We are already a week into 2022. If you are still in flux about your blogger outreach strategy for backlink building, know that you are already behind. This is something you should have done yesterday.
But that doesn’t mean things are beyond repair today. With our years of experience in the field, we have put together this guide for you.
What does this guide offer? A step-by-step strategy guide to help you build quality backlinks using blogger outreach services.
What prior knowledge do you need to understand this guide? Knowledge of basic English. This is a jargon-free and actionable guide.
How long will it take you to start acting on this guide? Reading this piece will take you no more than 7 minutes. So that’s how soon you can be on your way to fruitful blogger outreach.
Why should you trust this guide? This guide meets the 3 qualifying criteria for a good guide.
- One, coherence: This guide can be understood by Grade 6 students.
- Two, completeness: This guide is beginner-friendly and includes everything you need to know.
- Three, correctness: This guide is written with inputs from experts and has been used to yield stunning results.
The basics of backlinks
Ever wondered how Google determines which contents to show up for what search query? Among other things, crawler bots rely on people’s judgments. How? With backlinks.
When you create content on the Internet, and other people like it or feel it is worth a read, they are likely to let their readers know about it. And this they do by hyperlinking your content on their site, within the content they have created. This is called a backlink.
These backlinks signal to Google the quality and worthiness of your content. So the more backlinks you have, the better Google feels your content is and the higher it ranks the content for relevant search terms.
But, not all backlinks carry equal weight. Imagine a street singer recommending you for a gig versus a well-known artist. You know what’s going to have a better effect. Also, imagine a particularly ill-known singer calling you a friend. That’s going to leave you with a bad rep too, right? Backlinks are no different.
So you don’t just need a tonne of backlinks, you need good ones. Probably from known and influential names in your niches. Yes, that’s where the blogger outreach part comes in.
You can write guest posts, try your hands (and fail) with automatic link-building schemes, and even get yourself banned with questionable black hat practices. But without blogger outreach for backlink building, you’ll never get the best results.
So you need to reach out to bloggers and get them to link back to your site. Sounds simple? Well, it isn’t.
Blogger outreach for backlink building – Where most people go wrong
Top bloggers in any niche, the ones you need backlinks from, get tons of outreach emails every day. And these emails don’t even get a second glance.
Why? Because most of them are:
One, reaching the wrong inboxes.
Two, spammy, and target not just one person but the masses.
Three, desperate and begging for backlinks
Four, offer no real value to the blogger
But remember, your blogger outreach strategy can be different. And the difference this guide will make to your strategy can be the difference between a failed and a super successful strategy.
So here’s the step-by-step guide you need to follow in 2022 to effectively use blogger outreach for backlink building.
The strategy you need for 2022 – Explained step-by-step
Step 1: Zeroing-in on bloggers to reach out to
Those who unlock the door to good writing are making thousands of dollars with each blog they write. That has made blogging a lucrative niche. And so you have a lot of choices when it comes to finding bloggers for your backlink-building campaign.
But not all bloggers are fit for you. Here’s how to sort through the long list of bloggers and find your ideal matches:
- Find people who have written successful content in your niche. They already have the right audience base (the one that you want to target) and the experience to write worthwhile content.
- Look for bloggers who have worked with your competitors. Unless they are friends/family of your competitor they’d be more open to linking back to you too. Or even writing content for you with backlinks.
- Know who you can and cannot approach. If you are in the SEO niche, don’t expect Matt Cutts or Neil Patel to give you backlinks based on a simple email. Aim for local SEO experts who are more approachable.
- Never go for bloggers who aren’t specialists in any field. They are more likely to create spun content. With them, you’d get the backlink but miss out on authority building.
- Avoid bloggers with sites that have a domain authority of less than 20. Such backlinks are not going to yield great results, SEO-wise.
Once you have made a decent enough list of bloggers who meet your requirements and fit your needs, move on to the next step.
P.S. – The number of bloggers on your list depends on the scale of the blogger outreach campaign you want to run. 10 bloggers is a good place to start.
Step 2: Know thy bloggers
Before you send the email to the selected bloggers, get to know them better. Don’t turn on the stalking mode, but consider connecting with them via LinkedIn or other social media, or subscribing to their newsletter, if they have one.
Read their content, understand their niche, their audience, and what sets them apart from others. All this information will help you personalize your pitch.
Make sure you actually go through some of their content, especially the pieces in which you are going to suggest adding your backlinks. You don’t want to sound aloof now, do you?
Step 3: Building relationships not begging for backlinks
Once you have known your bloggers and understood them, it is time to send the outreach email. Though in our increasingly informalized world, you could also send them a message on LinkedIn or reach them via a tweet, if you are feeling too confident. However, we suggest going the traditional way with an email, because it is more professional and acceptable.
Here are a couple of things to keep in mind before you hit send:
- Keep the email about them, not you. How the backlink to your site would offer value to their reader is always better than a rant about how you absolutely need that backlink.
- Make your subject line simple, not spammy. Wordplay won’t get you better open rates, honesty would.
- The email should be short and simple, no one has time to read long, boring emails.
- You might not even ask for a backlink. Focus on building a connection by appreciating what you genuinely like about the blogger and inviting them to read and review your published content. When people are flattered and put in a position of authority, they are more likely to be open to doing favors.
- Do them a favor, before asking them for one. Consider telling them a genuinely effective way to enhance their content or reach a wider audience. Backlinking to some of their content might also warm the prospects towards your proposal.
- Use email tracking tools. Knowing if your email was opened or not will help you analyze the effectiveness of your subject lines.
Things to keep in mind after you hit send:
- Follow up after 5-7 days, if you don’t get a response. People are busy and their inboxes are flowing. Instead of striking prospects off your list, use a follow-up email as a second chance to solicit a response.
- If you get a neutral response to a friendly email without a pitch for a backlink, don’t lose hope. Continue courting the blogger before making a proposal for a backlink.
- In case of rejection, accept the blogger’s will. Don’t be rude or upset in your further communication. And don’t leave the email unread either. Write a reply accepting their decision and hint at your wish towards staying connected.
Step 4: Measuring results
Once you have rolled out your influencer outreach strategy and sent those emails, you’ll soon start getting results. Measure your open rates, positive replies, negative responses, and ignored emails.
If you get backlinks from your first campaign itself, pat yourself on the back and check the increase in your domain’s DA, referral traffic, and awareness increments too.
Understand what works and what doesn’t.
Step 5: Strategy adjustment and repeat.
Blogger outreach for backlink building is not a one-time thing. After measuring the results of your maiden campaign, tweak your strategy and give it another go.
Continue the process until you start getting backlinks from bloggers without having to ask for it.
Over to you: Take action today
As promised, within 7 minutes we have walked you through an actionable and effective guest blogging strategy that you can use in 2022.
Want a faster alternative? Try blogger outreach services. Let experts do all the dirty work for you, while you sit back, relax, and count the backlinks you are getting.
Expert services, from providers like Uplers, are cost-effective, save time, and yield guaranteed results.
No matter which way you decide to sway – expert services or DIY – act fast and don’t let your competitors beat you at blogger outreach for backlink building.