Unlinked Mentions: How to Find and Turn Them Into Backlinks

Getting your business or content mentioned online can lead to valuable backlinks. Two ways to earn these links are through Public Relations (PR) efforts and by finding unlinked brand mentions. These tactics help build your site's authority and bring in relevant visitors.

PR, in the context of link building, is about getting your brand, product, service, or unique data covered by relevant news sites, blogs, podcasts, or industry publications.

How PR helps you get links:

  • Create Something Newsworthy: The first step is having something genuinely interesting or valuable that journalists or bloggers will want to write about. This could be a study you conducted, a significant company announcement, a unique product launch, or offering expert commentary on a current trend in your industry.

  • Reach Out to Media: Identify publications and writers who cover topics related to your news. Send them a compelling pitch explaining why your story is relevant and interesting to their audience.

  • Coverage Often Includes Links: When a publication covers your story, they frequently include a link back to your website as the source of the information, to your homepage, or to a specific page about your product or service. These links are typically high-quality because they come from established media outlets.

  • Sometimes Links Are Missed: Even with good PR, sometimes a publication might mention your brand or website name without adding a link. This is where finding "unlinked mentions" comes in.

An unlinked brand mention happens when your company name, website name, or a specific, unique product/service name is mentioned on another website or online publication, but the mention isn't hyperlinked back to your site.

These mentions are opportunities! The site owner is already talking about you, which shows relevance.

How to get links from unlinked mentions:

  1. Find the Mentions: You need to track when your brand is mentioned online. Tools like Google Alerts, social media monitoring tools, or more advanced SEO backlink tools can help you find these mentions across the web. Set up alerts for your brand name, website URL (without the http:// or https://), and any unique product or service names.

  2. Check the Source: When you find a mention, look at the website where it appears. Is it a reputable site? Is the content relevant? Is the mention positive or neutral? Focus on mentions from quality sites in relevant contexts.

  3. Decide if a Link Makes Sense: Think about whether adding a link where your brand is mentioned would genuinely be helpful or relevant to the readers of that website. For example, if they mention your unique product name, linking to the product page would be helpful. If they quote your CEO, linking to your "About Us" page or a specific article they wrote might make sense. Don't ask for a link if it feels unnatural in the context.

  4. Reach Out Politely: Contact the website owner or the author of the piece.

    • Find their contact information (email is usually best).

    • Send a brief, friendly email. Thank them for mentioning your brand.

    • Politely point out where they mentioned you and suggest that their readers might find it helpful to have a link to your website for more information.

    • Suggest the most relevant page on your site for them to link to.

    • Keep the request simple and make it easy for them to add the link if they agree.

Successful PR efforts often result in both linked and unlinked mentions. Actively finding those unlinked mentions and following up can be a great way to earn high-quality backlinks from sites that are already talking about you.

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