When going about asking a site for a link on their page, how do you ask?
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I'm in-house marketing for a manufacturing company, so my approach may be a little different than those of you who work at agencies or otherwise on behalf of a client.
I've been using open site explorer (http://www.opensiteexplorer.org which is linked directly from some SEOMoz report pages) to explore who are linking to my biggest competitors. I sort these links by "external only". I then sort that list so the pages with the highest domain authority appear at the top in descending order.
My company and our competitors obviously run in the same circles, so there is some overlap in who links to us. But I've found a number of universities and organizations that maintain "useful links" lists that have included my competitors, but not us.
I've then emailed the webmaster (or whatever contact I've been able to locate for the page in question), introduced myself, mention our website, and then try to make it personal (for example, I've mentioned that our sensor has been used in many of the weather networks linked to on the same page, that we have educational articles that may be of use for visitors, etc.)
My thoughts are that these are specifically pages about links to more resources on the web, so it can't hurt to be asked to be included. I just started with this approach, as there were many .edu and .org links with high DA/PA that I noticed our competitors were on. So we'll see how it works...
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Reaching for it is not bad but spraying someone for a "sincere compliment" would be antisocial.
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Great response. Most people welcome content that supports what they have blogged about. Especially if it is something that they are passionate about. Best thing to do is follow their blog for awhile, make some comments showing that you appreciate what they have to say or how much you like their site.
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say: "I can do this for you, can you do this for me, or would you be interested?"
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You could always use a plugin like Chrome's check my links on some higher authority sites and if they have a broken link (always verify manually just to be sure), get in contact with them. Say that you've written an article and in exchange for helping them find the broken link would they mind adding a link to your article or website. Its worked for me a few times.
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Maybe an opinion from a website owner who gets requests for links a lot is interesting?
Daily I get around 30 e-mails a day with people who request a link from my website to theirs. I usually respond to just 2 or 3 of them. I make my selections very fast, here's what I look for:
- Do the people know my real name?
I often get e-mails that start with 'hello webmaster' and 'hi there', unless they have a really cool e-mailaddress, i delete them instantly, 'cause my real name is all over the website (all blogposts e.g.) - Is the subject appealing enough?
You don't want to know how many e-mails I get with subjectslines like 'something really interesting for your visitors', and so on. These subjects look very very spammy to me. My mailbox is hugh, so they go down the drain almost all the time. In Holland we say 'call the animal like it's called'. People who ask me for links, sure are into SEO and know I am (they can see my backlink profile and even some of my blogposts for that).. why not just tell me what you would like to accomplish? - "If you link me, I will link you!"
So my content is not at all interesting to you? Why would my visitors be interested in yours then? Please, If you want a linkexchange, put my link on your website first. And tell me about it, you don't even have to ask for a backlink, i will give it to you directly, even in content! - Correct grammar
I know, my english is not that good, but I get a lot of requests from Dutch webmasters and they don't even know how to correctly write Dutch. Stupid spellingerrors often make me laugh and sometimes, when I'm in the mood, I respond on that, not on the link request. - No = No
I often see automated e-mails, although personal and well written, when I tell you no, please don't e-mail me next month asking the same thing. - Don't make me look dumb
"Did you know a link makes websites rank higher?" or any lines like that makes me laugh
I know you try hard to convince me, but don't you think i know? You've read my blog, didn't you?
Don't you guys ever get weird link requests? What's the most annoying one?
- Do the people know my real name?
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I think you'll find better success in guest blogging for links, so here's some tips on that if you decide to go in that direction... You should definitely do it manually and not try to automate the process. Personally, when reaching out to other webmasters I always keep in mind what my thought process is when people contact me about guest blogging on my site. I know when the role is reversed, the #1 thing that will cause me to delete someone's e-mail is when they spend an entire paragraph telling me how great my site is (which almost always sounds like a generic and canned message), then they pitch me a topic that's far outside the theme of my website.
There's no way that they've actually taken the time (as they say they have) to explore my site before they decided to e-mail me to help boost their SEO. That tells me they're just in it for their selves, and I'm not (nor is anyone else) going to bend over backwards for another webmaster when that person has made it clear that this process is a one-way street to them.
When you're guest blogging, you absolutely must adopt the mindset that this has to be a mutually beneficial exchange. You must want to deliver quality content to the people you're contacting, and scratch their back for them scratching yours.
When initiating contact here's what you should do:
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Keep it short, sweet, and to the point. If you're contacting high PR websites chances are they're getting tons of e-mails every day for guest blogs, so be respectful of their time.
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This part should have been listed first... Take the time to examine their website in full detail. Get to know their content, theme, writing style, etc. Pitch the right topics, be creative, and don't pitch something they already covered a bunch already.
- Instill in them confidence in your ability to deliver content that's beneficial to their website. Your e-mail should be well-written, and again you want to convey to them that you understand and respect what their site is all about
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Be personable. If you know the name of the person you're contacting, address them by their name. The more personable and specific you are, the less your e-mail will sound like a canned message.
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Read their guest posting guidelines if they have any
Some tips for finding leads:
I've found link prospector by Citation Labs to be fairly useful and you can try it out for free.
But, the tried and true way is simply going to Google and plugging in "Guest Post" + Keyword
"Guest Author" + keyword
etc
Overall, and it's worth stressing again, that the key to guest blogging is taking an approach that's mutually beneficial for all parties.
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Well, as we all know, link building is a tedious task and you can not expect high turnouts by just sending emails that would create a 'who the hell is this?' reaction from the recipient. What I am telling is, we need to build a good relationship first before asking this favor.
Honestly, I really don't rely on email alone when requesting a link. What I usually do is that I try to interact with the site owner or administrator more often - I follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and other social account - to establish some sort of rapport before asking for a link. Also, I do not usually ask for a link on their page when I do not have anything to offer in return - guest writing works for me.
I won't recommend using any program that would automate the sending (quality over quantity) but I follow the email template for link building suggested here on SEOmoz.
By the way, have you watched this WBF episode?
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This answer is why I paid the $99.
I have survived in SEO with on-page optimization for years. I never did a bunch of link-building, so Panda and Penquin never hurt me, but my competition is getting tough, and this is the kind of question I needed answered, and the kind of answer I needed.
I feel sorry for the five that thumbs down here. They wanted the easy, no work, answer.
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Great point, Cyle. The reciprocity model works best, so anytime you can offer to help out in some way, you are more likely to get the results you're looking for - and to build your network and good karma.
Thanks for the reminder! -
I keep mine short and sweet using passive language that talks in their perspective. I would never title an Email "Link Suggestion" (unless that is the language on solicitation) that is too aggressive as though I am on the same level as them, I use "Link query" which is passive.
I say something like "I was wondering if you might find my website useful to link to on you webpage?" because that is talking in their perspective with the word "useful" and correlates to the thoughts of who is making the critical decision (them).
"Wondering" = passive useful = "benificial (potentially)" Aggressive + beneficial = worse than aggressive on its own
Onsite SEO is also offsite SEO in that a good / pretty site will be more likely to get links. Link "self momentum" would be nice, giving away free useful stuff helps, I'm doing this. I think Justin Sanderco guitar lesson website many of his 590 root domain links are without him asking, I hate him lol.
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Thumbs Up for Egol and Marcus and all the other who fight against non logical Thumbs Down. It is good that we defend each other when we deserve it. Cheers, EGOL, great answer as well. You have answered my questions as well and you always give good, profound answers !
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Excellent point and great advice earlier too. It's true, with our busy lives, I admit I also look for shortcuts sometimes, but only when it makes sense to do so. With SEO, I'm learning pretty quickly that there are no real shortcuts.
Once you learn the trade, you become more effecient over time and that you can consider a shortcut. You're written once before, if you simply provide good content, you don't have to look for links, people will want to link to you.
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As time is tight I am very selective as to what sites I target in requesting links. I do this by assessing whether I can add value to the targeted site. If so then i have a opening in engaging by Email, twitter or linkedin and striking up a conversation before requesting links.
So imo choose carefully before engaging and spending time.
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I would not recommend asking for a link the first time you contact a person, unless you are requesting a link from an article already published about you or your company.
Instead I would first try to develop a relationship with the person who can create the link you want. Next, I would create a good reason for that person to want to link to you (content, resource, guest post, etc.). Then I would request the link in a way that seems beneficial to both you and the person (website) linking to you.
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I really see the theme of high quality relationships and value to the person/site you want to link to. Of all the responses, I found X-com's most interesting because you are on the other side of the fence. You are telling us what would prompt you to accept a link. Lets not forget that the link requires work and attention to put up. More importantly, you are putting your reputation on the line.
I have just done an exhaustive prioritization of links for a client. I noticed some wonderful opportunities in the top ones, not just for linking, but for partnering and for marketing programs. I am fairly new to this side of web marketing, and think I've discovered a gold mine of ideas. Certainly market segments are jumping out at me.
I think hard work is also a barrier to entry to the millions of SEOs who would take the automated route. So, if you are building a quality brand for your clients, they deserve a quality method that will stand the test of time.
MY Question: I'm wondering what you have found to be the link accept rate (%) when you are following the best in class methods we have been talking about here?
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