The Solely Information You Want

Useful resource web page hyperlink constructing is nothing new, nevertheless it stays a well-liked hyperlink constructing tactic.

How common? In response to Aira’s 2022 State of Hyperlink Constructing Report, 24% of SEOs use it:

Listed here are three explanation why:

1. It really works.
2. It’s scalable.
3. It’s comparatively simple.

On this information, I’ll clarify the way to construct hyperlinks from useful resource pages in three easy steps. 

However first, let’s ensure we’re on the identical web page.

Useful resource web page hyperlink constructing is the place you get backlinks from webpages that curate and hyperlink out to helpful trade sources.

Right here’s what a typical useful resource web page seems like: 

When you have an ideal design useful resource, you possibly can attain out to the creator of that web page and counsel it for inclusion. 

Suggesting a helpful useful resource to a useful resource web page proprietor helps preserve the web page recent and updated. That’s why lots of their creators really ask for submissions.

This implies you don’t must do an excessive amount of convincing to get helpful sources added.

You’ll first want a helpful useful resource to pitch. This may be your homepage. However most often, it’ll be an informational useful resource or interactive instrument. In the event you don’t have that, learn our information to creating hyperlink bait. 

In the event you’re good to go, observe this course of:

1. Discover related useful resource pages
2. Vet the pages
3. Attain out and counsel your useful resource

1. Discover related useful resource pages

The simplest method to do that is with Google search operators. 

To set your self up for achievement, begin by doing these three issues:

1. Create a free Ahrefs Webmaster Instruments account
2. Set up Ahrefs’ search engine optimisation Toolbar
3. Go right here and set the variety of Google search outcomes per web page to 100

Subsequent, head again to Google and kind a broad key phrase associated to your useful resource adopted by this search operator: intitle:sources inurl:sources.html. 

For instance, in case your useful resource is a keto food plan calculator, you might seek for this:

Subsequent, click on the search engine optimisation Toolbar icon in your browser and toggle “SERP instruments” on, in addition to “Outcomes metrics” below the SERP settings.

It is best to now see an Ahrefs overlay within the Google search outcomes with an “Export CSV” button. Click on this to export the outcomes. 

You possibly can then repeat the method for different related search operators to seek out extra pages, such as:

• health intitle:sources inurl:hyperlinks.html
• health intitle:hyperlinks inurl: sources.html
• health inurl:.com/sources
• health inurl:sources intitle:sources

If you need much more search operators, use this Google sheet. All it’s a must to do is add as much as 10 key phrases within the highlighted cells, then head over to the “Outcomes” tab the place you’ll have lots of of search operators able to go.

Lastly, you possibly can merge all of the exported CSVs utilizing this web site.

2. Vet the pages

Not the entire outcomes you scraped from Google shall be related, so it’s good to vet them earlier than reaching out. This can be a two-step course of: 

1. Filter and get rid of utilizing metrics
2. Manually evaluation the remaining pages

A. Filter and get rid of utilizing metrics

You’ve in all probability obtained far too many pages in your listing to realistically vet by hand, however fortunately you possibly can weed out many of the junk with search engine optimisation metrics. 

Observe this flowchart to seek out the simplest method to get these metrics for you:

Because the flowchart explains, you probably have a paid Ahrefs plan and used our search engine optimisation Toolbar to extract Google’s outcomes, the metrics are already in your CSV. 

If not, there are two choices:

When you’ve pulled the metrics, you possibly can simply filter the spreadsheet for prospects that match your necessities. In the event you’re undecided the place to begin, right here’s my suggestion:

• Area Ranking (DR) >= 10
• Area Search Visitors (ST): >= 5000

This ought to be sufficient to chop the listing down by round 70%.

B. Manually evaluation the remaining pages

The simplest method to do that is to open the remaining URLs in batches of 5 to 10 and evaluation the pages manually. You should use openallurls.com to make this simpler. 

This course of is a bit subjective, however you’re mainly on the lookout for pages that:

• Hyperlink out to exterior sources.
• Hyperlink to different topically associated sources.
• Appear to be somebody cares about sustaining them.

However most significantly, you need to look to establish the pages the place the addition of your hyperlink will add worth. Make an effort to do this, and your conversion fee will skyrocket.

For any prospects that don’t meet your necessities, put an “x” within the URL/goal column to indicate that you simply don’t must pitch them. 

3. Attain out and counsel your useful resource

Lastly, it’s good to discover the particular person answerable for sustaining every useful resource web page and allow them to know your content material exists.

That goes one thing like this:

• Hey, [Name].
• Simply got here throughout your listing of sources right here: https://ahrefs.com/weblog/resource-page-link-building/.
• We simply created [x].
• It’d make a worthwhile addition to the web page.

Listed here are a number of tricks to get probably the most out of your efforts:

Tip 1. Respect their most popular contact technique

Mail merges are your good friend on the subject of doing electronic mail outreach at scale. However you shouldn’t ignore the particular person’s most popular contact technique simply to make your life simpler.

If somebody says you need to submit sources utilizing a contact kind, respect their needs.

Tip 2. Electronic mail the particular person answerable for the web page

Emailing [email protected] is often avoidable. It’s what lazy entrepreneurs do once they can’t be bothered to search out an actual particular person’s electronic mail handle.

Don’t be that marketer. Make an effort to determine who’s answerable for the web page and speak to them straight. Your conversion fee will thanks for it. 

Tip 3. Inform them the place the hyperlink ought to go

Hyperlinks on useful resource pages are sometimes divided into subgroups. Don’t hesitate to inform the recipient the place you suppose your useful resource ought to be positioned. It’s useful.

Tip 4. Level out damaged hyperlinks on the web page

Damaged hyperlinks on a useful resource web page are yet one more incentive for the positioning proprietor to edit them. And in the event that they’re doing that, they could as nicely add your useful resource whereas they’re there. 

Right here’s a straightforward (and free) method to examine for useless hyperlinks on a web page:

1. Go to “Outgoing hyperlinks” on Ahrefs’ search engine optimisation Toolbar
2. Click on “Test standing”

You possibly can then filter for damaged hyperlinks and export them. 

It’s then only a case of letting the positioning proprietor know in regards to the useless hyperlinks in your electronic mail.

Tip 5. Don’t pay

Shopping for hyperlinks is in opposition to Google’s tips. Plus, if somebody is promoting hyperlinks on a useful resource web page, likelihood is the web page shall be fairly ineffective and spammy.

Observe the entire directions above, and it ought to be sufficient to land not less than a handful of useful resource web page hyperlinks in most niches. However why cease there? There are many different methods to seek out much more useful resource pages.

Listed here are three of them: 

1. Search the backlink profiles of websites with recognized useful resource web page hyperlinks

On condition that useful resource web page hyperlink constructing is a typical hyperlink constructing tactic, if a web page has a hyperlink from one useful resource web page, it in all probability has hyperlinks from different useful resource pages.

Right here’s the way to discover these useful resource pages:

1. Crawl your vetted listing of useful resource pages with Screaming Frog
2. Go to Bulk Export > Hyperlinks > Exterior Hyperlinks
3. Open the CSV and duplicate all URLs within the “Vacation spot” column 
4. Paste them into this Google sheet
5. Go to the “Outcomes” tab

It is best to now see an inventory of internet sites which have not less than one useful resource web page backlink:

From right here, you possibly can merely paste any related domains into Ahrefs’ Website Explorer, go to the Backlinks report, and seek for “sources.htm” within the referring web page URL. 

For instance, if we do that for eatright.org, we get 344 outcomes: 

Right here’s only one instance:

2. Seek for listicle useful resource pages

Most “conventional” useful resource web page search operators received’t discover listicles like this:

That’s a disgrace as a result of these are additionally “useful resource” pages in their very own proper, as they listing and hyperlink helpful sources.

To seek out these pages, simply search Google for “finest [thing]”. 

For instance, for those who run a health club in London, you possibly can merely seek for “finest gyms in london”:

You possibly can then use Ahrefs’ search engine optimisation Toolbar to extract these to a CSV file (together with search engine optimisation metrics, for paying prospects).

In the event you’re an Ahrefs person, you possibly can pace up your search utilizing Content material Explorer. Simply run an “In title” search and filter for pages that match your standards (e.g., DR 30+). 

Or for those who favor, plug a competitor into Website Explorer, go to the Backlinks report, and seek for referring pages with “finest [thing]” of their titles.

3. Seek for pages with useful resource sections

Not all useful resource pages are pages devoted solely to itemizing sources. 

For instance, lots of our weblog posts have “additional studying” sections the place we listing and hyperlink to associated sources from different web sites:

Listed here are the search operators you should utilize to seek out these alternatives:

• Key phrase “additional studying”
• Key phrase “extra sources”
• Key phrase “different sources”
• Key phrase “favourite sources”
• Key phrase “favourite instruments”

Then it’s only a case of opening every search outcome, utilizing CTRL/CMD+F to seek for the footprint on the web page, and checking that they hyperlink to exterior sources within the part (not simply inner sources).

If the chance seems promising, discover the positioning proprietor’s electronic mail handle and pitch your useful resource.

Listed here are the professionals and cons of pitching some of these pages:

In the event you can construct a relationship with the positioning proprietor or not less than assist ultimately earlier than pitching, you possibly can overcome among the cons above.

Remaining ideas 

Useful resource web page hyperlink constructing is about as simple because it will get. That’s in all probability why so many search engine optimisation professionals proceed to make use of this tactic—even in a world of skyscrapers and shotguns. 

Desire a fast recap of all the things we lined? Watch this video: