An editorial link is a type of backlink to your site from a large and high-authority media, news or publication website.
Editorial links usually come from publishing high-quality original content that people find interesting and trustworthy.
There are two key things you must understand about editorial links:
These links are a strong endorsement of your site’s credibility, trust and authority.
They are hard to earn but can boost your SEO rankings and organic traffic.
What Will I Learn?
Editorial links are important because they are highly valued and can significantly impact your SEO.
Google uses backlinks as a major part of its search algorithm. Editorial links are considered the highest quality backlinks that you can get.
Here’s why:
Google looks at backlinks as votes of trust and authority to your website. The more editorial links you have, the more trust Google will have in your site.
More trust = more traffic.
If Google knows they can trust your site and your content, they will increase your rankings and send more organic traffic.
Editorial links differ from other backlinks because they are earned naturally and come from reputable websites with editorial standards.
While you can build normal backlinks from small niche sites, most high-authority editorial publications only link to you because they want to reference your content.
You can’t pay them to put a backlink on their website.
This means that editorial links usually carry more weight in search engine algorithms. That’s why just one editorial link can lead to massive growth in your SEO rankings.
Here are some examples of editorial links:
These are all examples of editorial links.
The thing to remember about editorial links is that you earned them naturally and they come from trusted websites with editorial standards.
Content that earns editorial links is always high quality, unique and original.
This can include new research you conducted, statistics posts, free tools, unique opinions and interesting stories that people will enjoy reading.
Editorial links are earned because the publisher that links to you wants to share a unique piece of content or story with their readers.
Here is a comprehensive list of content that earns editorial links.
People love infographics, and so do journalists.
It’s still one of the most popular ways to create content that generates editorial links.
Quality infographics are based on hot topics and have key statistics/information presented in an easy-to-understand way.
One of the best ways to earn quality editorial links is by creating a free tool or online calculator.
Large publications are always looking for free, valuable tools for their audience. The only downside is that creating a tool takes a lot of time and usually requires a budget.
Conducting your own case studies and research is the best way to earn tons of great editorial links.
Journalists, magazines and large industry websites are always looking for new and relevant information they can share with their audiences.
Studies and original research fills that gap perfectly.
It can be as easy as choosing a niche topic, running a survey and publishing the results.
Statistics posts are the hidden gem of getting more editorial links.
They are a roundup of relevant statistics on a specific topic related to your website niche.
Why do they work so well?
When a journalist writes an article, they often need statistics or research to back up their point.
Most of them do a quick Google search and cite the first website with the statistics they need to prove their point.
Statistics posts can be one of the most effective ways to earn editorial links passively.
Finding the answer you need is not always easy.
There is so much content online that it takes forever to sift through all the results.
That’s where comprehensive guides and tutorials come in. They allow the reader to get all the necessary information in one place.
Comprehensive guides attract editorial links because most websites prefer to link to one guide rather than a bunch of smaller pieces of content.
The key is to provide tons of value and make your comprehensive guides easy to understand.
If you have done something unique or extraordinary, there is a good chance that you could be featured on a new website.
People are interested in things that are different.
Getting your unique story or experience written up and published is a great way to attract editorial links from large websites.
The best way to earn more editorial links is by creating “linkable assets” and then reach out to large editorial websites to promote your asset.
Remember that linkable assets are types of content that attract more links. Any of the examples of content above will work well for you.
Here is a step-by-step breakdown of what you need to do.
Start by choosing the type of content that will earn you editorial links – Your “linkable asset”.
As a reminder, here is the list of linkable assets that earn great editorial links:
Spend the time to create great content that people will love.
It should be unique and completely original.
Create a spreadsheet with a list of editorial websites you can contact to promote your content.
You need to record:
Use a tool like Hunter.io to help you easily find the contact details of journalists, publishers and website owners.
Your goal is to find niche and large editorial websites that have already published or referenced the type of content you’re promoting.
Use Google search operators to help you find websites:
This will help you quickly assemble a list of websites that you know will be interested in your new content.
Contact each person on your list by email and pitch your content.
The goal is to get them interested in your linkable asset. Don’t ask for an editorial link straight away.
In most cases, if your content is good enough they will naturally credit you with a link without you needing to ask. But if you do, there are a number of link building and guest posting services available to help you out.
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