Anyone knowledgeable about links will tell you that link building requires significant effort. Therefore, to maximize efficiency, I believe in capitalizing on easily attainable opportunities for link building. Why exhaust yourself pursuing links from high-authority domains like CNN.com or The New York Times when you can secure quick wins by simply focusing on your own online presence?

One effective method I use to obtain easy link victories is by converting citations into links. Of all the daily link building strategies I employ, this one consistently yields the best return on investment. You see, at nexus-security, we receive mentions numerous times every day across the internet. A majority of these mentions (approximately 70%) include links back to our website. However, about 30% lack a link. And within those linkless mentions lies the potential to build a valuable link.

Now, when it comes to local SEO, I am aware that citations are like links. Additionally, it’s highly probable that search algorithms utilize citations and endorsements as ranking signals. While those aspects are positive, I prioritize obtaining a link for these reasons:

• A link is doubly beneficial compared to a citation (a link serves as both a citation/endorsement and a channel that directs traffic and link juice back to your website).
• Citations do not generate measurable traffic, while links do.
• Individuals are not typically compensated for acquiring citations across the web (although PR brand evangelists might be an exception, “citation building” is not factored into my KPI bonus structure).
• Even if endorsements contribute to ranking signals (which I believe they do), I have doubts about their weight in algorithms compared to a link (at least currently, in my opinion, but this could easily shift with future algorithm updates).

The bottom line is if you’re not actively monitoring brand mentions to capitalize on link building opportunities, you’re overlooking a valuable chance to enhance your website’s authority. My success rate for transforming citations into links is around 75%. How do I achieve this? While it’s not exactly “magic” (as the title suggests), the outcomes are impressively close. Continue reading to discover the secrets behind this method.

Step One: Locate the Citations

To transform citations into links, the initial step involves identifying these citations. Fortunately, numerous listening tools available in the market enable you to monitor brand mentions and sentiment. The tools I personally use daily are Google Alerts, Buzzstream, and Backtype Alerts. Let’s briefly examine each tool’s functionality and their distinct features.

Google Alerts: Google empowers you to establish alerts for an unlimited number of keywords and monitor editorial citations across various platforms, including blogs, forums, news websites, videos, social media, and more. Google Alerts also excels as a brand monitoring tool. I’ve configured the alerts feature to notify me whenever a brand mention surfaces.

Setting this up is straightforward. Here’s a quick snapshot for illustration.

Buzzstream: While Google Alerts serves as a valuable listening tool, Buzzstream surpasses it in functionality. Many search marketers recognize Buzzstream as an exceptional link management tool (refer to my review on Buzzstream for link management). However, Buzzstream also boasts a robust set of brand and keyword monitoring features, allowing you to stay informed about virtually every conversation surrounding your brand across the web.

Backtype Alerts: The Backtype Alerts tool stands out due to its specific focus on tracking brand mentions (or keyword mentions) exclusively within the comments sections of blogs and other online platforms. Similar to Google Alerts, you receive email notifications whenever branded keywords are detected in comments.

It’s important to note that these listening tools were not originally designed for link building. Their primary function lies in serving as an online reputation management system, empowering companies to track conversations related to their brand or targeted keywords across the internet. However, as previously mentioned, I primarily utilize them for link building purposes and to stay informed about potential link building opportunities that I might otherwise overlook.

Step Two: Request a Link

Now that I have these listening tools actively notifying me about brand mentions, what’s the next course of action? The subsequent step involves visiting the website or platform where the mention occurred and verifying whether or not the editorial citation includes a hyperlink.

As a side note, it would be highly beneficial if one of the listening tools mentioned in this article (hint, hint: Buzzstream) could indicate whether or not the discovered brand mention already contains a link. This feature would eliminate the need to navigate away from my brand monitoring dashboard and manually inspect each website, ultimately saving me (and countless others) a significant amount of time. Just a thought…

Returning to the process, as previously mentioned, 70% of our mentions already include a link (either directly on the citation or somewhere else on the page). However, the remaining 30% of the time, I encounter websites that have mentioned us but without a link accompanying the editorial citation. The next step is to reach out and request a link. There are two primary approaches to accomplish this:

• Contact the website owner or article author directly (via email) to politely request a link.
• Leave a courteous comment on the relevant content, requesting a link.

For typical link building, content marketing, or infographic outreach campaigns, I strongly advocate for personalized outreach via email. This approach ensures your link requests have the highest chance of success. However, when my goal is to convert citations into links, I’ve achieved remarkable results simply by leaving a concise and respectful comment within the comment section of the blog post or article. This method is particularly appealing because, from an efficiency standpoint, commenting requires far less effort.

Here’s an example of a typical comment/link request that I have successfully used in the past to provide you with a clearer understanding.

The key takeaways when seeking a citation link through a blog comment are as follows:

• Address the author by name: As I always emphasize, prioritize personalization in all requests. Personalization also helps you stand out from spammers.
• Express gratitude: Even though you haven’t secured the link yet, you’ve earned a mention. Therefore, it’s crucial to be courteous and express your thanks.
• Reference the author’s specific mention of your company: This helps refresh the author’s memory and allows them to quickly locate the mention within their post. For instance, if they’ve included you in a comprehensive list of 100 web resources, directly referencing the citation proves helpful.
• Mention the post’s topic: This demonstrates that you’ve genuinely taken the time to read the post, further distinguishing you from spammers.
• Frame your request as a way to benefit the reader, not solely yourself: Present your request as a means to provide readers with easier access to your website (which it inherently is) rather than framing it as a tactic to build links and “dominate the SERPs,” which can be perceived as arrogant.
• Include your name and company name in the comment: Again, personalization is key. Avoid hiding behind an anonymous comment, as it appears unprofessional. Additionally, view this as an opportunity for networking and building relationships.

What NOT to do when requesting a link

WARNING: Refrain from including a link in your comment!!! Adding a link within the body of your comment or hyperlinking your name might hinder your chances of acquiring a link. Why, you ask? Simply put, it provides the author with an easy way out—a reason not to incorporate a link within the article itself. This outcome is counterproductive because:

• Links within comments are frequently tagged as “nofollow.”
• Search engines likely devalue comment links due to page segmentation.

Case in point: I once discovered an unlinked citation and proceeded to request a link in the comments. Without giving it much thought, I included an active link to our website in my note, stating, “It would be fantastic if you could add a link to our website so people can easily find us: http://www.nexus-security.github.io.” The blogger responded with, “It seems you’ve already included a link to your website yourself. Excellent!” Since my primary objective was to secure a link within the body of the article, adding a link in the comments myself inadvertently sabotaged my own efforts. Moreover, the link was designated as nofollow! 🙁

The moral of the story is this: when requesting a link using this approach, avoid including a link yourself. I understand it goes against your instincts as a link builder, but exercise restraint and allow the author to handle it. Trust me on this one.

Why is This Method of Link Building so Remarkably Effective?

That’s an excellent question. As previously mentioned, my success rate using this method is exceptionally high (approximately 75% based on my records), significantly surpassing the typical results of cold link outreach or traditional link marketing campaigns.

The reason behind this high success rate lies in the fact that you’ve already earned a mention, granting you an advantage. It’s highly probable that the author chose to mention you in their article or post because they genuinely appreciate your company, product, or because you’ve done something noteworthy in their eyes. You’ve already established a level of trust.

However, it’s important to acknowledge that this approach doesn’t work universally. For example, it’s unlikely to be effective with affiliate scraper websites, article marketing platforms, or article spinning websites (we frequently receive mentions from article spinners). Therefore, it’s best not to waste your time attempting to obtain links from such sources. It’s unlikely to yield positive results.

One final observation that you might find intriguing: In numerous instances where I’ve requested links for unlinked citations, the blogger or author expressed gratitude for bringing it to their attention. They often explained that the omission of the link was unintentional, attributing it to simply forgetting or not considering it initially. There have been multiple occasions where I’ve even received thanks for the reminder, as if I were some sort of link building Good Samaritan.

Who would have thought, right?