Why outbound links make a good client report
Clients rarely see the links on their own site. Over the years editors, contractors and plugins add them, and the sites they point to change hands, lapse or turn up in a blocklist. An audit of those links is easy to explain, easy to act on, and checkable: a link is either still there or it is not.
Link Signals reads a client’s XML sitemap, collects the links that lead to other sites and judges each destination. The result is a report with the most serious findings first, written in plain words, which is what most clients need.
A workflow for each client
- Get permission and the sitemap addressOnly scan sites you own, manage or have been asked to audit. Most platforms publish a sitemap at a predictable address: see how to find your sitemap URL.
- Check the size before you runLoading the sitemap shows the page count and how it compares with your plan. A site bigger than the plan reads is scanned as a sample, which is worth telling the client.
- Scan and read the headlineThe report opens with the most serious finding in plain words, then an action plan that takes the top priorities in order. Read your scan report explains each part.
- Decide what to sendA shared link gives the client a readable page. A CSV export gives their editor a list to work through. Many agencies send both.
- Fix, then re-checkOnce the changes are made, re-check the flagged links. The report updates, and findings are marked resolved only once Link Signals has seen the link is gone or no longer flagged.
- Keep watchingAdd the site to monitoring so that a link that turns bad later is reported without a new scan.
This domain isn’t registered. Anyone can register it and take over this link
/news/trade-show-roundup · Anchor text “supplier resources”A finding like this one is a good example of what clients value: a link that has worked for years, to a domain nobody holds any more, on a page that can be pointed to and fixed in a minute.
What to hand the client
| Format | Best for | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Shared report link | A client who wants to read the findings, or who will forward them to a developer. | Anyone with the link can read that one report. You can switch it off at any time, and sharing it again makes a new link. |
| CSV export | An editor or developer who will work through the list in a spreadsheet. | Every saved finding is included, with the page it was found on. Sort by that column for a per-page fix list. |
| Sites page | Showing change over time: more or fewer flagged links than the check before. | Scans and monitoring checks of the same site are gathered on one page, with a chart and a list of what is new and what has gone. |
Setting up for several clients
- Each site is kept separate by its address. A client’s staging and live sites have their own histories, so scan the one that visitors see.
- The monthly link allowance is shared across the scans and monitoring on your account. Monitoring counts only links that need checking, not every link every time.
- Monitoring is limited by the number of sites on your plan, and daily checks by a smaller number. The limits are below, and they come from the live plans.
- Alert emails go to the address you sign in with. They are not sent to clients, so forward anything a client needs to see, or share the report link.
- On a paid plan you can [change the priority order](/guides/set-your-priority-order) to match how you report, and the report and the emails follow it.
| Plan | Sitemap pages crawled | Links per scan | Link checks a month | Monitored sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 100 | 50 | 50 | None |
| Starter | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | None |
| Pro | 10,000 | 12,000 | 12,000 | 15 |
| Scale | 50,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 50 |
Showing progress
Agency clients tend to ask the same thing a month later: is it better? The Sites page answers it. It shows a sentence at the top about what changed since the previous check, a bar for each check, and the links that are new or no longer flagged. Because scans and monitoring checks both count, the history builds up as you work.
One caution: a link that is no longer flagged is not always fixed. If the latest check read fewer pages, a link on a page that was not read can look as though it has gone. Run a full scan before you tell a client the problem is cleared.
Mistakes to avoid
- Calling a site clean. A scan finds links in the HTML of the pages in the sitemap. “None found” is the honest way to put it. See accuracy and limits.
- Sending the raw export without a word of explanation. Pair it with the headline paragraph and say which findings to start with.
- Passing the share link around. Anyone who has it can read the report. Turn it off when the client has what they need.
- Scanning a site without permission. Check that the client has agreed, and keep the agreement on record.
- Reporting every flag as a fault. A keyword-only match can be a false positive. Look at it before you tell a client it is a problem.
Questions
Does my client need a Link Signals account?
No. A shared report link can be read without an account, and it is read-only.
Can alerts go to my client?
Not yet. Alert emails go to the email address on the account that set up the monitoring.
How do I show that the fixes worked?
Use Re-check on the report, then share it or export it again. The Sites page shows the change from the check before.
Does it change anything on the client’s site?
No. Link Signals reads public pages and does not change the site.
How this counts in your LinkSignal
A report for a client can lead with the site’s external LinkSignal and the rows that cost points, since each row names what to fix. Changes between scans are explained by the same rows. See the LinkSignal overview for what each means and how the score is worked out for the rules. LinkSignal is Link Signals’ own metric, worked out only from what this tool finds, and it is not connected to any search engine or third-party score.
Load a sitemap and see what the first report looks like.
