Requesting Link

[LMcLaughlin]

Hi guys,

A coworker of mine was quoted on behalf of our financial firm in an article for Reuters a few months back. The article itself has taken off and has been posted several times on different websites. I've reached out to a few requesting they back link to our site when mentioning our business, but so far I'm getting a lot of rejection e-mails. The last one I received says they won't hyperlink to a company unless it's for a "specific reason". Anyone have any suggestions on how to better request these links--or communicate the "specific reason" I apparently need to have? I tried explaining in my initial message that it was beneficial for the reader, etc. etc, but all these outlets still seem to be against the idea.

Thanks!

[LoganRay]

Hi Lauren,

This seems to be widespread across most news sites. I've reached out to many news sites before with the same request. The only theory I've been able to come up with is that they make money on the ads that plaster most news sites (even the big ones!), so if they link out to another site, they've just lost ad revenue.

*edit

Out of continued curiosity, I decided to see if I could corroborate my theory. While I couldn't do that (but really, they'd never admit it anyway), I did come across this article that points towards 'janky CMSs'.

[Paddy_Moogan]

Hi Lauren,

This technique can be very effective but it is getting harder to do because as you say, people need a reason to link and often don't like linking out.

My question would be - does your colleague have a page on your website? Something such as a profile page? If they do, then this may be a good way of providing a reason for the link because it's crediting the right person with the quote. Another possibility - have they used a photo of your colleague? Again if they have, then that may be another route.

I know this may be a little too late, but I wanted to mention it for the future - the quicker you can contact someone after an article has been published, the better chance you have of getting the link. You mentioned that the article in Reuters was from a few months ago which makes it tougher for you. So I'd advise trying to react as quickly as possible to things like this using a tool such as Buzzsumo of Fresh Web Explorer to find fresh mentions of people's names.

I hope that helps!

Paddy