Many tout link building as one of the hardest parts of the SEO process. Sure, with spammed to death tactics not being valued any longer (thanks to Panda and Penguin) and seemingly low hanging fruit obliterated I could see some thinking link building is hardest. But after years of manual link building, strategy and analysis as well as training link builders, I’ve come to the conclusion that many of us can build good links when we try hard enough. It requires diligence, outside-the-box thinking, effort and some marketing chops. Oh and the finely honed ability to find just about anything on the internet.

One tactic I’ve used for years requires advanced searching to find brand mentions without links. Rand mentioned this in his recent Whiteboard Friday “3 Methods Fueled by Data and Tools to Earn More (and Better) Links” and how to use Fresh Web Explorer to find these awesome opportunities. His video explains the tool in practical use and this post can help with understanding the tactic even further.

I often use third party tools and Google to discover sites, becoming a master at the use of advanced search commands. There are times when my advanced search commands are 100 characters long it allows me to find EXACTLY what I’m looking for: authoritative link opportunities. My team and I have uncovered EDU links, GOV, DAs in the 90s, you name it!

Here are a few of the advanced search commands I use on a regular basis to uncover unlinked brand mentions.

Twelve Rules of the Unlinked Road

#1 Use Fresh Web Explorer and Google to find fresh brand mentions. If you haven’t checked out Fresh Web Explorer, you really should. This is a gold mine to find information about sites mentioning your brand. Put in –yourdomain.com in fresh web explorer along with your brand name and you can find sites that mention you but don’t link to you. Yup that’s right, FWE allows advanced search commands – pretty cool!

#2 Have a thorough understanding of advanced search commands. For this strategy along with others, it’s highly recommended that you spend time getting to know your way around advanced search commands/operators. A book on the subject called “Google Power Search” by Stephan Spencer is a great read for all link builders if you’re interested in diving deeper.

#3 It’s not just about the brand as a keyword. In order for your searches to work, you need to find other keywords that will be on the page where an unlinked brand mention resides. You’ll get frustrated if you just use the brand name to try to uncover opportunities, sifting through pages and pages of search results without any luck of an unlinked one showing up. I’m sure your brand is probably mentioned in thousands of places, if not hundreds of thousands. Think about other words that would be listed on the page in addition to the brand name that could narrow down your search.

#4 Avoid press releases. Often press releases distributed from one large organization such as MarketWire or PRWeb are then automatically submitted to a site and cannot be edited. Very rarely can I get a link on a press release so I most often avoid them.

#5 Be efficient at evaluating a site. Click on a search result, right click, view source and do a find for your site. If listed it’s not an opportunity, not listed then it gets added to your list to reach out to. If you take too much time trying to find out if the link is on the page you’re going to be inefficient at this process. There are automated tools that you can look into using such as Citation Lab’s Link Prospector if you’re interested in a less manual solution.

#6 Use a SERP overlay to understand the metrics of a site before you click on the result. I use Moz which helps me to see if the site I’m clicking on is a measly DA17 or has metrics I’m looking for more like DAs in the 50s or above. Why waste time on a low authority site when you can quickly see before clicking with a tool like Moz’s?

#7 Craft a GOOD pitch. Why should they link to you just because they mentioned your brand? Think it through and write a well thought-out pitch. I’ll often use the angle that their website visitors might want to learn more about the brand they positively mentioned. Turn the value around for them. The purpose isn’t for you to get a link it’s for their visitors to have a better experience. State what that value is.

#8 An obvious but must state point: avoid negative brand mentions. You don’t want to get into a back and forth match with a blogger who already doesn’t like you or your client’s brand. This could seriously turn viral and not in a good way.

#9 Set up a Google alert when you find a search command that works well. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve acquired great links served up to me in my e-mail because I set up a Google alert. It does the research for me as new mentions are indexed. I then see if there is a link and find the contact to send the pitch.

#10 Watch out for common references of your brand name. For a company name such as Vertical Measures, there are common mentions of vertically measuring items. In order to avoid running across these I will take out phrases from my results such as –carpentry. Watch out for brand names that also have common usage so they don’t “junk up” your SERPs. Another example is that popular individuals' last names might be the same as your brand name. You’ll want to take out mentions of their first name to avoid issues.

#11 If working with a client, ask them for a list of sites they have relationships with already. Reaching out to a site that already has a working relationship with your client might cause some drama. Be proactive and ask your client to review the list of unlinked brand mentions you intend to reach out to. Or, ask for a list of sites they already have relationships with. This might help avoid some upset clients in the future.

#12 Be on the lookout for affiliate links. Some sites that mention brands but don’t link to their sites might not link out to anyone at all. In fact, they very well could be an affiliate site never linking out directly. Don’t waste your time you’ll thank me for it later.

Following these twelve rules of the road can be tricky, but with due diligence and detailed oversight you can be successful at acquiring unlinked brand mentions. Now let’s learn the practical application of how to discover these types of mentions.

Ten Unlinked Brand Name Search Commands

Employees & Leadership Team

“employee name” “brand name” –site:yourwebsite.com –press –release

One of the most authoritative areas to start your quest for unlinked branded mentions is to accompany the brand name with an employee’s name. Ideally look for an employee that is well known, an expert in the field, brand advocate, quoted often, etc… You just never know when an employee is written about with an accompanying brand mention without a link. Using the above phrases in your query can help you narrow down the search to reduce the number of possible linked to mentions and uncover unlinked mentions.

Mentions in Blog Posts

“brand name” –site:yourwebsite.com blog OR post

No one knows how many blogs are on the web these days but somewhere well north of a million sounds about right. The possibility that a brand has been mentioned on a blog is pretty likely. With advanced search commands looking for the words blog or post along with a brand name they are sure to be uncovered if they exist.

Leverageable Content

“infographic” “title of infographic” –site:yourwebsite.com

This search command can be used not only for infographics, but for free guides and any other noteworthy pieces of content on your site. Natural pickups are likely if you’ve done a great job promoting. Reach out to those that don’t properly cite your amazing piece of content. Uploading your image to Google image search and looking for results is also a good way to capitalize on this tactic.

Promotions

“promotion” “brand name” –site:yourwebsite.com –press –release

Have a contest, sweepstakes, giving away something, coupon or other online promotion going on? Try using the name of your promotion or just the word “promotion” in an advanced search command. Take out mentions of press releases for the reason listed above and tad ah! You might find some unlinked mentions. I’ve noticed that a lot of brands with PR companies get pick up but sometimes lack a link. Talk about a great opportunity!

TLD Specific

Site:edu “brand name”

Site:gov “brand name”

Site:org “brand name”

Sift through your brand mentions on specific TLDs such as EDUs, GOVs and ORGs. These can be the most authoritative TLDs on the web; by limiting your search just to those TLDs you’re able to focus your efforts on high authority. If they exist you’ll be able to find them quickly with this advanced command. The example below is a Moz reference on Portland Community College's website. If the links to Moz.com weren't listed in the piece, it would be a perfect opportunity for an unlinked brand mention strategy (it's a PR 6, DA 72).

Specials

“specials” “brand name” –site:yourwebsite.com –press –release

There are times when online writers will talk about specials that a company has on their services or products without even being asked to. Brand advocates exist out there and may very well share your information to their audience. Search these out and ask that they direct users to the site. Since they are already fans of your specials the possibilities of obtaining a link are higher.

Announcements

“announced” “brand name” –site:yourwebsite.com –press –release

I’m sure you’ve probably seen articles or blog posts that announce something about a company. It happens all the time and isn’t always a press release or paid placement. When this happens for your brand you’ll want to know – and have your site referenced.

Quotes

“quoted” “brand name” –site:yourwebsite.com –press –release

This is probably my favorite brand search query. Why? Because it’s so easy! If a newspaper or blogger is quoting someone from my company or client’s company, it doesn’t seem like a hard pitch to say “can you mention their website in case readers want to learn more about that expert?” I’ll often add additional keywords to my command including specific employee’s names, conferences or events, niche industry phrases, etc… to help narrow down results especially if it’s a huge brand.

Company History

“history” “brand name” –site:yourwebsite.com

While working with brands that have a deep history such as Universities founded in the early 1900's our team has been fortunate enough to find historical references of the brand without a mention of the site. I imagine this can be the case for larger companies that might be mentioned in historical pieces on a wide variety of topics. Think about the history of the company and any keywords and angles you can use to craft advanced search commands.

Former Company Name or Company Acquisitions & Mergers

“former company name” –site:yourwebsite.com –site:formercompanywebsite.com

Successful brands acquire and merge with other companies all the time. They also change their name (EX: SEOmoz to Moz). There are almost always online remnants and evidence of the old brand. Crafting a command to find these mentions without links may present opportunity. Reach out to the site and let them know about the merger, acquisition or what have you with a link to the press release or announcement. Ask that they add a disclosure that the company is now your brand or client’s brand with the website URL. In the example below "formerly known as SEOmoz" was edited after the branding change for Moz. Imagine how many additional instances this could be done on, some that might not have even had a brand link previously. For old articles or posts they may say, “this page is never visited” but if you found it then obviously it “can” be.

Crafting the Right Pitch

The final step in acquiring an unlinked mention is actually convincing the person on the other end of your e-mail to place that link. You might not know exactly who is responsible for making that decision, who to reach out to or the likelihood of getting it placed. All you can do is try your hardest to make it absolutely impossible to say no to your request. I come at it from a few different angles depending on the opportunity.

Usability

A webpage that mentions a company in a positive light is a green light for reaching out requesting it be linked. Try the usability angle to get them to place a mention of the site. Their visitors, when interested in reading about a positive mention of a company, might be inclined to want to learn more. How best can they learn more? By clicking on a link that directs them to the site. The webpage is then more user-friendly and this concept can be conveyed to the webmaster in charge of the page.

Many site owners don’t want traffic diverted off their site so suggest they link the brand to open in a new window. You’ll stand a chance of turning that no into a yes if this is their biggest contention to placing the link.

Value Add

Another helpful angle for this tactic is to provide a value add for the intended recipient of your outreach. This can come in many forms and requires evaluation of the site and creative thinking. A few examples:

1. If there are a number of links on the page, try using a program like Link Checker Chrome Extension to check all the links on the page. Find a broken one? Share that info with the author of the page and suggest they fix, and include a link to your unbranded mention while they’re at it. You’re providing a value add.

   

2. Ask for an unbranded mention to be linked and mention something on their site that could be made better. If you’re an expert SEO, social media strategist or content marketing guru consider offering your skills for free in hopes they consider your link request. If I’m using this as my method I’ll add it as an aside: “I noticed you mention my brand but aren't mentioning the site. Mind sharing that with your readers? Also, I noticed that you have a few meta titles on your site that aren't optimized for search engines. Have you considered updating them? I can provide some resources and suggestions if you’d like”. Avoid being too harsh about their site or suggesting they change something that seems trivial – you don’t want to offend. Give them some substance and essentially it’s a you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours situation.
3. Thank them for writing about your brand, let them know you’ll ‘socialize’ the post and throw in a request to have your website mentioned. It’s natural for a brand to find a great mention of their company and send it out on their branded accounts. Don’t have access to the brand’s account? Share it with your own followers. The recipient of your link request could see this value add and place your link.

Update Records

Authors, webmasters and editors don’t always have time to devote to keeping their sites in tip-top-shape with updated information. Asking these individuals to update a webpage is an angle that may work for your strategy. If the brand name is spelled wrong, provides information that is outdated, or is otherwise in need of a sprucing up, in your outreach ask them to update their records. Even if nothing is really wrong, you could just ask to have their records updated that your URL is the correct web address. Either way, you might obtain a link out of the deal.

Important Do’s and Don’ts

• Avoid the word “link”. You might always reference a hyperlink as a link when talking about it with your link building coworkers, but for some the word “link” appears to be synonymous with spam. Insert phrases such as “mention of our website”, “reference our site”, or “addition of our web address”. We've found it to be much more successful than the word “link”.
• Offer additional information. If they aren't convinced in the first round of correspondence that an unlinked mention is relevant, tell them they can ask you for more information in your initial correspondence.
• Avoid using templates. While a template might work in some instances of the unlinked brand mention strategy add some personalization and reduce the risk of your outreach seeming too “robot-like”.
• Check back after a few days. Not all e-mails are responded to, but sometimes action has been taken. We've run into this quite often and a link is live but a response to correspondence was never sent.
• Don’t always take no for an answer. Try your best to understand where the “no” is coming from when you are denied a link placement. Avoid getting annoying by continuing to pry, but respond with a valid reason why your link should be added.
• Extend the opportunity to partner with the site. Valuable sites with high authority might be looking for additional writers or experts. Even if they say no to your link request see if other opportunities exist that will result in a link.

There you have it! A guide to using the link building tactic of unlinked brand mentions. This is a tried and true method of link building that many veteran and novice link builders have been successful with. Have you used this successfully? Share your examples, tactics and tips in the comments below.