Like many website owners, I regularly get hit up with link requests from people trying to build the rankings of their sites. Since I use this link building tactic myself, I’m intimately aware of the mechanics and reasoning behind it so I rarely, if ever, find myself motivated to add the link. However, I did think it would be interesting to start offering a trade whereby I would grant their request (providing it was a decent and relevant article) if they would let me know the effectiveness of the outreach campaign. Here are the results of those requests along with the original email templates.
Template 1:
Subject: Quick question for you <first name>
Hey <first name>,
I’m <name of sender> and the founder of <company>.
Wanted to get in touch with you because I really enjoyed your article <embedded link to my article with anchor text ‘here’> which happens to mention <embedded link to one of the resources linked in my article with anchor text ‘here’>.
I’ve recently published a post on <brief description of post> that I thought might make an awesome additional resource for your article and I was wondering, would you be interested in linking to it?
If you were willing to add a link to my post, I’d be more than happy to give your post a shout out to my sizable social audiences (100K+) for some additional exposure to your site.
Here’s the link to see the post for yourself:
<link to post>
Let me know what you think and keep up the awesome work!
Thanks,
<signature>
Results: 10 links (trying to get some more details)
Template 2:
Subject: Please use this image anywhere on wickedcowmarketing.com.au
Dear <first name>,
It would mean a lot if you could use this image anywhere on your site and credit <url to credit> or our homepage as the source.
<free image to use on my site>
I will owe you one.
Cheers,
<from name (no signature)>
Results: 20 links from 5000 emails sent (reused a list they’d already used for a different campaign which apparently netted 150 links)
Template 3:
Subject: Are You Updating Your Marketing Resources?
Hey <first name>,
I came across your page at <linked url to my page> and wanted to see if you were open to adding other resources to it.
My name is <from first name> and I work for <from company>, a company with years of experience in educating <target segment> and helping them grow.
As you likely know, <topic related to guide> can be extra complicated, but our ultimate guide on <topic of guide> breaks down everything a company would need to know to ensure <what they can do with guide>. Check it out:
<linked url to their guide>
Would you consider sharing this guide to provide <target segment> with valuable information to help them with <topic of guide>?
Let me know your thoughts or if you have any questions!
<from first name>
<fairly simple signature>
Results: 3 links from 1000 emails sent. 65% open rate to first email and 50% to follow up sent a week later. Reply rate is 5-10%.
That’s it for now. I’ll update this post as I get more examples.