To participate in the Backlink Exchange, whether you want to receive incoming requests or make yourself visible to potential partners, you first need to create a listing for your site. This article walks through the listing process, what information you will need to provide, and how verification works.
Before You Start #
Decide which role applies to you before creating your listing.
Site Owner means you own the domain and have full administrative access to it. Owners go through a verification step to confirm ownership, which gives your listing the Owner Verified badge in the marketplace.
Contributor means you have editorial access to publish content or place links on the domain, for example as a regular contributor, content manager, or guest author, but you are not the domain owner. Contributor listings are reviewed before going live and are labeled Via Contributor in the marketplace.
Both roles are welcome in the Backlink Exchange. PitchResponse is one of the few platforms that explicitly supports contributor listings alongside owner-verified ones.
What You’ll Need to Provide #
When creating a listing, you will fill out the following fields:
Domain
The root domain of the site you are listing, such as example.com. Do not include subpages or subdomains unless specifically relevant.
Description
A brief description of the site covering what it publishes, who its audience is, and what kinds of content it features. A clear, accurate description helps potential exchange partners quickly assess whether your site is a good fit for their niche.
Keywords
The primary keywords and topics your site covers. These help surface your listing in relevant searches within the marketplace.
Category / Niche
The broad content category your site falls into, such as Marketing, Finance, Health, Technology, or E-commerce. Choose the category that most accurately represents the majority of your content.
Language
The primary language your site publishes in.
Country
The primary country your site targets or is based in.
Domain Rating (DR) Your site’s current Domain Rating as reported by a third-party SEO tool (Ahrefs). You can retrieve this value for free using the Ahrefs Backlink Checker. This is currently a self-reported field, so be accurate. Listings that do not meet quality standards will be reviewed and may be removed. The Backlink Exchange is intended for established sites, and DR 30+ is the general benchmark the marketplace is built around.
Backlink Count The approximate number of backlinks pointing to your domain. You can retrieve this value alongside your DR using the Ahrefs Backlink Checker.
Referring Domains The approximate number of unique referring domains linking to your site. This is often a more meaningful signal than raw backlink count and gives potential partners a clearer picture of your site’s link profile. You can retrieve this value alongside your DR and backlink count using the Ahrefs Backlink Checker.
Verifying Your Site (Owners Only) #
If you are listing as a site owner, you will need to complete a one-time domain verification step before your listing goes live with the Owner Verified badge. PitchResponse offers two verification methods. Choose whichever is more convenient based on how your site is set up.
Option 1: DNS TXT Record A DNS TXT record is a small piece of text added to your domain’s DNS settings that allows services like PitchResponse to confirm you control the domain. DNS settings are typically managed through wherever you registered your domain, such as GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, or a similar domain registrar. Some hosting providers also manage DNS on your behalf, in which case you would make the change through your hosting account instead.
To complete verification this way, log in to your DNS provider, locate the section for managing DNS records, and add a new TXT record using the verification code provided by PitchResponse. The exact steps for adding a TXT record vary depending on your provider, so if you are unsure where to find this setting, search for “how to add a DNS TXT record” along with the name of your domain registrar or DNS provider for step-by-step instructions specific to your setup.
Once the record has been added, DNS changes can take anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours to propagate before verification can be confirmed.
Option 2: HTML Snippet An HTML snippet is a small piece of code added to the <head> section of your site’s homepage. This method is often faster than DNS verification since it takes effect as soon as the code is live on your site.
How you add the snippet depends on how your website is built. If you use a platform like WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, or Webflow, each has its own way of editing the site’s header code, typically found in theme settings, site settings, or a dedicated header/footer editor. If your site is custom built, you or your developer would add it directly to the HTML of your homepage template. If you are unsure how to access your site’s header, search for “how to add code to the head section” along with the name of your website platform for guidance specific to your setup.
Once the snippet is in place, trigger verification from within PitchResponse and it will be confirmed immediately.
Contributor Listings #
If you are listing as a contributor, you will not go through domain ownership verification. Instead, your listing will be reviewed by the PitchResponse team before it goes live. This review confirms that contributor listings represent genuine editorial relationships with the domains they are associated with.
During this process, be prepared to describe or demonstrate the nature of your access to the site if asked. Contributor listings that pass review appear in the marketplace labeled Via Contributor.
After Your Listing Goes Live #
Once your listing is active in the marketplace, other PitchResponse users can find your site, review your listing details, and submit link exchange requests to you. Incoming requests will appear in the My Requests area of the Backlink Exchange, where you can review, accept, or decline them at your own pace.
You can update your listing details at any time. It is worth keeping your DR, backlink count, and referring domain figures current so potential partners have accurate information.
Once your listing is live and requests start coming in, see 03. Submitting a Link Exchange Request to understand what requesters are sending you, or jump to 04. Managing Incoming Exchange Requests to learn how to review and respond to the requests you receive.