Links are one of the most debated aspects regarding their position and importance in SEO. However both sides of the debate agree that a natural, relevant and authoritative link placement is worth its weight in gold. A well-placed link serves as an SEO signal based on expected user CTR, so a good link will provide the benefit of added linkjuice boost as well as generate incoming traffic.
Usually to get a press feature, you will either need to run a full PR campaign (which is generally a hit-and-miss in terms of results and costs involved), or you will need to individually reach out to press publications and pay for a featured article (which ranges from a few hundred dollars, up to mid 5 figures for a single link!).
This is why we decided to start off this blog category with what is probably the easiest way to get in touch with journalists that are interested in your professional expertise — and will gladly feature your business in their article. Although it’s certainly not a closed secret, since the platform itself is dependent on high user engagement numbers to make the concept work, it’s still a relatively powerful tool to have in your marketing arsenal.
- Sign up here:
HARO – Help A Reporter Out - Confirm your email
- Update your list subscriptions in your user account (Select your industry)
- Wait for daily emails with source requests from journalists
- Apply to those that are relevant to your business
- Answer their queries, and ask to have your business website featured as well!
And done! In as little as 10 minutes you can have your account set-up with HARO, then you only need to wait for incoming requests to your email (3 times per day) and reach out where you have the information to provide a detailed and well thought out answer. Although there is no guarantee that you will get featured, at least not on your first attempt, the trick is to continue reaching out. In the future you should also aim to create a long-lasting relationship with journalists in your industry.
Tip: Don’t disregard the source requests that might be labeled as “Anonymous”, sometimes that might be a journalist from big name press publications that are looking for a source without giving the scoop away.
