Today, link building is all about link earning but how do we go about earning a link from an influential blogger or website? It's quality and not quantity we are after and so focussing efforts on top blogs and social influencers is now the name of the game. But how can you get this golden nugget link? In this article I will provide a few tips on what I have found to be a successful link tactic.
Lets start at the stage where you've found the site you would love to get a link from. What next?
Have a read of their recent articles on their site and think to yourself, is there a topic associated with any of these articles that I could write and expand upon whilst being new, relevant and engaging to their audience. If so, go ahead and write. If not, see if you can source a writer who has expert knowledge in the subject area that can write this, it will be worth the investment if they are a top blog or website. When writing the article, the main tip is:
If you want a blogger to link you, the best way to do that is to link to them first. There’s no guarantee that they’ll link you back but there's no harm done trying either, it's a no lose scenario. This is relationship building and another key tactic in high quality link building.
After all, a link in many ways is like a gift and naturally people feel the need to reciprocate gifts. It’s human nature. If they don't link this time, chances are they will next time so if this first attempt doesn't work, don't give up.
Also if they have an incoming link section in their WordPress dashboard setup then the chances are they will spot your blog post there if you link to them. Then hopefully they will either link to you or at least share the post socially.
Tweet the blogger directly
I would go for the tweet option over email as webmasters these days are inundated with email requests whereas a tweet means you follow them already so again it's like reciprocating gifts, they will follow you back and hopefully share and retweet it. Because it has their link within your article naturally they are much more inclined to promote it for you than if it didn't.
If you do email them, you need to do it right and be friendly and personable - don't just email them asking for a link. Pay attention to their latest articles and include a quick comment on your favourite.
This relationship overtime can yield other opportunities such as guest posting so this little bit of extra legwork at the start of this process develops into a quality link source.
