HARO (Help a Reporter Out) is a platform that connects journalists with expert sources. It can be an effective way to get high-quality, authoritative backlinks to your website. While HARO was initially created to help journalists find sources for their stories, it has become a valuable tool for SEO and digital PR professionals.
HARO can help in SEO in several ways:
Backlinking: When a journalist quotes a source in a news story, they often include a link to the source’s website. This can provide valuable backlinks to the source’s website, which can help to increase their domain authority and improve their search engine rankings.
Brand Awareness: When a company or individual is quoted in a news story, it can help to increase their brand awareness and visibility. This can lead to increased website traffic and improved search engine rankings over time.
Authority Building: By providing expert insights and quotes for news stories, individuals and companies can establish themselves as authorities in their respective fields. This can lead to increased trust and credibility with their audience, which can ultimately lead to improved search engine rankings and organic traffic.
Here are the steps to get authority links using HARO:
- Sign up for HARO: Sign up for a free HARO account and select the categories that are relevant to your industry or expertise.
- Review daily emails: Review the daily emails from HARO that include queries from journalists looking for expert sources.
- Respond to queries: Respond to relevant queries and provide your expertise or insights. Be sure to provide detailed and valuable responses that are relevant to the journalist’s query.
- Include your website link: Include a link to your website in your response. This should be a natural and relevant link to your website.
- Follow up: Follow up with the journalist to see if they plan to include your response in their article. This can also help to build relationships with journalists and increase the likelihood of future opportunities.
- Monitor and track your progress: Monitor and track your progress by using an SEO tool to track your backlinks and measure the impact of your HARO efforts.
HARO can be an effective way to get high-quality, authoritative backlinks to your website. Use the above steps to sign up for HARO, review daily emails, respond to relevant queries, include your website link, follow up with journalists, and monitor your progress. Remember to focus on providing value to journalists and their audiences, building relationships with journalists, and creating high-quality content that adds value to your target audience.
To leverage HARO for SEO, it is important to regularly monitor HARO requests for relevant keywords or topics and respond with high-quality and informative pitches. By providing valuable insights and quotes, sources can increase their chances of being quoted in a news story and receiving valuable backlinks and exposure.