HARO or Help a Reporter Out is a popular SEO tactic that many experienced SEO professionals use to build high-quality backlinks for their websites. Google and other search engines pay a lot of attention to quality backlinks and HARO is an incredible way to get them faster.
The real deal behind acquiring any backlink is to first ensure that your website’s backlink profile is unaffected or has gained some value. As search engines are getting strict on the quality of backlinks, it’s important to aim for only the high-quality and high DA links.
Coverage in local, national, or international media is a great way to boost your brand’s profile – and your website’s backlink profile. Many media organizations are often regarded as having high Domain Authority – meaning they are trusted websites. If an article is posted in the online edition of the publication, and your website receives a link, a small portion of this trust will pass on to your website. It can be exceptionally valuable.
HARO is an impactful tactic that lets you have wide coverage for your business. Whether you do a local business, national business, or international business, reporters can skyrocket the rankings. There are several media agencies and organizations that enjoy a high DA and PA in their domain and a backlink from this website is an impactful victory. If an article is published on a reputed news website, there are significantly higher chances that you will keep getting a high amount of traction.
However, HARO outreach is that easier and it brings us to one question, is it worth using HARO for link building in SEO? We will find this out in our post. But before we get into the answer, let’s check out why HARO is important
Why is HARO important?
If you successfully managed to outreach and convince a reporter to publish your blog, there are several benefits that you can enjoy. The very first advantage is that the amount of media coverage you will get from that article publishing will be massive. As the platform already has many active users, you don’t have to actively promote it on other platforms.
Even if you receive a no-follow link from the website, the value of that link is much higher than any mid-range do-follow link. It happens because Google and other search engines seek credibility in websites. As your website’s link is already present on a reputed website, you don’t have to worry about the authority building. And the best part is that you don’t have to ask for a link from the reporter and the HARO process is designed in such a way that the link will be present in the byline. As this journalist also needs your help and the chances are that you will establish a good relationship by helping them out in their work. These types of collaborations are beneficial for your business.
One thing that business owners need to keep in mind is that it’s not an easy process and the chances for a positive reply are lower. As so many websites are outreaching reporters to get their articles published, the process becomes slower.
Some downsides of HARO?
If you are wondering if there are some downsides to this backlinking process, then you need to know that yes, there are some considerations that you need to keep in mind. The first thing is stiffer competition as this technique is not a new thing to practice. The HARO ecosystem is saturated and you have to create a space that will take a considerable time.
Another major thing you need to be aware of is that many people fake that they are journalists and they tend to run away the moment you give your article to them. In addition to this, many people have witnessed more severe scams like scammers also took the money along with the article and they just disappeared. This is a common scam to happen as it has become much easier to pose like a real journalist and plant a scam.
If you are a beginner to this method, always cross-verify the identity of the individuals that you are outreaching to. Check their email address, search their articles on the internet and only send them outreach requests. It will save you the hard work that you’ve done preparing the article.
Is HARO worth your efforts?
Despite being a time-consuming and competitive outreaching method, HARO still brings several benefits to the table. It’s good for your business and the time spent on the complete process is all worth it. Depending only on HARO is not that worthwhile as the process is slower. The best way to perform backlink outreach is to have a good balance of different outreach methods.
For example, you can give 80% effort to other highly effective link-building strategies, and the remaining 20% on HARO. Only after this, the efforts and the time will be worth the efforts. If you are doing SEO for a client, then it’s better to focus on conventional backlinking processes. On the other hand, if you are working on your website and you have an in-house team then the HARO process is all worth it.
This process is free but you will need to pay in the form of time. If you and your team are comfortable spending time on HARO methods, then the SEO Packages from top Digital Marketing companies are the right choice.
Once you gain the outreaching skills for HARO from the top SEO company India, then you can perform the process much faster, that will make the HARO process more worthy for your business.
Final thoughts
Help A Reporter Out is a classic yet time-consuming process that takes a lot of effort and time. However, on the other side, the benefits are also substantially higher. If you have time to invest and you know how to reach out in the right manner, go ahead as it can bring more traction to your website from high authority agencies. Get started with HARO and thrive on quality backlinks.
