Pages get 80% of their lifetime links in months 1-3, then go cold — rankings stall

Pages get 80% of their lifetime links in months 1-3, then go cold — rankings stall

Across 600 content assets tracked from publish (n=600, 24-month window). The momentum mistake is front-loading promotion and abandoning the asset.

Link acquisition by period:
— Months 1-3: 80% of total links
— Months 4-12: 16%
— Months 13-24: 4%

Assets that kept earning 1-2 links/quarter past month 3 held rankings; assets that went cold drifted down a median 6 positions by month 18.

Schedule promotion touchpoints at months 4, 8, and 12 for every asset worth ranking — sustained velocity beats the launch spike.