How To Use HARO for SEO and Link Building

How do you stand out from the hundreds of other websites on the internet?

The answer to this question seems complicated, but it’s not so. High ranking requires establishing your website’s credibility and building a stellar reputation. Backlinks are a great way to accomplish that. Backlinks are crucial for your SEO strategy but are time-consuming and challenging.

With the backlink building, waiting for others to stumble upon your website isn’t the best strategy. It is imperative to take a proactive approach to link building that minimizes the outreach effort and increases the chances of gaining authority links.

A backlink outreach service like HARO — Help A Reporter Out connects journalists with sources, thus allowing them to get high-quality media coverage. Here’s how you can use HARO for SEO and link building and harness its power to gain the exposure your website deserves.


What is HARO?

What is HARO

The HARO project provides journalists with a growing list of credible sources for upcoming stories. And they give the references daily opportunities for media exposure. One of the great things about HARO is that journalists visit you. In contrast to most link-building techniques, you must do all the outreach yourself.

This service is even more exciting because big media outlets are using it. Time, Wall Street Journal, Mashable, and New York Times are among them. It’s an excellent opportunity to get press and gain high authority backlinks.

But if you lack the time or find it complicated, a HARO link building agency might help get you the natural backlinks from top websites.


Benefits of Using HARO

Used strategically, HARO can act as your media outreach and PR team. Potential benefits include:

  • Better Visibility: It can be challenging for small brands — or even growing businesses — to gain visibility outside their specific niche. With HARO, you can expand your reach beyond your market niche. It exposes your brand to thousands of people you would never have encountered otherwise. That’s a win.
  • Enhances SEO: Almost every time you’re cited or referenced in writing, your website will include a backlink. By doing so, you improve your SEO and make your site more credible in search engine results. It’s an excellent link-building strategy.
  • Improves Traffic: The backlink from your website not only tickles Google’s fancy but could also boost your website’s traffic. It has apparent ramifications which do not need further explanation.
  • Builds Relationships: Whenever you become a source for a journalist or provide a blogger with information that helps them write more exciting and credible posts, you invest in a relationship. You will be very effective in your networking efforts if you want to help.

How to Use HARO for SEO and Link Building

HARO is an excellent resource for link building. When you have the correct links, it’s a valuable technique that can pay off big. It can be tricky initially since you must respond quickly to the queries. You can follow these steps to get started:

  1. Register as a HARO source.
  2. Select the categories where you feel most comfortable contributing. Such groups might include:
  • Travel
  • Business and Finance
  • Energy and Tech
  • Healthcare
  • Education
  • Lifestyle and Fitness
  1. Bloggers and journalists will send three email queries per day to your inbox.
  2. Respond to requests in which you believe your brand is an expert. It’s unlikely that you would spend your time answering lifestyle questions, for instance, since it’s likely that there are plenty of people who use HARO who are lifestyle experts. Don’t rush it. Your brand may appear on a highly trafficked site with a link to your website.

Best HARO Practices For SEO and Link Building

Best HARO Practices For SEO and Link Building

Here are some of the best practices for HARO SEO and link building:

  • Respond Fast: Your pitch will have a much higher chance of being reviewed and, ideally, chosen.
  • Pitch to high DR sites only: Before doing anything else, check the website’s domain rating. Unless it’s at least a 50, scroll down to find other opportunities.
  • Comply with Journalist Requirements: It is common for journalists to ask very detailed questions. Typical examples include word counts, specific words to use, etc. You must then respond appropriately. Occasionally, reporters aren’t very clear about what they want. It is advisable to spend some time browsing a journalist’s (or their representative’s) website and the content. As a result, you will gain an understanding of their needs.

In the event the reporter is unclear about what they want, here are some basics you can follow:

  • Your contact information (name, headshot, position, and LinkedIn profile link) should be included, along with a headshot photo (usually 200×200 pixels).
  • Limit the body of your pitch to 200 words.
  • Provide a link to the website of your company.
  • Your HARO pitch should not promote your product or yourself.
  • Make a good impression.
  • Your organization’s CEO or manager is usually the best representative. It will even be a requirement in many HARO queries.
  • A domain-registered email is also a good choice. For example, it would help if you used [email protected] instead of [email protected].

Don’t Make Common Responses: You must not make your response obvious. Why would they need you? It is not uncommon for every query to receive 100 answers. A unique voice is a key to standing out in a sea of responses.

Observe Deadlines: Submissions submitted after the stated deadline will probably end up in a pile of new submissions. Time is of the essence for reporters who must prepare their articles before a specific date.

Analyze the Reporter’s Previous Work Before submitting your pitch, check the reporter’s social media or the media outlet’s website to see previous articles the reporter has written.


Conclusion

In contrast to most link-building strategies, HARO generates high-quality backlinks and press mentions passively. But, you’ll need patience and high-quality responses to your inquiries. Even so, it is worth your time, given the effort involved.

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