Link building for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a must. It is not just any SEO professional’s concern but also that of all digital marketers (and content professionals can play their role in it too). There is however a factor that is easily overlooked. Yet it has quite a role to play on a digital strategy’s success and that is the quality of outreach emails.
Also, almost all link building activities are conducted via email outreaching, it is thus important each email meets all the requirements so companies can collaborate with websites having the best Domain Authority (DA) ranking for creating irresistible links.
Outreach emails – understanding the process
Outreach is an effective tactic for securing top-notch backlinks on authoritative websites. It helps companies boost their search result rankings thanks to the process. Yet, the process for creating outreach for link building is a lengthy and complex one if the right tools are not present.
Email outreaching is the process where SEO professionals and digital marketers reach out to prospective website owners and influencers having top-notch domain authority within a specific niche. This is done to add a portion of content on a website to a new target audience (or its component) by a series of strong backlinks.
At first, the focus was on the quantity of backlinks earned. Nowadays the focus has shifted towards the quality of backlinks. This has improved the importance and scope as well as standards of outreaching.
The cause for such a phenomenon is that backlink tactics begin with a strong pitch on an email. Regardless of whether it is guest blogging, influencing broken links, linking resource pages, and the like. Each one of these tasks starts with an email written to prospective websites willing to collaborate.
Apart from improving the quality of outreach emails the process itself is a source of creating unique and long term strategic partnerships and collaborations that help draw in a good amount of revenue for all companies involved.
Handy tips for crafting outreach emails which are instrumental in creating irresistible links
Now that everyone understands the importance of creating an effective email for outreach leading to creation of robust and irresistible links in link-building, it is now time to have a good look at some handy tips that can help marketers craft an outreach email which is not spam but rather classy in essence and nature:
Thinking about the pitching’s purpose
Digital marketers and SEO professionals need to know and understand what they want. It is necessary because outreach emails often at times try to impress the recipient instead of being clear and to the point.
Companies do understand the purpose of outreach and link-building pitches. The writing style and amount of details often depend on the SEO objectives at hand.
For instance, if a company carried out research on say harmful effects of clickbait in digital marketing, highlights of such research can be added and shared in the pitch. This can draw interest from the recipient as everyone loves top quality research. Hence, companies need to start with understanding what kind of chance for link building they want to avail.
Determining who is part of the audience
It is wise to determine exactly who will be part of the target audience (meaning which companies will be pitched for outreach). Ideally it is wise to reach out to those sites which have a large following. However, the bigger they are, the harder they are to get. Getting responses from them takes time.
If big names in SEO and digital marketing are being pitched then getting a response from them does require a personal connection in these companies. Yet it is not a bad idea pitching to them especially when companies are confident that they have what it takes to pitch them. The Voila Norbert tool can help in determining the correct email addresses for outreach and link building.
Crafting a captivating subject line
Without a doubt, subject lines have a robust impact on the email open rates. They give recipients a preview about what will be in the email. As the inboxes of the recipients are full of unchecked emails, it is fair for them to not be able to check them daily. Also if the subject line isn’t relevant then the email can be overlooked.
Hence it is imperative to make the subject lines as captivating, creative and enticing as possible. It should be noted that subject lines should not be lengthy sentences. They should provide a good hint of what will be in the email. Though some mystery is nice, it should be between seven to eight words.
Adding a short and courteous introduction is a good practice
Outreach emails often end up with lengthy introductions. Introducing the company and its blog is imperative, overdoing it with a lengthy introduction is a problem. Companies wish to get to the point quickly and share their value proposition as companies have people dedicated to reading emails and checking them before they reach the correct person.
Giving emails a personal touch
Using a simple ‘Hello’, ‘hi’, or Dear Sir/Madam as a greeting is one of the quickest ways to get emails ignored. It is wise to use either the last name or the full name of recipients, as 1/3rd of emails doing that get more responses.
It is also wise to refer to some of their blogs and materials. Sharing credentials in the topic at hand in a subtle manner helps recipients understand that the company asking for backlinking knows what they want. These little things leave a lasting impression.
Carrying out follow ups sparingly
Follow ups can be needed. A lot of reasons exist why emails get no response and a follow up is a good idea. There is a 22% probability that a reply can be received on the second email if the first one is not answered.
What should be considered is that the first email should be revisited and the value proposition be reexamined. What is in for the recipient should be the talk of the second email. Then the email’s sending time should be changed. Each follow up should have a gap of at least three days between the emails sent. It is best to go for at least two follow up emails if irresistible links are desired.
