Summary:
- Ensure you create decent content that people will want to link to
- If the site you’re asking is authoritative, put some effort in to your request
- Don’t use auto contact scrapers to get contact details
- Make your request personal
- Make your request interesting and compelling – spell out the value
So you’re looking to obtain good quality, authoritative links to your website – you’ve located the sites that you’re interested in approaching – but what’s the best approach?
First, before you do anything, make damn sure you have content that’s worthy of linking to. Have a look on the website that you’re considering asking for a link. Where do they link to already? Check out the content. Is your content up to that standard? If not, you need to work on the content first. If you approach them and send them to content that’s not great, you may ruin any possibility of a positive relationship with them.
When you’re sure of killer content, you can consider your approach. Sometimes, just dropping the site an email works best. Explain what you’ve got and why it’s relevant to visitors of their website. Make sure you make your pitch personal and relate it to their site. Don’t forget, they’re not going to be interested in linking to sales websites – authoritative websites are looking purely to increase the value of their content to their readers, and if your content doesn’t do that, you’re unlikely to be successful.
For sites that rank fairly well already, create a personal email to the website owner, following the guidance already given.
Where the site ranks very well, you need to identify the right person to speak to – this could be a business owner or senior marketing person. You can approach by email to begin with but expect to switch to phone at some point. Consider creating specific original and useful content targeting topics covered by their site, just to obtain these links. Where the site is an exceptional site, you may also consider meeting the business owner or marketing person.
Your email pitch, where you’re using email, should contain the following elements:
- A straight to the point subject line so people know what they are opening.
- Personal info in relation to the site you are contacting so they know you’ve done your homework and it’s not just a generic request.
- Your contact info – start with your name and position – but make sure your email includes your phone after the signature (don’t just assume they’ll reply by email because it’s your preferred method of contact as they may prefer to contact you some other way!)
- Your pitch – short, simple and with the value explained clearly. What you want them to do? Spell it out. What do you want them to link to? Why should they? How will their readers benefit?
- Any endorsements you already have which may support your request.
- Your site (including URL) and company info.
You need to aim to make your request interesting as these sites will get a lot of requests every day – yours needs to stand out. The interesting thing for them will be if the content or resources on your website adds value for their visitors. They’re not interested in helping you make money – they are interested in giving their visitors something they don’t already have. This means something unique, that they can’t get elsewhere.
Example link request email:
Date: Monday 10th May 2010
To: targetsite@targetsite.com
From: youremail@youremail.com
Subject: Link request to ‘How to use .htaccess to help with SEO’
James,
My name is Andrew Smith and I’m contacting you about your SEO blog at http://www.anseoblog.com/.
I see you’ve been discussing the use of .htaccess files and their use for maximum search engine optimisation recently. As it happens, I’ve written an article on this very topic: ‘How to use .htaccess to help with SEO’ which you can view here: http://www.mywebsite.com/how-to-htaccess.php.
I think this article adds an interesting perspective in relation to the use of .htaccess for SEO. Would you therefore consider adding a link to the article from your discussion page (http://www.anseoblog.com/ht-access-discussion.php)?
I hope this is sufficient information for you to consider my request but if not, don’t hesitate to contact me – you can get in touch via email at youremail@youremail.com, or, if you’d like to talk about this by phone, my direct number is 0115 123456.
I have also subscribed to your newsletter and look forward to receiving it!
Kind regards
Andrew Smith
SEO Coordinator
mywebsite.com
0115 123456
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