Manual Outreach Link Building: A Step By Step Guide

Manual outreach link-building is an effective SEO strategy. It entails searching for websites in your niche, checking their page rank, and pitching them. Such a pitch normally includes your intent and topic ideas. 

Automated link building is another way of getting backlinks. You can amass a great number of links in a short period. But we don’t recommend this strategy, as you could face a Google penalty in no time. 

At Outreach Link Agency, we help businesses acquire backlinks from trusted websites. We know the positive impact high-quality backlinks can have on a website. That’s why we keep working harder to deliver the best results.   

Why Is Manual Outreach An Effective Link Building Strategy?

All websites want to be on the first page of SERPs. It’s every online business’ dream, so you cannot fault those that invest heavily on SEO. The first page receives over 70% of the traffic. Thus, you’re missing out on massive sales opportunities if you’re not there.   

Now, keep this in mind. Your website deserves to be on the first page of SERPs for your targeted keyword. And I know you wish to be there too. But unfortunately, you’ll require more than a “wish” to be in this position on search engines. SEO is a game and only the best and most consistent players win. 

Link building and other effective SEO strategies can help your online marketing campaign succeed. Additionally, you can run your link-building campaign by yourself, but keep in mind the process is time-consuming and technically demanding. 

Getting quality backlinks via manual outreach is a lot of work. You must search each site thoroughly to ascertain that it is non-spammy, valuable, etc. 

At Outreach Link Agency, we make manual outreach link building simple and effective. We can help you build a healthy backlink profile. 

Here is what makes manual outreach link-building an effective strategy.

1: Opportunity to personalize your outreach:

In manual outreach, you have to contact other websites for backlinks individually. This process involves drafting unique messages for each website owner. 

Manual outreach allows you to personalize your messages. You’ll be able to tailor your messages to the website owner’s interest and give them good reasons to agree to your backlink request.

Make no mistake. Getting other website owners to respond to your guest post or link insertion request can take time and effort. You may not even receive a response from some, particularly if your messages don’t sound convincing enough. 

Personalized messages enjoy quicker responses, especially when tailored to website owners’ interests. Call the website owner’s name if you know their name. 

2: Opportunity to build strong connections:

A manual outreach link-building strategy will not only offer you a unique opportunity to acquire backlinks that can impact your site. You’ll also be able to connect with website owners or their administrators.

Establishing a good relationship with other websites in your niche will be key in your link-building journey. Once you have a good rapport with website owners or admins, they’ll respond to your messages quicker.

3: Manual outreach lets you decide on the tone of voice:

One of the benefits of manual outreach is the ability to communicate with other website owners in your brand voice. You can test different tones for different websites and see their reaction. 

You’re asking for link building opportunity, so your tone should be professional. Also, remember to hit the nail on the head; go straight to the point. It will also make sense to go through the proposed website to know if you can capture any important information to use in your message.

Understand that the tone used in your outreach will significantly affect how the receiver (website owner you’re contacting for backlink) will perceive the message. 

4: Opportunity to promote yourself:

Manual outreach offers you a unique opportunity to promote yourself. It entails pitching to the website owner or administrator to obtain backlinks.

Firstly, carefully review the proposed websites you want to contact for backlinks and ensure they haven’t covered your topic on the blog. Now, pitch topic ideas that will turn heads. 

If the website owner or administrator likes your topic idea, they may ask you to write high-quality, unique content. They’ll be more interested in the content and may not request you to pay to publish it. 

Manual outreach allows you to promote yourself in a way that captures website owners’ attention and pushes them to give you quick responses. 

How To Do Manual Outreach Link Building

Here are steps for outreach link building.

1: Identify the blogs and websites to contact via research:

The first step in any outreach link-building campaign is research. You can identify the perfect websites and blogs to contact for backlinks through research. 

When we say “perfect website or blog,” we refer to niche-relevant websites or blogs. These websites or blogs are in a similar niche as yours.

In addition to niche relevance, domain authority is another important factor. You must also ensure the website or blog isn’t practising black-hat SEO. Analyze the quality of links on the blog to draw your conclusion. 

A Handy Tip: Make a list of potential websites to contact. You can also write the domain authority and other information you think is important while compiling your list of niche-relevant sites. 

2: Find the contact information of the niche-relevant website:

This step involves getting the email addresses or contact information of the websites you want to contact for backlinks. Visit each website and click on the icon “Contact us.” You’ll find the contact information for the proposed website. 

The contact information to look for is the “official email address” of the website. And remember to include the contact information on the list of niche-relevant websites you compiled earlier. 

A Handy Tip: It’s okay to contact websites via email. However, note that these websites are also active on social media. So, find the social media handles of each website and send them a direct message.

Find the social media platform the website is most active in. You can look at the last time they published a post on each platform to know where they’re most active. 

Furthermore, don’t appear as a stalker on any website or blog. Contact the proposed website on one social media channel and await their response. Some might respond immediately, while some may take a bit longer. 

3: Use the branded domain email address: 

It’s important to build credibility when requesting backlinks from other sites. And one way you can achieve this is via branding. So, use a branded email address when pitching to websites in your contact list.

Your branded email address should be similar to your brand’s or agency’s domain. This way, you’ll appear credible and earn other websites’ respect. In turn, they may respond to your request faster. 

Another thing you need to do is include a signature in all your email messages. You have to build trust and credibility with every opportunity that comes your way. 

4: Test different approaches:

You must understand that you can only improve the things you can measure. In other words, if you can’t measure the performance of your outreach, you can’t improve it. You need to improve it to achieve your targeted result. 

What are we trying to say here? You have to test different approaches to know what works best. In fact, for each website you contact, vary your approach. You can use different headlines and write-ups. 

Test different approaches to find the one that works best and improve on it. This way, you’ll achieve success in your outreach. 

Another thing you must do is understand the person you’re communicating with. Note that if the person is a woman and married, they may feel more relaxed conversing with a fellow female. 

Sometimes, it doesn’t matter who you’re communicating with. Your manner of approach is the most important thing to consider. Even a mean human on earth will respond when approached politely. 

4: Test-run email messages before sending them to other websites:

How will your email message appear on the receiver’s end? Will it end up in the inbox or spam folder? 

The truth is that some of the email messages end up in spam folders. And as you already know, most brands and individuals don’t usually visit spam folders. Furthermore, messages or files that end up in spam folders are treated with suspicion. 

What can you do in this case? It’s simple. Test run your email messages before sending them to the websites you’re requesting backlinks. 

If you have a second email, you can send the message to that email. Or, better still, you can send email messages to your team members. 

Several factors cause email messages to end up in spam folders. You also cannot blame Gmail and other platforms for diverting emails to spam folders, given the level of malicious messages, email users receive now and then.

 A Handy Tip: Several factors can cause an email to end up in spam folders. It could be because you inserted too many links in the email message, or the Gmail filter flagged the subject line.   

5: Contact the target websites and wait for a response:

You may expect a quick response when you contact a website for backlinks. But the truth is, it only works this way. Some sites may respond immediately to your backlink request, while others may take a while. So, don’t expect a quick response when you contact any site for backlinks.  

Getting a response is what is important. And have in mind that the response can be a yes or a no. If you get a yes, proceed to provide content. If not, keep trying other websites. Most sites may tell you a response for rejecting your backlink request. Just learn from your mistake and try other sites. 

If the topic idea is the reason for the rejection, do the needful before submitting your pitch. Before pitching, search proposed websites thoroughly to know if they have covered your suggested topic.

Create a list of topics, and choose one you think the website owner will accept instantly. And when you get approval to write a post, ensure the post is top-notch. 

Read the instructions on the site carefully to avoid any mistakes. Check the minimum word count, writing style, and other requirements.

If you find guest post samples on the site, read them carefully and follow the written pattern. You should also check the articles published on the site too for clues. Make sure you follow the instructions and edit your articles ruthlessly. 

Your guest post should add value to the readers and website owner. And it must have the same quality as other articles published on the site. 

Conclusion

Manual outreach link building is a strategy deployed to get backlinks manually. It involves the following procedure:

• Sourcing for niche-relevant sites online
• Building a list of relevant sites
• Getting contact information for websites
• Creating branded email address
• Test running the email message 
• Finally, contact websites for backlinks.

These are just a simple breakdown of the process. But keep in mind that the process might look simple on paper, but it isn’t. Manual outreach link building is tough, time-consuming, and can be frustrating. 

Outreach Link Agency is here to help you get high-quality backlinks via manual outreach. You will get natural, non-spammy, and niche-relevant links to improve your website’s search ranking, organic traffic, and online credibility.