Thoughts on HARO (help a reporter out)

[Addythenurse]

Good morning:

Would anyone kindly share their experience using HARO (help a reporter out) to connect with media outlets? I have heard it mentioned here in MOZ a few times and tried it myself (as a source). I have not had much luck but can anyone else provide their experience using the service?

Also, what would a good pitch be one reaching out as a source?

Audrey.

[William.Lau]

HARO shouldn't be your main link building strategy.

For me, I get the three mailings a day and typically reply to a request once a week or even none. One key success for using HARO is to make sure you actually have data and expertise when answering requests. Don't just answer them in hopes of getting a link, reporters/writers get boatloads of answers and if your answer isn't good enough they'll just move on to the next one.

Be specific and very detail oriented when sending out pitches. Those are the ones that get the highest response/success rate.

[Matt-Williamson]

Hi Audrey

I thought you might find this post an interesting read if you haven't already seen it - http://searchengineland.com/actually-google-doesnt-hate-haro-links-190173

[Eslam-yosef]

Hey,

If you can tell good stories based on your own experience, Go ahead and be the reporter and the source in the same time. You can write for CNN if you want.

[Martijn_Scheijbeler]

Hi Audrey,

It's  very niche specific, sometimes you have to wait for months before the right opportunity comes up on HARO. That's why it could be part of your overall strategy but I would never ever completely rely on their services. Like Eslam mentioned it's probably a better idea to create the best researches or content yourself to make sure the press will mention you. It seems really hard to get stories up with the biggest publishers in the world but in the end it's not that hard if you put the right effort in. Usually it takes less time in my experience then writing the average guest post.