If you haven’t read the Overview, Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3 sections yet, I highly encourage you to do so before reading further, as this page builds on top of the information shared in those pages.
The Phase 4 of Counterflow SEO Strategy is all about promoting the amazing piece of content that you wrote in Phase 3.
In Phase 3, we outlined the step by step process
…to write content that gets people to share your content
…to write title, description and introduction that get people hooked
…a clever work-around to get people to read your content rather than skim it
In Phase 4, you will learn how to effectively promote your content to get maximum eyeballs WITHOUT coming across as sleazy, salesy or spammy.
Are you ready? Then, let’s get right into it.
Why Bother Promoting Your Content?
Most people who write content, let it just sit on their site to one day hope for Google to recognize your article and rank it.
This is a strategy that used to work in the dawn of SEO, when people played by the rules and didn’t try to trick Google.
Nowadays, if you don’t promote your content much like movies and books, you are leaving alot of potential benefits on the table, in the form of traffic, influence, leads and sales.
If you have read Phase 1, 2 and 3 of Counterflow SEO Strategy so far and are reading Phase 4, this already makes you a Counterflow individual.
I say that because in a world full of starters, you are a finisher.
As a Counterflow individual, we can do better with our content.
In this article, I’ll be sharing 3 strategies that the pros in the industry use to promote their content.
But before I do so, there is one key thing you need to be aware of.
These strategies work perfectly well, if you have followed Phase 2 of the strategy properly.
This practice makes the efforts you make at Phase 4, more successful.
So without any further adieu…
Strategy #1: The Feedback Seeker Approach
Back in the day, when I started with blogging I used to spam links on social media, because I didn’t know any better.
The advice that I got was to “share” my links in the comments section of social media posts and other people’s blogs.
If the platform blocks my links, I was told to do link cloaking, needless to say, I hated every second of it.
Thankfully for you, the journey I went through helped me learn and improve, so that you can learn from it.
Over time I learned that I had to treat a blog much like a business and build relationships with people in the industry.
I’m an engineer by qualification, and engineers are interested in things more than people, so I cringed at the fact that I had to build relationships with people.
However, I wanted the end result so badly that I was willing to do what needed to be done, even though I didn’t have any step by step process for it, much like you have now.
I started contacting people in my industry asking them to link to me.
The result, as you may have guessed, nada….nothing, not one.
Then over time after reading plenty of books on psychology, human nature, marketing and removing things that didn’t make sense, it all started taking shape.
You see, people like to feel good, especially people who have already attained a certain level of success in any endeavor.
Surprisingly, most of these people are insecure deep inside and they have a desire to be respected and looked upto.
They hate to be taken advantage of, without gaining anything in return.
This made me aware, what I did wrong, when I just asked them for a backlink.
In this strategy, as the name suggests, you are focusing on seeking feedback on the content you wrote, from the backlinker.
With this approach, you stroke the backlinker’s ego, make them feel good and acknowledge their position as a knowledgeable individual in the niche, because you are asking for their feedback, which is more flattering than asking for a backlink.
Now, you can either publish the content and share the link to it or, share your content in Google Doc.
My personal preference is to publish your content and share the link to the content for simpler link logistics.
Now in order to do this strategy well, you have to follow Phase 1 and 2 to a T.
In Phase 1, we prepare a list of all potential backlinkers.
In Phase 2, we’ll find more backlinkers from social media and follow steps to actively get on their radar, throughout Phase 3, which is the content production phase.
Why do we do all this?
Because we don’t want to be some rando on the internet asking for feedback.
Once you get on their radar, they know that you genuinely value their content and you can be sure that when you approach them for feedback they’ll atleast superficially remember you for your contribution, which you do in Phase 2.
Now, how do we approach them asking for feedback, once you have gotten on their radar?
You’ll do this across three emails.
#1: An email asking permission to share the content
#2: An email mentioning the link to the content
#3: An email mentioning that you have implemented the feedback
Here is the mindset behind doing this over three emails.
We ask permission because we respect the fact that they get alot of emails from many sources and we don’t want to add on to that pile of emails.
This email shows that you care about them, as you genuinely should.
Just a side note: this whole strategy relies on how genuine you are in your approach. Being fake doesn’t help when you follow this strategy, because your backlinkers will see this from a mile away.
When you send the second email with your link, you already have confirmation that your backlinker is interested in checking out your content and potentially giving you feedback.
With the third email we are again stroking their ego, by implementing their feedback on your content and sharing the updated content with them.
Here is an email format you can leverage for the first email, also feel free to modify to add your personality into it.
Subject: Quick question?
Hey [Name],
I know you get a lot of emails, so I’ll keep this short.
[Something personal that shows that you know that they’re interested in your Content topic]
I’ve just published a piece of content about [Topic]. So naturally, I thought you’d be interested.
Would love to get your quick feedback on it… mind if I send you the link?
Cheers,
[First Name]
Here is another format, you can perhaps leverage. Again, feel free to modify the content. You don’t have to use this email word for word.
Subject: Quick question about [Site]
Hey [Name],
[Something personal that shows you actually know who they are and have read their stuff]
Anyway, I noticed that you recently tweeted out an article about [Topic]: [Article title].
I actually just finished a new post called: [Content Title] that’s coming out next week.
Let me know if you want a heads-up when it goes live also would love to know your feedback.
Cheers,
[First Name]
Once you get a response for this email, you can reply like this
Awesome, thanks. Here’s a link to the latest draft:
[URL]
OR
Here you go, [Name]:
[URL]
It would be quite naive to expect a reply from 100% of the backlinkers that you approach, however, once you do get a response with the feedback.
Analyse, address their feedback and re-publish your content.
Give them one last heads up thanking them for their feedback, letting them know that you have re-published the article and just a small nudge to leave a comment with this email
Hi [Name],
Just wanted to give you a heads-up that I have implemented your feedback!
[URL]
Thanks again for the feedback on [thing they gave feedback on]. It made that section
of the post much better.
If you have a second to leave a comment, that would be awesome. If not, no worries.
I appreciate your time!
Cheers,
[First Name]
The most important aspect is not the actual email content that you send.
Take a closer look at the feeling, the way we approach. Wouldn’t you agree its alot better than, “Hey, can you link to me?”
We built enough relationship equity, so to speak, asked for their feedback, by which we added more equity acknowledging the backlinker as an expert and then implemented their feedback, which is again more investment on your part to the relationship equity through actual action.
Imagine, how good would you feel, if someone asked you for your feedback on something you are good at and they implemented what you had suggested?
Exactly! Relatively speaking, that last nudge to leave a comment is not a big request anymore, which is why this strategy works wonders.
Strategy #2: Forum Marketing
This is an age-old strategy that many people used and unfortunately abused because there was no structure or strategy and it was only seen as just steps to follow.
However, with Counterflow SEO, you get to implement this strategy as an add-on to your work in Phase 2.
In Phase 2, we do the heavy lifting by being active in communities by offering value. If done, properly you will gain a reputation with this community.
As I had mentioned earlier, if you approach this strategy in a non-genuine way, i.e, like a chore, this will not work for you.
You have to be genuine in your approach with people online for the best results.
In Phase 4, you reap the benefits of the efforts you put in Phase 2.
We know this will work, because of the law of reciprocity.
We have given enough so that when we do ask for something in return, we have a much better chance to get a favorable response.
To paraphrase Gary Vee, you are essentially making people guilty that you are giving them so much with nothing in return. So that, when you do ask for something in return, people would feel a slight guilt to say no, unless of course if they are sociopath, then its a lost cause anyway.
Here is how you properly promote your content on forums
You would need to start a new thread, with your benefit rich title add the introduction of your article with a list of all subtitles, inviting them to check out your article.
The introduction to your article, if you have followed Phase 3, is very compelling already.
On top of it, when you share your list of chapters in the article with the community, you are contributing so much to them that they can’t help but check out your article.
Once you have done it, hang out, accept praise, answer questions.
Take down notes, to see if there is something that you can use in your upcoming articles to address.
So strategy #1 and #2, have been about getting people to view your content.
In the next strategy we are going to focus on building backlinks.
Strategy #3: Strategic Backlink Building
In the old world of SEO, in order to get traffic to their site, people started spamming their links on other people’s websites as comments and in forums.
The rationale behind that strategy was to trick google into believing that there are backlinks to their website, so that they get Google rankings.
Google cracked down on these fake backlinks by deploying the Penguin 4.0 algorithm. Hence, the reason why many people hate SEO.
In this strategy we focus on building backlinks in a strategic manner.
Step #1: Identify Resource Pages
For this we use resource pages to get backlinks from, as they are websites that link to other websites which are great resources on a specific topic.
If you didn’t cut any corners with Phase 1 and 2, you would have enough backlinkers with resource pages to ask for a backlink.
If not, you can use these keyword formats to identify resources pages to get links from.
- “[keyword]” + inurl:links
- [keyword] + intitle:resources
- “[keyword]” + “helpful resources”
- site:.gov + “resources”
- “[keyword]” + “other resources”
- “[keyword]” + “resources”
- “[keyword]” + “useful resources”
- “best [keyword] blog posts”
- “best [keyword] articles”
- “best [keyword] resources”
- “best [keyword] resources” + “current year”
- “best tools for [keyword]”
- “intitle:best posts + [keyword]”
An important thing to note is to not choose resources pages that are not relevant for the current year.
In 2022, there is no point in getting links from resource pages that are for 2021, or 2019.
Now that you have a list of backlinkers with resource pages, we need to contact them.
Step #2: Find the Person to Contact
Specifically what we are looking for is the contact details of the web administrator or the owner of the site, as they have the power to link to your content.
If they do not have a contact form to use, you can use a tool like hunter.io to get email info to contact them.
Another option is to reach out to them on Social Media. I prefer this, as it is more natural and also gives room to build a rapport with them prior to reaching out.
Step #3: Reachout for a backlink
The next step is to straight up ask them for a backlink from their resource pages.
The key is to not make it look spam and the best way to accomplish this is to follow Phase 1 and 2 for the maximum bang for your buck.
Additionally, you could also use an SEO tool to check if they have any broken links on their site.
If they do, thats a jackpot for you. You can address this fact and offer a relevant link on a silver platter for them to link to.
The net result? You did the heavy lifting of checking for backlinks, and you offered a solution with the content that you wrote from Phase 3.
How awesome is that?
So, here is a template you can follow for your email.
Subject: Your [Topic] resource page
Hi [Name],
I came across your amazing resource page recently: [URL].
I especially like that [Something specifically good about their page]
I actually recently just published an article called: [title].
It would be really awesome if you would consider mentioning it on your page.
Either way, I hope you enjoy my article.
Thanks,
[Your Name]
Here is an alternate template you can follow,
Subject: Question about [Site]
Hey [Name],
I just came across your [description of article].
[Something you liked or learned from their article]
I actually recently published a post called, [title of article].
[1 sentence description of your content].
Here’s the link: [URL].
It might make a nice addition to your list.
Either way, I hope you enjoy my article.
Thanks,
[Your Name]
As always, make sure to personalize it rather than copy pasting it. These are just templates to get some creative juices flowing.
Over to our last and final strategy. This strategy focuses on brand awareness rather than backlinks.
Strategy #4: Content Recycling
This is a fairly straightforward process and might require some sweat equity.
Depending on your skill levels, this may push you to get outside your comfort zone a bit.
The main objective of this strategy is to boost your content reach and trickle in some backlinks along the way.
We do this by recycling your content by making a version of it in another format.
Step #1: Content to Videos / Podcast
Once you are done with writing your blog post on your main blog.
Your next “mission” is to convert each section of your blog post into separate videos / podcasts.
This doesn’t have to be fancy.
Converting your content into a video or podcast helps with getting more visibility to your brand in more social media platforms.
If you are not good at being on camera or are a bit shy, thats alright.
The fool is the precursor to the saviour.
Start out looking like a fool, so that eventually when you do become good through repetition, people can see how you changed as a person, which would inspire them.
As for video or podcast content creation, you can take advantage of the Hook-Story-Offer framework that Russell Brunson explains in his book, Expert Secrets and Traffic Secrets to get some ideas going.
You can use that framework in conjunction with the click-worthy title and description strategy we followed in Phase 3, for maximum impact for your content.
So for every piece of content that you write, you will have videos and or podcasts that are approximately equal to the number of subtopics of that article.
I’ll let that sink in for a bit, so that you can imagine the reach of your content.
Step #2: Distribute your written content
For this, you are going to tap into your favorite mode of communication, Writing.
Pick the first and the last 2 subtopics sections of the article you have written.
If you have followed the Phase 3 process properly, you’ll be writing content in such a way that your best tips will be at the top and at the end.
Your goal is to rewrite each of these 4 sections and publish one section in Substack, Medium, Write.as and Tumblr with a link to your main blog post.
Don’t worry about the word count. Ideally more the better.
Focus all your attention on providing value to your reader on these platforms.
You can find more about that on coil.com.
Furthermore, substack has a newsletter program which is really good for pro-writers, which you’ll become if you really pay close attention to Phase 3 of Counterflow SEO Strategy.
Think of Substack as a Patreon platform for writers.
Conclusion
That was Phase 4 and the final phase of Counterflow SEO strategy.
We have covered why we should be promoting the content that we write and not rely on Google to mystically magically discover our content to rank our content.
We have also learned how to do it ethically and strategically.
With this step by step guide you have the information you need, to help you market your business using SEO.
That being said, you don’t have to do this by yourself. We can help you.
In the infamous words of serial entrepreneur, bestselling author, and respected business advisor, Chris Ducker, “Do What You Do Best. DELEGATE THE REST.”
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