“If you build it, they will come.”
Almost every American sports fan is familiar with this line from the 1989 movie Field of Dreams, when Kevin Costner’s character hears a mysterious voice instructing him to build a baseball diamond in his cornfield.
While building the baseball diamond worked out in Field of Dreams, this philosophy doesn’t have the same results with SEO. You can craft the best piece of online content, but that doesn’t mean people will see it. To make sure that your content drives traffic and earns link, you need to perform outreach.
Reaching out to thought leaders in your industry and community will not only ensure that your content is seen, it will also ensure that people who will appreciate it and (hopefully!) link to it see your content.
Still not convinced that you need to do outreach? Here are three other ways that outreach can help your business:
Outreach expands your audience.
By sending your content to various websites in your business niche, you expose your brand and services to new potential customers.
Consumers can’t buy your products if they’ve never heard of your business. Successful outreach enables you to tell new audiences about your business. Additionally, if they’re reading about your brand on a website they already trust, chances are they’ll view your business in a positive light. This brings us to…
Outreach enhances your credibility.
Receiving links from reputable websites not only increases your credibility in Google’s eyes but in consumers’ eyes as well. Like I mentioned above, if a consumer is on a website they already like and see that the website links to your content, they’ll be more inclined to explore your site.
Outreach also builds credibility within your community. The more local consumers who come across your brand, the more they’ll associate you with the area. People like supporting local businesses, so the more digital footprints you leave on other local websites, the better.
Outreach establishes relationships.
Reaching out to other local businesses not only exposes you to their customers but can also lead to long-term partnerships.
For example, one of my clients created a piece of content about the top driving schools in their area. When I pitched the article to the businesses mentioned, I established a relationship with one of the driving school owners. My client decided to provide the driving school with discount vouchers for new and used cars and, in return, the school recommended my client to their students. This created a mutually beneficial relationship that we hope continues for a long time.
While it would be nice to hit Publish on an article and have hundreds of eyes see it immediately, unfortunately that isn’t reality.
To make sure that your content gets exposure, it’s critical to perform outreach. While developing and executing an effective outreach strategy isn’t always easy, it offers a host of benefits that go beyond earning links.
So remember. Field of Dreams—an excellent sports movie, NOT an excellent SEO approach. (Sorry, Kevin!)
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