How to Get High Quality Backlinks in 2020 - Part 1
- 4 years ago
1. Become a Source For Reporters and Bloggers (HARO)
If you want to rank on the first page of Google, you need to build backlinks from authority news sites and blogs.
(I’m talking about white hat backlinks from authority news sites and blogs)
Fortunately, this isn’t as hard as it sounds.
All you need to do is use a free service called Help a Reporter Out (HARO).
HARO is like Tinder for public relations.
It connects people that need sources (bloggers and journalists) to people that want links and exposure (you).
And I’ve personally used HARO to build white hat backlinks from mega news sites:
To be clear: this strategy takes work. And it’s not always easy.
But in my experience, it’s one of the BEST ways to build high quality backlinks at scale.
With that, let’s dive into the step-by-step process.
First, register as a source.
Next, choose a free or paid plan.
Then, keep an eye out for requests that you can contribute to.
Finally, send the journalist a VERY brief and valuable pitch.
For example:
A while back I saw a request from someone asking: “What’s the difference between graphic design and web design?”.
You submit an article or email answering the question
You will get a reference link to your site as a contributor.
Not too shabby.
And if you thought HARO was good, wait until you see our next strategy.
2. Publish “Skyscraper” Content
You can use “Skyscraper” content to build backlinks from authority sites like Entrepreneur.com, Hubspot etc
Here’s the step-by-step process:
First, find a piece of content in your industry that’s already performed well (in terms of links).
The easiest way to do that?
A simple Google search.
Just search for your keyword…
…and check out the first page results:
As you know, backlinks are a super important Google ranking signal.
So if a piece of content is ranking on the first page, lots of people have probably linked to it.
That’s step #1.
Next, create a piece of content that’s 5-10x better than what you just found.
Create something that was 10x better.
Was this piece of content easy to make? Heck no.
Finally, promote your “Skyscraper” content.
This is KEY.
Yes, a piece of Skyscraper content already puts you WAY ahead of your competitors.
But to get the most out of your content, you need to actively promote it.
Now:
There are a million ways to promote your content.
So let me show you one quick strategy that works GREAT:
Promote to people that you mention in your post.
They will promote your post very happily
3. Build Links From Outdated Resources
Using “The Moving Man Method”
1. Your first step is to find sites in your industry that have:
Changed names
Moved to a new URL
Stopped offering a service
Stopped updating a resource
Shut down
How about an example?
A while back SEOMoz changed their name to Moz (and moved their site from SEOmoz.org to Moz.com):
If you want to rank on the first page of Google, you need to build backlinks from authority news sites and blogs.
(I’m talking about white hat backlinks from authority news sites and blogs)
Fortunately, this isn’t as hard as it sounds.
All you need to do is use a free service called Help a Reporter Out (HARO).
HARO is like Tinder for public relations.
It connects people that need sources (bloggers and journalists) to people that want links and exposure (you).
And I’ve personally used HARO to build white hat backlinks from mega news sites:
To be clear: this strategy takes work. And it’s not always easy.
But in my experience, it’s one of the BEST ways to build high quality backlinks at scale.
With that, let’s dive into the step-by-step process.
First, register as a source.
Next, choose a free or paid plan.
Then, keep an eye out for requests that you can contribute to.
Finally, send the journalist a VERY brief and valuable pitch.
For example:
A while back I saw a request from someone asking: “What’s the difference between graphic design and web design?”.
You submit an article or email answering the question
You will get a reference link to your site as a contributor.
Not too shabby.
And if you thought HARO was good, wait until you see our next strategy.
2. Publish “Skyscraper” Content
You can use “Skyscraper” content to build backlinks from authority sites like Entrepreneur.com, Hubspot etc
Here’s the step-by-step process:
First, find a piece of content in your industry that’s already performed well (in terms of links).
The easiest way to do that?
A simple Google search.
Just search for your keyword…
…and check out the first page results:
As you know, backlinks are a super important Google ranking signal.
So if a piece of content is ranking on the first page, lots of people have probably linked to it.
That’s step #1.
Next, create a piece of content that’s 5-10x better than what you just found.
Create something that was 10x better.
Was this piece of content easy to make? Heck no.
Finally, promote your “Skyscraper” content.
This is KEY.
Yes, a piece of Skyscraper content already puts you WAY ahead of your competitors.
But to get the most out of your content, you need to actively promote it.
Now:
There are a million ways to promote your content.
So let me show you one quick strategy that works GREAT:
Promote to people that you mention in your post.
They will promote your post very happily
3. Build Links From Outdated Resources
Using “The Moving Man Method”
1. Your first step is to find sites in your industry that have:
Changed names
Moved to a new URL
Stopped offering a service
Stopped updating a resource
Shut down
How about an example?
A while back SEOMoz changed their name to Moz (and moved their site from SEOmoz.org to Moz.com):