One of the hardest jobs in SEO has to do is getting those high quality one way links actually accepted and in place and to be fair it’s not hard to see why it can be so difficult. There are still so many SEO’s out there who are still sending that generic email explaining how much they loved site X and how useful/informative/funny they found it and just asking if it would be possible to get a link.
Anyone who has anything to do with any website probably sees a lot of these emails every week and if the spam filter doesn’t get them they just get hit with the delete button straight away.
So how do you get your links on someone else’s site?
1. Check The Time Stamp
The first thing you need to do before you even look for the contact details is check whether this site is actually still active. Just because someone has paid the bill for the hosting it doesn’t mean it’s actually been actively managed. Look for things like the copy right date; if it doesn’t have this year’s date in it then it’s probably not being managed on a regular basis.
If it’s a blog look at when the last post was published and again, if it’s more than a few months you might really struggle getting hold of the webmaster. If it’s an actual website look for things like reviews which sometimes have a date on them and if there are no recent dates it might mean no one is updating the site on a regular basis.
Things like social media plug-ins are also a good indication, an up to date site that’s actively managed should have all the latest social media plug-in’s including Google+.
2. Where and why of your link
If you’ve established this is a site you really want a link off and you think you’ve got a good shot of getting hold of someone who will be able to help you need to do as much of the work for them as possible. Don’t just ask for a link from their site, look through their site and suggest where you think your link would be best placed. Obviously you’re not going to expect for something in the middle of the home page so look through their site and decide where their content most complements your own site.
If you want a link to your swimming pool website and their fitness site has a page talking about the benefits of swimming you could suggest your link goes there. It’s one thing asking for a link; it’s another to expect the webmaster to decide where you think your link should go.
3. Offer content
The best way to increase your chances of getting your link request accepted is to have something to offer in return. Two of the most obvious and easiest things to offer are content or an exclusive discount. Offer them a unique discount code they could put on their page, so if they’re talking about swimming you could ask them to put a link in at the end offering a 10% discount to any of their site’s traffic that buys a swimming pool after coming from their site.
Alternatively you could offer them some content, any article or some findings from some research you conducted. Maybe you found that people who have a swimming pool have lower blood pressure that those who didn’t and by putting the link in there you’re providing their site traffic with additional information.
4. Be original
Do not just send that spammy email praising their site and asking for that link. By suggesting a few places you think your link would fit you’ve already proven you’ve taken the time to look around their site but make it obvious you’re an intelligent human being and you appreciate they probably get lots of spammy link requests.
You might even want to send a video, introducing yourself and asking about the link that way, there’s a good chance no one has ever sent them a link request via video before so they’re certainly going to remember you.
5. Ask a person
‘To whom it may concern’ or ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ is what your Gran writes when she’s complaining to her local paper, it may be polite but it’s just another way of saying, ‘I couldn’t be bothered to actually find a real name’ and ‘hello’ is just the informal email way of saying ‘I have no idea who’s at the other end of this email’.
Do your homework, put the effort in and find out who it is you’re asking for a link from, even if you’re wrong and you’ve emailed the marketing person rather than the web developer at least they can see you’ve made some sort of effort and again, it’s going to attract their attention.
6. Pick up the phone
Remember those boring emails we talked about earlier? Yea, they’re boring, no matter how original you try and make them they’re just too easy to either ignore or delete. The best way to get round this is just stick a line in the email saying you’ll give that person a call next week in case there’s anything they want to clear up. When you call them tell the person on the phone who you want to talk to by name and sound confident, tell them your name and only give the company name if they ask.
Most receptionists will ask what it’s about or if the person you’re asking for knows you, since you left that line in your email you can just tell them it’s about your previous correspondence. It’s much harder to ignore a link request when it’s talking to you rather than sat there in an email.
7. Social media
One of the most sure fire ways to get that link is to interact on a social media platform. You might not be able to run into that person down the pub and buy them a drink but you can interact with them through Twitter or Facebook or Google+ especially if you’re already talking about their product/website.
Twitter is the new phone, get a dialogue going then suggest how you think your content or offer could be beneficial to their site traffic and before you know it you’ve got your link.
Also Read : Backlink Building: Quality Outweighs Quantity.
