Typical link outreach is a tired sport, and we've all but alienated most content creators with our constant link requests. In today's Whiteboard Friday, Rand outlines five smart ways to earn links to your site without having to beg.
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Video Transcription
Howdy, Moz fans, and welcome to another edition of Whiteboard Friday. This week, I'm going to help you avoid having to directly ask for links.
Some people in the SEO world, some link builders are extremely effective. If you go to the Russ Jones School of Link Outreach, you need to make a big list of people to contact, get in front of those folks, outreach them, and have these little success rates. But for some of us, myself included, I just absolutely hate begging people for links. So even though I often produce content that I want people to link to, it's the outreach process that stops me from having success. But there are ways around this. There are ways to earn links, even from very specific sources, without needing to directly say, "Hey, will you please link to this?" I'll try and illustrate that.
The problem
So the problem is I think that most of the web at this point is sort of burned out on this conversation of, "Hey, I have this great resource." Or, "Hey, you linked to this thing which is currently broken and so maybe you'd like to," or "Hey, I noticed that you frequently mention or link to blah, blah, blah. Well I have a blah, blah, blah like blah, blah, blah."
Folks I think are just like, "Oh, my God, I hate these SEOs, like I'm so done with this." Most of these folks, the journalists, the bloggers, the content creators of all kinds start to detest the link requests even when they're useful, even when they help your success rates. I mean, great success rates.
The world's best link builders, link outreach specialists, when I talked to agencies, they say, "Our absolute best folks ever hover in the 5% to 10% success range." So that means you're basically like, "No. Nope. Nuh-uh. Uh-uh. No way. Sorry. Uh-uh. Yeah, no. Uh, no." Then, maybe you'll get one, "Okay, fine. I'll actually link to you."
This can be a really demoralizing practice, and it also hurts your brand every time you outreach to someone and have no success. They're basically associating you with . . . and in fact, there are many people in the SEO world who my only association with them is, gosh, they have asked me for a lot of links over the years. It kind of sucks the souls from people who hate doing it. Now granted, there are some people who like doing it, but you have two options.
Number one, you can optimize the outreach to try and get a higher success rate, to do less damage to your brand when you do this, to make this less of a soul-sucking process, and we have some Whiteboard Fridays on exactly that topic and some great blog posts on that too. But there are ways to build links without it, and today I'm going to cover four and a half of them, because the fifth one is barely a tactic.
5 Tactics to earn links
1. The "I made this thing you'll probably use"
The first one is the tactic — I'm going to use very conversational naming conventions for these — the "I made this thing you will probably use." So this is, in effect, saying not, "Hey, I made this thing. Will you link to it?" but rather, "I made this thing and I can have some confidence that you and people like you, others like you, will probably want to link to it because it fulfills a specific need."
So there's some existing content that you find on the web, you locate the author of that content or the publisher of that content, and you form a connection, usually through social, through email, or through a direct comment on that content. You have an additional resource of some kind that is likely to be included, either in that particular element or in a future element.
This works very well with bloggers. It works well with journalists. It works well with folks who cover data and studies. It works well with folks who are including visuals or tools in their content. As a result, it tends to work well if you can optimize for one of those types of things, like data or visuals or ego-bait. Or supporting evidence works really well. If you have someone who's trying to make an argument with their content and you have evidence that can help support that argument, it will very often be the case that even just a comment can get you included into the primary post, because that person wants to show off what you've got.
It tends not to work very well with commercial content. So that is a drawback to the tactic.
2. The "You list things like X, I have or I am an X."
So this is rather than saying, "I would like a link," it's a very indirect or a relatively indirect ploy for the same thing. You find resources that list Xs, and there's usually either an author or some process for submission, but you don't have to beg for links. You can instead just say, "I fit your criteria."
So this could be, "Hey, are there websites in the educational world that are ADA-compliant and accessible for folks?" You might say, "Well, guess what? I'm that. Therefore, all of these places that list resources like that, that are ADA-compliant, will fit in here."
Or for example, we're doing design awards for pure CSS design, and it turns out you have a beautifully-designed site or page that is pure CSS, and so maybe you can fit in to that particular criteria. Or websites that load under a second, even on a super slow connection, and they list those, and you have one of those. So there's a process, and you can get inclusion.
3. The "Let me help you with that."
This can be very broad, but, basically, if you can identify sources and start to follow those sources wherever they publish and however they publish, whether that's social or via content or broadcast or other ways, if you find those publications, those authors expressing a need or an interest or that they are in the process of completing something, by offering to assist you will almost always get a link for your credit. So this is a way where you're simply monitoring these folks that you would like to get links from, waiting for them to express some sort of need, fulfilling that need, and then reaping the benefit through that link.
4. The "I'd be happy to provide an endorsement."
This is sort of a modified version of "I made this thing you'll probably like." But instead of saying, "Here's the thing that you will probably like and maybe include," you're saying, "I noticed that you have a product, a piece of content, a tool, a new piece of hardware, some physical product, whatever it is, and I like it and I use it and I happen to fit into the correct demographic that you are trying to reach. Therefore, I am happy to contribute an endorsement or a testimonial." Oftentimes, almost always, whenever there's a testimonial, you will get a link back to your source, because they'll want to say, "Well, Rand Fishkin from Moz says X and Y and Z," and there's the link to either my page or to Moz's page.
5. The "Guest contribution."
The one you're probably most familiar with, and it was probably the first one that came to mind when you thought about the "How do I get links without asking for them?" and that is through guest contributions, so guest blogging and guest editorials and authorship of all kinds. There are a few Whiteboard Fridays on that, so I won't dive deep in here.
But I hope you can leverage some or all of these tactics, because if you hate link building the outreach way, these all have more work that goes into them, but far, far better results than this 5% to 10% as the top. Five to ten percent is probably the bottom range for each of these, and you can get 50%, 75% on some of these tactics. Get a lot of great links from great sources. It just requires some elbow grease.
All right, everyone. Thanks for watching. We'll see you again next week for another edition of Whiteboard Friday. Take care.
Thanks for the inspiration, Rand. I hate asking for links, but not as much as I hate being asked for links. This WBF has given me some alternative ideas to help me feel less awkward about it, and perhaps appreciate the effort others go to to try and succeed. 5%! Ah, how demoralising :S
Do you write for some blog?
I built a blog post on a few sites saying the best (industry) in (location) and out reached to companies in those industries and locations to tell them that they were going to be on my site for being the best at what they do. I first make sure that the metrics of there site is worth my time doing so, and then they then link back to the blog post saying look we are on this.
Only attach there logo, phone number and email not web address otherwise it becomes a reciprocal link. Make sure that you have internal links on that blog post to spread the link juice and this method works a treat.
Hope this makes sense, i am not the best at writing.
That is a great tactics, Cory (at least, it helped me.) Thanks for sharing your experience!
I have been hit up with a link request like this recently and it felt a bit spammy. To improve your success, I would suggest showing the criteria by which you chose them for your "best of" list. Should be based on reviews, awards, etc. rather than the implied "You have a great DA, so I included you in my best of list." Best of luck!
Thanks Rand for your post. Well written and explain as always!
There is a reason linkbuilding is "THE" most difficult part of SEO. Maybe in a nearest future linkbuilding will not have the same weight and impact on SEO, I hope so.
It's easier to get backlink from a content you've created if you are "RAND FISH" or any well knowed person in your industry. But for other people, normal people like myself who do not have a "brand-name", using your listed strategies to build links might appear to be like climbing Mount Everest.
May be instead of begging or using some other tacticals, there might be another solution : Paying.
Not paying to get backlink from a website, but to promote your content. One of the strategy might be to creating a good content, a really interesting one; then use the content outreach through some platforms, like Outbrain in order to get a better exposure. What do you think ?
I would even say that, at the end, everything is linked (no pun intented.) It is true that, at first, you can work on SEO alone and get great results. But when you are into advanced SEO (like links building,) it is linked to PR, social media, content marketing and many others. The only advice that would be true for every case would be "do great shit, you'll get great results."
Both of you right. But I think things are changing fast in SEO again. Now, link building is getting more and more difficult. And I think the times are tough too - AI is coming up and I don't know how will it gonna effect the SEO. As AI has shown some signs of automation for Graphics & Development and it's getting smarter...
If you think it's harder today to get quality back links then I would suggest you find a different profession.
I agree Ozair
Totally agree with you. I have to start spending time to get links apart from going on publishing good contents. I think with these tactics I'll get good results!
Thanks!
Hi Rand,
Great Whiteboard Friday!
I must confess, I simply cannot ask for a link. What a shame for a SEO!
Of course, as a professional SEO I have to get links, for those very special clients, the old ones who I love due to their trust over so many years; I built a list of websites and their SEOs that might be useful along time.
Every couple of months I send to them and email with links to the fresh content already published and the program for the next months.
Four times a year I send to those same SEOs a survey, which includes a write box for recommendations. So far so good.
I think that the collaborative window works, of course not for all niches.
Try getting 5% in the travel industry.... Honestly, it's absurd to even consider this as a tactic. Hey client, I need you to pay me for 20 hours at $100 per hour and I may or may not get 1 one link for you. Oh yah, and the link won't point to your product page, it will point to this educational content that we made that probably won't lead to many conversions. It will probably be nofollow too. But it may or may not increase the rankings of your product page! We just need 50-100 more of these and 5 years of time!
I know everyone likes to be white knight and unicorns here, but at some point you gotta wake up and realize that 95% of bloggers want payment nowadays.
Johnny : You are correct, in most case they give "no-follow" link only. Some time even gaining this "no-follow" link is time consuming.
Another effective way: Make useful content for other businesses or customers (in case you have it) and send them the information. Great content will be linked if helps them.
Earning link without begging for it is like an opportunity and everyone wants to grab this chance because it happens very less. Adopting these tactics can be fruitful for your website.
What a great WBF! The fact is, editors and journalists are so tired of these mundane automated outreach emails. I have a blog which accepts guest posts that are high quality and not involved in selling links. I allow do-follow outbound links to supportive resources. I get pitches every day from these people and it's a little frustrating.
I wonder if my outbound linking policy attracts more of those generic outreach emails?
This fits nicely into the curriculum in my Invisalinks Method SEO Course, the first and only SEO course for dental professionals. @Rand, you should come on my YouTube show sometime soon to talk about this topic!
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Rand, I am actually fed up of asking for links. But, Rand, as you said, these actually don't have good success ratio. In fact, I won't even consider it to be 5%. I am absolutely very hopeful with your coming WBFs on guest contribution.
I believe in creating high value content that has data, visuals, some sort of investigation that can grab attention and those content will earn links to a great extent without even asking for it.
Also, to earn links naturally, we can promote our content through our network via social and email. But, especially on Reddit as well as on Quora - as most experts are actively involved in it. So, without even asking for links, people will start linking our content.
What are your thoughts, Rand?
Himani, What a superb Idea - I am sure that if we make use of Quora and may social media to startup a discussion on the topic we already have written it I am sure it can make a big difference. I will going to try it.
Currently, I am looking to get some of my content (articles/blog posts) which are written on the topic of CPA, Startups, Small Businesses, Finance & Accounting - on some good news and blog websites.
Any good suggestions for me?
Glad to know Ozair that you liked the idea. Do try it and let me know how were the results. Also, when you are planning to write on such topics there are hundreds of great websites on which you can rely. Just search, "editorial content", "pitch a story" or search in the news section on Google. It will definitely show you up with great websites. You can start with TechStory, TechCo, etc. Just make sure the DA & PA are great of those websites before giving them a try.
Ive just got a brilliant link from The Guardian for simply replying to a journalist in Gorkana. It was kind of tactic number 3, but simply looked through a list of what journalists wanted and replied
Hello Andy-Halliday, how are you? Are you did contact this journalist by email, Twitter or comment? I'm trying do the same for the media here in Brazil. Let me know if you have a suggestion for it.
Thanks Rand! This is perfect timing as I'm starting to burn out on begging for links. New tactics are always good!
Hello Rand: First of all I wanted to express how helpful this is for all of us who are trying to grow our own website in the SEO rankings. I value a lot your analysis of the situation, thank you for being such a kind and sincere author. Really appreciate your honesty, plus the graphics were a really cool way to ilustrate it! Very grateful for this.
I vote for tactic no1 - Depending on the content I would reach out to XYZ saying hey I made this infographic for you for the blog post ABC. Great way to influence and connect with the the person or company you really want! It works like magic
Thanks Rand,
When taking about Guest Blogging, these day blogger's with great following ask for pay, when we share some "Hey this may be of your interest" type content or research work. Honestly! the amount they ask is not a small amount. Perhaps I recommend one of my client for "Giveaways" , Yes of course even this has some part of investment but has worked better the Guest Blogging for my client.
Just for my knowledge, don't you think the "Guest Contribution" point is still in controversy of "Paid & Free" posting?
Everyone is overwhelmed with that link requests, and if you do something like that there is an option that you will be rejected immediately.To my mind, guest posting is the best way to get a link without being an annoying person, however, you have to put a lot of effort in it. You have to investigate the website, then choose the topic and create the excellent paper. And yet, you can`t be sure whether it will be published or not. So all your efforts may be the total waste of time. Everything depends on your luck.
Useful post Rand - I have also been looking at ways avoid the pain in link building. It's so difficult but so worthwhile. Point No. 4 has been my most successful tactic so far - I looked through some of the tools I use for my work, wrote testimonials for the companies that supply the product - success! I first noticed this tactic by researching competitor backlinks and where they got them from.
Hi Rachel! Thank you for your explanation on point number 4. I have a question: how do you outreach those companies for giving them your testimonial? Via contact form, direct email, speaking with a salesman, leaving the review on their review submission system...? Do you have any recommendation on how to do it for having more chances on getting the backlink?
Thank you very much! :)
5% - 10% climbing to 50% - 75% is a monster boost, and far less demoralising! I also find, focusing that extra attention on link quality vs quantity will keep you sane.
Link building is most important factor in SEO. Link building without SEO is not getting ranking and traffic. Thanks for sharing here.. All 5 tactics are really important and helpful for getting ranking and business..
Hey Rand,
Howdy? Pleasure to see you doing WhiteBoard Friday - as I came back after longtime. It was a good whiteboard this time too - the third one you recommend is some how related to HARO and I am using it but still with not much success at all.
I would like, to ask you that if I provide some with a piece of information that would help add value to a particular post or a page on a website and the owner/author refuse to give me a backlink - what should I do then?
Moreover, if I need to get my content on like top 50 best blogs and they don't have that info in place then how should I contact them? Should I contact them directly or should I contact them via their author's profiles?
This is perfect timing as I'm starting to burn out on begging for links. New tactics are always good.
Great video, Rand and I expounded on 'tactic #4' in length in an article I wrote: My Killer Secret to Link Building Outreach. There's a section devoted to practical applications that I think is pretty handy. Thanks again!
I absolutely love guest posting. Not only you get links but you build brand awareness and reputation as well. Thanks for sharing. Martin
Great article! Quite enlightening. Edified to great length and breadth of the topic. Appreciate the content. Thanks a lot Joel ! Wisdom is worth sharing.
One Query, How do I list out all the relevant bloggers/sources to reachout for links? This search takes a lot of time and still we might miss out on some potentially good sources. Any place where i can search all the content/blogs on the same keyword/topic i m writing on ?
Regards,
Avik
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Endorsement tactic is helpful till the time for me. But it's always get new thing from #Moz
I am agree with all new technique for link-building which you share here, but i have one small doubt This all outreach and other new linkbuilding technique useful for newly created services based website.
If i have start my own services ( IT services) based website How i will convince some one to give me link?
The tactic I apply is.."I write an excellent testimony on my website about the target website. And they give me a backlink as it also enriches their website."
These are great, and not so scary, tactics to earn direct links. Thanks, Rand!
What is your feeling on cold-emailing businesses with your content/links or receiving unsolicited content/links from a source your business does not have a relationship?
I would add a tactic for local businesses. As I'm trying to rank for location as well as industry, links from locally managed sites are very valuable. Many of these site managers can be found at local networking events. Getting to know someone IRL really makes the link ask easier (but still not foolproof).
Hello Rand! Thank you for this WBF! It's true when you say that number is effective and popular. Indeed, I do many guest blogging since 2016 and it's becoming great! I have to try the other tactics that you say. As i understood, you have to say things in a professional way, not needy. This applies for everything as I understand, for example, if you have a girl you like you don't have to be needy, just being fun, intelligent and selling one self like a benefits machine. Is the same with the thing you say! :)
Thank you Rand, I'll try it. As I say, SEO is like a real-person life. Good relations reflex in SEO too!
I think the perfect timing of begging link building campaigns is the second day you launch the website. Original (white hat) and new tactics are always good.
This is excellent idea to earn links directly blog. Thanks for growing my knowledge and SEO thinking.
This 5 tips can get good quality links to your site and earn more powerful backlinks.
Thank you for this helpful post Rand! Here is my question on link building that I would appreciate your advise on. Thank you kindly in advance!
I recently ran a banner add on the homepage of this site in Pearland Texas: https://www.pearland.com/. It is a rotating banner ad that is on the right hand side of that page. It is linking to my business page, Texas Home Exteriors (THE): https://texashomeexteriors.com/. When I look in my Monitor Backlinks profile, I can not see that new Pearland Texas site linking to mine.
I know that in the past, when I have posted for instance on Blogger, Wordpress, Boopiest, Zillow ect... I can see that new link added to my main THE site the very next day. However, I am not seeing the new link for my advertising link on the Pearland Texas site. They told me that they would be a follow link that gives us (THE site) juice and a better ranking as this I know. However, I am not seeing the link. I am looking for feedback from this community and to why this might be? Do I need a text only direct hot link on their (Pearland Texas) home page instead of a rotating banner ad for it to show in my Monitor Backlinks profile??
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I agree with you but do not forget without good content no good results
Nice ways (Totally indirect ways), Big tatices for conveniently asking for the links.
Link building seems to be a hard thing, especially like me who have read many Black Hats stuffs, but can't apply because I am trying to be white. Guestposting is also tiring for me, especially as a blogger with only a year of blogging of experience who needs more contents for my blogs. Why would I write for others - when they will even always turn me back - when I can have the quality unique posts on my blogs?
I run a celebrity news blog which requires a lot back links to stay top on serps because of the highly saturated niche, and also another HealthBlog which niche is too competitive. Many top site owners never even reply emails, talk more of accept comments on their posts. And when some even accept your guest posts, they add no-follow link. Getting backlinks without outreach would have been so nice...
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I guess there must be some more tactics too. Earning links is not an easy job. Thank you for such an amazing whiteboard. Cheers!
Nice one, thanks! So bloggers love proof (case studies, examples, statistics, analysis, endorsement, etc) for their arguments, and they're more than eager to link to you if you provide some. Plus the best way to reach the bloggers and inform them of your proof is through comments -- because almost no comment goes unnoticed by a blogger. Inboxes are already crowded and unnoticed!
Another great whiteboard. I am assuming by the fact it is not there, comments are pretty much dead? To test here is my website https://MarketingandNetworkingUniversity.com
I do like tactic 1as well. I find trying to help the other person or company by doing something that is to their benefit reaps good rewards. Would you recommend writing a blog post related to the companies area of expertise and offering them to publish it to their website? I am wondering if lightening their work load could be a good tactic.
Great as usual!
Jess
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As a outreacher myself I also use these strategies and it's greatly helpful. Thank you
Great Information! I Like The Part of Video.
I have Blah blah ....
you have Blah Blah...
Awesome Knowledge :)
I have an online trading website. You can not imagine how difficult it is to get a good handful of good quality links. Any help is good.
online trading is one of the heavy competed areas. Many companies write in financial newspapers or share news about their operations to get links and visitors.
Hello Rand
To be honest your contents are always amazing and I love to read them. I think to most hard part of SEO is the link building.
So every advice that can make my life easier is welcome
Enjoy the day!
Hello everyone!
I think the most feasible is to contribute as a guest, as you write it seems easy but in practice I do not think these solutions are so convincing.
Whenever i want authority links i have to submit an request, well that's a superb idea for contribute on content.
Thanks Rand for this great post. Well written and explained in details! Also the tips are great.
Also Backlinks are an essential part of a well put together SEO strategy and learning how to build backlinks can help boost your website’s traffic in a variety of ways. As an essential part of SEO strategy, building backlinks is a mandatory task for every ecommerce store owner who’s looking to build and maintain organic traffic to their website over time.
Thanks Rand,
I read every WBF post to learn more. I thinks if we write a very practical content which is really helps user like Moz blog, some people will naturally link that post on their website. I know Earning link is not an easy task.
Good info as always. It can be a hassle but link-building is so essential that I think we're always looking for ways to do it better. Thanks for sharing
A good reflection Rand.
I believe that conversing is understood by people and with these tactics you can go further if done well and not with propotency and / or insistence.
There are also bad things to ask to create content for your blog and do not deliver. When I started to create my web and blog, many asked me to write on their respective blog. But since it was a nobody, I was promised links to my blog in that article that I wrote and in the end I was surprised not to get any. To write and they did not fulfill the promised. Two or three months later I told him that I was leaving this type of collaboration, because I was not fair and lost time to exercise my profession as a freelancer; Not being able to create content for my own website.
What is the difference between "The problem" and "I made this thing you'll probably use"? I think it is the same as "Hi can you link to this?" but only said with other words.
I were looking for some ways how to get back link directly without asking or contacting anyone. But anyway, this article has some good and useful tips for me. Thank you..