I asked 12 SEOs for the nexus gathering strategy that’s moving champion for them right now.

Here are the tactics they shared, however to bash them, and tips for success. 

This has been my go-to nexus gathering strategy for rather immoderate clip now. What makes this attack precise effectual is that it touches aggregate run objectives beyond conscionable gathering topical authorization and improving hunt rankings.

How to do it

Let’s accidental you were doing this for MailChimp. You mightiness privation to find listicles that diagnostic brands similar ConvertKit and Aweber but not MailChimp—like this one: 

To find these, tally this hunt successful Ahrefs’ Content Explorer: 

[competitor 1] +[competitor 2] -[your brand] title:(best OR top)

For example, to find listicles that notation Aweber and ConvertKit but not MailChimp, you’d hunt for: convertkit +aweber -mailchimp title:(best OR top)

If you spot a listicle wherever you consciousness you should beryllium listed, find their email address and scope retired to them. 

Here’s an illustration email Jason used: 

I don’t urge copying Jason’s email connection for word, but here’s his and Alex Tachalova’s proposal connected what to include: 

As Jason points out, this strategy has benefits beyond improving rankings for your website. It besides exposes your marque to much radical arsenic you’re consistently listed arsenic a apical enactment successful your industry. 

For example, Jason got his lawsuit mentioned successful astir each top-ranking listicle for “best dropshipping suppliers.” That’s a batch of other marque exposure! 

How to do it

Start by uncovering a trending taxable journalists attraction about. Google News and Google Trends are bully places to start. 

We commencement by identifying existent trends utilizing tools similar Google Trends and monitoring manufacture news. 

We usage tons of techniques from monitoring quality sources successful existent clip to conducting probe with Google News to recognize the types of topics that person been antecedently covered astatine circumstantial times of year. 

You tin besides usage the Growth metric successful Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer.

For example, if I participate “vaping” and benignant by the Growth column, I spot tons of lung wellness searches breaking retired successful the past 3 months: 

I besides spot this echoed successful Google News: 

It’s past a lawsuit of sourcing immoderate unsocial data, publishing it successful an easy-to-utilize format, and sending it to journalists. Matt Diggity shared a fewer large sources with me: 

For authorities databases you person usa.gov for the states. Data.gov is different alternative. UK Data Service is the equivalent for the UK. Eurostat is large for different countries successful the EU. And Statistics Canada is for… yeah, Canada. Internationally, World Bank Open Data and United Nations Data are treasure troves. Pew Research Center is large for societal issues, nationalist opinion, and demographic trends. FBI Crime Data Explorer is large for transgression stats. And the CDC is large for wellness data. 

Amanda besides often uses state of accusation (FOI) requests for data, arsenic she did for her portion connected the UK’s amerciable vape hotspots:

This run earned links from 72 referring domains and got featured successful galore online newspapers: 

Example diagnostic successful the Lancashire Post

Example diagnostic successful the Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herand

Example diagnostic successful the South Wales Guardian

How bash you find journalists? 

Here’s Jason’s advice: 

We commencement by researching those who person antecedently covered akin topics oregon industries. We usage tools similar Muck Rack, Cision, oregon adjacent X to find journalists by searching for keywords related to our story. We look astatine bylines successful applicable publications to spot who is penning astir related subjects and reappraisal their past articles to recognize their interests and penning style. 

Journalists are ever looking for comments, tips and proposal from thought leaders. Nurture these relationships and conscionable petition deadlines, and you presumption yourself arsenic the PR adept who tin assistance during engaged periods.

How to do it

One mode is to motion up for HARO and other alternatives, but Eva recommends a much proactive approach. She builds relationships with journalists applicable to her clients truthful they travel straight to her for tips and quotes.

How tin you find these people? 

Eva uses keyword alerts: 

I person Google Alerts acceptable up for applicable keywords related to a marque oregon topic. For example, I person the words “vet,” “dog behaviour,” and “cat behaviour” acceptable up for a favored security marque truthful I tin spot the related sum mentioning these words. 

You tin besides usage Ahrefs Alerts. The payment of this implicit Google Alerts is that you tin filter by language, traffic, Domain Rating (DR), etc. to abstracted the wheat from the chaff: 

Alternatively, usage Content Explorer to find radical who’ve talked astir topics recently. Just hunt for a keyword and filter for pages published successful the past 90 days. 

For example, if I hunt for “vet,” I spot this caller nonfiction connected a DR 83 tract from Jessie Quinn: 

It looks similar she’s written a mates of pet-related articles recently: 

Her illustration besides says she writes for galore well-known sites and has a pug called Daphne: 

This writer would intelligibly beryllium a large idiosyncratic to physique a narration with! 

How? Eva says it each starts with a elemental “hello”:

Reach retired and present yourself and your lawsuit to journalists and niche publications who screen related topics regularly. Offer them the accidental to person exclusive commentary erstwhile requested. After a writer has covered your run oregon adept commentary, ever driblet them a enactment to accidental convey you. You ne'er cognize it tin besides pb to different petition oregon accidental for your client. 

Oh, and don’t trust connected AI erstwhile really replying to requests, whether nonstop oregon via platforms similar HARO. Greg explains why: 

AI is not yet susceptible of replacing a precocious prime writer. Simply copy/pasting their contented implicit to a writer outreach email is simply a fantastic mode to gain your lawsuit a spot connected a writer oregon publication’s prohibition list. When our writers usage AI, they usage it for thought procreation to flooded writer’s block. This is however I urge using it. 

Data-driven integer PR campaigns, similar maps, are our astir effectual method for driving backlinks astatine the moment. 

How to do it

Start by brainstorming topics with representation imaginable that marque consciousness for your brand. 

Ask yourself, what would a writer and idiosyncratic expect you to beryllium an adept on? For a cocktail brand, doing a representation connected speakeasy bars astir the satellite would marque cleanable sense, oregon a representation connected the rooftop bars with the champion reviews, etc. 

If you’re struggling for ideas, hunt for a taxable successful Content Explorer and filter for pages with tons of backlinks. These are proven ideas you cognize radical want to link to.

For example, if I hunt for “tax,” I spot implicit 300 referring domains to a leafage listing countries wherever you person to wage “tourist tax”: 

This instantly sparks an idea: representation retired countries with the astir and slightest costly “tourist taxes.” 

Once you person your map, nonstop it to journalists who mightiness beryllium funny successful covering it. 

Find journalists who constitute astir that benignant of content, either virtually representation based data, oregon possibly successful the illustration above, they constitute astir travel. 

George did this for his representation of which states volition wage the astir taxes implicit their lifetime… 

… earning links from 188 referring domains successful the process: 

As Jason suggested earlier, tools similar MuckRack, Cision, and X tin beryllium utile for uncovering journalists funny successful your topic. But you tin besides conscionable hunt Content Explorer for pages published astir a taxable successful the past 90 days, and extract writer names from there. 

Our unsocial process for this has worked amazingly good for america for years now. In fact, we’ve conscionable finished immoderate interior probe and recovered our assets similar this make an mean of 102 referring domains. 

How to do it

1. Enter a taxable into Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer
2. Go to the Matching presumption report
3. Filter for keywords that see presumption similar “statistics,” “facts,” “graph,” etc.

This volition find keywords radical hunt for erstwhile looking for facts and figures for their articles. Rank for these, and your leafage volition often gain links connected autopilot. 

Here’s Darren’s proposal connected what marque a bully keyword: 

The astir important happening is that determination isn’t conscionable 1 oregon 2 top-ranking pages soaking up each the links. If there’s 3 oregon 4 that person 100+ and a mates with 20+ oregon so, that’s each good. It shows there’s a bully dispersed and journalists/linkers are blessed to premix it up themselves. 

This is precisely however the SERP looks for “uk wage statistics:” 

In fact, Darren and his squad created 1 of the top-ranking pages. As of today, it’s earned links from 98 referring domains: 

And this is without outreach! 

Importantly, we don’t bash outreach for these campaigns. They’re designed to region that constituent of clip and truthful making it much affordable for clients compared to our different activities. 

How bash you make a winning page? It’s each astir picking low-hanging opportunities and beating the contention connected the contented front. 

We’re often looking for opportunities wherever the ranking pages aren’t decently fulfiling a user’s intention. They whitethorn not person galore images to prosecute users, the cardinal stats mightiness beryllium buried successful a partition of copy, etc. So we’re utilising contented selling 101 to spot wherever we mightiness beryllium capable to elevate a leafage and marque it much engaging. 

From immoderate campaigns, I’ve seen implicit 291 referring domains secured from media sites. The crazier the giveaway, the much accidental of backlinks. 

How to do it

Brainstorm trending topics with imaginable for a unsocial promotion that you tin necktie backmost to your brand. 

For example, Dish Network ran a promotion offering $1,000 to anyone consenting to binge ticker 15 hours of The Office: 

It earned links from 150 referring domains, including large media sites similar Thrillist, Business Insider, CNET, Mental Floss, and galore others. 

Struggling for ideas? Try asking ChatGPT: 

Hey ChatGPT. I recovered a unsocial promotion online wherever Dish Network offered to wage radical $1,000 to binge ticker 15 hours of The Office. My marque is [brief description]. Give maine a fewer ideas for a akin promotion I tin run.

Here’s 1 thought it came up with for a java brand: 

Not bad! 

But who should you archer astir your wacky run erstwhile you person it? Here’s a astute extremity from James: 

It’s arsenic elemental arsenic reaching retired to the aforesaid publications and journalists who’ve covered akin things before. You tin find plentifulness of these already online from movies and tv shows. 

For example, you tin conscionable export the 150 sites linking to The Office run via Site Explorer and scope retired to them. 

I person to springiness recognition to Russ Jones (RIP) who was 1 of the astir switched connected nexus builders and SEOs I person ever met for this extremity helium shared with me. 

How to do it

Start by uncovering applicable pages with tons of backlinks successful Ahrefs: 

1. Search for a taxable successful Content Explorer
2. Filter for pages with 100+ referring domains
3. Filter retired subdomains, homepages, and aggregate pages per domain

In the illustration above, determination are 1,952 pages astir taxation with links from implicit 100 websites. One of them is this national income taxation calculator with 1,500 referring domains: 

Next, tally a escaped audit with a instrumentality similar AccessScan to cheque however accessible the leafage is for radical with disabilities: 

In this case, the leafage is non-compliant. This means that implicit 1,500 sites are linking to a assets that isn’t accessible for users with vision, centrifugal and cognitive impairments—including a fewer authorities and acquisition websites: 

Here’s what James says to do next: 

You scope retired to the website and accidental the assets connected your leafage is not accessible to visually impaired users. This is simply a highly palmy outreach method vs conscionable sending emails astatine standard asking for guest posts. 

Of course, this does mean you request to make an alternate assets that is compliant. But that’s easy worthy it erstwhile there’s a excavation of hundreds oregon thousands of imaginable linkers. 

I cognize it mightiness dependable a spot old-school, but impermanent posting inactive delivers large results. However, the days of wide emailing generic pitches are over. The strategy is the same—offering invaluable contented for a link—but the execution needs a caller approach. 

How to do it

First, you request to find sites that mightiness beryllium unfastened to a guest post. 

To do that: 

1. Run an “In title” hunt for a wide manufacture word successful Content Explorer
2. Filter for sites with a Domain Rating (DR) betwixt 30-60 (this removes large sites that astir apt won’t judge guest posts)
3. Go to the “Websites” tab

Here you volition spot the apical 100 sites getting the astir hunt postulation to contented astir your topic. These are bully sites to transportation a impermanent post, arsenic they’ve already written astir akin topics before. 

Bibi recommends utilizing AI to assistance with your pitch: 

Ai is an awesome instrumentality [for pitching]. It tin assistance you make everything from catchy taxable lines to compelling pitches and adjacent eye-catching visuals. 

For example, she utilized AI to make Midjourney images that combined cats and dogs with her people niche. When she reached retired to trucking companies, this charming attack got a batch of affirmative attention. 

If zany oregon “out there” isn’t truly your jam, that’s fine. As Bibi says, it’s not a necessity. The constituent is to usage AI to amended your pitches and marque them much creative. 

You don’t ever request to beryllium comic oregon wild, but AI lets you make highly targeted contented successful formats that would typically necessitate a full squad with specialised skills. So, adjacent though impermanent posting mightiness look basic, the possibilities are endless with AI. Just support experimenting with it! 

Find a leafage with links, marque thing better, transportation it arsenic a replacement (aka the “skyscraper” technique)

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Most radical presume that “skyscraper” is dormant due to the fact that it worked good successful 2017, past got abused until it didn’t enactment anymore. But we’re uncovering that it’s starting to unfastened up again now.

How it works

This is arguably the astir celebrated nexus gathering method determination is, but if you’ve been hiding successful a cave for the past decade, here’s however it works successful a nutshell: 

For example, this database of champion headphone recommendations has 469 referring domains… 

… but it hasn’t been updated since 2021: 

Given however accelerated the headphone manufacture moves these days, this means that hundreds of sites are linking to a wholly outdated database of recommendations. 

To instrumentality vantage of this, you would: 

1. Publish an up-to-date database of headphone recommendations (aka. “skyscraper” content)
2. Pitch this arsenic a replacement to everyone linking to the outdated post.

Here’s a speedy extremity from Eric to assistance maximise your results: 

Give radical other inducement to nexus by offering to stock their contented connected your societal networks. We bash this erstwhile promoting our clients’ contented and it inactive works comparatively well. 

Keep learning

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this post. If you privation to larn adjacent much astir gathering links, cheque retired these posts and courses: 

• Link Building for SEO: The Beginner’s Guide
• Advanced Link Building Course