You still need links to rank in Google.
For years, many SEOs used HARO for link-building and digital PR.
It was free. You recieved cool emails every day. And it was really time-consuming.
The old HARO is no more, but the landscape for pitching journalists and building links through digital PR is more robust than ever.
If you haven’t pitched to publications in a while, here are my top 3 recommended alternatives to HARO for link building:
- HARO – Wait, huh? While classic HARO is gone, new owner Cision rolled it into a new product. The new version still has a free tier, but they definitely encourage you to pay for more features. This can actually work in your favor your pitches may have a better chance of being seen.
- SearchEye One of my favorites, SearchEye is like HARO in reverse. For a fee, they connect you with 5000+ publishers to get mentions/links placed on their editorial calendar – in advance. The costs are higher, but your ability to get links to good publications is way better. They also offer a free, daily link opportunity email.
- SourceBottle – Not as flashy as some of the others, but the daily free PR opportunity emails are great, and SourceBottle’s free tier offers a bit more value than its competitors.
Top 5 SEO Tips This Week:
1) How to implement Ranch-Style SEO: 7 Successful frameworks
There’s evidence that Google is moving away from overly-optimized SEO content – like giant “Skyscraper Technique” posts. Here, Bernard Huang presents an alternative content strategy that produces better-optimized content based on user intent. Worth a read.
2) How to find an INP issue with Chrome DevTools
If you’re confused about Interaction to Next Paint (INP) since Google announced it’s now a (small) ranking factor, this 59-second video from the Chome is worth its weight in gold to start diagnosing your own INP issues.
3) IMPROVED Local SEO trick you need to know!
Our friend Darren Shaw shares a quick local SEO trick to get your business name to display in different languages. Also, you should follow Darren for all things Local SEO.
4) How to leverage your GSC data through the API?
Google Search Console data is amazing, but you often want to extract more than what the interface will give you. If you want to get started using the API, this post has everything for beginners and advanced users alike. Thank you, Antoine Eripret!
5) Goodbye Google, Hello Massive Flipboard Traffic!
Everyone talks about diversifying their traffic sources, but how about generating millions of visits consistently via Flipboard? In this very excellent video via Niche Pursuits, Michael Dinich explains exactly that.
Newsletter of the Week
The SEOJobs.com Newsletter is run by our friend Nick Leroy, and there is no one better in the SEO industry to guide this ship. Each Monday, receive a list of open SEO jobs around the world. Nick prioritizes jobs with transparent salary information—a win/win for the industry.
Best of luck with your SEO!
