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Today I’m going to show you how I built 33 high quality backlinks in under 6 hours with HARO.
That’s 1 new backlink every 10 minutes.
And I didn’t buy any links or use ‘black-hat’ tactics.
How did I build links so fast? Using the 10 Minute Backlink Formula.
In this case study, I’m going to show you how to do it too (step-by-step).
Using ‘The 10 Minute Backlink Formula’, I was able to build dozens of high quality, relevant backlinks for both my SEO agency & clients websites:
I even landed links on competitors websites…
More importantly, my sites ‘authority’ increased which improved ranking positions on Google.
Using the ’10 Minute Backlink Formula’ made it possible to consistently earn links on powerful websites…
This will work for you too…even if you don’t have experience building backlinks.
Simply follow the steps in this case study and you’re set.
Let’s dive in.
There are 3 essential steps to achieving 10 minute backlinks.
Step 1: Create a free HARO account
Step 2: Find relevant link opportunities
Step 3: Craft your perfect pitch using the proven template (listed below)
Here’s why this technique works so well:
Most people who try building links with HARO fail.
That’s because they don’t follow the ‘unwritten’ rules on HARO.
And that’s where the ‘10 Minute Backlink Formula‘ comes in.
It helps you put together watertight pitches so you’ll have a lot more success earning HARO links.
First things first, you need to sign-up as a source on HARO (takes less than 5 mins).
It’s worth noting that HARO also offers a paid service but I’ve personally always used the free version and have had no problems scoring amazing links.
Once you’ve signed up to HARO, you’ll start receiving 3 emails per day with link opportunities.
Create A HARO Filter
You’ll be receiving a tonne of emails from HARO so I highly recommend you setup a filter to send any incoming HARO emails into their own inbox folder. Otherwise, you’re main inbox will get overwhelmed with HARO requests.
Whenever a HARO email comes through, you’ll notice a couple of things:
To make it easy…
Focus on ONE Category
This will save you time and makes it way easier to find relevant link opportunities.
3. Choose ONE category that best fits your industry/niche.
For example: I run a digital marketing agency and the best HARO category for me is ‘Business & Finance’ because it is the most relevant category out of all the categories available.
Once you’ve identified your ‘best’ category, HARO emails landing in your inbox will become easier to process and find great link opportunities. Don’t worry if there aren’t any suitable requests right away, you’ll be receiving a lot of HARO emails and some fantastic opportunities will pop-up.
For example: This single HARO email below has 4 potential links for my marketing agency.
This is the part where most people fall down with HARO.
And where the ’10 Minute Backlink Formula’ will help you land dozens of links.
Here’s what to do:
Pro tip: Avoid any requests where the reporter’s questions are either:
a) Not specific enough to be answered quickly.
Or
b) The reporter has asked you to answer more than 2 questions.
HARO requests that violate the above 2 principles can easily cost you 40-60 minutes of your time which isn’t worth it considering there’s a chance your pitch won’t be accepted.
2. Keep your response short (200-300 words) and get straight to the point.
Writing the 200-300 word pitch is the easy part.
Now it’s about how you structure your pitch that matters…
You have to understand reporters are working to strict publishing deadlines and need to find responses quickly.
So, the easier you make it for them, the better your chances of landing a link.
Here’s what you need to know:
Focus on quality over quantity.
When I first started using HARO, I went crazy.
I was responding to as many reporter requests as I could.
And while I did score a couple of backlinks here and there, the majority of my responses were NOT successful.
I was wasting a lot of time answering responses without getting any links.
That’s when I decided to change things up…
Instead of answering as many requests as I could, I shifted my strategy to answering 1 HARO request each day. By answering 1 request, I was able to spend more time crafting better quality responses.
And I guarantee if you do the same, you’ll earn more links and save a lot of wasted hours.
Double Check The Reporter’s Instructions
Every HARO opportunity comes with a specific set of requirements you’ll need to follow. They’re not difficult but following them is critical.
I recommend spending a few extra minutes understanding exactly what the reporter wants and double-check your pitch answers their instructions.
Going off on a sidetrack is easier than you might think and it will result in a failed pitch.
Answer Reporter Requests Quickly
When it comes to earning backlinks with HARO, a major success factor is your ability to respond to reporter requests quickly.
As I mentioned earlier, reporters are busy people and work on strict publishing deadlines, they need expert opinions quickly.
If you wait too long to answer a request, you’ll miss out.
So try to respond to HARO requests within the first 3-6 hours of it hitting your inbox, any later and you’ll find pitches rarely get chosen.
Include Success Triggers
Reporters will favour HARO responses that are:
Here’s an example of a successful HARO pitch I sent:
This pitch took me less than 10 minutes to write and I scored a backlink from a website with an Ahrefs DR score of 90.
Here’s a proven email pitch template you can use to land successful link placements with HARO:
Hi [Insert Reporters Name]
Great idea for a post! [one sentence on why you think their article is a great topic choice]
Here is my response:
[Insert your pitch, maximum 200 words & straight to the point]
Link to my headshot: [Insert link to your Gravatar account]
Bio: [Insert a short, 1-2 sentence bio and include a link to your website]
Hope you like my response.
Thanks,
[Insert Your Name/Signature]
Avoid ‘Anonymous’ Requests
I avoid all HARO requests labelled as ‘Anonymous’.
Most ‘anonymous’ requests come from low-quality blogs and the time spent crafting a pitch isn’t worth the return on investment.
So, make sure you prioritise requests that include their brand over ‘Anonymous’.
That’s how you use the ‘10 Minute Backlink Formula’ to build backlinks in 10 minutes using HARO.
You don’t have to spend hours writing guestposts or sending outreach emails.
You can now use this technique right away build links fast as part of your SEO strategy.
If you got some value from this post, I’d appreciate a share or let me know in the comments below.
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36 Responses
Thanks Jonathan! I hadn’t heard of Haro before you posted the link in the Backlinko Mastermind Community. I am super excited to give it try!
Keep putting out the awesome content!
Thank you!
Thanks Shawn, glad you like it.
Nice post. We do this as a service for clients. We also find reporters love a good stat. So if you’re only done 1-2 pitches a day, take a look at the journalists last few articles to see if they use stats. If so, put one in, it heightens your chances of your pitch being used.
Awesome HARO tip Brett, thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing such a fantastic tip with detailed instructions, Jonathan!
You’re welcome Michael!
Really helpful post! Thanks for the great info
Thanks Rebecca, glad you like it 🙂
Solid advice Jonathan! I recently joined HARO, and I probably checked off too many interests, as I’m getting 6-8 e-mails from them each day, which is frankly a little overwhelming. I’ll try and narrow down my interests and follow your advice to see if that yields better results. Thanks!
Thanks Sujeet, yes focusing on 1 or 2 HARO pitches is the best way to land successful placements. I hope my post helps you!
This is a valuable and useful backlink strategy Jonathan. Appreciate your sharing.
You’re welcome Dav, glad you liked it.
thanks for recomending HARO
No problem!
One of the best blog posts I’ve read in a long time on the subject of backlinks. The idea is instantly do-able, and that’s what’s so useful. You’ve inspired a person like me who’d given up on backlinks totally.
Hi Shobha, glad it helped! And don’t give up you will get there soon 🙂
Thanks for sharing such useful Tips
Good job, you made my work easy.
You’re welcome!
My question is how are we going to know that our pitch is selected or not?
Hi Umer,
Good question! Sometimes the journalist will email you and let you know the good news but other times they won’t so you will have to check it yourself. For checking backlinks I recommend either Google Search Console (free) or Ahrefs (paid).
Been looking for an indepth guide on haro linkbuilding,but this is the best I have read
Ready to rock,
Thanks
Thank you Dan 🙂
I was not prepared to jump into HARO.
But after this guide, I am ready to roar.
Thanks Jonathan!
Thanks, Suresh! Good luck landing those links with HARO!
Thank you a lot
I’ll try it, thanks.
Valuable content
Really wonderful content on HARO. I have been doing HARO for a few months back. And reading this blog I found what I was mistaking. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks Anup! Glad to hear you found the HARO tips helpful.
Jonathan, thank you so much. It’s a great post, really. I just wondered if this tool works good at Spanish.
Great Read thanks for sharing this insight
Hey Jonathan,
This is a great breakdown of HARO Linkbuilding, and thank you so much for sharing with us! Many people try to make it complicated but you’ve made it so simple!
The issue I’m seeing with Haro just now is that we are receiving a lot of responses for reciprocal backlinks, and I don’t like reciprocal links.
Detailed explanation keep it up
Thanks Bhagwant, glad it helped.
Hi,
Thanks for the detailed article.
I have a question, HARO is not sending emails about new queries. So, can you can please advise how to do now?