Looking for links that will bring traffic and a positive mention? Consider reaching out to like-minded blogs and websites. With a little work and luck, you can help boost your campaign website’s rankings and pull in some additional visitors who may be interested in your campaign.
To start, run a search for “political blogs” and your region or state. You should find some sites or even a page with a listing of relevant sites. Searching for blogs related to a particular campaign issue may also yield results, though you may find more sites that deal on a state-wide or national level.
Blogs of a similar political affiliation or goal tend to link to one another. Once you’ve found prospects, you’ll likely find more just checking what other sites they link to.
Once you’ve found your sites, you’ll want to reach out to them with a brief, personalized email, mentioning the blog and how your campaign or issue relates to them. Depending on the site, you might want to have campaign staff participate in online discussions through the comments section of the posts.
However, this should be done carefully and the participants should have a good knowledge of the site and its ‘rules of the road’.
Linking out is a great way to get their attention and provides a great opening when contacting them. “Thanks for the article on XYZ. I linked to it from my campaign site at…” Directly reaching out and getting to know local site owners and writers is a good way to influence coverage and possibly suggest story ideas which could help your or hurt your opponent.
Sending a tip or story is a good way to get noticed. Be selective here, and only send information to bloggers who have a specific interest. In other words, don’t just send a stream of press releases. That’s a sure way to get a bad reputation. You may get mentioned, but not in a nice way!
Keep in mind that a niche site may get the same tip from multiple sources, so it’s nothing personal if they don’t specifically mention you. Also, make sure the recipient has not already posted something about the story.
Another idea is to offer to do an interview, either as a series of questions you answer or a series of blog posts or recorded podcasts. If it is an issue-based site, you may even want to provide a guest post. In any case, you’ll want to have the material link back to your own website if you can.
Blog owners typically follow related blogs. Once your candidate or campaign has appeared on one blog, don’t be surprised if other sites start reaching out to YOU!
Online Candidate’s website packages are affordable for any campaign. We also offer a variety of popular campaign guides, including our book, Running for Office as an Online Candidate.
Read More:
Political Campaign Strategies That Stink »
Tags: political endorsements
