Ask bloggers for a backlink with confidence by following these tips.
Backlink outreach can be a lifesaver, as link building tends to be a bit overwhelming for non-specialists, but luckily there are other ways to approach it. Backlinks can improve your website traffic and increase your rankings - but knowing how to ask for backlinks is crucial.
Bloggers and influencers rule the internet, and getting on their side is essential. So here is everything you need to know about how to ask for a backlink:
Why Outreach Is An Excellent Tactic
It is common practice for backlink building efforts to be done through outreach. Outreach involved contacting other site owners, bloggers, influencers, and the likes and asking them to include links to your website in a piece of content of theirs.
The usual process is to contact the website owner or blogger (in this case) via email. With outreach, you can quickly obtain these backlinks and have more influence over who links to your website.
Instead of waiting for people to come across your content, you can share it with various industry professionals and show them the value it can provide their audience. Getting in touch with reputable company websites with a well-established consumer base has the potential to increase the size of your audience - sounds like a win-win, right?
Outreach Etiquette
There are some dos and don'ts regarding outreach that you should follow. Take note of the following:
Do: Choose the right person
You must choose your sender carefully when asking for quality backlinks. It is best to have one or two people in control of the link building strategy. This way, the outreach emails and messages can stay consistent throughout the process.
Do: Give a good reason
You must give the blogger a good enough reason to add your website link to a blog post or other piece of content. Explaining your post's value can help seal the deal and prove to the blogger that it benefits their own readers - excellent reasons to give you a backlink. Be sure to mention the following in your outreach email:
- Why you think your link can add value to their content.
- How your post is performing organically on search engines.
- How posting links of yours will benefit their article.
Don't: Waste their time
The link you provide the blogger must be relevant to them - always. It is a huge waste of time typing out a killer outreach email when the article has no bearing on their blog's focus or outlet. You are wasting the blogger's time and yours - it is not the best way to start a relationship and will probably destroy any potential partnership.
Don't: "I'm beggin', beggin' you"
By all means, do not beg! It is not cute and gets rather annoying. The chances of them helping you with your link building strategy will go straight to zero if you beg and write an email with a needy tone. It is not a good look, and you need to seem confident - you choose them out of all bloggers. They are the chosen ones, the ones worthy of helping you out.
Begging won't get the job done, and your email will likely land in the bin. Instead, establish a connection with the company POC and casually bring up the topic during the conversation.
Do: A backlink for a backlink
This practice can be quite helpful in securing new backlinks. Have you heard the expression "an eye for an eye"? Offering a backlink in exchange for another is a tried and tested method of improving your backlink profile.
The easiest way to request a link in exchange is to research a worthwhile article from the business you could consider linking to and then mention it in your email. In this case, all they have to do is agree because you did the job for them.
But be careful of this as well. If you overdo it, it could end up hurting your search engine optimization. And the last thing you want is negatively impacting your efforts and hard work.
How To Ask For A Backlink
Suppose you want to generate quality backlinks and get help from a blogger. In that case, you need to make sure that your email is professional, targeted, timely and relevant, personalized, and adds value to the user experience.
Getting a backlink takes more than a kind email and a brief content sample. You must demonstrate to the blogger that you're going to enhance visitors' user experience on their websites.
According to Moz, there are five things that your content pitch for link outreach needs to achieve.
- Insightful
- Relevant
- Deliver Value
- Be full of useful information
- Creative
Create a resource that can be linked to
This resource may take the form of an infographic, e-book, a thorough blog post on a key subject, a thorough case study, an online course, or anything else that takes your fancy. Make sure the subject is popular in your industry and offers unique guidance or a fresh viewpoint.
Once you have your resource, half the job is done. Now you need to find a relevant site on the same subject, so look for a page or post that mentions your great topic. Consider how the post can benefit from your link, if your link fits in with it, and if the target audience can benefit from it.
When conducting research, be as specific as you can. You will be able to be more specific as a result, which will improve the outcomes of your email.
Build a relationship
People respond more positively to people that they know than they do to strangers. So it would be best to consider how to make yourself known to the blogger. Social media is a great place to start. Merely tagging people in the comments and replying to posts can make a difference. You could also comment on their blog.
This isn't a chance to ask for favors; it's a chance to make a new friend. Try to start a conversation with them, and add something unique and valuable to your comments. Once you have built a good relationship, you can send that power email you have worked so hard on!
Use influencers' advice
Influencers frequently share helpful suggestions and recommendations. You've probably already put some of this advice to work if you follow influencers. Let the blogger know that you followed their advice (if you did) and how well it went. Then use the information you gather from this to write an excellent blog post.
Once you have written your blog, you can reach out to the blogger or influencer.
Create something better
Your content must be superior to what websites are already linking to benefit them. This involves looking at what is available online and making your post much better.
Similar to other backlinking strategies, this one focuses solely on content that has already received links. There are two different approaches you can use.
First, you can try to find a site you'd like to ask for a backlink, then look at all the content they currently link to. Or you could find your competition and see what sites are backlinking to their pages and posts.
You will need to know the following:
- Which website you will ask for a backlink
- The resources or posts from your competitors that your target site is linking to
- All of the places on the site where you can find the outbound links
Now start dissecting all the resources that are being linked to. You need to know this so that you can create something much better. You could make such postings better in terms of length, the information's currentness, the design, or the depth of the content. In a perfect world, you could raise each of these issues.
After creating your outstanding resource, it's time to email the website from which you wish to receive backlinks.
Anticipate their needs
When authoritative websites are ready to publish their content, they search for articles and resources to link to and cite inside their pieces. This implies that a website already has the resources required when a post is published.
You should bring your resource or post to them during the preparation phase. At this point, you must consider what your target websites will require.
Scrutinize the website and make an effort to determine its purpose and target market. Look back at earlier posts to see if you can guess what might come next or which ones they might be updating soon.
Once those potential topics perfectly align with the fantastic resource you've already created or are busy with, it's time to pounce!
Replace outdated resources
Pages or postings may frequently contain a broken link or two. These are links to resources that are no longer accessible or outdated. You are responsible for locating obsolete and broken links and assisting these websites because nobody wants to link to a useless resource.
Although it might be a little more challenging, you can find older resources by following the outbound links on the websites you wish to receive backlinks from (and seeing if all of the information is up-to-date).
Another choice is to find out where your rivals' backlinks are coming from and see whether some of their older, out-of-date pieces have links pointing to them.
Once you've located these old and broken links, you have hit the jackpot of backlinking opportunities. It's time to send an email; all you have to do is provide the resources to replace these old and broken links!
Turn mentions into backlinks
Sometimes brands make mention of you but don't place a link. This shows that the person likes you, so you need to go out and find these mentions. You can use various online SEO tools to make the process easier, such as Mention.
Once you have found your mentions, write an email to those who mentioned you!
FAQs
How do I get in touch with bloggers?
You can get in touch with bloggers by using an outreach tool on their website, leaving a comment on a post, or sending an email. It is best to reach out and build a relationship with them before asking for a favor.
Can you buy backlinks?
Yes, you can. The process of paying for a link back to your website from another website is known as buying backlinks. When purchasing backlinks, a link buyer's typical objective is to raise the rank of their website in search results.
Final Thoughts
There are many ways to ask for a backlink. All it takes is research, professionalism, and some hard work. The methods in this article have been successful, so follow some of this fantastic advice, and you should be able to acquire backlinks from bloggers in no time!
