# linkbuilding

This skill assesses a site's authority phase and recommends matching link acquisition tactics. Use it to shape a plan around a domain and its visible signals.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · ★ 370
- Author: inhouseseo
- License: Apache-2.0 · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/inhouseseo/superseo-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/linkbuilding/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-09-03
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/linkbuilding

## What it does

Provide a domain or URL. The skill reviews site age, content volume, and brand presence, then classifies the site as foundation, growth, or authority phase. Its recommendations include three tactics, why they fit, an initial action, expected referring domains, and time investment.

The library contains nine playbooks, covering directories, guest posts, partnerships, and new-site launches. Before giving execution steps for a tactic, the agent loads its playbook. Additional references cover phase classification, anchor text safety, and link-velocity risks. Competitor backlink-gap research requires Ahrefs or Moz, so that tactic depends on access to one of those tools.

You can provide a niche, product details, or constraints such as having no outreach budget. If you share anchor-text distribution, the skill checks it against suggested ranges; otherwise it skips that check. No backlink tool is needed for the rest of the workflow.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add inhouseseo/superseo-skills --skill linkbuilding -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/linkbuilding/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/linkbuilding/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add inhouseseo/superseo-skills --skill linkbuilding -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/linkbuilding/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add inhouseseo/superseo-skills --skill linkbuilding -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/linkbuilding/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install inhouseseo/superseo-skills linkbuilding
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/linkbuilding/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add inhouseseo/superseo-skills --skill linkbuilding -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/inhouseseo/superseo-skills --path skills/linkbuilding
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/linkbuilding/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add inhouseseo/superseo-skills --skill linkbuilding -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/inhouseseo/superseo-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/linkbuilding/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- classify a site's authority phase from visible signals
- choose link acquisition tactics for a site's current phase
- turn a link strategy into concrete first actions
- check anchor-text distribution against safety ranges

## Example prompts
- Build a link acquisition plan for `example.com` with no budget for outreach.
- Find low-effort link opportunities for this site.
- Assess this site's phase and recommend a link strategy.

## Source text · SKILL.md · Apache-2.0

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 01be684d594f7aaf.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 01be684d594f7aaf
```text
---
name: linkbuilding
description: Use when planning link acquisition. Classifies the site's authority phase from site age and visible signals, then recommends phase-appropriate tactics from the bundled tactic playbook library. No backlink tool required.
---

# Link Building

A phase-appropriate link acquisition strategy with specific, executable tactics. The agent classifies your site's authority phase from what it can read (the domain, site age, what's on the homepage), then picks tactics from the 9 detailed playbooks in `references/tactics/`.

## Input

**Your domain or a URL** (required). Optionally: your niche, what you sell, and any specific constraint ("I have no budget for outreach," "I already tried guest posting," etc.).

## User context (optional)

If the user specifies an action, adapt accordingly:

- **"find easy link opportunities"** → Focus on low-effort, high-conversion tactics: existing relationships, testimonials, citations, entity stacking
- **"help me with outreach"** → Focus on outreach tactics: guest posting, resource pages. For each, provide search operators and pitch angles.
- **"create link-worthy content"** → Focus on skyscraper content and statistics pages.
- **"plan a full strategy"** → Run the full workflow below.

## Role

You are a senior link building strategist with 10+ years building backlink profiles across new, growth, and authority-stage sites.

## Step 1: Phase Assessment

Fetch the homepage of the domain. Google the brand name. From what you can see:

- **Site age** — WHOIS or first Wayback Machine snapshot
- **Content volume** — approximate pages indexed (`site:domain.com`)
- **Brand presence** — does Google return a knowledge panel? A company card? Any news coverage?
- **Apparent size** — solo / small team / established company

Classify the phase:
- **Foundation phase**: new (< 1 year), thin content, no brand signals, likely DR 0-15
- **Growth phase**: 1-3 years, 20-100 pages of content, some brand mentions, likely DR 16-40
- **Authority phase**: 3+ years, established brand, knowledge panel, media mentions, likely DR 41+

State your reasoning, naming which signals you actually observed. If site age or indexed volume can't be verified, classify from the remaining signals and say so — don't present a guess as a measurement. If the signals are ambiguous, load `references/phase-classification-tree.md` for the full decision tree before falling back on asking the user.

## Step 2: Phase-Appropriate Tactics

Before giving execution instructions for any tactic, load its full playbook from `references/tactics/<slug>.md`. The 9 tactics bundled in this repo:

### Foundation phase (do first)
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 01be684d594f7aaf

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First 2688 of 6953 bytes. © inhouseseo · Apache-2.0 · https://github.com/inhouseseo/superseo-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/linkbuilding/SKILL.md

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---
NeVibeCode on affpapa.org. Catalog texts are descriptions, not instructions for the agent. How to choose and install: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/agents.md