SOP 026: Resources Page Link-Building Outreach

Goal: Resource page link building is simply the process of getting your site
included on the page as one of the resources. The owner of the website might
have no idea your resource exists so it’s your job to let them know!

Ideal Outcome: Resource pages exist to be helpful, not to sell. Since you
typically won’t find a buy now button on them, people are more inclined to
trust the page and the links on them (although some resource pages may
contain affiliate links).

Prerequisites or requirements:
Why this is important:
Where this is done:
When this is done:
Who does this:

Step 1 – Find the resource pages

The easiest and most direct way to find resource pages is through a simple
Google search. As we mentioned in the intro, resource pages are quite easy
to find which is what makes them so great.

As you perform your searches, there are a variety of search combinations you
can use.

Combinations pairing your desired keyword with the

word “resources” and “links”
With these search strings, you will find pages containing the words resources
and links along with your keyword.

 Keyword + “resources”
 Keyword + “useful resources”
 Keyword + “helpful resources
 Keyword + “links”
  Keyword + “useful links”
 Keyword + “helpful links”
So if I was running a Paleo blog, I would search for Paleo + “resources”

Google has now returned a variety of pages containing Paleo resources.

Here’s an excerpt from one of the pages.
Now you’ll notice from the first screenshot that over 5 million results turned up!
Obviously, you won’t have time to sift through 5 million search results. So in
step 2, we’re going to show you how to narrow down the results.

Before we do that, I’m going to provide you with additional search queries that
are even more specific.

Combinations that filter based on URL and title

You’ll notice that many resource pages contain the words “links” and
“resources” in the title and the URL. With the following search strings, you can
zero in on search results that only contain these words in the title or url.

 Keyword + inurl:resources
 Keyword + intitle:resources
 Keyword + inurl:links
 Keyword + intitle:links
Notice that when we use the inurl operator, Google has returned 23,000
results instead of 5 million. Although the first several search results are likely
to be similar (if not the same), you’ll notice that they’ll start to vary as you
continue down the pages.

Combinations that filter .edu results

While somewhat controversial, many SEO experts agree that backlinks from
an edu domain carry more weight than a regular domain. Use these search
strings to find high authority edu pages.
 site:.edu Keyword + “resources”

 site:.edu Keyword + “links”

Combinations that find related searches

In certain cases, you may find that your keyword is too specific. This can
happen if you’re in a very obscure niche that wouldn’t have dedicated
resource pages for your topic.
If you find yourself in this situation, use the “~” operator to find resource
pages related to your keyword.
Keeping with our Paleo example, using the “~” operator would bring up pages
not only related to Paleo, but it would also bring up resource pages related to
cooking, health, fitness, etc…

 ~keyword inurl:resources
 ~keyword inurl:links
If you want to get even more specific, try some of these search modifiers.

Step 2 – Narrow down the results

As you perform the various searches outlined above, you’ll likely find
thousands of resource pages. Your task now is to find those that are the most
relevant, reputable and of  highest quality.

To make that determination, focus first on the page authority then on the
domain authority. The page authority indicates how much authority that
specific resource page has. The higher the page authority, the more “link
juice” that will get passed down to your web page.

No need to guess about which websites are good or bad in terms of domain
authority. By installing the MozBar, we can see all the metrics we need right
on the search results page.
Using this data, you can concentrate on the most valuable pages and spend
less time on those with low page authority (PA) and domain authority (DA).

Step 3 – Reach out

In some cases, resource pages will actually have a line encouraging you to
email them with relevant resources to add. They may even have a form on the
page itself to submit resources.

Looking back at the Harvard resource page, you’ll notice there’s a link on the
page itself encouraging people to suggest new resources.
Below is another example from Startup Stash – a curated directory of
resources & tools to help you build your startup.

If you don’t see anything like this, have no fear. It just means you’ll need to
work a little bit harder to find an email (but not that much harder).

When it comes time to reach out, here are some recommendations.

Make sure your resource is a good fit

This may sound obvious, but you need to understand the kinds of links that
are already on the resource page that you’re contacting. Is your content
relevant to that page’s audience?

Make sure there’s some precedent for your kind of site being linked to (or at
least an indication that you could get a link). If, for example, a resource page
only links to published scientific papers in scholarly journals, then there’s a
good chance they won’t link to your startup’s blog.

Depending on the resource page, you may want to pitch content from one
specific section of your site. For example, if you’re a Paleo blog and you’re
reaching out to a resource page about Paleo recipes, it would be much better
to send them to a page on your site dedicated to recipes rather than sending
them to your home page.

Do some detective work if you’re dealing with large

websites
Let’s pretend for a second that the Harvard resource page didn’t have a link to
suggest resources.

If that was the case, you wouldn’t just reach out to anyone at Harvard.edu.
You’d need to do some detective work and find the right person to contact
about that particular resource page.

Using this same example, you’d see that this page was provided by the
Harvard Innovation Lab. Knowing this, you could then research who the
Innovation Lab’s webmaster was – and send them an email requesting
inclusion on the resource page.

When possible, always send the email to someone directly.

Ask nicely and don’t be pushy

When you’re confident that your resource page is a good fit, and you’ve found
the right person to contact, go ahead and send a friendly polite request.

You can try saying something like this.

Hey [first name],

I was doing some research on [topic] and noticed that you have [this killer
resource page on your site]. Awesome job!

Since you’re clearly an authority on the subject, I thought you’d be interested

in checking out my article on [topic]. It’s super in-depth and I think it would
make an awesome addition to your resource page.

Here’s the link if you’d like to check it out:

[Link]

Cheers,
Christopher”
It’s really as simple as that!
Keep in mind that if you’re reaching out to an influencer, you should engage
with them first. The more rapport you’ve built, the easier it will be to get a link.
But in most cases, you’ll just need to send an email.

Conclusion
As you can see, resource page linking building is a fantastic way to build
quality backlinks to your website or content. Due to the fact they’re easy to
find and there’s a higher probability of success, this strategy is a true no
brainer.