Nick Leffler — February 23, 2018 — February 23, 2018
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If you’ve ever been to a business blog, news site, or pretty much anywhere on the internet you’ve probably run into an expert roundup. Using expert roundups for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has been popular for a few years now.
But is the expert roundup really all its cracked up to be?
I was part of a discussion about expert roundups for SEO on inbound.org several months ago. A lot of good information and insights were shared.
The consensus seems to be that if they are done the right way and for the right purpose then they can be effective. That’s where most expert roundups go wrong, they’re poorly executed.
Just as everything else with SEO it has to be done for the visitor and not for the search engine. If you can do that then, of course, you’ll see a huge benefit from a search engine boost which means more leads!
There are several questions you should be asking before you even think about an expert roundup for your blog. But first, I just want to be sure everyone is on the same page as to what an expert roundup is.
What An Expert Roundup Is
I’ve already been blathering on about expert roundups so hopefully, you at least have a minimal knowledge of what they are. The name itself gives you a pretty good hint.
An expert roundup is essentially a blog post from a business that draws heavily on expert contributions on a certain topic.
So, if I were doing an expert roundup on search engine optimization I would seek out or ask for input from anybody who’s an expert in SEO. It’s true that expert roundups do often consist of experts who are self-proclaimed experts. Often you’ll be able to see who those ones are, especially if you do some digging into their own website or social media profiles.
Expert roundups don’t have to just be a huge list of expert after expert quoted with their expert advice though. There are more creative and useful ways of doing them. It’s true you’ll find more expert roundups that are simply a huge list rather than a more intelligible story though.
Now that you have a clearer picture of what an expert roundup is, the goal is a really important part of them. Without the right goal then you’re sure to fail. Doesn’t that go for everything though?
What’s The Goal?
Before you mess around with expert roundups for SEO, do you have a proper goal?
Is your goal to get as many backlinks as possible? If that’s the goal then you probably want to keep brainstorming ways to get backlinks. There are more effective methods.
Expert roundups probably aren’t the best way to get backlinks unless you’re the one being featured in the roundup.
If your goal is to provide a great piece of information for your audience and weave it together with expert input then you’re on a good path. Expert roundups are excellent at providing some expert authority to a topic you’re writing about.
They’re a lot of work though.
So when it comes to SEO are they a good opportunity?
Are Expert Roundups Good For SEO?
Yes and no.
If you do an expert roundup for the right SEO reason then yes, they can be very valuable. SEO should always be about website visitors rather than the search engines themselves.
Any quality content is great for SEO and that includes expert roundups. They’re especially beneficial if you can tap into the expert’s audience.
They have to put together methodically though rather than just a bunch of expert quotes puked up onto a page. That’s what I told Youness Bermime in a blog post he wrote about what you should know about expert roundups. It’s an extremely long and detailed read which is great. It’s also a great example of the ideal way to do an expert roundup.
That’s why I say yes and no. Nothing, of course, is automatically good for SEO if it’s done poorly.
Expert roundups are great for SEO if you do them well. There are even writers who focus solely on the expert roundup to help their clients with their SEO.
One thing that can help you determine if you’re doing an expert roundup right or not is how long it takes you. Good blog posts take a long time. they take a lot of time and research to get right. Expert roundups take even longer.
Do Expert Roundups Work?
Of course!
That is if you do it right.
I wouldn’t just run out there and throw together an expert roundup though. Online services like HARO make it really easy to do that. No, you should put more thought into it.
If you put in the work to put together a quality expert roundup that follows a story and encourages debate or conversation then it will work.
It’s easy to see when someone requesting expert contributions are doing so for SEO reasons only. I’ve even got the bold ones who ask for a link back to their article before even publishing my contribution. Don’t do that. This isn’t about being featured on those though.
There are a few expert roundups I’ve been included on which I’ve felt I needed to expand on the topic more. This is one of them.
If an expert roundup is a truly profound topic that deserves more conversation, it will get it. I will write a blog post specifically to elaborate and of course, provide a link back to the original content I was quoted in.
In the many places I’ve been featured as an expert, a few have benefited greatly from their SEO.
So, yes expert roundups can be great for SEO if you do them right. They have to be on a great topic that encourages more conversation.
That means the expert roundup is most likely well put together and is more than just a list of expert quotes.
A long list of expert quotes is boring and won’t benefit your SEO at all.
Who Benefits From An Expert Roundup?
The party who benefits from an expert roundup will vary greatly on how well it’s done. If the author does it the right way using the expert quotes woven intelligently into a broader story then the author will benefit. That s, if it’s an interesting topic that encourages discussion.
In 90% of expert roundup cases, I can unequivocally say that those being quoted are the ones who benefit more than the author.
That’s not because expert roundups don’t work for SEO though. It’s mostly because expert roundups are hastily put together as a quick blog post with original content.
Original content that’s poorly put together isn’t beneficial though.
What types of expert roundups do experts link back to?
I would absolutely never link back to a page I was featured on that’s just a list of experts puked up on a page. That’s so boring there’s no reason to link to it. I will often share it with my social media audience though.
In the few cases where a well-written topic had expert quotes interwoven into the material in a way that made sense then sure, I’ll link to it if I have something more to write about it.
The type of expert roundup posts that work well typically takes a lot more time to put together than your average blog post though. You have to gather up a lot of expert quotes first. You’ll then have to sift through all that information in order to find the best feedback. After that, you have to write the blog post and put it all together in an intelligible way.
If you can do that then you’ll benefit from an expert roundup.
You have to be ready to invest the time to get it right. When you invest the time, do it right, do all the proper outreach then you’ll see some level of success in your SEO efforts.
You Have Options For SEO
Expert roundups can help a lot for SEO efforts but there are also many other options for SEO. Of course, it all starts with proper on-page optimization with your title and meta description.
Beyond that, there are a number of different methods that work well.
- Guest blog post
- Be a featured expert
- Infographic
- Create 10x content
And of course, the list goes on.
Sometimes the topic you’re writing about fits the expert roundup strategy. If the expert roundup adds a lot of value to the topic you’re writing about, go for it!
Search engine optimization is all about providing value whether it’s in content, expertise, or anything else. It’s always good to talk to an expert about your search engine strategy. There’s a lot to SEO and you need to have a good plan and a fair amount of knowledge to execute it successfully.
It’s not impossible to do it yourself but the benefit of working with an expert is evident once you get deeper into it.
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