Levi KeswickHARO (Help A Reporter Out) has become the go-to option for businesses of all niches and sizes to convince reputable reporters to include them in their stories. The reason is that most of these options end up in massive publications that can boost your overall authority in the eyes of your audience and also provide great backlinks to juice up your site and enable it to gain search engine rankings and, thus, more organic traffic. However, because it is such an enormous boon and you are featured in very high-quality outlets, it can be slightly more challenging than other link-building methods to gain the trust of a journalist. Consequently, there are a few dos and don’ts” when it comes to giving a good pitch. This article will take a look at a few which should give you a good indication of how to begin and find success.
Do Craft Personalized, Well-Thought-Out Responses
A successful pitch generally falls into the category of being well thought out and crafted to meet the exact specifications put forth by the reporter. According to HARO pitch experts Authority Builders one of the best ways to ensure you are providing value is by taking time to read the journalist’s request, checking if you are able to offer something they can use, and seeing if their publication features content like yours. While some requests won’t specify the specific publication, they usually tell you the general niche and what they expect from a successful candidate.
Don’t Fall Into The Trap That This Is A Generic Bulk Link-Building Process
When most folks think of link building, they tend to take the shotgun approach whereby they shoot at everything that looks like a possible lead and leave the rest to fate. However, if you take this approach with HARO, you are bound to fail and will waste inordinate amounts of time and patience in the process. Instead, treat it more surgically and only focus on crafting a few responses each day. If you have a dedicated outreach team, you can obviously up the limit, but each member should focus on quality over quality and aim to rewatch out with all they’ve got, with a laser focus on acquiring a link or mention from each pitch they send.
Do Make Sure The Content Is Relevant To The Publication
If the reporter has made the news outlet or publication available, you can perform some due diligence and see if your website or business matches the types of content they usually offer. For instance, a website with authority in the web development space is probably unlikely to accept content from a pet grooming site. It’s recommended that you try to maximize your chances of success with a HARO request by exploring all possible avenues, but you should still use common sense to avoid coming across as overly spammy, which could hamper future efforts.
Don’t Include Information Unrelated To The Request
As previously mentioned, relevance is the key to attaining a mention in these kinds of publications, so do yourself a favor and avoid unrelated pitches. Nonetheless, with that said, you can still think outside of the box, and if you believe you have something to offer, it could still be a good idea to give it a shot. For example, if a request appears for an expert in people management, and you own a business, it might be wise to offer your thoughts, regardless of your industry.
Do Be Selective And Research Which Reporter Requests Are Best Suited To Your Business
When you sign up for the HARO platform, you are offered the chance to receive emails at a frequency you designate related to various niches. You should spend some time thinking about this process and sign up to receive notifications whenever a reporter is reaching out to experts in a particular area. Keep in mind that being pickier will result in fewer opportunities, but each one will increase the likelihood that your brand will be mentioned since it will be far more relevant to your industry and niche than if you were to take an all-out approach.
Don’t Use The Same Pitch Multiple Times
In some ways, this harks back to the second point in this post about being too generic and considering it to be a bulk service. Remember that most reporters won’t mention their names or positions but will regularly post requests for help each time they construct an article. If you always respond with the same canned response to requests, most news outlets will stop paying attention to you, and your success rates will plummet.
Many people see HARO as one of the more challenging methods for gaining high-quality links, but this is not necessarily the case. With a bit of finesse and research, you can obtain numerous authoritative links back to your website and revel in the successes that result from them.
