SEO Agency SOPs: The List, a Template and a Full Link Building SOP
The SOPs an SEO agency needs, a template to copy, and one SOP filled in end to end.
The core set is 11 SOPs: onboarding, keyword research, technical audit, briefs, writing, on-page, internal links, link outreach, link monitoring, refreshes and reporting. Each needs an owner, a trigger, numbered steps and a done-when line.
Template: copy it below, no signup
9 in 10 positive replies to a first link pitch arrived within 7 days, 8 in 10 within 3. Of the links MentionAgent's checker found live, 94% were followed.
In the SOP: close a pitch with no reply after 7 days
Pitches sent 1 August to 3 October 2026, links checked 26 September to 18 October 2026. Method.
The SOPs an SEO agency needs
Owner does the work, sign-off checks it. Swap in your own role names.
| SOP | Owner (sign-off) | Runs | Done when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client onboarding | Account manager (strategist) | Once per client | Search Console, analytics and CMS access work, and goals and target pages are agreed in writing |
| Keyword research | SEO specialist (strategist) | Onboarding, then quarterly | Each target page has one primary keyword and the client approved the list |
| Technical audit | Technical SEO (strategist) | Onboarding, then quarterly | Every issue is a ticket with an owner and a priority |
| Content brief | Content lead (strategist) | Per page | The brief names keyword, intent, outline, sources and internal links |
| Writing and editing | Writer (editor) | Per page | The editor checked every fact against its source |
| On-page and publishing | SEO specialist (content lead) | Per page | Title, meta, headings, schema and links checked on the live URL |
| Internal linking | SEO specialist | Monthly | Every new page has links in from related pages |
| Link building outreach | Outreach specialist (strategist) | Weekly | Every agreed link is checked live and logged (full SOP) |
| Link monitoring | Outreach specialist | Monthly | Lost links are listed and each site has been asked to restore them |
| Content refresh | Content lead (strategist) | Quarterly | Pages losing clicks are updated, merged or redirected |
| Reporting | Account manager (strategist) | Monthly | The report says what changed, why, and next month's plan |
What goes in the report: white label SEO reporting. Software for each row: SEO tools for agencies.
A free SEO SOP template
Nine fields per SOP. Fill them in with the person who does the job.
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| Purpose | One sentence: what this produces for the client |
| Owner and sign-off | Who does it, who checks it, who is told |
| Trigger | The event or cadence that starts it |
| Inputs and tools | What must exist before step 1, and the tools used |
| Steps | Numbered, one action each, written as commands |
| QA check | What the reviewer looks at, and how |
| Done when | A state anyone can verify, not "looks good" |
| Hands off to | The next SOP in the chain |
| Last reviewed | A date, and who reviewed it |
A complete SOP: link building outreach
The template, filled in.
- Purpose: earn editorial links to the client's target pages from sites on the same topic.
- Owner and sign-off: outreach specialist does it, strategist signs off, account manager is told.
- Trigger: weekly, per client.
- Inputs: target pages and anchor topics agreed at onboarding, the client's no-go list (competitors, sites they won't appear on), and their rule on paid placements and link exchanges.
- Tools: a prospecting tool, an email finder, a sending inbox on a warmed-up domain, a link tracker (a spreadsheet works) and a nofollow link checker.
Steps
- Pick this week's target page and two or three anchor topics. Vary the anchors.
- List pages already published on the target topic. Drop off-topic sites, sites on the no-go list, and sites that openly sell links.
- Find the author's or editor's address. Use a generic inbox only when there is none.
- Write each pitch about that specific post: what it is missing and what the client's page adds. One ask per email. Starting points: link building email templates.
- Send from a separate sending domain, never the client's main one, at a volume the inbox is warmed up for.
- Log each reply the day it arrives. Mark a pitch closed when there's no reply after 7 days (why 7).
- Answer each reply by type (reply table).
- When the editor says the link is live, run the placed-link check.
- Re-check every live link monthly. A lost link goes to link reclamation.
- QA check: the strategist opens a sample of the month's links in a browser and compares them with the tracker.
- Done when: the link is live on the agreed page, points at the right URL, uses the agreed anchor topic, carries the agreed rel value, and has a dated row in the tracker.
- Hands off to: reporting, and link monitoring the following month.
What to do with each kind of reply
| Reply | Action |
|---|---|
| Interested | Send the exact page, the paragraph, a suggested sentence and the URL |
| Asks for details | Answer every question in one email |
| Names a price | Apply the client's paid-placement rule. If they pay, the link must be marked sponsored (below). Price benchmarks: how much backlinks cost |
| Asks for a link back | Only if the client approved exchanges. Log what you owe in the tracker. See link exchange |
| Declines | Close the thread and note the reason |
On paid links, Google's outbound link guidance says: "Mark links that are advertisements or paid placements (commonly called paid links) with the sponsored value." The risks of skipping that: buying backlinks.
How to check a placed link
- It's there: open the page and find the link in the article body.
- Right target: the href is the agreed URL, with no redirect chain or typo.
- Right rel: followed, or sponsored if it was paid. Of the links MentionAgent's checker found live, 94% were followed, so a nofollow is worth asking about.
- Readable: of links found or reported live, 12% sat on pages that blocked MentionAgent's checker. Open those in a browser by hand.
- Still there next month: 2% of links seen live in our first three weeks of checks had gone by the latest check. Track them in one place: backlink management.
When replies to link pitches arrive
From MentionAgent's outreach records. No follow-ups went to non-repliers in this period, so every reply answers the first pitch.
| Arrived within | Positive replies | All replies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day | 65% | 73% |
| 3 days | 80% | 85% |
| 7 days | 90% | 93% |
| 14 days | 94% | 97% |
Few positive replies arrive after day 7, hence step 6.
Which steps to automate, and which to keep
Steps 2 to 6, 8 and 9 repeat every week and suit software. Steps 1 and 7 set anchors, prices and exchanges for the client, so keep them with a person. To hand off the whole SOP: outsourced or white label link building.
Run the outreach SOP without the manual steps
MentionAgent finds relevant pages and the author's or site owner's email, drafts each pitch for you to approve or send on auto-send, and checks every link once it's live. From $99/mo, plus $99/mo for each extra client site.
See how MentionAgent worksMethod
Reply timing: first pitches sent 1 August to 3 October 2026 from MentionAgent's link-building workspaces (our own sales outreach excluded), so each had at least 14 days for replies. Measured from the first email to a contact to the first reply recorded in that thread. Spam is excluded. "Positive" means the thread's latest label is interested, agreeing, proposing a deal, link confirmed, asking for details, counter-offering, hesitant interest or a sharing request.
Placed links: links MentionAgent's checker found on publishers' pages, or that a publisher reported live on a page the checker couldn't read, between 26 September 2026 (its first recorded check) and 18 October 2026. "Followed" means no nofollow, sponsored or ugc in the rel attribute. Pages that blocked the checker are counted separately, never as lost.
Frequently asked questions
What SOPs does an SEO agency need?
A core set of 11: client onboarding, keyword research, technical audit, content briefs, writing and editing, on-page and publishing, internal linking, link building outreach, link monitoring, content refresh and reporting. Write the ones your team runs most often first.
What should an SEO SOP include?
Purpose, owner and sign-off, trigger or cadence, inputs and tools, numbered steps, a QA check, a done-when line, the SOP it hands off to, and the date it was last reviewed.
How long should you wait for a reply to link outreach?
About a week. In MentionAgent's outreach data, 9 in 10 positive replies to a first pitch arrived within 7 days and 8 in 10 within 3 days, so a pitch with no reply after 7 days can be marked closed.