Here's a fun tactic that takes minimal work but can yield some pretty amazing results when it works. Not only can you get some really high quality links from it, but you can also get a ton of direct referral traffic. This works especially well for content sites (mommy blogs, online magazines, etc).
Identify The Top 10 Sites In Your Niche
Identify The Top 10 Sites In Your Niche
This part of the process should be fairly easy. Depending on how involved you are with your Niche, identifying the big players should be an easy process. If you're unsure, Google up some of your top keyword phrases and plug the top results into Alexa.
You're looking to compile a list of the top 10 traffic sites within your niche. Particularly those with large facebook & twitter followings. Avoid sites that are clearly run by a company or organization. We're really aiming for the biggest sites that are run by individuals.
Acquire accurate Contact InformationYou're looking to compile a list of the top 10 traffic sites within your niche. Particularly those with large facebook & twitter followings. Avoid sites that are clearly run by a company or organization. We're really aiming for the biggest sites that are run by individuals.
Next, compile a list of direct contact information for the site operators. Email works best, but any way you're able to get in touch with whoever is in charge of content management for these sites is OK too. Since we're targeting sites run by individuals, this is usually the owner of the site. But, some of the larger blogs/online magazines out there have specific people appointed to manage their content approval/facebook pages/twitter accounts/etc - in those cases, we want to get in contact with that person, not the owner.
Write A Showcase Piece
Write this yourself or spend money getting a really high quality piece written that showcases these 10 sites in a list format. Such as:
If your site is already getting some decent traffic, it's important to order your list with your prime target in the #1 position and list secondary targets accordingly. These types of articles give huge click-through rates and a site owner will see the referral traffic in their analytics (which, psychologically, makes them want to give back to you).
Contacting Your List- The Top 10 Blogs That Are Changing The World
- 10 Sites That You Shouldn't Live Without
- 10 Sites That Will Change Your Life Forever
If your site is already getting some decent traffic, it's important to order your list with your prime target in the #1 position and list secondary targets accordingly. These types of articles give huge click-through rates and a site owner will see the referral traffic in their analytics (which, psychologically, makes them want to give back to you).
Once the piece is published, send out an email to each of the people on the contact list you created before. Try not to use a template. If it looks and sounds like a template email, it will become obvious what you're doing. Tailor each email to the specific site/owner. Example:
Results & Additional ThoughtsHi (website owner's name) or thesitename.com.
We just wanted to let you know that here at oursitename.com we really appreciate all the work you do and the consistent high quality stuff your site continues to put out. Your company is a shining example of what other sites should aspire to achieve. As such, we've featured your business in a showcase piece on our site. You can view the article here: (article link) Keep up the excellent work.
You may want to add a call to action which encourages them to share the mention they've received with their audience. Not entirely necessary as this tactic plays heavily upon peoples vanity (and webmasters love flaunting their sites/achievements/whatever) and they'll likely be spreading this link to their social media followings and, in best case scenarios, write something about it on their site.We just wanted to let you know that here at oursitename.com we really appreciate all the work you do and the consistent high quality stuff your site continues to put out. Your company is a shining example of what other sites should aspire to achieve. As such, we've featured your business in a showcase piece on our site. You can view the article here: (article link) Keep up the excellent work.
It should be noted that it's important that your site resembles a site on their level. You don't have to have the same volume of traffic or social following, but your site must look like a high quality player in the space. You're trying to present yourself as an appreciative equal to them, so your site should certainly look the part. People judge books by their covers.
Using this exact method on one site in particular, I have received links and social mentions which took the site from 40 visitors a day to 3000 visitors a day - literally overnight. Even though the traffic gradually declines as the posts/mentions move off the front pages, the links and residual traffic remain.
While this may look like a one off tactic, you can utilize this tactic in side-niches to your own. Such as mommy blogs to cooking sites or finance blogs to personal development blogs. Get creative, there are tons of cross-promotion opportunities you can do.
Overall, it's a pretty easy/quick way to write one piece that can snag you some significant traffic and extremely Google friendly links.
Have fun kissing ass bros!Using this exact method on one site in particular, I have received links and social mentions which took the site from 40 visitors a day to 3000 visitors a day - literally overnight. Even though the traffic gradually declines as the posts/mentions move off the front pages, the links and residual traffic remain.
While this may look like a one off tactic, you can utilize this tactic in side-niches to your own. Such as mommy blogs to cooking sites or finance blogs to personal development blogs. Get creative, there are tons of cross-promotion opportunities you can do.
Overall, it's a pretty easy/quick way to write one piece that can snag you some significant traffic and extremely Google friendly links.
