Understanding Link Building Psychology · Link Building Psychology . 2 For decades, bloggers,...

The Definitive Guide

By Josue Valles

Understanding

Link Building

Psychology

2

For decades, bloggers, marketers, and SEOs have been focusing on link building from a

technical perspective - they talk about numbers, domain authority, anchor text, relevancy and

a ton of other vanity metrics.

It’s easy to forget that your targets are real people on the other side of the screen; in fact,

that’s why most people fail when it comes to link building.

In order to get better results, you need to take your link builder hat off and try to understand

people. By taking this approach, you’ll be able to develop more effective campaigns.

That’s exactly why I decided to create this guide - to show you how psychology affects link

building, and how you can use it to achieve better results.

Let’s rock and roll:

Learn more Need a custom link building

campaign? We can help!

Chapter 1: Why do people link to other sites?

Chapter 2: The link building funnel

Chapter 3: The power of data

Chapter 4: The psychology of visual content

Chapter 5: Link triggers

Chapter 6: Outreaching techniques that work

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W H Y D O P E O P L E L I N K T O O T H E R S I T E S ?

The first thing you need to understand about link building is why people link to other

websites. This way, you’ll be able to focus your energy more effectively, and although every

person may have their own reasons, I’ve listed the most common ones below:

1 ) R e f e r e n c e m a t e r i a l

When creating content, bloggers generally want to prove that what they’re saying is true. If

your site has information that supports what the blogger in question is writing, he or she is

very likely to link to your site.

As chapter 3 will cover, that’s exactly why data-driven content works better than the common

blog post. Bloggers love to support what they’re saying with data. For example, case studies,

scientific research, and experiments.

2 ) S o c i a l c u r r e n c y

(As chapter 5 will cover) The principle of social currency states that people generally want to

look good - people care about what others say about them.

In simpler words, if your content makes others look good, they’re very likely to link to your

site.







http://neilpatel.com/2015/04/30/the-beginners-guide-to-writing-a-data-driven-post/



https://blog.kissmetrics.com/social-currency-and-remarkability/


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Let me explain:

Let’s say you’re a food blogger who constantly states the paleo diet is the best diet in the

world, and one day you come across a scientific article that demonstrates that what you say

about the paleo diet is completely true.

Would you link to that article?

I guess you would.

That’s exactly how social currency works.

When your content provides information that supports a certain conclusion, you’re very likely

to get a ton of links. This is why it’s very important that you’re up to date with the industry

news, trends, and angles. This way, you’ll be able to create content around such things.

3 ) U t i l i t y

People constantly link to stuff that will help their audience do specific things.

Here’s where freebies come in very handy. Things like calculators, customized spreadsheets,

free plugins, software and so on, tend to collect a ton of backlinks (especially when they’re

free).

For example, Content Row offers a free link bait title generator that allows you create

compelling headlines within seconds.







http://www.contentrow.com/tools/link-bait-title-generator


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That single page has racked up over 400 backlinks from 141 different root domains.

4 ) P a r t n e r s h i p s

One of the main reasons why bloggers link to other websites is to build relationships with

other bloggers within their industry; thus, helping each other and growing faster.

By no means am I talking about link exchanging or any kinds of dirty practices. I’m talking

about “reciprocity”.

Credit: Ciasf

Reciprocity helps you build healthy relationships with other bloggers. If they see you

constantly use their content as a reference, they will be more likely to link yours too in the

future.







http://www.ciasf.com/news-updates/upcoming-event-what-are-the-deal-makers-thinking


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5 ) C o p y r i g h t g u i d e l i n e s

Sometimes, bloggers just link to other sites because they “must”.

For example, when a blogger shares a copyrighted image on their blog, he or she “must” link

to the original author if they don’t want to get in trouble.

Credit: Convince and Convert

Additionally, although you need to first request permission from the author in order to use

copyrighted material, more often than not, bloggers don’t ask for it; they just use the material

and link back to the author’s site to get a clean conscience.

6 ) D i s g u s t

It’s odd, but there are bloggers who constantly link to other sites just for the sake of

defaming. For example, bad customer reviews, anger customers, or as a result of personal

conflicts.

Credit: Shout ME Loud







http://convinceandconvert.com/

http://www.shoutmeloud.com/


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But don’t worry; these kinds of links are not that bad.

Yes, they can hurt your brand, but they won’t definitely hurt your rankings.

By no means am I saying you should pursue these kinds of links just for the sake of better

rankings, but often you wouldn’t be able to do anything about those links, so instead of

fighting with those people, keep calm and let it be.

7 ) C o n t r o v e r s y

When you challenge what most bloggers in the industry are saying, you’re very likely to get

mentioned a lot (especially if you promote the hell out of your content).

For example, Derek Halpern (author of Social Triggers), created a post called: “The content

is king myth debunked.”

There he stated that design is more important than content (challenging the popular belief of

“content is king”). Derek used data, stats and facts to support what he was saying, so the

post attracted a lot of attention.

In fact, over 160 root domains have linked to that piece of content.







http://socialtriggers.com/content-is-king-myth/




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That’s the power of controversy.

Now Listen:

The points I’ve just covered aren't’ all the reasons why people link to other websites. As I

said before, there may be a ton of other reasons, but the seven I mentioned above are

generally the most common ones.

Make sure to take this information into account when designing your content marketing and

link building strategy. This way, you’ll be able to achieve better results.



F u r t h e r r e a d i n g :

• Why People Link - Tips To Improve Your Web Content

• Reasons Why People Will Link To Your Website






http://www.koozai.com/blog/search-marketing/link-building/why-people-link-tips-to-improve-your-web-content/













http://www.seomark.co.uk/reasons-why-people-will-link-to-your-website/














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T H E L I N K B U I L D I N G F U N N E L

Have you ever heard about the conversion funnel?

It’s a technical term used in marketing to describe the path people follow from the moment

they come across your product until they to convert into customers.

The conversion funnel is fragmented in three sections: TOFU (Top of the funnel), MOFU

(Middle of The Funnel) and BOFU (Bottom of the funnel).







http://www.kunocreative.com/blog/bid/75186/How-to-Properly-Deploy-Content-Marketing-in-Your-Sales-Funnel


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In each section, people have a different behavior, so you need to use different strategies,

languages and ways to treat people.

For example, when a person arrives on your site for the first time, you can say that the

person is in the TOFU, or brand awareness stage.

On the other hand, if that same person decides to subscribe to your email newsletter, you

could say that person has entered your MOFU or consideration stage.

Cool, but what does this have to do with link building? You ask.

Well, I’ve found that people react very similar when it comes to link building; before someone

decides to link to your content, he or she follows a path from the moment they see your

content to the moment he or she actually links to it.

I call it “The Link Building Funnel”.

This Funnel helps you determine the approach you need to take in order to get better results.

Here’s what I mean:



T O F U ( b r a n d a w a r e n e s s s t a g e )

In this stage, people start by researching -- whether it’s for personal references or editorial

purposes or even just for entertainment purposes. However, people are not familiar with your

brand, so the likelihood to get a mention is very low.

Let me explain:

For example, let’s say you’re writing a blogpost on CRO (conversion rate optimization), and

want to learn more about your topic, so you perform a search on Google and come across a

website you’ve never seen before.

After reading the content on that post, you think it’s good, but want to see what other people

are saying about the subject, so you go back to the search listings and click on another

result, but this time, you’re familiar with the brand.

When it’s time to selecting the content you’re going to link to, you’re statistically more likely to

choose the page you’re most familiar with - even if the content was the same.

That’s the bottom of the link building funnel.

How to approach this stage

In this stage, you should focus on building trust first, rather than getting backlinks. It doesn’t

mean you won’t receive mentions; tough, but it’s not the most important factor.






One of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to link building is to outreach to

people who are in the bottom of their funnel - they’ve never heard of the link builder’s site,

there’s no trust.

That’s why most people fail.

It’s much better to start by building trust first, and once people trust you, getting a mention will

be much easier.

How can you build trust?

You can start by linking to your target’s websites. As chapter 6 will cover, people always

react positively to positive acts. In addition, follow them on social media and become a part of

their community. This will put you on their radars.



M O F U ( C o n s i d e r a t i o n S t a g e )

In this stage, people are more familiar with your content, they know the kind of articles you

publish, your personal voice and the angle you take on the topics, so they’re more likely to

link to your site if they find your content while researching.

Here’s where people remember the post they read the last week on your site, and decide to

mention you, or they find you on a search listing and recognize your brand, so you stand out

from the other results.

How to approach this stage:

In this stage, your link building efforts will be more effective. As I said, people already know

you, so you only need to put your content in front of them (outreaching) and they will do the

rest.

Here’s where traditional link building tactics work best. If your content is good, getting a

mention will be insanely easy.

B O F U ( S e l e c t i o n )

In this stage, people are loyal followers of your site; they’re usually in your email list and

sometimes skip the research process, and go directly to your site to see if you have content

on the topic they’re writing.

When people are in this stage, they’re very likely to link to your content, and generally you

don’t even need to ask for it. These people are also known as “brand evangelists”, and

although this group is generally small, it’s what drives the most backlinks to your site.

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Approach:

Since people are very familiar with your content and like your style and tone, you don't’ even

need to ask for a link, but it doesn’t mean you can do nothing to improve results.

Here’s where incentives come in handy. You can thank every person who mentions your

brand or create some kind of gift for your brand evangelists.

For example, Ana Hoffman-- from Traffic Generation Cafe -- publishes a weekly roundup

called: “Weekly marketing skinny”. There, she mentions the blog posts where she has been

cited recently.

That’s a great way to entice brand evangelists to keep spreading the word. In addition, this

kind of strategy pushes people who are in the middle of your funnel to also start linking to

your content.

Make sense?




• What Is A Conversion Funnel?

• The Content Marketing Sales Funnel

• ToFu, MoFu & BoFu: Serving Up The Right Content For Lead Nurturing

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https://www.bigcommerce.com/ecommerce-answers/what-conversion-funnel/









https://www.convertwithcontent.com/the-content-marketing-sales-funnel/

http://www.weidert.com/whole_brain_marketing_blog/bid/113688/ToFu-MoFu-BoFu-Serving-Up-The-Right-Content-for-Lead-Nurturing









T H E P O W E R O F D ATA

As I covered earlier, people tend to link to websites that provide some kind of value for their

audiences, so think about it:

As a matter of fact, recent studies have demonstrated that data-driven content generates

283% more backlinks than the common blog post.

That’s why case studies and infographics are so popular; they’re specifically narrowed to

show data.

But you don’t need to take my word for it, let’s see some real world examples:

Brian Dean is one of the bloggers that constantly publish case studies. In fact, he recently

published a post called: “SEO Campaign Case Study: 1,117 Social Shares and 15% More

Organic Traffic (In 2 Weeks)”.


campaign? We can help! 13

What better way to provide value than creating content with a ton of stats and data, bloggers

can use as a reference?





http://www.quicksprout.com/2015/03/18/what-i-learned-about-content-marketing-by-analyzing-614-posts/

http://backlinko.com/seo-campaign

http://backlinko.com/seo-campaign




That single post has generated over 600 backlinks from 31 different domains. That’s

awesome, considering the blog post has been published for 2 weeks at that point.

But Brian Dean is not alone, just take a look at the following case study from Groove: “How

We Got 1,000+ Subscribers from a Single Blog Post in 24 Hours”.

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https://www.groovehq.com/blog/1000-subscribers

https://www.groovehq.com/blog/1000-subscribers



That Case Study generated over 80 backlinks from 57 different root domains:

Can you see the power of data?

Here’s another outstanding example from HubSpot. This time, they used data to create a

compelling infographic that has racked up over a thousand backlinks from 36 different root

domains.

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http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/linkable-content



The bottom line?

Make sure to include visible data within every piece of content you publish; this way you

increase your likelihood to get more backlinks exponentially.

One extra tip:

Focus on sharing data that people can actually understand and apply in their own

businesses and personal lives. Pure numbers are useless if people can’t understand what

they mean.

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• Data-Driven Content Strategy Meets Content Marketing

• 6 Steps To A Data-Driven Content Marketing Strategy

• Creating Data-Driven Content: The Step By Step Process






http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2015/09/data-driven-content-strategy-template/



http://www.dnb.com/connectors/6-steps-to-a-successful-data-driven-content-marketing-strategy.html







http://www.buzzstream.com/blog/creating-data-driven-content-the-step-by-step-process.html







T H E P S Y C H O L O G Y O F V I S U A L C O N T E N T

In today’s world, people have a limited amount of attention. They’re constantly bombarded

with thousands (literally) of advertising messages every day. If you don’t do something about

it, it’s really easy to get buried in the ground under your competitor’s messages.

When it comes to link building, the same thing is happening.

Over two million blog posts are written and published every day, and if you don’t do

something to stand out, your content will get buried. Therefore, nobody will link to it.

What can I do? You ask.

Well, you can start by simplifying your message. If people can understand what you’re trying

to explain in your content, they will be more likely to link to it in the future.

Here’s where visual content comes in very handy.

According to some resources, our brain is wired to understand and retain visual content. In

fact, our brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than just plain text.







http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2015/27698/2-million-blog-posts-are-written-every-day-heres-how-you-can-stand-out

https://blog.slideshare.net/2014/11/10/the-power-of-visuals-10-facts-you-need-to-know/


Awesome, right?

As a matter of fact, BuzzSumo recently ran an experiment where they analyzed over a

hundred thousand blog posts from different sites, and they found an interesting pattern:

Blog posts that contained at least one image received more social shares (especially on

Twitter and Facebook.)

What about backlinks? You ask; is visual content a tool that helps you attract more

mentions?

Let’s see what experts say about it:

I’m sure you know who Neil Patel is, right? He’s one of the most prolific marketers in the

world. Here’s what Neil says about visual content:



“Visual content pieces are generating more backlinks than any other form of content I

publish, which—in the long run—help increase my search engine rankings and overall

readership numbers.” – Neil Patel





http://okdork.com/2014/04/21/why-content-goes-viral-what-analyzing-100-millions-articles-taught-us/



Now, how can you get similar results?

Well, although there’s no “one-size-fits-all” kind of visual content, there are certain types that

work better than others.

Listed here are the three types of visual content that I’ve had the most success with:

1 ) V i d e o

Video is one of the most powerful ways to communicate a message in a simple,

understandable way. As a matter of fact, several studies have demonstrated that video

increases people’s understanding by 74%.

So it’s not rare that videos constantly generate a ton of backlinks. If people can understand

and apply the information you’re sharing, they’ll be more likely to remember your content and

link to it in future blog posts.

Skeptical?

According to Business 2 Community, videos generate 3 times more backlinks than content

without video.

Video doesn’t work equally for all industries, though, so you need to analyze your

competitors and see if they’re incorporating video within their content. If so, analyze what

kind of topics they usually cover and start by modeling their strategy.

In addition, you should ask your audience if they’re interested in video content. This way,

you’ll know whether videos can work for you or not.







http://www.digitalsherpa.com/blog/25-amazing-video-marketing-statistics/

http://www.business2community.com/content-marketing/16-facts-video-marketing-will-keep-night-0844491GriqfTfBCpEoWLYR.97


In addition, you should ask your audience if they’re interested in video content. This way,

you’ll know whether videos can work for you or not.

Take into account that when it comes to video marketing, it’s very important that you add an

embed code (when you’re hosting your videos on your own server), so people can easily

embed your video in their sites.

Credit: Moz

2 ) I n f o g r a p h i c s

Infographics work extremely well when it comes to link building.

As a matter of fact, according to recent studies, infographics generate 37.5% more

backlinks than a regular blog post.

That’s just awesome.

For instance, saying your average blog post is generating 30 backlinks; by adding

infographics to your content, you could be able to increase that number to 41.



It makes sense:

We’ve discussed the power of data and its influence on building links, remember?

We’ve also talked about the power of visual information.





http://moz.com/




Infographics are powerful link magnets, because they combine both visuals and data, so

bloggers can not only use them to support or prove conclusions, but also infographics allow

people to interpret those data and actually understand the message.

3 ) I m a g e s t h a t e x p l a i n y o u r p o i n t s

Infographics are not the only way to simplify a message. You can also use customized

images within your content to explain what you’re trying to say.

These kinds of images don’t need to be fancy. For example, if you’re explaining to people

how to do something, by adding screenshots of what people need to do in each step, you’re

simplifying your message.

Credit: Convince and Convert







http://www.convinceandconvert.com/


On the other hand, if you want people to understand an idea, you can use an image that

exemplifies your idea.

Here’s where visual storytelling comes in handy. Try to use images that support what you’re

saying and help readers understand the message.

Things like charts, mind maps, and niche clouds are good examples.

Credit: Backlinko

The bottom line?

Whether it’s a video, an infographic or just a graphic that explain your points, make sure to

add at least one piece of visual content within your content. By taking this approach, you’ll

find that more people actually understand your message, and more people will start linking

back to your content.




• 5 Psychology Studies That Tell Us How People Perceive Visual Information

• The Visual Science Of Content Marketing And What It Means For Creatives

• A Complete Guide To Visual Content: The Science, Tools And Strategy Of Creating Killer

Images





http://backlinko.com/keyword-research


http://piktochart.com/5-psychology-studies-that-tell-us-how-people-perceive-visual-information/

http://www.skyword.com/contentstandard/for-storytellers/the-visual-science-of-content-marketing-and-what-it-means-for-creatives/







https://blog.bufferapp.com/a-complete-guide-to-creating-awesome-visual-content








L I N K T R I G G E R S

Contrary to popular belief, when a blog post collects a ton of backlinks, there’s no luck

involved.

In fact, several studies have found that highly-linked content contains certain elements that

evoke more people to actually link to it.

These psychological elements are called, “link triggers”. If you incorporate some of them to

your website/content, your chances to get a link increase exponentially.

Here they are:

1 ) C o n t e n t l e n g t h

According to MOZ, there’s a direct correlation between the word count of a piece of content

and the number of backlinks it attracts.







https://moz.com/blog/what-kind-of-content-gets-links-in-2012


Incredible, right?

First, lengthy content contains more information, so it’s more likely that bloggers find what

they’re looking for on long-form content.

Second, long content evokes a feel of awe, which is directly correlated with social

sharing. According to Dr. Jonah Berger, high-arousal emotions (like awe) push more people

to share stuff online.

Credit: TechTarget







http://jonahberger.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Arousal2.pdf




http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Plutchiks-Wheel-of-Emotions


There’s no “standard” length of content, though. It really depends on your audience.

For instance, if you’re in the B2B space, average content contains between 1,000 to 2,500

words, so in order to create long content, you should write more than 2,500 words.

But if you’re in the B2C space, average blog posts contain between 300 to 800 words; so in

order to write long content, you should write more than 800 words.

Make sense?

2 ) H u m o r

As I mentioned in the last point, recent studies have found that high arousal emotions

(especially positive emotions) push people to share content online.

And although those experiments were made to measure how emotions affect social sharing,

the information can also be applied to link building, because social sharing and link

building are one and the same — I mean, highly-shared content is commonly highly-linked

too.

That means if you incorporate elements to your content that make people feel good while

reading it, they will be very likely to mention your brand in future content.







http://buzzsumo.com/blog/social-shares-and-inbound-links-insights-from-new-correlation-data/

http://buzzsumo.com/blog/social-shares-and-inbound-links-insights-from-new-correlation-data/


Credit: HubSpot

One of the best ways to evoke positive emotions to your readers is by using humor - adding

content like memes, funny videos or images, or just telling a joke here and there increases

your likelihood to get a mention.

3 ) T r u s t

Here’s the deal:

That’s odd, right?

That’s why it is very important that you focus on building trust signals, but don’t worry; it’s not

that hard. As long as you follow the next guidelines, you’ll be ok:

First, pay attention to your website’s design. It’s the first thing people see when they arrive on

your website -- if your design sucks, you’re screwed.

As a matter of fact, InstantShift found that 5 out of 10 people will cite a website’s design as

the main factor in deciding the credibility of a business.



If people don't trust you, they definitely won’t link back to your content - even if it’s good.





http://ubspot.com/marketing/linkable-content

http://www.ironpaper.com/webintel/articles/10-web-design-statistics/




That said, “You need to focus your attention on building a trusty website,” - don’t worry, you

don’t need anything fancy, just focus on the following aspects:

• Consistency on your brand’s colors

• Don’t use more than 3 base colors

• Keep updated with your design (style change over time)

• Use digestible fonts

• Make sure every element on your site works properly

In addition, focus on building brand signals. People are trusting brands more than ever. If you

focus on creating a brand that resonates with your core audience, they’ll be more likely to

trust you.

Second, be relevant. You need to make sure you’re providing the solutions your audience

needs and wants.

That’s why audience research is very important. The more you know your audience, the

more effective content you’ll provide - if your content isn’t relevant for your audience, you

won’t be able to build trust.

Finally, be transparent. Honesty is the most important aspect when it comes to building trust.

Without integrity, all your business can collapse.

For instance, Pat Flynn (founder of Smart Passive Income) was the first blogger that

published a “monthly income report” back in 2009.

That kind of thing helps people trust him.

Of course, you don’t need to publish your income every month, but you need to be

transparent and honest with everything you do.







http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/my-monthly-report-june-2009/


Remember, trust isn’t something that happens overnight. You need to keep consistency and

patience, but once people trust you, there’s nothing that can stop you.

4 ) U t i l i t y

Last but not least, utility.

The more useful your content is, the more people will link to it.

Although there’s no exact science to creating useful content (it depends on your audience

and industry) there are certain things you can do to increase its utility.

Here they are:

• Create digestible content

• Add information people can apply immediately

• Create customized tools and resources, so people can get the most out of your

content




• Why People Share

• The Psychology Of Sharing

• Why Google Hates Your Site (Hint: It Has Something To Do With TrustRank)

• A Guide To Creating Content That Attracts Powerful Backlinks






http://coschedule.com/blog/why-people-share/

http://nytmarketing.whsites.net/mediakit/pos/



http://backlinko.com/google-trustrank





http://seositecheckup.com/articles/a-guide-to-creating-content-that-attracts-powerful-backlinks





O U T R E A C H I N G TA C T I C S T H AT W O R K

Email outreach is one of the oldest link building methods, but make no mistake, its still one of

the most effective ways to get dozens of high quality, relevant links.

The problem with outreaching is that most bloggers, marketers and SEOs approach it wrong

- they just reach out to random people and spam them with their links; as I said earlier in this

guide, they forget they’re talking to people.

If you really want to get results with email outreach, you need to learn how to speak to

people.

Here are three psychological tactics that will help you get the most out of your outreaching

campaigns:

T a c t i c # 1 : U s e t h e w o r d “ b e c a u s e ”

A common mistake people make when outreaching busy people is to not be clear about what

they want - they add too much fluff to their copy.

By adding the word “because” within the first sentences of your email, influencers will react

more positively. Why? Because you’re answering that question quickly.

It’s not just me saying this tactic works.

Dr. Scott Key did an experiment a few years ago. He analyzed a situation where a person is

going to use a copy machine, and a stranger arrives and asks them if he can use the

machine first.

The first person asked: Mind if I use the copy machine first? Only 6 out of 10 people said

“Yes”.

But when the second person asked the same question, but added a reason why, the

response was much better.



Remember, when a person receives an email, one question comes immediately to mind:

What does this person want?





http://www.bloggingwizard.com/effective-blogger-outreach/

http://digest.bps.org.uk/2009/01/would-you-give-way-at-photocopier.html


That’s the power of the word “because”.

The good news is you can apply the same psychology within an email.

Here’s an example:

As you can see, I added the word “because” at the very beginning of my email.

T a c t i c # 2 : G e t p e o p l e t o s a y “ y e s ” i m m e d i a t e l y

According to Dale Carnegie, author of the book “How to Win Friends & Influence People”,

when a person says, “No”, it’s very hard to change that person’s opinion.

Credit: Famous Authors

It’s much more effective to make people say yes immediately when you start the

conversation. This way, that person will be more likely to say yes again when you propose

them a bigger commitment - like a link back to your site.

But, how can I apply this information to create more compelling emails?



Hey John,

I’m contacting you today because I’ve just read your blog post on SEO.

Great stuff! I really enjoyed it.

In fact, I’m also working on a blog post on SEO and would love if you give me some feedback

on it.

Mind if send you the link?

Thanks,

Josue





http://www.famousauthors.org/dale-carnegie


I’m glad you asked.

The first step is to research the person you’re going to contact, and try to find things about

their personal life. For example, where he or she lives, things they like and even things they

despise.

You’re going to use this information to build rapport very quickly and get your target to say

yes immediately.

There’s a Gmail plugin you can use to streamline the research process; it’s

called, Rapportive.

Once you’ve installed the plugin, every time you write an email, Rapportive will show you the

information of the person in question.







https://rapportive.com/


Try to find interesting points and make a list of them.

Now, it’s time to craft your email.

There’s no exact science to get people to say yes, but the easiest way to do it is by asking

strategic questions.

For example, if you find that your target is passionate about basketball, you could structure

your email the following way:

Here’s another example:

T a c t i c # 3 : R e c i p r o c i t y

There’s a psychological principle called, “Reciprocity”. It states that people always pay back

to a positive action with another positive action.

For instance, when a company provides a relevant, informative newsletter to their

subscribers, they are more likely to reciprocate by making a purchase or contacting the

company’s services.



Hey John,

Happy Monday!

I noticed you’re a basketball fan, right? (Since he actually is a basketball fan, he will say

“YES” in his mind)

By starting your email with that kind of question, people will start the conversation in a

positive way, and they will be more likely to say “yes” when you ask for a link.

Hello Carol,

I was searching for information on SEO this morning when I came across your AWESOME

post: “10 ways to optimize your articles for SEO”.

Great stuff! I immediately noticed you put lots of efforts into creating it, didn’t you? (Again,

this person is very likely to say “Yes” in her mind)

Anyway, I’ve just published a blog post on SEO last week and I think you’d enjoy it.

Can I send you a link? (Carol is more likely to say “yes”).

Thanks,

Josue





http://www.senseimarketing.com/the-principle-of-reciprocity-and-influence-marketing/


On the other hand, when you constantly link to other people’s content, they’re likely to pay

you back by linking to your content too.

That’s how reciprocity works.

The good news is:

When it comes to email outreach, you can apply the same psychology.

If you start by showing the benefits, the other person will have if she or he decides to accept

your offer, your likelihood to receive a positive response will increase exponentially.

It’s like SEO expert Lyndon Antcliff puts it: “You have to outline how I will benefit, not only

how you will feel”.

By taking this approach, you’ll notice that more people react positively to your emails, and

ultimately you’ll get better results.

P U T T I N G I T A L L T O G E T H E R

When it comes to online marketing - whether it’s link building, conversion rate optimization or

traffic acquisition - you need to remember that you’re talking to human beings, and the better

you understand people, the better results you’ll get.

That’s why psychology plays a very important role in every successful marketing campaign.

Instead of focusing 100% of your attention on the “hows”, start spending more time trying to

understand the “whys”.

That way, you’ll be able to craft more compelling messages and your link building efforts will

be more effective.




• Outreach Letters For Link Building

• The Link Builder's Guide To Email Outreach

• How To Email Busy People

• How To Achieve Incredible Results With Blogger Outreach

• 40 Experts Unveil Their Top Blogger Outreach Strategies And Tools






https://moz.com/blog/outreach-letters-for-link-building-real-examples-14902



http://www.quicksprout.com/2012/12/07/the-link-builders-guide-to-email-outreach/



http://www.sparringmind.com/perfect-email/






http://www.uklinkology.co.uk/blogger-outreach-strategies-and-tools-from-the-experts/

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