I constructed 5,660 backlinks final month.

(Without sending a single outreach e-mail.)
My secret?
A brand new technique referred to as Reverse Outreach.
And this case examine I’m going to point out you precisely how I did it, step-by-step.
Contents
The Big Problem With Link Building: Scale
Outreach-based methods like The Skyscraper Technique nonetheless work GREAT.
(When completed proper.)
But there’s one massive downside with most hyperlink constructing methods:
They don’t scale.
And if you happen to’re in a aggressive area of interest, you NEED to do hyperlink constructing at scale.
For instance, check out Backlinko.
According to Semrush, I have 47.3K referring domains.

That sounds nice. Until you take a look at a few of my opponents.
Like Yoast (67.2K referring domains):

Search Engine Journal (214K referring domains):

Or different big manufacturers in the advertising and marketing house, like HubSpot (341K referring domains):

Let’s say I needed to shut my hyperlink hole with Yoast utilizing e-mail outreach.
I’m at the moment about 20K referring domains “behind” Yoast.
And let’s assume that 5% of the outreach emails that I ship outcome in a backlink.
That means I’d must ship 400K outreach emails simply to catch as much as Yoast.
(Plus, this assumes that Yoast isn’t going to get any extra backlinks throughout that point. Which isn’t going to occur.)
So when I did the maths, I realized that I wanted a unique method to hyperlink constructing.
One that would scale. Big time.
After months of testing, I suppose I lastly discovered it.
It’s referred to as “Reverse Outreach”.
Here’s the way it works:
How “Reverse Outreach” Flips The Script on Traditional Link Building
Reverse Outreach utterly flips the script on outreach-based hyperlink constructing.
Instead of reaching out to bloggers and journalists, you may have them come to you.
Specifically, you goal key phrases that bloggers and journalists seek for. And create content material that they WANT to hyperlink to.
Let’s take a look at a real-life instance.
A number of months in the past I printed this put up on my web site:

This put up was designed particularly to get backlinks from journalists.
(More on that later.)
I additionally made positive to optimize that put up round key phrases that bloggers and journalists seek for.
(Like “TikTok monthly users”, “How much time people spend on TikTok” and “TikTok downloads by nation.)
Sure sufficient, that put up ultimately ranked #2 for “TikTok users”.

And began to rank for dozens of different key phrases too.

Yes, this introduced in some visitors.

But that’s probably not the purpose. The individuals trying to find these phrases aren’t actually my audience.
The objective with this content material was easy: get backlinks from authority websites.
And that’s precisely what occurred.
That web page now has editorial backlinks from Bloomberg:

Inc:

Business Insider:

And dozens of different authority information websites and blogs.

With that, let’s soar into the step-by-step course of.
Step #1: Find “Journalist Keywords”
Your first step is to discover a “Journalist Keyword”.
A Journalist Keyword is rather like it sounds:
It’s a key phrase that journalists use when researching or writing an article.
For instance, this web page from Backlinko is optimized across the journalist key phrase “social media usage”.

Who searches for that key phrase?
A blogger or journalist writing about how common social media is!
When they do, my web page will get in entrance of them with the info they want.
And they cite me as a supply in their articles:

(In reality, that single web page has 11.5K whole backlinks. 95%+ of which got here from Reverse Outreach.)
The query is: how do you discover Journalist Keywords?
People Also Ask Boxes
Just seek for a subject in your area of interest…

…and search for People Also Ask questions which can be in search of knowledge.

These are normally questions that bloggers and journalists need solutions to.
If you get caught, simply seek for a unique key phrase (it could possibly take just a few to get going).
Or develop the People Also Ask containers to disclose extra commonly-asked questions.
Reverse Engineering
Next, search for a web page on a competitor’s web site with plenty of hyperlinks.

Then, discover the Journalist Keywords that the web page ranks for.
For instance, you’ll be able to see that this web page from Backlinko has plenty of backlinks.

And if you happen to take a look at the key phrases that the web page ranks for, you’ll discover LOTS of journalist key phrases.

Target Trending Topics
Specifically, trending matters that don’t have plenty of easy-to-find knowledge sources.
That means, YOU may be the go-to supply for knowledge on this rising matter.
For instance, keep in mind Clubhouse?
Well, when Clubhouse was poised to change into “The Next Big Thing”, everybody and their mother was writing articles about it.
There was just one downside:
It was an enormous ache to search out helpful knowledge about Clubhouse!
So I discovered each Clubhouse-related stat that I might. And whipped collectively this assortment of Clubhouse stats.

That web page shortly picked up passive hyperlinks from The Guardian, Cosmopolitan Magazine and extra.

Note: Interest in trending matters (like Clubhouse) can fall off the map. But the upside nonetheless makes the method value it. Even although Clubhouse is now not related, that single web page (which took about 2 hours to put in writing) nonetheless introduced in 1.6K whole backlinks!
Now:
You can positively goal Journalist Keywords in your area of interest (or in associated niches, as I did with my Clubhouse put up).
But don’t be afraid to go exterior of your area of interest a bit of bit.
For instance, this web page about Tesla is shortly changing into one in all Backlinko’s most linked-to pages.

Obviously, Tesla isn’t tremendous related to my area of interest (digital advertising and marketing). But Tesla is in tech (which IS considerably related to Backlinko). So it’s not like I’m making a stats web page concerning the keto food regimen.
Step #2: Outline Your Content
Your subsequent step is to stipulate your article.
Specifically, you need to reply probably the most attention-grabbing questions that journalists have across the matter.
This means most conventional key phrase analysis instruments are out.
Instead, it is advisable to consider the forms of knowledge somebody would wish when writing an article on that matter.
For instance, take my put up about Tesla.
What would a journalist writing about Tesla need to learn about?
- Tesla’s income
- How many Teslas are offered every year
- What fashions are hottest
- Charging places
- Vehicle gross sales by nation
How about one other instance?
My stats put up about DuckDuckGo covers just about every thing a journalist would need to know.

Specifically, every of that put up’s subheadings covers a key subtopic concerning the search engine:

Pro Tip: Check out the “Related searches” for much more concepts.

Step #3: Collect Your Data
Next, it’s time to assemble the entire knowledge that you simply’re going to incorporate in your stats web page.
Where you discover your knowledge relies on your matter.
But in basic, listed here are some nice locations to search out knowledge for stats pages:
Statista
Statista is a curated database of stats on just about any trade below the solar.
Just seek for a subject…

…and you may flick thru stats that they’ve compiled about that matter.

“Work for Us” Pages
If you’re writing a couple of model, take a look at their job listings.
Companies like to entice potential hires by bragging about person numbers, income progress and extra.

In reality, you’ll generally ONLY discover this data in job listings. Which makes it the precise kind of juicy knowledge that journalists need (however is at the moment arduous to search out).
S-1 Filings
US public firms must share key enterprise metrics with shareholders every quarter.
Again, this knowledge is normally kind of buried in a PDF.

But you should utilize your stats web page to make the info simpler to search out and eat (and earn a ton of hyperlinks alongside the best way).
Google News
Google News is a goldmine of trade knowledge in the type of:
- Press releases
- Milestone information tales (“15% of Americans now consider themselves vegan”)
- Data from trade publications
- Quotes from specialists
In reality, I relied closely on Google News for my Clubhouse stats web page. I actually looked for “Clubhouse” in Google News each single day for WEEKS.
Sure sufficient, I discovered loads of tales with knowledge I might use.
For instance, a New York Times piece was the primary to report that the app had been downloaded 600k instances:
The downside with Google News is that tales like this disappear from the platform after just a few days. Plus, plenty of these tales are behind a paywall.
But these issues are a possibility for you.
By sharing that knowledge on a stats web page, you’re preserving compelling knowledge that may be in any other case arduous for journalists to search out.
Step #4: Optimize Your Stats Page
Now it’s time to arrange and optimize your stats web page.
Here’s how:
Snippet Bait
I’ve talked about Snippet Bait earlier than.
And this technique is PERFECT for Reverse Outreach.
Why?
Because every stat has a possibility to point out as a Featured Snippet.
In reality, this method has helped my stat pages present up in dozens of Featured Snippets, like this:

All it is advisable to do is format your stats web page with a subheading optimized round a Journalist Keyword.

Then, present a brief and candy reply to that query proper beneath that subheading.

Rinse and repeat for each stat in your web page which you can.
Include Visuals and Charts
Visuals assist your stat pages get extra backlinks for 2 causes:
First, they provide bloggers a visible they’ll use in their content material.
(And they’ll normally hyperlink again to you because the picture supply.)

Second, in keeping with the Victoria University of Wellington, visuals make your content more credible.
This is clearly HUGE in order for you big-name publications to make use of your stats.
Add Lots of Tables
Tables can assist you rank as a desk Featured Snippet.
But additionally they are simply a good way of constructing plenty of knowledge simple to know at a look.
You can use tables to point out progress or decline over time:

Or for rankings:

Either means, when you should utilize a desk, it is best to use a desk.
Include “Crunchy” Stats
Crunchy stats are chew web site stats which can be simple to know at a look.
And the extra crunchy stats you embrace, the extra hyperlinks you’ll get.
In reality, a lot of the hyperlinks that I get to my stat pages are individuals citing crunchy stats.

For instance, right here’s a crunchy stat from my TikTok stats web page:

This is a stat that ANYONE can perceive in 3 seconds. And is simple to quote in an article.

Examples of crunchy stats embrace:
- Industry dimension
- Company income
- The variety of individuals doing a factor (consuming keto, mediating, and many others.)
- Time spent doing X
- % progress over time
That’s to not say 100% of your stats have to be crunchy stats. For instance, right here’s a comparatively complicated stat from one in all my pages:

But you need to embrace as many crunchy stats as you’ll be able to (particularly in the direction of the highest of the web page).
Step #5: Get Backlinks
Depending in your content material, the key phrases you focused, and your Domain Rank it could possibly take a while on your stats web page to select up some traction.
I prefer to test the web page’s natural rankings periodically:

Just to see if it’s beginning to rank for long-tail key phrases. If so, that’s a GREAT signal.
But yeah, it could possibly take 3-4 months on your web page to begin to rank and get passive hyperlinks.
But as soon as it does, you kind of get right into a hyperlink twister state of affairs:
You get hyperlinks. Those hyperlinks push your rankings larger. So you get extra hyperlinks. And the cycle continues.
For instance, this web page continues to rack up new hyperlinks every month.

Which helps it rank larger in Google for its current key phrase. And rank for utterly new phrases.
I additionally prefer to overview and replace these pages AT LEAST as soon as per quarter.
That means, your whole knowledge is updated. And you retain getting that non permanent freshness increase that comes from a legit content material replace.
Conclusion
So yeah, that’s Reverse Outreach: my go-to hyperlink constructing technique proper now.
Now I’d like to listen to from you.
Have you tried getting passive hyperlinks earlier than?
If so, how did it go?
Let me know in the feedback part beneath.