The stages, in practice
Most agencies and freelancers converge on a similar shape, whatever they call the columns: an order is placed, work gets underway with the publisher or writer, and the link either goes live and gets confirmed or the placement falls through. Confirmation matters as much as the status label — a "Completed" order should mean the link is actually live at the agreed URL with the agreed anchor, not just that time has passed.
- Pending — order placed, not yet actioned by the publisher or vendor
- In Progress — content in production or link scheduled
- Completed — link verified live, at the correct target and anchor
- Rejected — placement didn't go through; needs a replacement or refund
Why it breaks down in a spreadsheet
A spreadsheet can hold a status column, but it can't check whether a link is still live, can't notify anyone when a stage changes, and can't hand a client a report without someone manually pulling data together. The result is usually a mix of stale statuses and orders nobody re-checked after the first week.
What a real pipeline adds
Automatic link verification the moment a target URL is confirmed live turns "Completed" into a fact instead of an assumption, and a full history per order — not just its current state — means a dispute or a client question doesn't require reconstructing what happened from Slack messages.
See how BuildLinks' own order pipeline verifies each stage automatically.