Covid-19 has overturned everyone’s lives. Each industry is affected differently, but most marketing plans are being interrupted. Businesses are responding by refocusing efforts and adjusting to new consumer behaviours. In a previous Tug post, we discussed the importance of keeping customers updated and your SEO up to date, this also stretches to link building efforts. Improving a sites’ link profile and strengthening its authority is built over time. Continuing link building during these unprecedented times will help maintain your visibility online and therefore prepare for a more efficient recovery.
CONTINUE DEVELOPING CONTENT OUTREACH
Take this opportunity to focus on expanding content outreach ideas when other resources may be put on hold.
Short-term:
Consider subjects which resonate with the times. Ask yourself what is trending now and how can the organisation bring a distinctive angle to it? A valuable method for this is Google Trends. Journalists are always interested in linking to information or data, so consider what expert knowledge can be given by your company that resonates with the current times? For a great hook or a resource to an established storey, this will be a valuable asset.
Another instance is the acknowledgment of good contributions made during the crisis by your organisation. It may be to help local neighbourhoods or to provide key employees with discounts. To educate people about this and outreach to publishers to let them know, build on-site material. Maintaining empathy, however, is important and ensures that this does not sound self-congratulatory or self-serving. The goal is to ensure that the data is out there and at the same time keep your brand in mind for customers.
Long-term:
Take this opportunity for future connexion acquisition to schedule and extend your content archive. Things are rapidly evolving, and it is hard to schedule particular activities for them. However, once we are back to “natural,” try to consider topics people can find helpful or educational. More “evergreen” content that is not unique to a certain period or campaign is worth considering. Again, consider the importance and knowledge your organisation can have that after the lockdown would be useful.
Collecting data for outreach assets:
As mentioned earlier, journalists and publishers often want to link to unique data or expertise. Use this time to collect data that later can be used to develop an infographic or informative guide. It offers a good opportunity for outreach by providing an asset to journalists once business-as-usual resumes.
Pre-outreach
This is also an outstanding chance to spend more time in pre-outreaching. This enables you to incorporate and “test the water” before developing your final ideas with publishers and journalists. Not only does this allow you time to expand on your ideas, but it also generates excitement and creates connexions.
CONSIDER EXISTING RELATIONSHIPS AND CREATE NEW ONES
A big part of link building relies on the connections you make. Acquiring a link depends a lot on interesting content, however, if you can rely on relationships that you’ve developed and established during this time you will have an advantage.
Research your contacts
The prospect you’re contacting should always be investigated. More than ever now. Try to find out how Covid-19 could impact the companies that you are contacting. Is there any information on their platform that warns them of temporary closures or of hours being reduced? If there is, keeping on to your outreach may be more sensible.
Personalise your angle
Be sure to change the angle when pitching an idea to a publisher and highlight the value it gives them at this moment. Consider if you are pitching something that can be viewed as insensitive? Or, on the contrary, there is something about your presentation that you can highlight that the publisher and their audience are highly important.
Look at new prospects
Take this opportunity to develop and broaden your connexions with new relationships. For instance, are there any of your goods that are seeing an increase in demand or are more difficult to get a hold of? Take this time to work on getting these pages available. Hopefully, this will create a list of potential customers that might be interested in the goods in question to consider.
KEEP CALM AND BUILD LINKS
These are tough times, and where to bring money in and what efforts to concentrate on can be broken up by corporations. In addition to softening the effect on your ranking, maintaining and adapting your link building strategies will also help you to stay ahead of the curve. So, keep calm and create relations.