Chasing the metric, ignoring the traffic

Chasing the metric, ignoring the traffic
You only pitch high-authority sites and skip a niche blog because its score is 'low.' That blog gets 8k targeted readers a month who actually buy. The big site's post will get 12 views.

Stop worshipping one number:
— Check if their recent posts have comments/shares (signs of real readers)
— Search their brand — do people talk about them?
— A relevant link from a read blog beats a dead link from a 'strong' one

I've gotten more signups from one tiny industry blog than five 'authority' placements combined. Authority without eyeballs is decoration. Pitch the read blogs too.