Resource page link building targets pages whose purpose is to list helpful links on a subject, such as a university library guide, a professional association's tools page, or a blogger's list of recommended resources. Because these pages exist to link out, a relevant, genuinely useful resource has a reasonable chance of being added. The approach works best with free, non-promotional content.
Finding resource pages
Search operators help surface them. Combine your topic with words that resource pages tend to use, then check each result by hand.
"data privacy" intitle:resources
"cybersecurity" inurl:links "helpful"
"accessibility" "useful resources" -jobsWhat gets added
Curators add things that help their readers. Product pages and sales pages rarely qualify. Free guides, templates, calculators, checklists, glossaries, open-source tools and well-maintained documentation do.
Check the page is maintained. A list last updated years ago, full of dead links, is unlikely to change. Those dead links can, however, become broken link building opportunities.
Writing the request
Keep it short, name the page, explain in one or two sentences what your resource covers and why it fits that list, and do not ask for anything else. Avoid offering payment or a link in return, since that turns it into a paid or exchanged link.
Example
An accessibility checklist
An illustrative design QA tool, Contrastwell, publishes a free, regularly updated web accessibility checklist mapped to WCAG success criteria. It finds university accessibility office pages and nonprofit resource lists that link to similar checklists, and writes to the maintainers. Several add it, and those pages send a steady trickle of designers who later try the product.
Common mistakes
Pitching product pages
Curators are building a list for their readers, not a vendor directory.
Targeting "resource pages" that sell placements
Pages that charge for listings are paid link sites, not curated resources.
Questions
They can be, especially from respected organizations in your field, and they often send relevant visitors. Lists with hundreds of unrelated links are worth less.
