Glossary
Link insertion and 11 other terms you will meet in a quote
Quotes use shorthand that buyers rarely get explained. Here are twelve terms, each tied to a question you can ask.
The terms
Link insertion. A link placed inside an article. Ask whether it goes into an existing page or a new one.
Editorial placement. A published article that carries your link. Ask who wrote it. In our marketplace the text is generated automatically unless you supply your own prompt or article.
Donor domain. The site that carries your link. Ask for its metrics before paying.
Domain Rating (DR). Ahrefs' score for a domain's backlink profile, from 0 to 100. It is a vendor's metric and not a Google one.
Referring domains. The count of different sites linking to a domain. Ask which tool counted them.
Anchor text. The clickable words. Ask who picks them.
Dofollow. A link that does not carry a nofollow attribute. Ask for it in writing.
Permanent. Meant to stay in place with no end date. It is a promise about the placement, not about Google.
Basket. A list of chosen rows with no charge yet. Use it as your approval step.
Proforma invoice. A document issued before payment, handy when finance needs paperwork first.
Bearer key. A token for the REST API. Treat it like a password.
MCP. A protocol that lets AI assistants such as ChatGPT or Claude use tools. In our case an agent can fill the basket, and a human pays it.
Terms to question when they show up
- Any metric with no tool name next to it
- Network or PBN language, since you cannot audit what is hidden
- Authority without a number
- Safe, with no explanation of from what
Confusing pairs, sorted out
- Is Domain Rating the same as Domain Authority?
- No. Domain Rating comes from Ahrefs and Domain Authority from Moz. They use different data and scales, so never compare one vendor's DR with another's DA as if they were equal.
- Is a referring domain the same as a backlink?
- No. One referring domain can send many backlinks. Ten links from one site count as one referring domain, which is why vendors sometimes quote the bigger number.
- Is a basket the same as an order?
- No. A basket is a list with no charge. It becomes an order when it is paid, and then it appears in ordered links.
Reading a quote with this page open
Take a real quote and underline every term from the list. Then write the question beside each one.
You will usually find three or four questions the vendor cannot answer in writing. Those answers matter more than the price, and our red-flag list shows which silences to worry about.
If a term is not in this glossary and you cannot find it in the vendor's documentation, ask for a definition before the contract.
Glossaries age. Metrics get renamed and tools change their scales, so re-read your vendor's definition each time you sign a new quote.
Pair this page with the vendor scorecard when you write the next RFP, and with the post-delivery routine when the first order lands.
Two terms we avoid
We steer clear of the words safe and guaranteed. Neither describes anything we can deliver, since Google decides what to do with a link.
Authority is the third word to handle with care. Use the specific metric and its source, such as Ahrefs DR.
Print the list and keep it in the vendor file. It saves time when a new colleague inherits the account.