Backlinks remain essential for organic search visibility, yet link-building opportunities are increasingly rare. Most tactics are either risky or ineffective. Those that work well — digital public relations, direct outreach — are often too expensive or time-consuming for small and medium-sized businesses.
But one link-building method is both inexpensive and effective: being quoted in online publications as an expert. This method produces backlinks and builds topical authority.
The tactic is “entity-driven” because it helps the quoted expert become an “entity,” i.e., a brand. Traditionally, the tactic involved laborious manual outreach to editors and writers offering expertise for articles.
There are now platforms to simplify the process. All connect publications with experts. None promote paid links or placements as far as I know.
Here are three options.
Featured
Featured is a freemium platform listing requests from publications seeking expertise. Any account holder can submit quotes in response. Account holders can be either publications or individuals, allowing them to request and submit quotes from a single account.
To be cited and linked:
- Submit your expert quotes to the requests.
- Suggest relevant questions based on your expertise, assisting publications with ideas.
- Respond to publications seeking writers.
- Create a profile to attract publications looking for interviews.
When submitting a quote, provide your attribution to help ensure a proper citation.
Account holders can submit up to three quotes for free each month. Premium packages start at $19 per month for 10 quotes.
Featured recently acquired HARO (Help A Reporter Out), an established and robust database of publications and reporters seeking experts.
Featured allows account holders to complete a profile and submit three responses per month for free. Click image to enlarge.
Source of Sources
HARO’s founder has launched Source of Sources to connect journalists with experts. It’s a newsletter listing categorized requests for quotes. The format is easy to scan and click requests to determine the topic and need.
Source of Sources is free, but it requires manual monitoring of requests. There is no dashboard to track submitted quotes, statuses, and deadlines.
Sources of Sources is a newsletter listing categorized requests from journalists for quotes. Click image to enlarge.
Journo.com
Journo.com is a freemium platform connecting reporters with expert sources. Reporters can submit quote requests without creating an account.
Experts require an account, which is free for 20 monthly responses and a dashboard to submit and monitor those responses. Paid plans start at $99 per month for 100 responses and 200 News Searches — a tool to find relevant outlets for PR campaigns.
Journo.com’s free plan allows experts to respond to 20 quote requests per month via a dashboard. Click image to enlarge.