Anyone who has ever done link building knows there is a lot that goes into link building. One of the most challenging parts is getting your request noticed from the site owner that you want a link from. We’ve all received the standard, run of the mill request that we just delete instantly. But today I got a good one, and it almost made me give out a link (almost).
(name withheld) Here,
We recently started our blog here (site address hyperlink) and linked to your website hoping you would notice us and maybe link back. To be honest we don’t know what the (expletive) we are doing and are desperate (profanity) help us we aren’t even ranking for anything in msn , yahoo or google and need your help. And link would be of great help thanks again, (name withheld).
Sincerely,
(name withheld) CEO
(company name withheld)
(company address withheld)
The email is short and to the point and it has a very personable tone (felt hand written). The subject line was “HI”, which gives it zero points, but it’s better than “Link to our site!” which would automatically make me hit delete without reading it. The email definitely caught my attention and captured me for just enough time to pay attention to what he was saying. I don’t swear (nor do I like hearing or reading it) so the expletive and profanity was a turn off. His spelling and grammar could use some help, but in some ways that helped the tone be more personable. He ends with asking for a link and gives some confidence that he is a real person by giving the company name and address. Obviously if you had something to give (like $ or a decent link) in return you would end with that.
So now to summarize the elements to a good link request email:
1) Short and direct
2) Personable
3) Subject line to not scare away
4) Capture attention by being different
5) Don’t swear (ever, really 🙂 )
6) Ask for what you want (and offer something in return if you can)
7) Be somewhat specific, such as with a URL and a keyword, for the link
7) Give some confidence you’re real (name, address)
Some other great posts on the topic of link requests and link building:
Link Building and Emails – Humans do it Better. also by Jim Boykin (link expert)
131 (Legitimate) Link Building Strategies (SearchEngineWatch.com)
How Not to Build Links by Neil Patel
Link Building Guide by Jim Westergren
