A HARO Case Study: How I Got 3 High DR Backlinks Under a Week

I first came across Help a Reporter Out (HARO) after hearing how valuable it could be for link building. As a consultant focused on SEO services, I knew tapping into HARO could help me secure high-quality backlinks for clients. So I set a goal to get at least a few publisher placements within my first week on the platform.

While an ambitious target as a complete beginner, I was up for the challenge. In this article, I’ll share my hands-on process for successfully getting rapid results on HARO, from account setup to optimizing my pitch writing.

Step 1: Signing Up on HARO

To begin, I signed up for a free HARO account and filled out my detailed source profile thoroughly. In my profile, I highlighted my background in digital marketing consulting and listed relevant service keywords. This helped me get matched with queries in my niche.

Remember to sign up as a SOURCE

I also set email notifications for categories like “Business & Finance”, “High Tech”, and “General”. Soon my inbox was flooded with 3 daily HARO emails, which was overwhelming at first!

Create filters to stay organized

To stay organized, I created filters so HARO emails skipped my crowded main inbox and went into a designated HARO folder. This let me easily track new opportunities.

Step 2: Finding the Right Opportunities

With so many queries coming in daily, I focused only on my core “Business” category to avoid getting overloaded.

HARO sends out three emails to sources each day

Although they send out emails three times per day, at 5.35 am, 12:35 pm, and 5:35 pm, with my busy schedule, I could only check them once a day. For each promising marketing or small business query, I took time to craft a custom pitch.

My first pitches were too general, without tying closely to what each reporter was looking for. As a result, I didn’t hear back and had to refine my approach.

Step 3: Crafting My Successful Pitches

I knew I had to refine my pitches to get accepted. So, I reviewed some published placements. This is what I did to craft better pitches:

• I demonstrated clear expertise in the first sentence
• I tried to provide a unique angle
• Including stats and real examples makes a more convincing pitch
• Short and quickly scannable pitches under 2-3 sentences are better

Armed with these criteria, I carefully targeted narrow B2B queries where I could provide genuine value. I made sure my angles were fresh and backed up with data.

Step 4: Landing My First Placements

The time and effort spent tailoring effective pitches finally paid off.

My first big success was getting published on Lifewire, on January 11, 2024.

Coming from such a big source like LifeWire, which has a DR of 90, it certainly was a big success.

Soon after, I landed a second hit on Icy Tales on January 15, 2024. 

They too had a good DR value, enough to boost my client’s organic reach.

A few days later, I scored a third backlink from CEO Blog Nation.

Again, another high DR backlink, I felt like I was on a roll. 

Getting all these links in such a short amount of time felt like a major accomplishment! It validated that my process worked and boosted my motivation.

How I Went from HARO Failures to Successes

So what makes a successful HARO pitch? Where’s my take take:

• Success requires persistence – expect lots of initial rejections
• A catchy subject line leads to a successful pitch
• Writing a targeted pitch takes some time to master
• Analyze results often and adjust your strategy

While not easy, consistently providing value to journalists will in turn lead to continuous quality placements.

My Ongoing HARO Journey

Moving forward, my goal is to continue to systemize and scale up my HARO process to get even more links per month.

I’m tracking my pitch success rate to identify techniques that perform best. This helps me improve my targeting and angles over time.

Expanding into new client niches also gives me fresh content opportunities to avoid getting stale.

The more I pitch, the better I get. HARO has proven to be an invaluable source of authoritative backlinks. With a strategic approach, the results continue growing exponentially.

Final Thoughts

With my time spent in HARO, I can say with confidence that the high-quality links and exposure HARO drives make the effort well worth it. You need to set up your profile completely and commit the time to mastering the art of crafting great pitches. Continuously analyze and refine your process based on results. And remember to persist through rejections.