How HARO can change the way your small business does SEO in 2022 (Proven email pitch template inside)
The “Help a Reporter Out” (HARO) platform is one of the most popular ways for brands to connect with journalists. It’s also a great way for businesses and individuals to get news coverage. But what exactly is HARO, and how can it help your SEO or SEO agency?
In this post, we’ll answer all of your questions about how HARO can change the way your small business does SEO?
But first, let’s take a quick look at how it works.
HARO is a free and paid service that connects journalists and writers with sources for their stories. It began in 2008 as a way for reporters to find experts in a variety of fields, such as marketing and technology. HARO now has many subscribers in over 24 countries, including many local news outlets across the U.S.
Do you know, What is the best way to utilize HARO for free?
Yes, you can utilize HARO for free by signing up for the alerts.
These emails alert you whenever a reporter is searching for an expert on a specific topic. When you receive an email from HARO, it’s usually important to respond ASAP because the request will expire in 24 hours or less.
How HARO Can Boost Your SEO in 2022
The value of HARO is not just in getting your small business name out there, it’s also a wonderful way to build backlinks.
Journalists will often link to your website when they publish their articles and include a quote from you. This helps boost your Business’s SEO because search engines like Google love fresh content that has links pointing back to it.
(Bonus Tip: a lot of people don’t realize this, but HARO is also a great way to learn about current trends and topics that are popular in your industry. You can use this information to create content for your blog or website, which will help boost your SEO as well.)
The key to using HARO successfully is to make sure that every email you send has a specific purpose. Don’t just submit your name and hope for the best—be strategic with your submissions, and remember that journalists don’t have time to reply to every submission they receive.
Before moving further towards HARO, let’s discuss the importance and purpose of link building.
Because to understand the importance of HARO link building service, you have to know the importance of link building first.
What is link building?
When you hear the term “link building,” what comes to mind?
Do you think of expensive consultants who promise to build links for your site but don’t deliver?
Are you frustrated by all the confusing terminology and conflicting advice out there?
If so, this section will clear up any confusion surrounding link building and put it in a context that makes sense for your business.
”Link building” is the process of creating and acquiring links to your website. These links are then used as a signal to search engines that your site is relevant and authoritative for certain keywords, which can help you rank higher in search results.
The link-building process can be broken down into three main categories:
1) Building links to your website (internal)
2) Getting other sites to link to yours (external)
3) Influencing the way people think about your brand to get more links from authoritative sources.
What are backlinks?
“Backlinks are the links on other websites that point to your site.”
They can come from a wide variety of sources, including blogs, news sites, directories, and social media profiles.
Backlinks are one of the most important factors in determining where your site ranks within search engine results pages (SERPs), so it’s important to build as many backlinks as possible.
Backlinks can be direct or indirect.
A direct link points directly to your domain, while an indirect link is a reference to your brand or product without mentioning your domain name.
For example,
If someone writes a blog post about how much they love the iPhone X and mentions that it’s made by Apple, that would be considered an indirect link because it doesn’t contain any specific information about Apple Inc.
Similarly, if they have written a blog post on Apple Inc. and have included Apple Inc., that would be considered a direct link because it contains specific information about Apple Inc.
The Benefits of Using HARO to Build Backlinks
HARO is indeed a great way to build backlinks because the journalists will reference your brand or product in their articles.
It is beneficent in building backlinks because it shows search engines that your site is being talked about by reputable news sources, which helps improve your SEO rankings.
How to Get Featured on HARO Using HARO?
It is simple.
- First, sign up for an account using your email address and password.
- Then, fill out the profile section by providing some basic information about yourself and what kind of stories you’re interested in helping with.
- Finally, when you receive a notification that there are opportunities available for people like you (based on the information you provided), respond as quickly as possible so that you don’t miss out on the chance to be featured.
When you respond, provide a summary of what you can offer and why it would be helpful for the journalist writing the story. There’s no guarantee that you’ll be chosen, but if you follow the instructions and write a good pitch, it will increase your chances.
If you are selected to be featured in an article, contact the journalist who wrote it to confirm that they want your input before doing anything else.
For example:
If you run a digital marketing agency, the best category for you is ‘Business and Finance’, because it is most relevant to your niche as compared to other categories on HARO.
After choosing the category that best fits your business, It will become simpler to sort through the emails from HARO that arrive in your inbox to find better opportunities..
How to Use HARO as a Small Business Owner
HARO is a great way to get exposure for your small business.
However, you should only use it if you have something valuable to contribute or promote.
If you don’t know anything about the subject at hand, then don’t respond. You should also avoid responding to every request that comes through; select a few that are most relevant and make sure that they include enough information for you to be able to write an effective pitch.
And one more thing to add…
If you’re going to use HARO, then make sure that you respond quickly. Journalists are looking for the best sources and will often move on if they don’t hear back right away.
If possible, include an expert in your pitch so that it doesn’t come across as self-promotional. If you have an interesting story, then it’s worth sending it to HARO. They will review every pitch that comes in and try to match it up with the best possible source for each query.
Additionally, it’s a great resource for small businesses, but it’s only one of many. If you have a website or blog, you can use it to promote your business and get exposure by writing articles that are relevant to the industry.
You should also consider using social media and search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to attract more potential customers.
Because we know most people don’t know how to land a successful pitch, we have share the most successful pitching template on HARO below.
Hi [Insert Reporter’s Name]
(Note: Avoid answering anonymous requests.)
I like the idea of a post! [One sentence to clarify why you like it]
Here is my response:
[Insert your pitch, maximum 200 words, On to the point]Link to my headshot:
[Insert link to your Gravatar account]Bio:
[Insert a short, 1-2 sentence bio and include a link to your website].I hope you like my response.
Thanks,
[Insert Your Name/Signature]YOUR TURN
That’s all from our side.
So now you know how to utilize HARO to boost the exposure of your small business and create backlinks.
As a small business owner, you can use the Help a Reporter tool to build links fast as part of your SEO strategy.
If you got some value from this post, let us know in the comments below.
P.S HARO may assist your small business in obtaining the SEO they want without having to employ a staff of experts.
