Procurement sheet
Link building vendor comparison: a scorecard for the RFP
Three quotes arrive in three formats. This sheet puts them on one scale so the person who signs can see why the winner won.
How to use it
Score every vendor on the same ten rows
Give each criterion 0 to 3, multiply by the weight, and add up. Do it before the pricing envelope is opened, if your process allows. Price is only one row of ten.
- Weights below are a starting point, change them to fit your client
- A 0 on any must-have row ends the comparison
- Keep the filled sheet with the contract file
The ten rows and their weights
| Criterion | Weight | A clean answer sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| Site list disclosed before payment | 5 | Domain, metrics and niche shown per placement |
| Price per unit stated | 4 | A number per link, with the scaling rule |
| Approval point before charge | 4 | A basket or quote you can forward |
| Link attributes stated | 3 | Dofollow, permanent, one link per article |
| Content control | 3 | Automatic, own instructions or own article |
| Delivery window | 3 | A stated time after payment, such as about 24 hours |
| Proof of delivery | 4 | Live URLs you can open, with a status |
| Documents | 2 | Invoices and proforma invoices |
| Contract length | 2 | None, or one you can leave |
| Claims about rankings | 5 | There are none |
Reading the weak answers
Vague replies are data. A vendor who says the network is proprietary has told you that you cannot audit it, and you can score that as a 0 without further discussion.
Ask for one live example per row and open it yourself. Nobody can check a screenshot of a report, but anyone can load a URL in a private window and look for the anchor, the rel attributes and the page around it.
Check that the quoted metrics come from a tool you know, such as Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz or Majestic, and say which one. Domain Rating, Domain Authority and Trust Flow are three different numbers from three vendors, and mixing them in one quote is a common way to flatter a site list.
Finally, ask what happens when a placement is queried. We cannot speak for others, but with us the answer starts at your account page with the order and URL in hand.
Documents to request from every bidder
- A sample of the ordering screen or the quote format
- The metric source and the date it was last refreshed
- Written scope: link count, anchor policy, content mode
- Stated delivery time and what counts as delivered
- How invoices are issued, and whether proforma ones exist
- What the vendor will not do, in writing
A worked example, clearly hypothetical
| Supplier | Raw score /30 | Weighted /105 | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supplier A (retainer agency) | 19 | 63 | Strong report, hidden site list |
| Supplier B (freelancer) | 17 | 58 | Cheap, no proof of delivery |
| Supplier C (marketplace) | 25 | 84 | Disclosed rows, basket review |
Scoring questions from the evaluation panel
- Should price carry more weight than ten percent?
- Possibly. We gave it four points of a 35-point weight total in this template, which is roughly eleven percent. A client with a rigid ceiling can double it, but then the proof rows should keep their weight.
- Do we need three bidders?
- Three is a convention, not a rule. Two bidders still give you a comparison, and one gives you a benchmark only. Say which in the file.
The example is made up to show arithmetic and nothing else. Your suppliers will score differently, and a retainer may well win where you need strategy as well as placements.
Where you do want only placements, our spending memo explains how to size the order, and the glossary translates the jargon that tends to appear in quotes.