Guide
Short messages for the situations that actually come up, and what makes each one work.
Written by AxelonLast updated
The short answer
Good outreach is short, specific and honest. Say who you are, name a page of theirs you actually read, say exactly what you are proposing, and say what they get. Three or four sentences. Follow up once, a week later, and then stop.
Four things, in this order: who you are, proof you have read their site, exactly what you are asking, and why it is worth their time. What kills most outreach is not length, it is the obvious signs of a template sent to hundreds of people. Naming one specific page, and something specific about it, is the single biggest difference.
Subject: Your strap sizing guide Hi Sam, I run a small site reviewing dive watches. Your guide to strap sizing is the clearest I have found, and I would like to link to it from my buyer’s guide, where readers keep asking about fit. I also have a piece on water resistance ratings that might suit your strap care page, if you think it fits. No pressure either way. Alex
Subject: Broken link on your resources page Hi Priya, I was reading your beginner’s hiking resources page and noticed the link to the trail safety checklist now goes to an error page. I wrote a checklist covering the same ground that might work as a replacement: [link]. Either way, thought you would want to know about the broken one. Alex
Subject: A suggestion for your baking tools list Hi Tom, your list of bread baking tools is one I send people to. One thing it does not cover is proofing baskets, and I have a guide comparing the main types: [link]. If it is useful for the list, great. If not, no problem. Alex
Subject: Re: Your strap sizing guide Hi Sam, just bumping this in case it got buried. Happy to leave it if the timing is not right. Alex One follow-up, about a week later. If there is no reply after that, move on: a second chaser rarely changes the answer and often costs you the goodwill.
How AnyBacklink fixes this. Most outreach goes unanswered because the person receiving it never asked to hear from anyone. On AnyBacklink, every member has signed up because they want to swap links with relevant sites, so a proposal lands with someone already looking. Requests appear on their dashboard with a count on the Swaps tab, and they can accept, decline or suggest changes in one click. No chasing, and no wondering whether it went to spam.
Flattery that could apply to any site, long introductions about yourself, asking for a specific exact-match anchor text, and offering money for a link that should be editorial. Google lists buying links and optimised anchor text in placed articles as link spam, so a message that asks for either is asking the other owner to take a risk for you.
Yes, if it matters to you. Agreeing up front whether the link will be a normal link or nofollow avoids a disagreement later. If money is involved in any way, Google asks for the link to be marked sponsored, and it is better to say so plainly.
Source: Google: qualify your outbound links
How AnyBacklink fixes this. Every proposal on AnyBacklink states the placement and the link type for both sides before anything is agreed, for example a link in an article, as a normal link. The other owner can accept it as it is or suggest different terms, so both sides know exactly what they are publishing before anyone does any work.
Fewer and better. Ten messages to sites you have actually read will usually get more replies than a hundred templated ones, and every reply is a relationship that can lead to more than one link. If your reply rate is low, the fix is almost always better targeting, not more volume.
How AnyBacklink handles this. On AnyBacklink, the people you contact have already said they are looking for relevant sites to swap with, so the hardest part of outreach, finding someone willing to reply, is done before you write a word. Each proposal includes the page you would link from and the type of link.
AnyBacklink matches you with verified site owners in your niche who are already looking for link partners. Free, and nothing is bought or sold.