CRM Partners: What They Are and How to Use Them
The Partners feature helps agencies and advanced users streamline link building by keeping their key relationships in one master list in the CRM.
Your Partner Database is for websites you have an ongoing relationship with, rather than one-time wins. These are trusted sites you plan to work with again, whether for the same client or across several. Think of it as your own marketplace of reliable link sources that you can draw on for future campaigns, making outreach faster and more efficient.
For a walkthrough, watch our webinar: Introducing Link Partners CRM 👈
Understanding the hierarchy
Projects. Each project represents one link building domain, usually one client or website. It holds all related activity, including the inbox, reports and performance tracking.
Campaigns. Within each project, you can create multiple campaigns to organise lists of websites (opportunities) by niche, location or strategy.
Opportunities. Each campaign can contain hundreds of opportunities. These are the websites you've found as potential link sources and send outreach to. When a website agrees to a link placement, it's marked as a win, which tracks success within the project.
Contacts. Contacts are the people associated with each opportunity. They're stored within the opportunity and are the people you email during outreach.
Partners. A high-value opportunity you've secured a win with can be upgraded to a partner and added to the Partner Database in the CRM. The Partner Database isn't tied to a single project. It sits separately, so key websites from every project can be stored in one place.
Each partner has a lead contact and a detailed record. This means your work delivers short-term results for each project and also builds a long-term network of trusted websites you can use across campaigns and clients.
Adding websites to your Partner Database
Import existing partners. If you already keep a list of partners, you can import it into the Partner CRM from a CSV file. Include a column for each type of data, such as Partner URL, Link Type, Email, First Name and Last Name. For details, see the [Partner CSV Import Guide].
Upgrade an existing win. To add a website you've secured a win with, open its Opportunity Details page and click "Save as Partner" in the top right corner. This creates a partner record in your CRM.
Using your Partner Database
Each partner record can store detailed information about the website, including its category (for example Tech, Travel or Finance), the types of link placement it accepts (for example Guest Post, Link Insert or Interview), and its costs and contact details.
Customising partner categories
You can create new partner categories or change existing ones to suit how you work. Go to account Settings and select CRM Partners Categories. From there you can create, edit or delete categories.
Finding the right partners
Use the filters in the top left of the database to narrow down partners by criteria. For example, you could find websites in the Tech niche that offer placements within your client's budget.
Once you've filtered the list, you have two options:
- Add them to a client project. Export the filtered list into a client project and start automated outreach straight away.
- Contact them through the CRM. Talk to partners directly from the CRM. If a partner is happy to work with a new client, you can create an opportunity in the relevant project from the Partner Database and then mark it as a win.
Partner overview
Each partner record also shows how many times the website has been used across your account, the total wins associated with it, and its full communication history in one view.
This turns your Partner Database into a reusable asset that supports faster, more strategic link building across all your projects.
Key benefits
One central view. See all your key partner relationships across every project in one list.
Communication in one place. Talk to partners directly from the CRM and keep every conversation together.
Detailed partner profiles. Record each partner's niche, link placement types, pricing, key contacts and more, using categories that fit your workflow.
Easy win tracking. When you secure a win from a partner, assign it to the relevant project from the Partner Database, so you can see opportunities and wins by partner.
Smarter campaigns. Filter against your Partner list when launching new campaigns so you don't accidentally prospect existing partners.
Time saved. Find all your key relationships and wins in one place instead of searching through individual projects.