KelvyTheBlacky
Power Member
- Aug 31, 2019
- 523
- 351
As Matt Cutts said himself, “there are still many good reasons to do some guest blogging (Exposure, branding, increased reach, community, etc.)” This was two or so years ago, and goes to show that even Google respects links sourced through outreach.
Now, guest post links are the closest you can get to White Hat link building. You can get them in two ways. One, by conducting the outreach yourself. That is, by going out and pitching site owners for the guest posts. You should only consider taking this route if you have the experience, patience and the time.
Or two, by ordering them through a vendor. These vendors/agencies normally have established relationships with site owners, and will do all the heavy lifting on your behalf. This is often the easiest route to take, but as you probably guessed it, it doesn’t come cheap. It’ll cost you a pretty penny! but if you really value your time, then this is the best option to take. I personally take this route from time to time, and the reason is because i not always have the time to do it myself.
Back to the first option: Custom guest post outreach campaigns aren’t for everyone. You see, there are a few huge mistakes that you are bound to make simply because of the lack of experience. These no-nos will render your pitches totally void and the site owners will trash your mail before they have even gotten to the main point (I should know, as I see all sorts of pitches all the time for sites that I manage).
From my own experience pitching guest posts, the ‘outreaching’ part is actually the hardest part of the process (yea, harder than the prospecting, and writing the guest post). One small mistake in your outreach campaign and that can render all your efforts abortive.
With that in mind, the following are the 6 most common mistakes why outreach campaigns usually fail.
Mistake #1: Outreaching in the same blogs as every Tom, Dick and Harry.
Search Google for “Guest Posting Guides” and the results are pretty much the same. Search for “write for us” (or a variant) + your niche (auto, health, entertainment, travel) and then reach out to the resultant sites.
Well, here’s the problem, folks: Everyone else is doing the Exact Same Thing! Get this, though, I’m by no means saying that reaching out to “write for us” sites no longer works. What i'm trying to say is that it just isn’t as effective as it used to be a couple of years ago. Reason? Authority sites that allow guest posting (literally) receive dozens of pitches every single day.
And to stand out from the rest, you’ll certainly need to do something really special. Here are a couple of things you can do that can really help you stand out.
Site owners receive dozens of emails every single day, and they may not have the time nor the energy to read generic emails that seem to have been sent from a bot. Personalization, by and large, is all about inserting the (correct) names.
It all starts with the subject line. Make it as catchy and interesting as possible. Here’s how to go about this:
One, always use lower cases. You’re emailing a business, not your drinking buddy. Two, use a captivating subject line. Just pay attention not to mislead them, as they may delete your mail. Be direct and to the point. Here’s an example:
And thirdly, always include a name in your outreach email. Doesn’t it feel so boring when a person reaching out to you doesn’t even bother to know your name? Such emails will usually start with only ‘Hey!’, ‘Hi!’ or even 'Dear sir', lol. Including a name like ‘Hi Paul!’ or ‘Hi Pam!’ could make all the difference.
And, of course, the next line that follows is usually something along the lines, “I’m an ardent reader of your blog, and really loved your latest post (inserts the link). When I personally receive such mails, I’m always like “Oh really, mate? How come you don’t know my name? I bet you probably need to do some more reading.”
Don’t make this mistake!
In most cases, site owners know that what you’re after is a link. But even so, it certainly pays to put some extra effort to try and find out a thing or two about the website you are reaching out to. If you are struggling to find names, here is what you can do.
Nothing turns off webmasters quickly than many grammatical errors and/or misspellings. And rightly so, how can they trust that you will be able to create a great article for their audience?
Yes, it can be exciting to hit the ‘send’ button after all the hard work you have put into the process. However, don’t forget to proofread your email first. This could be the only reason that could prevent you from landing that DA 76 juicy ******** link you’ve been fantasizing about for the last couple of days, maybe weeks.
Mistake #4: You aren’t willing to help.
From my experience, link building isn’t something that you can just do overnight. To be successful in this game, you need to cultivate the right relationships. This requires both time and energy.
With guest post outreach, you’re simply asking for a favor from fellow webmasters. And in such a case, you should be more than willing to return it. In fact, you should even give it before you even ask for one. So, how do you do it? Well, it’s rather simple.
First and foremost, get started with the prospecting. Second, get to know your prospects. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and connect with them on Instagram. Just pay attention not to do it in a creepy kinda way.
Third, share their posts on your own social profiles. If they have shared a blog or are promoting a product, share it with your followers as well.
And fourth, form the habit of commenting on their blog posts or engaging in their communities. This way, they won’t be shocked when one day they find a mail from you reaching out to them for a guest post.
Mistake #5: Disappearing once your publication has been published.
Don’t stop communicating with the site owner after you’ve gotten what you came there for. After all, you never know when you might need another favor from them. And while you won’t do it so often as you did before, you can still let them know that you are still around by continuing to engage with their content.
This way, you are telling webmasters that you are not only after links, which will help build trust.
Mistake #6: Keep your email short, simple, and to the point.
You should keep it short for three reasons. One, the average time the average person uses to read an email is about 11 seconds. Two, nobody wants to spend a second longer in their inbox than needed. And three, we don’t read online. We scan.
The following is an example of a blocky text that, other than failing to be specific, sure appears decent. However, it isn’t one of the ones that you’d typically respond to. There is also a high chance it could be spammy.
Conclusion
When it comes to outreach SEO, there are many (creative) ways of failing in your outreach efforts. That said, I really hope you found this piece helpful in getting a general idea of what might be behind your outreach woos. And, of course, if you have other experiences of your own, please be kind enough to share them in the comments as well.
In the next post, I’ll share with you the templates that I personally use and provide you over 1,000 blogs (including the site owners’ names and emails) for you to try out.
Hope you found this helpful!
Now, guest post links are the closest you can get to White Hat link building. You can get them in two ways. One, by conducting the outreach yourself. That is, by going out and pitching site owners for the guest posts. You should only consider taking this route if you have the experience, patience and the time.
Or two, by ordering them through a vendor. These vendors/agencies normally have established relationships with site owners, and will do all the heavy lifting on your behalf. This is often the easiest route to take, but as you probably guessed it, it doesn’t come cheap. It’ll cost you a pretty penny! but if you really value your time, then this is the best option to take. I personally take this route from time to time, and the reason is because i not always have the time to do it myself.
Back to the first option: Custom guest post outreach campaigns aren’t for everyone. You see, there are a few huge mistakes that you are bound to make simply because of the lack of experience. These no-nos will render your pitches totally void and the site owners will trash your mail before they have even gotten to the main point (I should know, as I see all sorts of pitches all the time for sites that I manage).
From my own experience pitching guest posts, the ‘outreaching’ part is actually the hardest part of the process (yea, harder than the prospecting, and writing the guest post). One small mistake in your outreach campaign and that can render all your efforts abortive.
With that in mind, the following are the 6 most common mistakes why outreach campaigns usually fail.
Mistake #1: Outreaching in the same blogs as every Tom, Dick and Harry.
Search Google for “Guest Posting Guides” and the results are pretty much the same. Search for “write for us” (or a variant) + your niche (auto, health, entertainment, travel) and then reach out to the resultant sites.
Well, here’s the problem, folks: Everyone else is doing the Exact Same Thing! Get this, though, I’m by no means saying that reaching out to “write for us” sites no longer works. What i'm trying to say is that it just isn’t as effective as it used to be a couple of years ago. Reason? Authority sites that allow guest posting (literally) receive dozens of pitches every single day.
And to stand out from the rest, you’ll certainly need to do something really special. Here are a couple of things you can do that can really help you stand out.
- People give more attention to emails from ‘important’ people. As such, reach out as, say, a senior executive of an establishment firm.
- Use the word collaboration in the subject line to attract their attention. This is because some businesses don’t really understand the concept of guest posting, and the last thing you want to do is confuse them with SEO and marketing jargon.
- Avoid pitching ideas in the first email. In your first email, just ask the site admin whether they would be interested in listening to some ideas you might have. This will help you save time on coming up with ideas only for the site owners to trash your email.
- Mention that the piece will be FREE. If you fail to mention this, some will think that you’re pitching them about your content writing service and many won’t respond.
Site owners receive dozens of emails every single day, and they may not have the time nor the energy to read generic emails that seem to have been sent from a bot. Personalization, by and large, is all about inserting the (correct) names.
It all starts with the subject line. Make it as catchy and interesting as possible. Here’s how to go about this:
One, always use lower cases. You’re emailing a business, not your drinking buddy. Two, use a captivating subject line. Just pay attention not to mislead them, as they may delete your mail. Be direct and to the point. Here’s an example:
And thirdly, always include a name in your outreach email. Doesn’t it feel so boring when a person reaching out to you doesn’t even bother to know your name? Such emails will usually start with only ‘Hey!’, ‘Hi!’ or even 'Dear sir', lol. Including a name like ‘Hi Paul!’ or ‘Hi Pam!’ could make all the difference.
And, of course, the next line that follows is usually something along the lines, “I’m an ardent reader of your blog, and really loved your latest post (inserts the link). When I personally receive such mails, I’m always like “Oh really, mate? How come you don’t know my name? I bet you probably need to do some more reading.”
Don’t make this mistake!
In most cases, site owners know that what you’re after is a link. But even so, it certainly pays to put some extra effort to try and find out a thing or two about the website you are reaching out to. If you are struggling to find names, here is what you can do.
- Check who is writing the blog. It’s really that simple.
- Use one of the many tools out there to automatically discover contact information for you. A good example is hunter.io.
- Check their social profiles. Bloggers sometimes include their contact info on their social media profiles.
- Check their About page/section.
Nothing turns off webmasters quickly than many grammatical errors and/or misspellings. And rightly so, how can they trust that you will be able to create a great article for their audience?
Yes, it can be exciting to hit the ‘send’ button after all the hard work you have put into the process. However, don’t forget to proofread your email first. This could be the only reason that could prevent you from landing that DA 76 juicy ******** link you’ve been fantasizing about for the last couple of days, maybe weeks.
Mistake #4: You aren’t willing to help.
From my experience, link building isn’t something that you can just do overnight. To be successful in this game, you need to cultivate the right relationships. This requires both time and energy.
With guest post outreach, you’re simply asking for a favor from fellow webmasters. And in such a case, you should be more than willing to return it. In fact, you should even give it before you even ask for one. So, how do you do it? Well, it’s rather simple.
First and foremost, get started with the prospecting. Second, get to know your prospects. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and connect with them on Instagram. Just pay attention not to do it in a creepy kinda way.
Third, share their posts on your own social profiles. If they have shared a blog or are promoting a product, share it with your followers as well.
And fourth, form the habit of commenting on their blog posts or engaging in their communities. This way, they won’t be shocked when one day they find a mail from you reaching out to them for a guest post.
Mistake #5: Disappearing once your publication has been published.
Don’t stop communicating with the site owner after you’ve gotten what you came there for. After all, you never know when you might need another favor from them. And while you won’t do it so often as you did before, you can still let them know that you are still around by continuing to engage with their content.
This way, you are telling webmasters that you are not only after links, which will help build trust.
Mistake #6: Keep your email short, simple, and to the point.
You should keep it short for three reasons. One, the average time the average person uses to read an email is about 11 seconds. Two, nobody wants to spend a second longer in their inbox than needed. And three, we don’t read online. We scan.
The following is an example of a blocky text that, other than failing to be specific, sure appears decent. However, it isn’t one of the ones that you’d typically respond to. There is also a high chance it could be spammy.
Conclusion
When it comes to outreach SEO, there are many (creative) ways of failing in your outreach efforts. That said, I really hope you found this piece helpful in getting a general idea of what might be behind your outreach woos. And, of course, if you have other experiences of your own, please be kind enough to share them in the comments as well.
In the next post, I’ll share with you the templates that I personally use and provide you over 1,000 blogs (including the site owners’ names and emails) for you to try out.
Hope you found this helpful!
! I've been pretty successful with these very same strategies myself.