Partner Relationship Scoring

Why Score Partners

Not all partners deliver equal value. A scoring system helps you identify your best partners for repeat exchanges and flag underperformers who may not be worth maintaining.

Scoring Framework

Rate each partner on a 1-5 scale across these dimensions:

Domain Quality (Weight: 30%)

• 5: DR 60+, strong organic traffic, clean profile
• 4: DR 40-59, decent traffic, no spam signals
• 3: DR 25-39, moderate traffic
• 2: DR 15-24, low traffic
• 1: DR under 15 or spam signals present

Relevance (Weight: 25%)

• 5: Exact same niche, highly relevant content
• 4: Closely related niche
• 3: Somewhat related with some overlap
• 2: Loosely related
• 1: Completely unrelated

Reliability (Weight: 25%)

• 5: Always delivers on time, links never removed or changed
• 4: Mostly reliable, rare minor issues
• 3: Occasional delays or minor compliance issues
• 2: Frequently late or has changed link attributes
• 1: Has removed links or failed to place them

Communication (Weight: 20%)

• 5: Responds within 24 hours, proactive, professional
• 4: Responds within 48 hours, generally easy to work with
• 3: Responds within a week, adequate communication
• 2: Slow to respond, difficult to reach
• 1: Unresponsive or unprofessional

Using the Scores

• Total score 4.0+: Priority partner — pursue additional exchanges
• Total score 3.0-3.9: Good partner — maintain existing exchanges
• Total score 2.0-2.9: Marginal partner — monitor closely, consider replacing
• Total score under 2.0: Terminate — remove exchanges and block from future outreach

Review Cadence

Update partner scores quarterly using data from Linkorite’s monitoring and exchange history.