfield Depot Weekly are invented. All URLs, names, scores, dates and costs are made up to show a filled-in form.

Campaign: Drovemoor fleet maintenance guide - Vendor: Ostlerbay Media - Form date: 14 Oct 2026

How the rows were decided

• Vendor score: Ostlerbay Media scored 36 of 45. It named the publisher and editor, and sent dated analytics.
• Row 1 approved: trade site read by depot managers, branded anchor, sponsored attribute and an "Advertisement" label above the headline, confirmed by the editor in writing.
• Row 2 declined: a paid keyword anchor in an existing post, with no attribute. It fails Google's link spam policy.
• Terms: live for 12 months, replaced within 14 days if removed.
• QA: link builder checked the live page on 24 Oct 2026. Attribute, anchor, label and target URL matched the form.

Why this works

• Every approved row names who approved it and when.
• The cheaper row was declined on a written rule, not a gut feeling.
• The cost shown is the full cost, so the budget tracker matches the invoice.

Want a second pair of eyes on a vendor shortlist or a placement form? Book a free consultation with Anatolii Ulitovskyi.