The Ultimate Guide to HARO: Boost Your PR and Link Building
Ever wondered how businesses and individuals get featured in top media outlets, gaining valuable backlinks and boosting their online presence? The answer lies in HARO, or Help a Reporter Out. In this comprehensive guide, we will dive into the world of HARO, exploring its benefits for both journalists and sources, and learn how to craft perfect pitches, optimize your strategy, and build lasting relationships with media professionals to skyrocket your PR and link-building efforts.
Key Takeaways
HARO is an online platform connecting journalists and expert sources to build brand visibility.
Benefits include increased access, exposure, credibility and backlinks for both parties.
Registering on HARO allows users to respond to journalist queries with pertinent insights or expertise while optimizing their strategy through subscription plans and alternative link building strategies.
Understanding HARO: A Brief Overview
HARO is an online platform connecting journalists with expert sources to acquire high-quality backlinks and valuable media coverage. HARO, launched in 2008, has since been adopted by a variety of information sources, ranging from small blogs to famed news outlets like The New York Times, CNN and Fox News. This platform enables organisations to easily source stories and content from over 1 million global sources, leading to the conclusion haro is an effective tool for obtaining high quality backlinks, media coverage, and haro links.
As a source, you receive a daily email digest of journalists’ requests, which opens up a plethora of opportunities for HARO link building. Responding to these requests can result in high-quality backlinks, enhancing your SEO and brand visibility.
The Benefits of Using HARO
Utilizing HARO provides journalists with easy access to expert opinions and relevant sources, while sources benefit from increased brand exposure, credibility, and high-quality backlinks.
In the following subsections, we will delve into the specific benefits that enables journalists and sources alike.
For Journalists
Journalists can leverage HARO to access a diverse pool of expert sources and high-quality content for their articles, published in various media outlets. HARO’s quality control process ensures that the sources provided are reliable and relevant, empowering journalists to find suitable information for their stories with ease.
To make use of HARO as a journalist, you need to create an account and post your query. HARO streamlines the research process by offering a straightforward way to filter relevant results, send messages to sources with pre-made templates, and quickly locate experts for your requests.
For Sources
Sources engaging with HARO can gain media exposure, boost their credibility, and obtain valuable backlinks for SEO purposes. To leverage HARO for media exposure, sign up as a source, monitor daily email alerts for relevant opportunities, and respond to journalist queries with pertinent insights or expertise.
Your credibility as a source is improved by being featured in articles and publications, establishing you as an expert in your field and elevating your brand’s reputation. However, ensure that your pitch is not overly promotional, as it may lead to rejection.
Getting Started with HARO
Kickstart your HARO experience by following these steps:
Register as a source and submit your contact information and company details.
Choose your preferences to receive pertinent queries from journalists.
Set up your profile and carefully select the queries you respond to, focusing on those related to your expertise.
Utilize HARO’s email digest to monitor daily opportunities for backlinks and media exposure, and filter HARO results to respond to journalist queries with valuable insights or expertise. Remember, you can unsubscribe from a HARO list at any time.
Crafting the Perfect HARO Pitch
Crafting the perfect HARO pitch involves the following steps:
Start with a captivating subject line.
Demonstrate your expertise in the response.
Structure your response in a clear and organized manner.
Offer a unique perspective or insight.
Follow the guidelines provided in the query.
Focus on quality over quantity, only responding to queries where you can offer valuable insights and expertise.
When pitching journalists through HARO, avoid sending attachments and ensure your pitch is free from grammatical errors. By submitting a high-quality, well-researched pitch, you increase the likelihood of being published and gaining valuable backlinks.
Monitoring and Promoting Your HARO Success
Monitoring your HARO success is key to promoting any media features on your social media channels or website. Here’s what you can do:
Set up Google Alerts for your name.
As soon as you’re featured in an article, share it on your social media channels.
Increase your brand’s reputation and visibility.
Using a recommended email service like Gmail for receiving Google Alert notifications ensures you will be promptly informed when you’re featured in an article. By staying on top of your HARO success, you can capitalize on your media coverage and further boost your online presence.
Building Relationships with Journalists
HARO facilitates the building of enduring relationships with journalists by offering a platform for interaction and enabling you to become a dependable source for their articles. To establish connections with journalists beyond HARO, monitor their work in your field of expertise, store their contact information, and reach out to them with relevant information, news, or ideas.
Utilize social media to engage with journalists’ content, follow them, share their articles, and join relevant conversations. By actively participating in their online community and exhibiting patience, you can foster strong relationships with media professionals and increase your chances of getting featured in a media outlet.
Optimizing Your HARO Strategy
Optimizing your HARO strategy involves:
Filtering HARO emails by setting up a Gmail filter
Marking them as read
Categorizing them under a specific label
Concentrating on a few queries daily
Devoting the required time to consider and provide a valuable response.
Ensure you don’t miss any HARO emails by setting up an email filter to direct them to a specific label. Respond only to inquiries that are pertinent to your field of expertise and related to your industry or area of specialization.
HARO Subscription Plans and Pricing
HARO offers different plans for its users, catering to various haro queries needs and accommodating haro requests, ensuring a suitable haro response for everyone:
Free basic plan
Premium plans with additional features, such as keyword alerts, early access to media requests, and phone support
Standard plan priced at $19 per month, which includes all the benefits of the basic plan plus keyword and mobile alerts.
The advanced plan, also at $19 per month, offers unlimited keyword alerts and an enhanced HARO experience. Each tier of the paid subscription plans provides additional benefits, depending on your needs and preferences.
Alternative Link Building Strategies
In addition to HARO, you can explore the best link building strategies like guest blogging, niche edits, citations, and other link-building tools and services, including pr link building. Guest blogging allows you to write and publish articles on other websites as a guest author, increasing visibility and authority in search engine rankings, and driving referral traffic to your website.
Niche editing involves editing existing content on other websites to include links back to your website, improving your website’s visibility and authority in search engine rankings, and driving referral traffic from the edited content. Citations, or mentions of your website without a backlink, can also improve your website’s visibility and authority in search engine rankings while driving referral traffic from the content that mentions your website.
Real-Life Success Stories
Real-life success stories demonstrate the way businesses and individuals have utilized HARO to gain media coverage, establish themselves as thought leaders, and boost their SEO rankings. By responding to journalist queries on HARO, businesses can be featured in articles and publications, resulting in backlinks to their website and improving their website’s authority and visibility in search engine rankings.
Testimonials and case studies of HARO success can be found on various websites, including:
RocketHub
The official Help a Reporter Out (HARO) website
The Content Factory
Publicity Hound
Review Grower
Zestard
Josh Steimle’s blog
Upwork
Milosz Krasinski’s blog
Summary
In conclusion, HARO is a powerful tool for businesses and individuals looking to boost their PR and link-building efforts. By connecting sources with journalists, HARO offers a win-win situation, providing valuable content for media outlets and increasing brand exposure, credibility, and high-quality backlinks for sources. By mastering the art of crafting the perfect HARO pitch, building relationships with journalists, and optimizing your strategy, you can harness the full potential of HARO and achieve outstanding results in your online presence.
Curious to learn more about how Salient PR can elevate your public relations? Visit our website to explore our services and success stories.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does HARO stand for?
HARO stands for Help A Reporter Out, a service created by public relations expert Peter Shankman in 2008 to connect journalists with sources for story ideas.
How does HARO works?
HARO is a free service from Cision® that enables journalists and PR sources to collaborate. Through HARO, journalists and bloggers submit requests for sources known as queries which are sent out three times a day.
Does HARO cost money?
HARO is a free service, so it does not cost money.
How do you pitch to HARO?
When pitching to HARO, read and evaluate the query before responding quickly with a concise pitch of 300 words or less. Make sure the answer stays on topic, includes snackable soundbites, is interesting and unique, and showcases your industry expertise. Include attachments using services like Google or Dropbox, and be sure to follow the pitch instructions carefully.
How do I get started with HARO?
To get started with HARO, sign up as a source and set up your profile to receive relevant queries from journalists. Choose your preferences and make sure the answer you provide doesn't include any artifacts from scraping websites. Use a professional tone and make sure your first sentence includes a clear conclusion.
