Earlier this week I had the pleasure of interviewing a smart young lady who was interested in one our available SEO specialist positions. Since I had already read through both her resume and the standard SEO test that we provide to applicants, I asked her to simply talk to me about her general approach to SEO. When the topic of link-building came up, a specific portion of her answer got me really excited.
Why? Because she specifically made mention of what I believe to be the least-utilized but most effective of all link-building outreach techniques…
She picked up the phone. 
That’s right. She mentioned how for certain link-building targets, she would pick up the phone and make a call to the administrators/editors for the site in question.
It’s such a simple concept, and one that’s adopted by virtually every sales organization in the world, and yet the vast majority of link builders out there fail to utilize the phone, instead opting for mountains of emails or heaps of social network messaging. If you think about it, at its core, link building outreach is a form of sales (selling a webmaster on the idea of linking to your site) so why not use one of the most proven and time-tested communication techniques available?
At my interactive agency, we make using the phone for link-building purposes a de facto standard, and the return on investment in terms of “closing rate” on link-building requests is phenomenal. Granted, this is likely because getting a phone call from a representative of a large, Fortune 1000 caliber brand is likely to make a webmaster feel proud and will likely put he/she into an accommodating mood. That said, even if you’re link building for a smaller company, the personal touch that phone call can bring will likely deliver a similar boost in your link-building “close rate.”
Note: It’s usually not feasible to solely rely on the phone for link-building outreach, so I’m not advocating that you completely drop your email or social network-based outreach efforts. Instead, what I would recommend is that you reserve phone outreach for the top 20-30% high-quality targets that you have on your outreach list.
Also, it’s worth noting that this technique is just as effective for social/viral content outreach efforts (e.g. getting bloggers and other influencers to mention, link to or vote/bookmark your content) as it is for traditional, SEO-focused link building efforts.
Related Posts:
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post, Hugo! Sometimes we need the BFO (blinding flash of the obvious).
Please keep the posts coming!
To your success,
Kev
Thanks for the comment and the kind words, Kevin! Will make sure to keep the posts coming.
I learned this “duh moment” concept by default three years ago. A link builder called me for a link. I was so floored that I wanted to give him two or three. The personal relationship that developed was worth it.
Glad you took the time to write this!
So, did you hire her?
What a concept! I like it.
Then I got on the phone and thought… who do I ask for, what do I say?
Hey, wanna link to my site?
I’d love to hear a bit more about the process in implementing this idea.
Bobby
Good point well made.
It is extraordinary how much people rely on email these day and usually their faith is misplaced or just laziness. I have sacked sales people who used to tell me that someone wasn’t interested in our product as they had sent three follow up emails and had no response.
These days, for any high value activity, a phone call is worth far more than email. If you REALLY want to get someone’s attention, why not drop them a hand written note? This is so rare these days that people actually remark on the fact that you have a hand written envelope in the company post system.
@Dana – thanks for the great example! Also, I can’t say whether or not we hired her due to those pesky HR rules, but I can say that she’s definitely got the inside track!
@Bobby – great point, Bobby! I will follow up with specific tips for how to approach outreach, both via email and via phone (and via social networks).
@Mark – thanks for the comment, Mark! Now that might really be the ultimate link building secret weapon (sending a hand-written note to a webmaster). I must admit that I have never thought to do that (although we do use that technique in the sales department of our agency).
It can be difficult trying to locate the contact details of a webmaster, and if there is generally not phone number, you can do a whois to locate a phone number.
Yes the blindingly obvious link exchange request by phone does and can work very successfully despite what SEO agencies may say, I’ve found the phone is a great way to establish rapport – after all isn’t business just networking and contacts, which should be a greater relational model for what the internet actually is, an online version of the world of human interaction.
Thanks for the comment and the added tips, Adrian!
Mark Littlewood’s tip of handwritten request is certainly appealing.
However, I believe it may take a longer time to bear fruit as it has to typically go through the office mail delivery system.
On top of it is rather doubtful whether it will convey the same sense of urgency as a phone call.
Anyway it is a link building technique worth pondering over and may bear fruit if a relationship has already been established.
Thanks for the comment, Viswanathan! Let us know if you end up trying it out and it works for you.
Hello Hugo, just to remind you what you promised to Bobby here
I’m also waiting for that follow up, before I pick up the phone 
Thanks for the reminder, Andrija! Unfortunately, my agency responsibilities (as well as a newborn baby at home) force me to limit the amount of blogging that I do, but I will try to write that follow-up piece when I get a chance.
I haven’t forgotten about you guys!
Hey, congats on newborn
Hope he/she sleeps at night 
Looking forward for the follow-up, when you get a chance
Thanks Andrija! Not yet, but hopefully he will begin to do so soon (mom and I need the sleep!).
{ 1 trackback }