As many longtime bloggers may know, building backlinks has long been synonymous with building a website.
For newer bloggers, it's worth knowing that a backlink is precisely what you think it is (a link from one site to another), but as Semrush notes, "in addition to driving brand awareness and referral traffic, backlinks can benefit your SEO performance. Many sites accrue backlinks naturally, but marketers often work to generate and maintain them."
That's part of the reason HARO (Help a Reporter Out) became popular. It enabled bloggers and journalists to get quotes for articles from experts, and enabled bloggers to get featured in articles on topics of expertise, and to gain some notoriety and, in some cases, a coveted backlink.
But, HARO was bought by CISION and turned into "Connectively," and, well, opinions changed.
The original founder of HARO, though, Peter Shankman (who is actually a friend of mine (Chris here) because of the work I've done around ADHD advocacy and awareness), couldn't stand what HARO had become, and thus HERO (Help Every Reporter Out) was born.
So, what do you need to know about HERO?
- As Peter notes, the basic tenant is the same - "Help Every Reporter Out was designed to make it easier for journalists to find the sources they need, and for sources to get the publicity they might be seeking."
- As a blogger, up to three times a day you'll get an email with queries from journalist from various media outlets. If you can speak on something that you're knowledgable about, simply reply to the source.
- When I was first starting blogging, HARO, before it became essentially useless, was a great way for me to "legitimize" my brand, and to sometimes get a juicy do-follow backlink. I remember being featured in, and getting a backlink from CNN in the early days, and my Domain Authority jumped instantly. So, it's exciting to see Peter trying to bring all this back to its roots, before it was corporatized.
- Peter is a rather particular fellow, though. He notes, "ONLY REPLY IF YOU ACTUALLY HAVE SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE TO ADD. Those who remember me in a past life know that if you pitch a reporter off topic even once, and it gets back to me, you’re gone. No exceptions, no appeals."
- It's free as well, by the way. We dig that Peter says "it takes me a few minutes each day to do this, and the good Karma is immeasurable. So I’m not charging."
It feels like now, perhaps more than any other time in the world of blogging, is the moment to be as resourceful as possible, so why not cast a few fishing lines on HERO and see if it pays dividends?
Good luck if you do, we're just trying to do our part to arrive each and every week with actionable takeaways.
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