to use HARO for backlinks & PR (with a free pitch template) //

There are many ways to get your name in front of the right people, no matter if you have a new or established business. There are pillar strategies such as SEO, PPC and social. But there are also niche strategies within those strategies that can be extremely effective if used correctly.

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is one such platform that can help you communicate your expertise, build brand awareness and improve your SEO through backlinks.

How do you do it? Continue reading and I will show you how to do it.

• How HARO works and what it is
• It can help you build backlinks, brand awareness and brand recognition
• How to answer HARO questions correctly

What is HARO?

Help A Reporter Out is a Cision platform where journalists, businesses and individuals can post questions asking for statistics and perspectives for articles they are creating. These queries can be answered by experts, who can often respond with a quote and a link to their website (if necessary).

A sample query in HARO

HARO can be used to find journalists from well-known publications. This makes HARO a great way of linking which is essential for SEO. It also builds your brand awarenessand media coverage. This platform is so powerful that many HARO-link-building services have sprung up over the years. They allow to get high-quality links through top media outlets (for a hefty fee, of course).

How to create a HARO account

Go to the HARO website to create a profile and set up your HARO Account. Your name, email address and basic information about yourself and your industry will be required.

Next, you can customize your preferences to only see specific requests and set your preferred frequency for email notifications.

How to respond to HARO questions (template).

To get backlinks with HARO it is all about answering the right questions at the right time and in the right manner. This is what I will show you now.

Here is a template that I recommend:

Here are some things you will notice

• Address them by their name.
• Thanks to the journalist for taking their time.
• You can say that you are open to being interviewed or following up (don’t worry journalists won’t do this but it’s nice to ask).
• Thank you for your support. This email signature has been associated with positive responses.

There’s much more to a HARO pitch, however, so I’m going give some key tips in the next section.

Tips for using HARO to create backlinks and PR

Here are my top tips to respond to HARO questions in a way that portrays your business in a positive light, gets you backlinks, PR and builds relationships with journalists.

1. The domain rating of the media outlet is available here

Your website’s domain rating (also known as domain authority depending on the SEO platform you use) is an expression of its SEO value. The higher your backlinker’s DRO, the better it will help you increase your building backlinks.

However, it is worth checking the DR of any media outlet to determine if pitching to them will be worthwhile.

Use a tool such as Ahrefs’ Free Website Authority Checker.

2. Only answer relevant questions

There are hundreds of HARO questions posted each day. You should only respond to the ones for which you have relevant experience. experience is now part Google’s E E A-T formula! As you can see, Cynthia is seeking consumer analysts. If you have done research in this field or have a relevant degree you might be the right match.

3. Your credentials should be displayed

Make it clear that you are a reliable and trustworthy source of information. Immediately state your qualifications and relevant experience. Don’t underestimate your credibility. To get a link from The New York Times, you don’t need to be Elon Musk!

4. Within 30 minutes, respond

Journalists are short on time so it is important to be proactive in your responses. Most queries on HARO will require a pitch deadline. However, it is best to be the first person to respond. Journalists often need a quick quote to add into articles or press releases. They are looking for convenience and not a life story.

Try to answer a question within 30 minutes. Quick responses win HARO Links!

Source

5. It should be quantifiable or quotable

Journalists will be more likely to take you seriously if you provide case studies or statistics supporting your ideas. Instead of saying, “Focus on B2B Sales is important”, try “Focus on B2B Sales can lead to a 138% annual return.”

Be quotable, too. Visualize your response in a Forbes article. Is it logical or clunky? These quotable excerpts are short and concise, but they can be memorable and intelligent. It will be easier for journalists to choose your pitch over other pitches.

6. Do not follow up until you have received a response

If you don’t receive a response, it is likely that the journalist deleted your pitch. This is because you aren’t qualified and time is critical. Do not keep following them. This will indicate to journalists that you are only looking for backlinks or media exposure. They’ll be less likely to follow you in the future.

7. Expect not every pitch to be successful

A success rate of 5-10% on HARO is quite common. While some specialists may achieve a higher success rate, not everyone will receive media coverage or a strong backlink.

Keep positive and consistent in your HARO pitches. If necessary, you can delegate this task to an employee. After writing a few pitches, don’t lose heart!

It doesn’t matter how many links you create, but the quality and quality of those links. This is my next tip.

8. Concentrate on the relationships

HARO is not a one-way road. It’s give take. Do not focus on building backlinks but on building relationships and working with journalists. Send the article to your network and thank journalists for sharing it. Offer to help with future articles.

9. Keep track of your success

Not all links are created equal, as you probably know. Search engines use context, relevancy, authority to determine the website’s rank.

To track your progress, create a spreadsheet. You can make it as simple as “Publication name” and “Yes/No”, or you can get more complex (like this one).

This will allow you to measure, optimize, scale and scale your link-building efforts.

10. Google Alerts – Sign up

Similar to the previous point, you should sign up for Google Alerts in order to receive a notification each time you get a link. To find new backlinks, make sure you run site searches regularly and use SEO tools.

This will help you identify trends and patterns in the backlinks that you are receiving e.g. topics, pitch style, etc.

This data will allow you to make more informed decisions about HARO linking and how it fits into your long-term search engine optimization.

11. It can be used as part of a larger backlink strategy

Just as different backlinks have different levels of value there are many other ways to create links.

You can also build backlinks by guest blogging, statistics posts, infographics and lead magnets such as free tools. Diversifying your efforts will allow your backlink profile, which includes varied anchor text and across multiple channels, to grow naturally.

Start creating backlinks using HARO

HARO outreach can be a great way for businesses to build brand awareness, referral traffic and most importantly, high-quality backlinks. It’s very satisfying to see your business featured in the media. These HARO tips will help you to make it happen.

About the author

Splinter Economy was founded by Matt Shirley. Although he is a generalist in marketing and business, he has a special interest in SEO.

WordStream first published the post How to use HARO for backlinks & PR (with a free pitch template).