The Mean Girls Principle Of Prospecting

Are you having domain deja vu? Whether working in link building or digital PR, after spending a long time working within the same niche, it can feel like you're seeing the same sites over and over. However, that doesn't have to be the case.

In this deck created by Sinead McLarty, you will find out why you are seeing the same sites and how to locate some fresh ones. Plus it's pink and sparkly. What's not to love?

Transcript

1. The “Mean Girls” Principle Of Prospecting: Finding Suitable Sites When It Feels Like There Are None Left Sinead McLarty SEEKER DIGITAL speakerdeck.com/smclarty1 @SineadM_PR
2. Sinead McLarty Digital PR Specialist at Seeker Digital. Has been in both the link building and digital PR teams at Seeker. I’m constantly in the process of making something: Cakes, earrings, bags, jackets, questionable fashion choices... This is my first time speaking at a conference (please be gentle.) What Would The Burn Book Say About Me?
3. Early noughties high school film about a new transfer student being initiated into a ploy to bring the popular girls, unaffectionately known as the plastics, down a peg or two Hierarchy, social groups and a master plan to end the reign of the current leader > SERPs, niches and link-building strategy What Is Mean Girls? Regina Gretchen Karen
4. WHAT IS LINK PROSPECTING
5. Link prospecting is the process of finding and evaluating potential sites to acquire links from. This means identifying potential sites depending on the type of link building strategy you are using, checking the quality of that site, and finding the appropriate people to reach out to as part of your outreach campaign. - ahrefs “ “
6. SOMETIMES YOUR WELL RUNS DRY
7. Digital PR Working with a database has limits Struggling to find journalists that cover your niche. Link building Just running out of ideas. Using methods that rely on the SERPs. SOMETIMES YOUR WELL RUNS DRY
8. I conducted a study to assess the variation in the domains that rank for different keywords within the same niche. For this study, I used the interiors niche as an example. I selected 111 informational keywords, targeting articles featuring content relevant to interiors rather than product pages. SOMETIMES YOUR WELL RUNS DRY
9. 49,191 Unique URLs 7,685 Unique domains 5,316 Unique domains after metrics cuts
10. @seekerdigital @SineadM_PR seeker.digital
11. @seekerdigital @SineadM_PR seeker.digital
12. @seekerdigital @SineadM_PR seeker.digital
13. This is us @seekerdigital @SineadM_PR seeker.digital
14. THE MEAN GIRLS PRINCIPLE
16. Identify the sources which only the relevant sites want to gather around. The ‘tables’, if you will. It shows or proves something to customers/readers. Its creator has authority. It’s unique and specific. The following three qualities indicate that there are relevant sites gathered around your source: 1. 2. 3. the mean girls principle
17. That they are better than their competitors That you can trust them That they are competitively priced That they are experts in their fields That they are up to date with the latest industry knowledge That they are good people That they are a relevant solution to your problem Is this source being used by the site to show/prove something?
18. Industry-specific awards Industry specific review sites Skill/industry-specific accreditation Authoritative and singular emails/sources Governing bodies Industry-specific tools Directories (including government registers) Industry/tool/service-specific comparison sites Industry reports/data Industry-specific events Leading industry figures Industry-specific schemes/charities Is this source being used by the site to show/prove something?
19. Does the creator of this source have enough authorty? Do people outside the niche know that the creator of this source exists? Is this source made by an entity that governs the industry? Do most people within the niche know about the entity that created this source? When something new happens involving the creator of this source, is it featured in the news?
20. is this source unique and specific? Is this the primary source/is this source one of a kind? If not, how many other places can I find this information? Is it specific to one industry? Is it likely to be referenced by more than one niche? Is this source used in the kind of content you want your link to be featured on? Category, A+ links, that’s the bar
21. EXAMPLES
22. Client 1: Website builder Your client, a website builder, is looking to create a campaign to introduce a new product. They want to win links in tech publications. Option 1: Competitor backlinks - Wordpress Option 2: Industry leader press release backlinks - Bard announcement
23. Bard announcement - 1,699 domains Wordpress - 19,431 Bard - tech and business sites. Higher concentration of tech. Wordpress - some tech and business, but many sites that don’t fit either niche. OBSERVATIONS TOOLS USED The same for both: ahrefs site explorer
24. Option 1: ‘black friday scams‘ - content explorer pull Client 2: an online bank Your client, an online bank, wants to run a thought leadership campaign on the most common Black Friday scams in the UK. Option 2: report@phishing.gov.uk - content explorer pull
25. Both are good in their own ways. It depends on whether you want UK- specific outreach or a global campaign. Higher concentration of good quality metrics using the email address “Black Friday scams” - 1,003 results, reporting email - 458 results OBSERVATIONS TOOLS USED The same for both: ahrefs content explorer
26. There’s nothing wrong with how you’ve been prospecting thusfar Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water You’re doing amazing sweetie
27. HOW DO I PUT ALL OF THIS INTO ACTION
28. putting the principle into action Identify the type of site you want links on What are businesses/publications like this trying to show or prove? Which sources would they use to achieve this? 1. 2. Ask yourself a. b.
29. Industry-specific awards Industry specific review sites Skill/industry-specific accreditation Authoritative and singular emails/sources Governing bodies Industry-specific tools Directories (including government registers) Industry/tool/service-specific comparison sites Industry reports/data Industry-specific events Leading industry figures Industry-specific schemes/charities Is this source being used by the site to show/prove something?
30. 3. Determine whether or not these sources are authoritative enough to gather enough sites. 4. Check that source is specific enough to only interest the right type of site 5. Inspect, find contacts, write templates and outreach. You’ve got this! putting the principle into action
31. final tips! Segment via metrics for link building and Digital PR campaigns to allow for the right type of outreach email. Filter your results as much as possible. If you’re stuck for sources, have a look at articles reporting on your site’s niche. What are they linking to? If you ‘re in a small niche with little coverage, look at industries adjacent to you. 1. 2. 3. 4.
32. @seekerdigital @SineadM_PR seeker.digital
33. THANKS FOR LISTENING The fact that you’ve paid attention for this long is so fetch. @seekerdigital @SineadM_PR seeker.digital