Link prospecting is the process of finding quality websites that might link to your content. It is an essential step that’s part of any link building campaign.
For link prospecting to be effective, you need to build the campaign around a specific type of content you’ll pitch. That determines who you’ll reach out to, asking for a link, and how you’ll go about it.
Here are six link prospecting methods that work wonders along with some that are no longer as effective.
1. Digital PR
Digital PR is about creating content that could be used by journalists in stories they’re reporting on, and then promoting it to them.
It’s up to each journalist’s discretion whether they’ll use your content to support their article. If they do, you’ll likely earn a link without having to beg for it.
There are a few ways you can get this to work for you:
- Become an expert they reach out to for quotes
- Uncover an interesting story angle
- Provide new insights on a trending story
Here’s an example of a law firm that earned a link in a news story about Australia’s protection visa by contributing expert quotes:
They achieved this by developing a collaborative relationship and becoming a trusted source for the journalist.
Here’s another example from VPN Overview. It earned links from many journalists by uncovering the top five UK banks where customers are most at risk of fraud:
Their process was simple:
- Come up with an interesting story angle
- Find data to support it
- Share it on Roxhill with journalists covering the topic
The key thing that will either make or break your digital PR campaigns is how newsworthy your story is. If it’s not something you see featured in a news publication, you’ll need to go back to the drawing board and make it newsworthy.
2. Data Journalism
Data journalism is a type of journalism that uses data as a key component in reporting, storytelling, and analysis.
It combines traditional journalistic practices with the use of digital tools, data analysis, and visualization techniques to present information in ways that are easy for audiences to understand.
There are two main ways you can earn links through data journalism:
- Partner with a publisher on an exclusive story
- Be a data source that contributes to the journalist’s research and narrative
For example, BridgeDetroit partnered with NBC News on a data journalism piece about segregation in Detroit. They earned a link at the very top of the article:
Another example comes from Practica, a consultancy bridging anthropology with marketing and business. It earned a link from a data-driven story about species in New Zealand that are becoming extinct:
What separates data journalism from regular PR is its focus on visualizing complex data. Data journalism often includes interactive maps, graphs, and charts.
Check out these nine examples of outstanding data journalism for inspiration.
This method of link prospecting is great for:
- Non-profit organizations
- Research institutions
- Consultancies and agencies
- Companies with research divisions
- Small businesses with a wealth of local data
What most don’t realize is that you don’t necessarily need to have your own data to make this technique work.
You just need to be the first to organize existing data in a format journalists can use to visualize a newsworthy story.
It’s similar to digital PR in that if your data can’t be used to tell a story people care about, this technique won’t work for you.
Once you have your newsworthy angle, and the data visualizations to support it, you’ll either need to:
- Handpick publications to pitch an exclusive story to, or
- Use a platform like Roxhill to send a bulk message to journalists in your industry
3. Statistics Page
Statistics pages offer a list of facts and figures about a specific industry or topic. These pages are awesome for attracting evergreen links.
For example, check out how Ahrefs’ post on SEO statistics has been consistently earning links since it was published in 2020:
Every few years, the author of the post updates the statistics to keep them relevant:
That’s why it keeps earning links naturally year after year.
It’s a straightforward way to earn links. Start by checking Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer to find topics in your industry where people are actively looking for statistics:
Then, curate interesting facts and stats that writers, reporters, and journalists can use in their content.
You can earn some initial links by reaching out to authors who frequently write about your topic. However, long-term success will come from keeping your post updated with the latest data.
4. True Thought Leadership
Thought leadership is the practice of establishing yourself or your brand as an authority in a specific field or industry.
Content is a common vehicle used to become a thought leader. In particular, thought leadership content shares:
- Unique insights
- Valuable expertise
- Innovative ideas
- Thought-provoking opinions
The more novel, helpful, and thought-provoking a piece of content is, the more likely it is to make an impact and earn links.
For example, Basecamp wrote a short article introducing the concept of a “manager of one”:
In this post, they define a new concept, offer a strong opinion about it, and pave the way for others to follow in their footsteps.
This post is under 300 words, and yet, it has earned over 900 links from 200 referring domains:
Basecamp’s brand power supports its content. As a result, anything it publishes has the potential to be perceived as thought leadership.
But what about if you don’t have the authority big brands or influencers have?
In that case, success with this strategy comes from consistency. Thought leadership cannot thrive in isolation, especially if you’re building the foundation of your brand.
For example, check out how Animalz consistently publishes thought leadership content that attracts links:
It’s a great example of thought leadership content link building in action.
The more thought leadership you publish, the more your reputation will grow in your industry. That’s how you’ll earn consistent links using this strategy.
However, you need to innovate relentlessly. Creativity in your ideas and how you express them is what will elevate your content into true thought leadership.
You can’t simply rely on rewording what other people have already said for this to work.
5. Networking + Relationship Building
Networking and relationship building have been the foundation of good marketing right from the start.
They’re about forming connections with people in your network and industry so you can support each other to achieve common goals.
As a link prospecting strategy, it helps to develop relationships with:
- Journalists
- Other businesses in your area
- Partners, clients + suppliers
For example, HammondCare is a local aged care facility. It has earned highly coveted education and government links, which can be challenging for many local businesses to do:
It has earned these links by:
- Announcing partnerships
- Listing it’s volunteer programs
- Creating official directory listings
- Sharing research with local communities
For instance, here’s the announcement of HammondCare’s partnership with the University of Sydney earning it a high-quality link:
Many small and local businesses can use similar strategies to earn links from other businesses in their local community.
Additional ways you can earn links from your network include:
- Offering testimonials and earning a link underneath it
- Asking to be featured on community event websites
- Showcasing charity and community involvement
- Cross-promoting adjacent businesses (not direct competitors)
You can also build relationships with journalists. The benefit of nurturing a relationship is that you can earn multiple links from the same journalist.
Some even write for multiple publications, so you can earn links from many websites due to one fruitful relationship.
6. Creating Linkable Assets
A linkable asset is a piece of content or resource that is specifically designed to attract backlinks from other websites. Some of the tactics mentioned above are examples of linkable assets, like creating a statistics page.
You could also consider creating:
- In-depth guides
- Useful infographics
- Research or data studies
- Interactive tools
- Case studies
- Templates or checklists
- Free resources
For example, my all-time favorite example of a data study that went viral and attracted many links comes from the marketing agency Yard.
In 2022, they launched a data study sharing the worst celebrity offenders ranked by private jet CO2 emissions:
Many journalists and news publications ran a story about this, focusing on Taylor Swift’s position at the top of the list:
Anytime there’s a story about Swift’s jet emissions in the news, Yard’s study gets links:
This data study is an example of a linkable asset.
Another example I love is an infographic made by Love the Garden about the best plants for indoor air quality:
This image summarizes data found by NASA in 1989. Prior to being redirected, it earned links from almost 300 referring domains:
Not bad for an infographic!
It was linked from news sites as well as sites like Atlassian and Shopify in posts sharing ideas for improving indoor home and work environments.
To earn links, your asset must be uniquely helpful, interesting, and naturally shareable. It’s the kind of thing you want your audience to say, “hey, check this out”.
The more you promote your linkable assets, the more links you’ll likely earn.
5 Link Prospecting Methods that Don’t Work Like They Used To
If you’ve been doing SEO for a while, you’ve likely heard of many other link prospecting methods that are more popular than the ones mentioned above.
The thing is, the SEO landscape has changed, and a lot of links that used to be effective no longer are. Here are five that no longer work like they used to.
Broken Link Campaigns
In the early days, it was possible to find broken links on other websites, notify the website owner and get your link added as a replacement.
It’s a very easy strategy to do using Ahrefs’ broken backlinks report:
However, these days, most website owners ignore such emails entirely, so they are not as effective as they used to be.
Guest Posts
Guest posting is a very common strategy. It involves negotiating with a website owner to write an article that they publish. In the article, you include links to your website in exchange.
As a tactic, guest posting still works. But it is now increasingly more difficult to get editorial teams to agree to one if they don’t know you.
AI spam has flooded editorial teams with generic, terrible content and even worse pitches.
HARO
HARO stands for Help a Reporter Out. It was a platform where journalists would put callouts for content or industry experts they were seeking in order to publish a specific story. But it no longer exists, it was officially shut down.
There are other platforms you can check out like:
However, it’s generally a first in, best dressed scenario. Writers and journalists can often receive many responses and will settle for the first one that meets their needs, ignoring the rest.
If you choose to use this strategy, make sure you actively stay on top of responding to new requests.
Link begs
Begging for links via email or social media outreach has always had questionable success rates. Too many link builders treat it like a numbers game, relentlessly spamming people’s inboxes.
Potential website owners have developed an intolerance to thoughtless outreach for link building, which makes it very difficult to get decent results.
Paid links
Buying links works, at least for a while. But they can be extremely dangerous.
If Google detects that you’re buying links, you could lose all your rankings. Not to mention that such links are easy for Google to devalue, so you’d be spending your money without getting any SEO benefits.
If you’re using an agency for your SEO, you also need to make sure they’re not buying links without telling you and putting your website at risk.
