We all know the power of quality backlinks in today’s SEO arena. Brands in every industry are looking to make quality, relevant connections that boost their domain authority and send them rocketing to the top of the SERPs.
Guest posting and influencer marketing are both proven ways to build strong, ethical backlinks, but to take things to the next level, you need to take a look at Help a Reporter Out (HARO).
Let’s examine the ins and outs of the HARO platform, explain how the network can help your brand boost domain authority, and offer some tips to make the most of your efforts.
What is HARO?
Using the tagline “A Source for Every Story”, HARO is a database that connects journalists with sources, while simultaneously giving brands and content creators a legit way to get PR coverage on major media websites.
Buzzstream outlines the HARO origin story, in which PR expert Peter Shankman would receive source requests from journalists and format them into an email blast to his large network of media and PR people back in 2008.
The email newsletter saw many evolutions, became a Facebook group, and then morphed into an official platform that operates on a freemium subscription model.
How Does HARO Work?
According to web design site Elegant Themes, the bulk of the HARO process boils down to managing emails, which are sent to your inbox three times a day: 5:35 a.m., 12:35 p.m., and 5:35 p.m. From here, you make your picks and proceed to pitches and negotiations.
As a brand representative, you will browse these numerous emails (they add up fast) which will be jam-packed with opportunities to connect with journalists about specific topics.
Here are some subject matter categories that may apply to your niche:
- High Tech
- Lifestyle and Fitness
- Business and Finance
- Entertainment and Media
- Public Policy and Government
- Sports
- Travel
- Education
- Biotech and Healthcare
You can also sign up for the “Master Haro” list that compiles the high-profile opportunities of the day, though there may not be topics relevant to your brand in the master list.
How Can HARO Help Your Brand?
When taken seriously with best practices, HARO can be a treasure trove of quality PR for your brand, landing your name in some of the world’s most authoritative and widely-viewed areas of the web.
With more mentions on high-visibility pages, your brand enjoys a reputation boost, piques the interest of new audiences and even has a positive impact on SEO through strong backlinks.
Increased brand awareness is never a bad thing, but don’t expect game-changing numbers of backlinks as a result of HARO-ing. It should be a supplement to other link-building strategies like guest posting and influencer marketing, not the main course.
Also remember that Google takes relevance seriously as a backlink rank factor these days, meaning links from random websites unrelated to your page are not going to do you much good. In fact, too many irrelevant links could negatively impact domain authority in the long run, so be picky when making connections via HARO.
The more you can streamline and automate the HARO pitch process and make your brand a reputable participant on the platform, the better. You can even upgrade your membership to create multiple profiles and use more filtering keywords if you’re serious about it.
HARO Tips to Keep in Mind
Because HARO mainly happens through email, you want to set up filters that make your job easier and cut through the fat. Use keywords in your email client to prioritize topics of interest and don’t hesitate to send the rest to the trash bin.
It may take some tinkering to get the mechanism working correctly, but it’s way better than manually sorting through each email in hopes of striking gold.
Use labels to organize relevant emails once they land in your inbox, but don’t let them sit there long. Things happen very fast on the platform, and you need to jump on each opportunity fast.
Once you’ve mastered HARO email management and can find diamonds in the rough with the #URGHARO hashtag, it’s all about making a great pitch and negotiating journalists in a way that benefits both parties.
A HARO guide from The Sow Collective tells us to keep your pitches in an easy-to-read format since journalists have overflowing inboxes as is.
Leave out the long introductions and visual flourishes, because you want to get the point across fast and clear. The easier the information is to digest, the more likely you’ll move forward.
To maximize efficiency (and maintain some sanity in this fast-paced game), map out each pitch in a similar format so you can pump out a ton of quality pitches in a short time frame.
Top journalists receive literally thousands of HARO pitches each year, so make it easy for them to pick your brand out of the pile. Be very clear with your idea, don’t be afraid to do a bit of humble-bragging, and make it worth their while.
Stay Connected and Build Relationships
The toughest part of the HARO process is sifting through the hundreds of daily opportunities and making the right connections.
Once you’ve done the heavy lifting, managing these relationships is just like any other marketing partnership.
If you’ve managed to complete a successful project with a journalist via HARO, that doesn’t mean you need to move onto the next one. Maintain those connections because there are bound to be more opportunities to collaborate in the future.
It’s always better to work with a handful of journalists with a good reputation, rather than cycling through new ones and repeating the process from square one each time.
Of course it can be tempting to jump at many of the thousands of posts you see each week, but remember that your efforts will only pay off with a small handful of pitches.
Conclusion
HARO is definitely not the most intuitive way to generate PR and get backlinks, but considering the huge upside potential with high-profile media sites, it should be a part of your repertoire.
You likely won’t hit any home runs right out of the gate, and the learning curve is steep, but once you get the hang of the platform and master the pitch process, you can see major returns on your investment of time and effort.
Considering that it’s less than $20 a month to get standard access, it may just be the best money you spend in your marketing budget this year!
If there’s too much on your plate but want to leverage opportunities in the bustling HARO-sphere, consider teaming up with a PR professional or agency that specializes in making connections on this platform. This will save you some time and frustration while building your roster of quality journalists across the web.
At the end of the day, HARO is one of those platforms where you get what you give. Stay focused, refine your pitches, rinse and repeat, and you’ll be satisfied with the results.
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