Backlinks are still one of the most powerful SEO ranking factors. But let’s be honest – getting quality backlinks without paying for them is like convincing a cat to take a bath. It’s frustrating, chaotic, and requires lots of previous experience.
Linkbuilding outreach has become increasingly competitive, and achieving results through cold email is harder than ever before.
In an era filled with spammy emails, breaking through to your targets is very difficult. However, I managed to do it for a SaaS client, and I will show you my process and results in this blog.
I am an SEO consultant for SaaS and B2B and not an outbound specialist, but this approach still worked out for me.
The reason is very simple: I worked at Woodpecker for eight years and picked up a lot of knowledge in this field.
Goal: To gain sensible SEO backlinks with cold emailing
Together with the client (SaaS), we had a clear plan: to get backlinks from sites with a good Domain Rating (DR) in the composable commerce niche.
You probably see where the problem is. Great websites in this niche do not give away links like free samples in a supermarket. They are flooded with requests for links regularly, and most of them go straight to the trash. To break through, we had to figure out who to write to and who might be interested in what we have to offer. We also had to try and personalize this content as much as possible while trying to automate specific processes so that the volume would be large enough to manage to get something statistically.
How did I prepare a linkbuilding outreach campaign?
Step 1: Domain warm-up to avoid spam filters
Before I sent my first email, I warmed up the domain for two weeks. I treated it like a warm-up before the gym – no one wants to get injured, which in this case means getting blacklisted. I gradually increased the messages I sent and had real email conversations to show that my inbox was being used for everyday communication.
After those two weeks, I launched the warm-up function in Woodpecker for another week. I know it should have lasted a bit longer, but by that time, we had already developed a backlinks cold email strategy and gone through prospecting and content creation, so we wanted to get going.
❗Important: From the very beginning, we knew that we had to create a domain for the client used just for outreach, and therefore, it was necessary to warm up this fresh domain. If, in this paragraph, you thought to yourself, “Cool, my domain is warmed up because I’ve been using it for communication every day for five years” then stop here for a moment.
Never use your main domain to send cold emails. The reason? Despite your efforts, you can still end up on the spammer blacklist, and then your standard communication with your clients will also be affected. It’s better to focus on sending from a new domain and not worry later if anything happens.
Step 2: Monitoring deliverability
I used Woodpecker to track open and response rates to ensure my emails were landing in inboxes and not spam.
Another aspect is a good prospecting database – instead of using an extensive, pre-made database, I created one myself using the right tools. I decided on this because I was primarily looking for specific people associated with specific blogs or domains. Besides, such prospecting databases from the internet are often outdated and may contain many addresses that are no longer functional.
Step 3: Mass customization
No one likes impersonal messages. If I got an email that started with “Hello stranger” I’d probably delete it immediately. That’s why I used personalized snippets to make each message seem as natural as possible:
Hi {{first_name}}, great article on {{article_title}}!
I’ve noticed that {{company}} is doing a great job in eCommerce—huge respect!
Small changes like this make a huge difference in the number of responses.
Step 4: Personalization by day of the week
I also had this simple idea: the prospect database would be divided into five parts, each for a different day of the week. If a prospect were in the Monday campaign, the first email would go out only and exclusively on Monday, and in its content, I would include phrases such as:
“Have a great Monday!” or “I know Mondays can be tough—I hope yours is different!”
This way, I tried to strengthen the recipient’s feeling that a real person was writing to them, not an automated process. Well, a bit of trickery, but you have to be smart.
My linkbuilding outreach strategy: What I focused on
Searching for articles on “Best Composable Commerce Platforms” and related topics
First, I fired up Ahrefs to find articles that rank for phrases like “Best Composable Commerce Platforms 2024” and other keywords related to composable commerce, which was our goal. These were perfect places to backlink because my client had something valuable to add to those topics.
I put the article URLs I found into a Google Sheet.
Broken link building: repairing and reminding about lost links
In Ahrefs’ ‘Lost Backlinks‘ section, I searched for links that had disappeared in the last three months. If someone has already linked to us once but suddenly changed their mind (or something happened to that link), you should ask why.
I have chosen the 3 months because there were enough examples of sites that removed our link during this period. On the other hand, it is hard to ask someone about a backlink that disappeared half a year ago. They simply may no longer remember what it was about.
I compiled the found URLs in a Google Sheet.
Logo and graphic material search without links
I used Google Reverse Image Search to find sites that used my client’s logo without a backlink. In our case, besides the logo, there were also infographics and other marketing stuff that were heavily shared by the audience some time ago. If you find people who share your content without mentioning you, you have an easy recipe for getting a link – all you have to do is ask for it.
Of course, you know what I did – I compiled the relevant URLs into a Google Sheet.
Brand mentions without links
With the help of Brand24, I have tracked the mentions of the client’s brand in the past. This must be done correctly, so remember to set the appropriate exclusion keywords. Take care not only of the keywords that interest you but also those that disqualify a topic. Same with the type of sources – we will not be interested in forums like Reddit or Stackoverflow, but all blogs or tutorials meet our requirements.
You already know what I did with the exported list of URLs!
How I searched for the right contacts and sites
You know where all potential backlinks went – to Google Sheets. I marked important pages in red, potentially meaning manual prospecting.
I used Woodpecker Lead Finder and Apollo to automate the process for the rest.
Manual prospecting will always be more effective than automatic, large-scale prospecting. I have decided to mix these two processes, so I’ve searched for the addresses I had manually marked in red earlier.
How did I do it? Having the address of the blog on which I wanted a backlink to appear, I knew what domain it stood for. I searched for a given company on Linkedin, and then for its employees, and I tried to find anyone from the marketing team.
Once I managed to locate people, I pasted the data to Hunter.io, which showed me this person’s email address if it was in their database. Hunter did not find the email address in about half of the cases. Then, I copied another person’s data from their marketing department to Hunter, and often, step by step, I reached the email address of someone from this company dealing with marketing.
However, if I could not find any email address in this process – I chose outreach via LinkedIn and simply sent a cold chat (is there such a word? If not, I just made it up) via LinkedIn. The exact process awaited those cases that were not found by the automatic process – I threw them into the bag of manual prospecting and again: search on Linkedin, search with Hunter, and if unsuccessful, then outreach with LinkedIn.
Automating prospecting at scale with Woodpecker Lead Finder and Apollo was a piece of cake. From my Google sheet, where I had URLs of articles and websites, I pulled the domains themselves into a new column based on those URLs using a simple formula:
=REGEXEXTRACT(A4, “https?://([^/]+)”)
Then, in the previously mentioned tools, I could search for contacts based on the domain or company name, which is usually also a domain (but without the ending).
You can also choose a specific company department that interests you – in my case, it was the Marketing department. This process allowed me to acquire a large number of email addresses. The quality was probably not always perfect, but I accepted it because our list of prospects already contained a sufficient number of potential backlink donors, also of high quality.
How I write the perfect cold email
Examples of topics that had a high open rate
“Quick question about {{article_title}}”
“Great article about {{article_title}}!”
“Can you help {{article_title}} readers with this update?”
My message regarding composable commerce related articles
Subject: Update request {{article_title}}
Hey {{first_name}},
Great job with {{article_title}} – valuable content!
I have noticed that {{company}} is talking about composable commerce, and I have an idea for a small update that might be valuable for your audience. We have just published a guide on how to implement composable commerce in your store, which perfectly matches your article.
What do you think?
Have a great {{day_of_week}}, thanks for considering!
Regards,
[Your Name]
Follow-ups: How I increased my response rate
It’s not enough to send one email, and I hope everyone will respond immediately. Most people are busy, and their mailboxes are full of this kind of messages. That’s why, after the first email, I sent three follow-ups, which increased the chances of a response.
First follow-up: light reminder (after 2 days)
I sent a short, light reminder two days after sending the first email. The content was informal and intended only to draw attention to the previous message gently:
Subject: “Hey {{first_name}}, I don’t know if you’ve seen…?”
Hey {{first_name}},
I just wanted to make sure you saw my earlier message. I know that mailboxes can get pretty full (mine is too!), so I’m back with a quick reminder.
Let me know what you think!
Best regards, [Your Name]
Second follow-up: surprise in exchange for a backlink (after 5 days)
After a few more days, I added more value and tried convincing them it was worth giving us a backlink. In this message, I have suggested that if we could agree on a backlink, I would give them a small bonus. I didn’t say what the bonus was right away, but I will tell you that it was an e-book about composable commerce and an invitation to our affiliate program (the vision of money always works).
Subject: “{{first_name}}, I have something extra for you!”
Hey {{first_name}},
I see that we haven’t had a chance to talk yet, but I’d like to keep in touch because I have something cool for you. If we can agree on a backlink, I’ll gladly send you a bonus that I’ve prepared. In addition, you can start working with us and earn some money, so it’s worth it!
Let me know if this sounds interesting to you!
Best regards, [Your Name]
Third follow-up: direct request for an interview (after another 5 days)
In the third follow-up, I clarified and asked a direct question: Can I call you on Friday at 11:00?
Of course, I haven’t had their number, and no one would get a call from me, but such an email often pulled people to respond – mostly with a “No, you can’t, but what do you want?” and… that was the moment when I could convince them to give me a backlink.
Subject: “{{first_name}}, is Friday 11:00 okay?”
Hey {{first_name}},
What do you think about a quick call on Friday at 11:00 a.m.? I wanted to discuss a topic I have mentioned in previous messages.
Best regards, [Your Name]
This was one of the most effective follow-ups. Most people don’t like the idea of an unexpected phone call, so they prefer to reply and ask what it is about rather than ignore the email.
Using this follow-up strategy, I increased my response rate and got more backlinks. Remember – the biggest mistake you can make in cold outreach is not following up!
Results: How many backlinks did I get, and what worked
I have sent 4037 emails, of which 3986 messages were delivered correctly (the rest were invalid).
From this pool, I had 307 responses, with 118 positive, 37, after exchanging one or two messages, stopped replying and ignored the topic, and 152 (mainly bloggers) did not agree to place a backlink. Unfortunately, life is brutal. Out of these 118 positively considered requests, as of today, we can see 72 correctly placed because some people, despite their consent, did not place the link on their website. Of course, another campaign has already been launched for them, reminding them that they promised but did not keep it!
Out of this pool of 72 correctly placed backlinks, 49 links were marked as follow, while 23 links were marked as nofollow.
I am happy with the results of this campaign because we have acquired over 70 backlinks (okay, 50 follow ones), spending money only on automation tools: Woodpecker, Apollo, Hunter, and using the tools we had so far, i.e. aHrefs. Good deal!
Plan your outreach strategy and boost your SEO with cold emails
Remember, personalization and good prospecting are key. Don’t forget to create a separate domain for sending the campaign and warm it up. If you care about some places to put a link on, find the author’s contact details manually to make sure you reach the right person. Follow-ups are necessary, and we received the most positive responses after the second and third follow-ups.
If you need support with your website analytics, backlink outreach strategy, or simply the help of B2B SEO consultant – write to me!