A linking strategy is hard work and you need every bit of help you can get.
Getting your message out for free to twenty thousand, fifty thousand or even a hundred and fifty thousand newsletter readers would give a significant boost to your linking efforts.
That’s just the sort of coverage Linking Matters received from Larry Chase’s Web Digest for Marketers, SitePoint Tribune and SearchDay from SearchEngineWatch.com.
We made it happen and you can do the same!
But how do you persuade journalists and broadcasters to write about you?
Linking Matters really took off when Chris Sherman published a story on SearchEngineWatch.com (Aggressive Linking - The Only Search Engine Optimization Strategy You Need?). But the story didn’t happen by accident - it required some understanding of what Chris was looking for and some old-fashioned public relations skills. Learning some of these basic skills can really boost your linking.
So what are journalists looking for?
Contrary to popular belief, the idea of a journalist scouring the streets for the latest stories is far from the truth. While a small number may have the luxury of chasing important ground-breaking stories, most have the more mundane pressure of filling space with interesting stories.
They work to tight deadlines and need a regular source of interesting news stories. And the source they use most often? it’s incoming news releases and story pitches.
If you can make your site newsworthy and present it properly in a news release, you have a reasonable chance of getting you coverage.
You need to learn:
- How to write a news release
- How to respond when a journalist starts to be interested.
More about planning your news release later but first, how did SearchEngineWatch.com become interested in Linking Matters?
We had published a news release on our site but rather than wait for someone to find it, we pitched the story. SEW has some useful guidelines on submitting stories and a form that will reach both Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman, editor of SearchDay. You can find details at http://www.searchenginewatch.com/about/article.php/2155811
We launched our linking strategy on February 10th and that morning, I sent brief details of what we were doing. That afternoon, I heard from Chris. He replied, “This looks like good stuff — I’ll take a closer look and may write about it for SearchDay — will get back to you with any questions.”
This was pleasing, but it was really only the beginning of the process.
In his email, Chris did what any good journalist will do. He expressed his interest and said he “may write” about the story - he did not make any firm promise.
Two weeks passed and I heard nothing from Chris. I thought it was time to send a gentle reminder. I sent a short 4-point email summarising what had happened in the two weeks since we had been in contact.
We used the subject line, ‘Linking Matters Update - 8 x 1st place rankings in 2 weeks’ and followed up with the copy:
Hi Chris,
You expressed an interest in Linking Matters and our early results show the usefulness on a linking strategy.
(i) After 2 weeks of using only a linking strategy to promote the site, WebPosition shows that we have achieved:
8 x 1st place rankings
13 x top 10 rankings
15 x top 20 rankings
(ii) On linking strategy we are No. 1 on LookSmart, MSN, Netscape and Yahoo Web matches, and No.8 on Google and AOL web sites.
On linking matters we are No. 1 on Google, LookSmart, MSN and AOL.
(iii) About 30 external, independent domains now link to us though these still don’t show up in popularity tests.
(iv) Our Google PageRank is a resounding zero! - we need to wait for the monthly update.
I hope this is of interest - any questions, drop me a line.
Best wishes,
Ken
That was on February 25th. Then on March 7th we had a positive reply from Chris. He said that the tentative plan was to run a story on Linking Matters during the week beginning March 17th and asked me to send an update on that date.
Again, this is good journalism - it’s still not a confirmation but does give a timescale and seeks further information.
I replied on March 17th as agreed.
As Chris had asked for an update, I could provide more detailed information. I wrote just over 500 words. These included 3 short points about our position plus 6 short points on what we thought we had learned that would be useful for others.
The final story appeared on March 21st, stretched to some 700 words and quoted widely from the material I had sent.
Within 24 hours of the story, 1,500+ people visited the site, a day lateranother 1,200. The story continues to drive traffic to our site. Hardly a day goes by without referrals from SearchEngineWatch.com.
Earlier, I promised more about writing a news release. Here’s my tips and some resources where you can find out a lot more.
- Identify your target publications. Then spend some time reading them - what sort of articles do they cover? Do they have regular features? Who’s the editor? Can you find the names of journalists and the stories they cover?
- Concentrate on the ‘news value’ of your story. Think about the readers of your target publications - what will they find interesting? Then pitch your story.
- Keep it brief. A news release should rarely be more than a single page long.
- Write interesting headlines and subheadings. Structure your news release with the most important information at the start. Do not try to tease or build up to a climax - just tell the story.
- Always use quotations in the body of your release. Journalists want to write about what people said. As Alice says in ‘Alice in Wonderland’, “What’s the use of a story without pictures and conversations?”
- Follow-up politely and probe for interest. Is there anything you can add to your original story? (Note how we did this with SearchEngineWatch.com)
- Learn to cope with rejection. It’s nothing personal. Keep at it, if you’ve got a good story, someone will publish it eventually.
- Make yourself available to journalists. Respond quickly to their requests and always, always keep your promises!
You can find out more about writing news releases and working with journalists at these sites:
Building a News Release: Steps 1 - 5. Helpful guide with online news release template. A very useful resource.
Press Releases - How to Write a Great Press Release. Punchy, useful and informative from Bill Stoller’s Publicity Insider. Absolutely on the money!
What’s In a Newswire - And Does It Matter?. News distributions services can get your news release direct to thousands of journalists worldwide. But what do journalists themselves think of such services. Jon Boroshok decides to ask them. Great idea - and some great insight.
Press Dispensary Agency fees can frighten off small companies and they tend to ignore public relations. Press Dispensary offers a cost effective writing and distribution service that makes sense for the budget-conscious. They also provide free tips and advice.
Business Writing for Executives “Business writing and editing that builds organisational reputation, based on international journalism, commercial copywriting and corporate communication”
