What belongs in a backlink delivery report?
The fields that make a campaign inspectable, from live URLs to the date each link was checked.
A report should let you check the work
A total at the top of a spreadsheet is not enough. You should be able to open a publishing URL, find the link and confirm that it points to the agreed destination. A good report separates delivered placements from planned or pending work. It also states when the check happened, because a page can change after delivery.
Keep a useful set of columns
Start with the publishing URL, destination URL, visible link text, content type, publication date, check date and status. Add the campaign or client name when several sites share a report. Include a notes field for redirects, access restrictions or changes that need attention. These fields are practical enough to verify without a paid SEO subscription.
Count placements and domains separately
Ten links from ten pages do not necessarily mean ten referring domains. Show both measurements when domain diversity is part of the brief. A repeated URL should not silently appear as a new delivery. If a placement contains more than one client link, make the counting rule explicit before the campaign starts.
Use evidence that matches the claim
A screenshot can show how content looked at a moment in time. It cannot prove that a page is currently live, indexed or sending traffic. A live URL is useful evidence of publication; analytics is useful evidence of visits. Keep those claims separate so the client knows exactly what each field demonstrates.
Review exceptions before calling work complete
Open a sample of the URLs yourself. Check mobile access, the link destination and whether a sign-in is required. Log broken links, missing links and unexpected redirects. If a delivery was promised as publicly accessible, a private page is an exception to resolve, not an invisible footnote.
Make the next action obvious
End the report with a short list of unresolved items and the next review date. Once all agreed work is checked, save a dated copy. Track search performance separately in Search Console and referral outcomes in your analytics tool. A delivery report records the work; it is not proof that every later business outcome came from that work.