Reaching out to sites that have previously indicated your site has something of value to offer can make some people feel uncomfortable. However, there are situations where this request is perfectly reasonable but the manner in which you reach out to these people is crucial to receiving the desired response.
In this post I will provide you three distinctly different scenarios where I feel it is appropriate to reach out for a link and efficient ways to find these opportunities.
Here are some things to keep in mind once you get to the outreach stage:
- If you are reaching out for links using the strategies mentioned in this post, you are one step ahead of the game because these sites have publicly acknowledged your site has something of value to offer.
- The person you end up reaching out to may be unfamiliar with the value of linking. Be tolerant and educate them.
- Please do not apologize for what you are trying to accomplish. It is one thing to be respectful of someone's time and effort but it is another to apologize when you are not doing anything wrong.
- In today’s world, communication via telephone is a rare occurrence. Making effort to connect over the phone sends a powerful message that you care.
Appropriate Scenario #1
You learn that someone used your infographic or duplicated an asset which you spent serious time and money to create. Other infographics have links on that site pointing back to the creator’s site. However, your poor infographic is link-less. You would like to ensure proper and valuable recognition for efforts in the form of a link back to your site.
Finding the opportunity
Use the Google search by image function to find places where your infographic or asset has been picked up. Grab the image URL and drop it in.
You can also use John Henry’s Copyscape method for easy link wins.
Appropriate Scenario #2
A valuable member of your organization has taken time out of his or her day to contribute to a publication or site in the past. The site has reciprocated for this type of contribution in the form of links in the boilerplate or body of other articles, but not yours. A link would be an appreciated form of credit that was missed out on initially.
Finding the opportunity
Use a simple advanced query
[First and last name] AND Guest –inurl:[company name] –inurl:linkedin
[First and last name] AND Interview –inurl:[company name] –inurl:linkedin
[First and last name] AND Q&A –inurl:[company name] –inurl:linkedin
I like to filter out company name and social network to eliminate unwanted results.
Appropriate Scenario #3
Your company acquired a smaller company which has been rebranded under your company name. The acquired company’s logo and website are now irrelevant. The acquired company’s site has been 301 redirected to a subfolder on your site dedicated to this new offering. You want to ensure users are being pointed directly to this subfolder making it easier for them to find what they need. You also want to make sure old irrelevant logos are not floating around the web now that you have invested time and money into rebranding the acquired product.
Finding the opportunity
You can find opportunities by again using the Google “search by image” function to reverse engineer the acquired company’s old logo.
You can also use ahrefs and export all external backlinks pointing to the acquired company’s old domain. It might not be necessary in ALL cases to reach out and have these links changed. I recommend prioritizing them based on domain authority.
Use NeatPeak’s NeatPeak checker tool to pull in Domain Authority of several domains at once (P/T H/T @talktohoa)
Conclusion
There are many scenarios where requesting a link is perfectly acceptable. Links indicate authority and companies should be proactive about acquiring them in a professional and respectable manner.
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