Getting Links Out of News Sites

News sites are content-rich, fast moving and loaded with equity. Getting your site into them is the stuff of dreams in most markets, and without either getting the MD arrested, going bust or hiring some amazing PR company at massive cost it’s almost impossible.

But you can still get in the papers – you just need a little patience to follow a story.

1. A story breaks in your field. Let’s say you sell pencils and a man is arrested on suspicion of killing his wife with a sharpened pencil through the eye.
2. Search the newspaper sites for ones that allow comments on the story. Ideally you’re looking for dofollow links, but if traffic and audience building is important to you, then don’t worry too much about it. Don’t bother commenting just yet, but bookmark your targets for later.
3. The story will develop over time. When the guy gets thrown in jail or let off, write the story up yourself on your website. Do a good quality job of your coverage and include a picture or two – you don’t have to host them if you’re worried about copyright issues – and direct quotes wherever possible to establish authenticity.
4. Now go back to your bookmarked stories and update the conversation in the comments with links to your updated story: “Apparently he’s been sent down for 12 years now – I should hope so too. What a horrible thing to do to someone… and with a pencil!“
5. And relax.

Simples.

Remember, stories can develop over many months and lots of them drop from the media radar altogether without getting any further coverage. You’ll need to spend plenty of time looking for opportunities and checking back on them regularly to see if your moment has arrived. This is rarely likely to yield an anchor text opportunity but you should get relevancy from the story itself and equity from the target domain.

Thank you and goodnight.