Goals & Assumptions Section

Promoting a high-quality piece of content can be a big task.  This “Guide to Promoting Your Article or Interview” is comprehensive, and would take many hours to complete all of the elements.  But good news!  You can pick and choose which items are most relevant for you and only do those.  The more you do, the better the odds for epic success, but do not feel overwhelmed by this comprehensive list of ways to promote your interview.  Narrow the items down to what you think works for you and do those well.

We are going to begin with the goals and assumptions that this guide is built around.  You cannot get there if you do not know where you are going.

1. One Great Article is Better

Ask anyone who runs a big, successful website.  A small number of articles often generate a lion’s share of the organic traffic. In order to get ranking, sharing, buzz, and traffic to a piece of content, it cannot be mediocre.  It is better to do 10 very good articles per year instead of 50 short, bland articles no one will want to read.

2. Articles and Interviews Must Be Promoted

Even a good article or interview will not promote itself.  You have to help it get traction.  Once people start sharing it, or its ranking is established, then it can continue to get views in the future.  Most of this guide is about all the things you can do to create a good article or interview, then how to produce it, launch it, and then promote it short term and long term.

3. Benefits are Long-Term

If you landed on the front page of a major publication, you might get a flood of instant traffic.  However, it is much better to plan for a steady stream of benefits over time.  Links from an interview will boost your SEO over time.  Shares in social will help you boost your audience over time. Being found in multiple search positions for an important search phrase will increase your exposure over time.  This guide to promoting your article or interview is based on building long term value.

4. Know, Like, and Trust

One reason we love a good interview, and you should too, is that people are interesting.  And if someone is looking for your product or service, they are more likely to do business with you if they feel like they know, like, and trust you. Sales 101.  For the same reason, doing speeches is a great way to generate new customers.  The key to success with an interview is that you are not trying to sell hard, but helping people get to know you, develop an appreciation for you, and want to do business with you.

5. Honest SEO Player

Don’t get hung up on SEO. Yes, we all want better ranking and more traffic, but trying too hard is a clear signal to search engines that you are trying to game the system.  Instead, do what would happen naturally for any serious publisher creating good content.  They will get a mix of DoFolllow and NoFollow links.  They will get sharing on social media.  High and low domain authority links will happen to their content.  They will publish their content in multiple places and in multiple mediums.  An imperfect variety of stuff happening to high-value content is a clear signal to search engines that your content is no joke.  It is getting organic traction.

6. An Excuse to Crow

The big advantage of doing an interview-style content piece in a digital magazine is that you have an excuse to crow. What I mean is that you can let people know about it because appearing in a magazine, no matter how small, is newsworthy.  No one ever tells their friends about a new page on their website.  But an interview in a digital magazine is something people you know will care about, and want to share.

7. NoFollow, DoFollow, Don’t Care

SEO experts might read this article and point out some links are NoFollow, or that it is content on another website and not your own.  They might be concerned with target keyword phrases not being the most important factor.  Our firm likes SEO and helps people with SEO, but our Authority SEO Cluster actually is part SEO booster and part PR, and a good dash of social juice.  Worry about the big picture, not individual issues with the SEO alone.

Planning Section

Planning for your new article or interview is very important because it should have a purpose. As we mentioned earlier, a great piece of content is more useful than 100’s of mediocre pieces of content.  Below is our advice on planning your piece to maximize its effectiveness. 

8. SEO Authority Cluster Strategy

SEO Authority Cluster strategy is simple.  High-Authority Media Piece used in multiple media formats published on high authority domains with links back to the source and client site for more information creates a cluster of ways people find you via different, unique formats and a group of high-value links that help your domain authority, backlink profile, social accounts, and SEO inbound links that all contribute to the overall success of someone’s brand and company website.

9. Keyword Phrases

While SEO should not be the sole focus of this strategy when planning you should have a phrase or two that you want to rank for.  If you are using the interview strategy, this would typically be the person being interviewed’s name, product name, company name, or service + city (Pittsburgh Accounting.)   If it is an author talking about her new book, then the book title would be ideal.  Focus on two phrases, and use those phrases once per 100 words.  The phrase can vary sometimes.

10. The Hook

A hook is a clever or interesting topic or title that makes people pay attention more.  While a hook is not mandatory, it can help your piece get more reads, shares, and traction on the internet.  Sometimes it is OK just to be straightforward and rank well for your product name, as an example.  But if you can find a good hook, you can get more value.

11. Evergreen

Careful thought needs to be given to any piece you are developing to make sure it is as evergreen as possible.  Evergreen is content that does not expire quickly.  If I have a post with dates, a sale that ends soon, or a call to action before a specific date, then my article or interview has a very short shelf life.  The best pieces can last many years and still make sense, as well as not need updating.

12. Images

While you can always use some stock images to fill out an article, the more original photos you can have the better. Search engines recognize stock images and treat original images with more authority.  You can watermark your images with your domain name to make sure they produce for you in image searches.  If you are promoting a physical location, an image of the street view of the location helps people in your area recognize the storefront and feel more invited to stop in.  Taking time to get good images and thinking through what to show off will help your interview or article perform better.

13. Questions

If you are being interviewed, there is a chance they will be receptive to the questions you would like to be asked.  The questions should not just be about the product or service you want to sell. And they should not be softballs like “Why is your product so great?”  Try to ask and answer questions that prospective customers will have.  Even if you are doing an article, the same rule applies.  Ask and answer questions that prospects are thinking about, and might be stopping them from buying from you.

14. Allies

It is never too early to start building connections and keeping track of people who will help you promote content when you have it ready.  Keep track of who will share your interview on social, who will pass it on via email or text, who will link to it from a website or blog.  All of these people are key to your success and you should have a list prepared well in advance and keep it updated.  Remember, the best way to have people be helpful to you is to be helpful to them first.  To be serious about this, you need more than people in your phone contacts.  Keep a list in Google Sheets or Notion.

15. Unique Media Assets

When done well, you will have video, audio, slides, PDFs, Spanish version, and maybe other media assets all from one article or interview.  In the planning process, know where you are going to upload your video and audio, which podcast platform you will post to, what cloud services will you use to host files, and what slide and ebook platforms will you share to.  This is key to creating the SEO Authority Cluster, and you may need to have some accounts set up.

Production Section

Production is much easier if you have done good planning.  In fact, if you have questions for an interview in front of you, the content might practically write itself.  But there is still a lot to keep in mind.

16. Meta Data

The title, meta description, and permalink all impact your ranking for those phrases we defined earlier. What makes it harder is that search engines will only show the first 60 characters of your title, and the first 160ish characters of your description.  That means you need to keep the two short, clear, and interesting.  You should also use your target phrases.  That is a lot to try to pack into a short stack of characters. Your success will greatly impact your organic traffic.  Take your time on this, and ask other people their opinions on that is more interesting.

17. Jump Links

Jump Links, like those used at the top of this piece, help readers find what they want, and also establish higher authority for your interview or article.  The reason is that Google tracks time on page, and interaction with the page.  Those jump links give your page more interaction as well as helps people find what they want, and hopefully stay longer because they do not get frustrated.  If you are unsure of how to do this, simply Google “HTML anchor link” and you can find examples.

18. Title

As we have already mentioned, your title should be under 60 characters and have your main key phrases in it, as well as a hook to make it interesting.  Another important element is that each place you post additional content, such as slides, Youtube videos, etc. you should have a slightly different title, even if you go over the 60 characters.  The reason is that you do not want everything to be viewed by search engines as duplicate content.  If my title is “Interview with Joe Smith, Creator of the Thingy” then I might entitle the video “Video Interview….” – by mentioning the medium in the title, even if it takes it over the 60 characters, makes it more unique and appeals to someone who is more inclined to watch a video over reading.

19. Feature Image

Depending on where you are publishing, a feature image is very important to your article or interview.  This is the image that is usually at the top, as well as displayed in featured article sliders, article lists, and in some social media sites.  It should be clear, interesting, text should show up well if overlayed, and should be landscape orientation.  Keep in mind people will typically look more closely at the image if there are people in it.  So if you are talking about a product, having an image of people using a product is far better than just an image of the product, which would feel like being in an e-commerce store more than feeling like an article someone wants to read.

20. Social Sharing Image

Again, depending on where you are publishing and how things are configured, you might need or want to provide a different image for Facebook and Twitter sharing.  Yes, often the feature image is used by default, but there is an opportunity to make something different that would look good and appeal to people specifically in those platforms.  Since the text will not be overlayed, maybe you would include text in those images. It is something to look at and consider during production. 

21. Section Headlines

Dividing your piece up into bite-sized, easy-to-read parts is good for readers and search engines love it as well.  Separate each section with a header text.  In interviews, we ask each question with a header to break it up in very logical sections.  Also, use your key phrases when you can in those headers, although do not force it every time as that would not seem natural.  

22. Intro and Exit

Your first sentence should contain your keyword phrases and a hook that makes someone want to read the article or interview.  Likewise, your conclusion should repeat the keyword phrase and invite people to contact you for more information, or share the article if they like it, or take some other action.  This lends itself well to an interview where the interviewer begins with an introduction and exits with a “thank you” and how to find out more.

23. Audio

One way to have good audio is to start with audio, and then transcribe it into text. You can do this manually or with Amazon Transcribe   If you have a text interview, which is nice to keep your answers more on point and think through your responses, you could read them and record them after the fact, or you could have it converted to audio using Amazon Polly.  It is not your voice, but it is easy and gives you an audio file to use in many ways.

24. Transcript

Having a transcript to go with your audio and video files is a great way to get more high-authority backlinks.  The transcript is a copy of the text of the interview or article, with no images or other things embedded.  We like to add a paragraph at the beginning stating where it was originally published and link it back to the original, as well as the client website as a recourse.  When you host this on a different cloud file storage and have it open to the public, you are creating authority backlinks.

25. Video

You can be recorded for an interview, or you can make slides and use your audio to build a video.  With YouTube a popular place to search for things, this is not a step you want to skip.  Make sure you have the links in your slides so people can find more information.  Also, the description of the video can have a link in it.  Embed the video in the article as well, so you add rich media to your article and make it more interesting while also promoting the video.

26. Captions

Taking time to add captions to your video improves SEO, the user experience, and aids people who are deaf or hard of hearing.  Plus, sometimes you just want to keep your sound turned off.  More viewers of your video mean more people knowing about you.  And if you already have the text of an interview done, adding it as captions does not take much time.

27. Quotes

Getting quotes or sources from other people to include in your interview or article can be very powerful.  For example, if you get a quote from a happy customer and add it, then email them the link when the interview is posted, there is a good chance they will send it to family and friends or share it via social.  The longer the piece, the more quotes you can use.  Ask people who are more influential, especially with your target market.

28. Slides

Slides can be done with the same content, and used as the video as well as an ebook, slides on Slide Share sites, and individual slides can be used as images and social media posts, and many other sharable elements.  In an ebook or slideshow, you can have links in your content.  This distribution can create a lot of backlinks for you from different sources.  If you have done an interview, slide one is the intro, each new slide is one Q & A, and then you end with a closing slide.  Very easy. 

29. Print Version

A print version of your interview or article is simply a version that prints well.  Taking out images, embedded media, and formating to print nicely is an excuse to have another version of your piece hosted on a different domain, with high-authority backlinks to your article and your site.  Most people don’t print now, but that does not mean you cannot use it as a valuable part of your SEO Authority Cluster of assets.  Your print version can be a PDF or simple HTML.

30. Spanish Version

Just like the print version, having a Spanish version gives you another piece of unique content with backlinks.  Sure, browsers can translate and it is not required anymore.  But as a piece of unique content with backlinks, why would you not use this opportunity?  You can easily use Google Translate to make a Spanish version.  Make sure your names, company name, product names, etc do not get changed in the translation.  Make sure the links still go to the right places.  Include “Read in English” and link back to the original.  Boom.  More high-authority links.  

31. Report

Assuming you have done an interview, can you get some statistics and do a one-page report, which is then followed by your interview to give people a peek into the industry/topic? You can then link to this from some of your pieces, such as the print piece, as a more in-depth report, and it will have added value.  Typically this would be a PDF that you can put on a sharing site, like Scribd.

32. Survey

Surveys can be useful because you can also include links in some of them.  So your survey can be “Begin by reading this interview/article [link] and then answer the following five questions.  This strategy provides a backlink to your site and also might generate good feedback from prospective customers.  It is another thing you can post on social media that is unique.  Even if no one responds to your survey, the links alone can be beneficial to your SEO Authority Cluster strategy.

33. eBook

If your article or interview is long enough, you can convert it into a mini-ebook. Using different formats gives you a reason to host the files on different sites.  But if you want the full power of this strategy, you should work with 4-10 other people who write on a similar topic but are not direct competitors and have them each contribute an article or interview that would address a topic that forms a chapter.  Then put together the longer ebook and ask each contributor to host the PDF file, with links to everyone on their site or a sharing site, and share it with their audience. To maximize your own value, share it on a file storage site link Amazon s3 and link to it in social media, emails, etc.  This avoids link sharing issues but is still in good faith and valuable to everyone.

34. Host Media Assets Strategically

Host (store) your different assets on different platforms.  This can help you build up your domain authority over time.  While it is helpful if you store things where the links are DoFollow, some that are not are OK as well.  The trick is to not try to be tricky. Here is a list of places to consider.

• Amazon S3
• Google Cloud
• Zoho
• Scribd
• Issuu
• DocHub
• Notion
• LinkedIn

There are many more and by spreading around assets related to an interview, you can form the SEO Authority Cluster that will help domain authority and ranking.

35. Production Notes

I like to keep one page on a 3rd party site and keep production notes on the entire development, including links to every resource.  Then when I get this page indexed, it will be pointing to all other pages and hopefully help them get indexed as well.  Keep in mind, this is not a trick.  This is responsibly and openly documenting the process and referencing the resources.

Launch Day Section

Launch day can be a lot of work.  Even though we are saying launch “day” it could be more of a soft launch week.  If you have created a piece you ae excited about, then promoting it should be easy.

36. Launch Day Q & A

Creating engagement around your article or interview is a great way to get people to notice it. Get some friends or co-workers to participate and jump-start the Q&A process.  You should use a popular social network like Facebook or Twitter.  Save all the Q&A and use this in the future to build out a bigger piece of content.

37. Video Pitch

Quickly create a one-minute video that pitches your article or interview.  Introduce yourself, talk about what is covered, invite people to go read it via the link in the description, and promote it through YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and any source where people will see your video.  In these situations, you will probably only link to the interview or article, but remember these links make that piece stronger, and that boosts your main site.

38. Email People You Know

Individually email people you know well.  Invite them to read your new piece, and share it with their networks if they enjoy it.  This pitch works well if the people know you fairly well and are friendly towards you.

39. Text People You Know

Likewise, if you have a regular texting relationship with someone send them the link and ask them what they think.  If they say they like it, then ask them to share it with some people who might find it interesting.

40. Facebook

Obviously share it on Facebook.  Both your personal and your business page if possible.  This is one place where it is very easy for people to share it, like it, or comment on it.  Keep an eye on these things and interact with people. Also, comment yourself on your article or interview share, and @ people who you want to have take a look.

41. LinkedIn

If your article is at all related to work or professional interests, LinkedIn is a good place to promote it.  You can do a post as well as send direct messages to people in your network who might be very interested in your piece. 

42. Twitter

Share on Twitter.  You can change up your message and tweet it 2-3 times during day one.  It is a good idea to have some other tweets go out in between so your feed does not seem like just one note.

43. Pin Post In Twitter

You can also pin a tweet to the top of your feed.  Pin your interview for a couple of weeks at least. If it is interesting, and people are visiting your profile, this should generate some engaged readers.

44. Instagram

On Instagram you can upload your video ad for the piece, or you can do a selfie and in the comments say “Guess who just got interviewed in….”  Include the link to the article as well.

45. Medium

Medium is a great place to promote your article if you can tie it into something meaningful and post it there.  However, this site needs to be used regularly in order to have some power.  If you are signing up for the first time to promote your article it will probably not be effective.  It is a good place to establish your expertise and develop a following over time.

46. Pintrest

While Pinterest relies on good images and has a different general audience, it can still be a good source of clicks, readers, and potentially new customers depending on what you do.  And it will only take a minute to pin your article or interview in your account.

47. YouTube

There are lots of ways to use YouTube to distribute your new content.

1. Post your video ad in your account with a link back to the interview and the main video
2. Also post a copy of your video in your account, with a different title and description
3. Embed your video interview on your website
4. Leave comments on other videos on related topics and mention your interview (Don’t SPAM, just where there is true interest and crossover.)

48. Influencer Outreach

Hopefully, in the planning phase, you made a list of influencers who might be interested in what you are doing.  Launch day is when you reach out to them.  Ask them to have a look.  If you know them personally, ask them to share it.  If you do not know them personally, you can just say “I thought you and your readers might be interested in this interview I just did,” kind of contact.  You should contact them however they best like to communicate and depending on what information you have.

49. Press Release

While Press Releases are not the SEO tool that they used to be, reporters do keep an eye on them, and if you write a press release that is good, it could land you a mention in another publication.  There are also a lot of niche press sites online now, and contacting them directly can be very beneficial for getting in front of a target market.  If they are not willing to promote your existing interview, maybe they would like to do one for their publication with a similar topic.

50. Email Newsletter

If you maintain an email list, a good interview in a publication is a great excuse to send out a special edition newsletter highlighting the interview.  Email is an older technology, but it is still very effective at getting in front of people.

51. LinkedIn Groups

Chances are you have joined some LinkedIn groups over the years and maybe you forgot you are even in them.  These can be very engaging places if they are still active.  If your interview or article is appropriate for the group, share it and keep an eye on comments from people in the groups. 

52. Facebook Groups

If you are in groups on Facebook that would be interested in your new interview, share away.  An interview is far less spammy than an article on your corporate website.  You can say “So excited to share my new interview…” and post it.  Be respectful and only post in groups where there would be interest. 

53. Engage with Sharers

Depending on the platform (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Medium, Etc.) people will share or link your article.  When you see this happens, be sure to go out and like their share, or say thanks in comments, or do something else nice to show you noticed.  More engagement makes these things perform better, and these people will be more likely to notice things from you in the future and help you out as well.

54. Reply to Comments

When people comment on your interview or an article, reply every time.  The sole exception to this rule is if they are just being nasty or trying to troll you.  But addressing people who comment, even with a quick “thanks,” helps the success of your interview, your brand and the authority of your domain by having a highly engaging piece linking back to it.

55. Low-Cost Places to Share

There are many places you can share an article link, pdf, or other assets with links in them.  While everyone is looking for free places to do this, sometimes the best is a low cost option that you pay for, maybe for something else, that allows public, indexable files to be openly hosted.  Maybe an “About our team” page in your CRM or Help system?  Maybe your file storage system? Maybe a paid website someplace?  While this is unlikely to create a floor of traffic, a high-authority link can boost your article or interview for search and get results.

Promotion After Launch Section

Whether you do a launch day or a launch week, eventually you will move on and get to your next task.  But there is a lot that can be done steadily after launch to help it perform better, as well as help you maximize your time investment in creating a high-quality piece.

56. Send “In Case You Missed It” Emails

On a different day of the week, and at a different time, send another email to your list.  Some people pay more attention to emails in the morning, or in the afternoon.  Some people might read things more on the weekends.  Some systems can track and filter who already clicked the link in the first email, and you could exclude them from the second. 

57. Share on Niche Sites

Does your topic have niche websites about it? Some of these sites can be very active and posting in the niche site, and sharing your interview or article if appropriate, can be a great way to reach a perfect audience.  Sub-reddits, for example, can be very niche but ideal.

58. Text Message, Stale Contacts

No doubt, at launch, you texted close friends and good acquaintances about your interview.  Now might be the time to use an interview to reconnect with contacts that have gotten stale.  First, ask them how they have been.  Then you can share the interview and let them know it is new and if they are interested in what you are doing now, they can have a look.

59. Add Link and Summary to Help Center

If your company has a help/support system, it probably has documents that are public.  Having a page with information about your team, and a link to your interview in the section about you, can help with curious customers as well as being a good backlink that might get indexed and improve the authority of your website and the interview.

60. LinkedIn Variations

You do not want to post the same thing over and over, but you can post the same link with different reasons and messages sporadically.  For example, a post on LinkedIn about how your network expanded after your interview would be an appropriate thing to include the interview link in.  Or an update about what happened after the interview. Relevant, professional, and unique posts can be made regularly with the same article or interview.

61. Facebook Variations

As we mentioned with LinkedIn, look for opportunities to repost at different times and days, with new massages.

• “In case you missed this last week, I was interviewed….”
• “If you read my interview, what question do you wish they would have asked but didn’t?”
• “Update on something I said in the interview in March….”

There are plenty of reasons you can repost things.

62. Twitter Variations

See LinkedIn and Facebook above. Remember that you do not want any social feed too heavily selling all the time. Interspurce other tweets before you post about your interview or article again.  Twitter can be a bit more fun (or not).

• “I did this great interview last month but @Oprah hasn’t called me yet!”
• “Interested in what I do?  Read this interview in MAGAZINE.”
• “I thought whatever happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas. :(“

63. Embed YouTube Video

Do you have some popular blog posts or pages on your site? Adding a YouTube embedded video can add more media to your popular pages, and drive viewers from a blog post, to a video, and to an interview or article.  Just be sure not to do it if your page is focused on a particular conversion as adding other clickable options may take away from the main focus.

64. Press Release

Press releases are not as effective for SEO as they used to be, but they still get picked up and put on news sites, and they do get read by journalists if you have a snappy, interesting, title and topic.  It is certainly newsworthy locally if you have been featured in a magazine or large site.  Do a press release distribution and also send your press release to local media people to let them know about it.  They might not want to feature your interview, but they might want to do an interview with your for their site, or use you as an expert source for something they are working on.

65. Develop Links to Interview

Your interview can often be a top 10 search result for your name and your company name.  To help this happen, develop backlinks to the interview.  SEO companies can help you develop backlinks that boost the performance of the interview.  It should not pass your primary site, because it is on a magazine site that has less specific authority for your company name and your name, but it can help lock up a top 10 spot with a positive story.

66. Google Adwords

Especially if you are already running Google Adwords, why not toss a bit of the budget towards promoting your interview? The majority of your budget is probably focused on getting people to take action, but sometimes people need to feel like they have gotten to know you a bit.  Reading an interview can lead them to be more interested in doing business with you.  Pay attention to click-through rates compared to other ads.  See how it does.  This will vary a lot depending on the industry.

67. Facebook Boost

Facebook is made for boosting the viewership of something like an interview. You can boost any post that references back to the original piece.  You can throw $5 or $10 at each Facebook post and see which one produces more clicks and better results.  Try to set up your target audience to be people who would be interested in your interview.  Maybe regional, or maybe men or women over a certain age, for example.  Keep boosting things that work periodically as long as your interview stays relevant and you are getting new readers.

68. Retargeted Ads

Retargeting ads are very cost-effective and work well because the ads only show to people who have already been on your site.  Add a retargeted ad that promotes the interview, instead of just selling, selling, selling. This variety will help your effort stand out, and some people want to get to know you more before buying from you.  An interview is the perfect way to do that.

69. Twitter Ads

Twitter is the kind of place that you can promote an interview.  And you can pay to have it promoted to new people. Just be sure to think through the promoted post and make it something people are interested in clicking on and reading.

70. Native Ads

Native ads are great to promote an interview.  Typically they show up on news sites integrated with other content (but clearly marked sponsored) and blend nicely.  If your feature image and title are interesting, you can get a lot of low-cost clicks with this method of promotion.  Outbrain and Taboola are two examples of this service.  Keep in mind, the clicks are cheap but the minimum budget can be high.

71. Add To Media Page 

After a couple of weeks, go ahead and add the interview or article to your media page. Use a NoFollow link, or put the URL to the interview without a link at all, if you are worried about “exchanging” links.  The truth is, links are frequently and legitimately pointing back and forth to each other. Search engines expect you to point to news coverage, that probably points back.  There is a general belief that pointing back will damage the authority of the link that is passed to your site, which is why you can add the URL without linking it, so people can find it but not take that risk.

72. Rewrites

Your interview can easily be the basis of other articles that you post in other places.  For example, for a small cost, you could hire a freelance writer to rewrite the interview as an article and source the original article. You could try to get it posted as a guest post on someone else’s site.  You could post in Medium. You could do long-form post in Social. This can lead to more active social accounts and better backlinking, which both are an important part of your Authority SEO Cluster strategy.

73. Syndication

Syndication is when you copy the entire article in a new place. You do not want to do this right away, because you want the original to be found and treated as the original source.  However, you can later add all or part of the interview to LinkedIn Pulse or Google My Business.  Other places also let you syndicate materials for free or as a paid service. Keep in mind, if you have worked with someone else to do your interview, ask permission and be sure to source the original with a link.

74. Links from Friends, Vendors, Partners, Clients

Don’t underestimate asking for a favor from people you know well.  Family, Friends, and co-workers might be willing to link to your interview.  Vendors, partners, and lose clients may also be willing. These links can add up to a very diverse, authoritative group of backlinks that help your interview perform better.  Since the interview should link to your website, this makes the link more valuable and will send more readers your way.

75. AppSumo Lifetime Links

AppSumo is a site where they spotlight and sell software products for entrepreneurs.  These deals are usually lifetime deals. Some of the products that get sold have public pages you can edit, giving you a high-authority backlink. When you sign up, look for tools that interest you and have this capability, and you have found a real gem.

76. Fiverr 3rd Tier 

You do not want to go to Fiverr and get 10,000 backlinks for $5 dollars.  It is more likely to do damage to your site. Likewise, you would not want to do it for the interview, because we want that interview to rank well. However, if you have a 3rd tier piece, such as the print version on S3 or a file on a slide share site, sending a few hundred backlinks there would be good.  It helps index the whole network of what is done. It is fast, cheap, and when you keep the baklink number lower is very safe.

77. Cold Email Outreach

I am not suggesting a big spam campaign. But if you know a certain group would be interested in your interview, doing a targeted cold outreach can be very effective. Especially if you do not “sell” in your email and just mention you thought they would be interested in the interview you just did with a magazine. 

78. Quality Commenting

Typically blog commenting is not effective. That is unless you find a very active thread and you can work your interview, with link, into the comment.  Some popular blogs still thrive on the interactive community they engage. Find a few of these and participate, and you could earn a bunch of new readers.

79. Postcards / Letters

People do not get a lot of unique mail anymore.  If you want to reach an influential person, maybe a handwritten note or postcard is the way to go. You can end with “P.S. If you want to get to know me a bit, look up my interview on MAGAZINE and give it a read.” 

Long Term Promotion Section

If you have done a meaningful interview or article that will be valuable for a long while, then it is good to do long term promotion of it.

80. Nice to Meet You Message

If you meet someone new at a networking event or conference, you should have an email template that says “nice to meet you.”  Someplace in that template be sure to reference the interview and link to it, in case they want to learn more about you.  A lot of people who just met you will be happy to read it.

81. Guest Posts

Doing a guest post is a good way to get a backlink from someone’s website to yours. Linking to an interview can be a way to get more link value.  “As I mentioned in my interview with MAGAZINE…” and linking to it. You are simply citing a source.

82. Online Friendships with Friendly People

There are people who are very active on social media, but not huge celebrities.  These people have a good-sized audience and are engaged. Just being nice to them can develop into a friendship.  And friends help each other out when appropriate. Just be sure to be a giver before a taker.

83. Rewrite, Update, Republish

After months, does your interview or article need to be enhanced, updated, or parts rewritten? Do so if you have access to where it is published, and republish with the current date.  Do not change the URL because you do not want to lose the links back to the article. Once you have republished, go back to the launch again and redo those tasks.

84. Reboost In Social

If your content remains up to date and relevant, reboost it in social media with both paid and unpaid options. You have new people connected to you and for some people the timing might be better right now, where maybe they ignored it the first time.

85. Publish and Feature on LinkedIn

After your interview has been out for several months, repost in its entirety on LinkedIn.  Also, make it a feature item in your LinkedIn profile.

86. Repost In Social Regularly

Any online networks you use regularly can have the interview or piece published on them monthly, as long as a lot of other stuff is going out in between. This is true until you know longer want people reading the piece because things have changed or it is outdated. You can have something like RecurPost do it, but I find it is better to write a fresh post each time that is unique.

87. Email Signature

If you have done an interview that really helps people get to know you, add the title and link to your email signature. Then when you interact with anyone via email, they can read it if they are curious.

88. Publish on Company Blog

Publish on a company blog and link back to the original. Don’t copy and paste it. Write a summary and let people know where to read the full interview.  

89. Scatter Your Media Assets

A big part of the SEO Authority Cluster strategy is to have a variety of unique media assets with links that can be hosted on a variety of high-authority domains. This means you need to add your slides, PDF, video, audio, reports, and summaries of your interview all over the place. Since all these pieces can be derived from one good interview, the assets should be handy and you should add them when you see places you can.

90. Followup Email

Did you send people one email about your interview? People often need several messages before they take action. Follow up with people. Ask if they read it. What did they thing? Here is the link again in case you missed my first email…..

91. Blog Post – 10 Things You Didn’t Know….

An easy blog post to do for your company blog is “10 things you didn’t know about COMPANY.” One item can be that you were featured in a magazine, and link to the interview.

92. Blog Post – Update to 2021 Interview

Each year, you can do a follow-up blog post referencing the interview you did and what has changed since then. It is an excuse for new content, and the backlink to an older piece can help it seem fresh to search engines.

93. Blog Post – Best Q&A From Readers

A great blog post that writes itself is when you conduct a Q&A session with readers.  The new questions, answers, and comments related to the first interview or article make for an easy post that links back to the original piece.

94. Blog Post – Update to Media Appearances

If you do multiple interviews closer together, then you have the makings of a new post for your site.  Highlight each interview and then say a few sentences about what publication, what topics were covered and how to find it. 

95. Local / Niche Media Outreach

Hyper-local media outreach is far more likely to get results.  Local Newspapers, Magazines, Websites, Facebook Groups, LinkedIn Groups, and sites like NextDoor.com and alignable.com are good ways to get people in your immediate area to see you and read what you have to say.  Remember, people are far more likely to read something about someone who lives or works very close to them.

Measuring Results Section

Our SEO Authority Cluster strategy does not measure success in one way. Below are all the areas that should improve over time.

96. Search Engine Ranking

Your interview or article should help you rank better for your website, for the keyword phrases you target. Ideally, the interview also ranks higher and you can lock down several of the top 10 spots with different pieces.

97. Backlinks

An important part of SEO is backlinks, and a good SEO Authority Cluster will increase high-authority backlinks. It is important to remember it takes time to show up. There are a number of tools for checking your backlinks such as Moz.com, Ahref.com, Google Search Console, Majestic, SEM Rush and more.

98. Brand Mentions

When people share a post on a social site, it is a “brand mention” if it contains your brand name. Positive brand mentions help build authority and awareness. There are many tools on the market that will monitor your brand mentions for a low cost.

99. Inbound Traffic

Inbound traffic is easy to monitor via Google Analytics. Look at the Referrals source of traffic, as well as look at an increase in Direct and Organic traffic after your piece has been out for a while. Some people will click the links, while others will do a search or type the domain.

100. Leads and Sales

If your article or interview gets serious traction, you could see a big jump in leads and sales. People who land on the front page of a major publication can end up turning down business because they get too busy. A smaller publication will help generate more sales, and also help your website perform better, and boost organic sales as well.  Plus the interview will add interest to your social accounts, which can boost sales.

101. Domain Authority

Your Domain Authority is a measure of the quality and quantity of backlinks to your site.  You can measure it at Ahref before and after doing an SEO Authority Cluster, and you should see some movement a few weeks after the completion of more high-quality links back to your site.

102. Social Media Metrics

An increase of Facebook Friends, LinkedIn Connections, and Twitter Followers can all be a sign of your success. After someone reads a high-quality interview with you, they are more likely to reach out and want to connect, and social media is one way people do that.

103. Quality Interactions

How many people reach out to your and your company after the interview? Do people want to partner with you? Ask questions? Do an interview as well? Even if they try to sell you something, this is still someone who read about your company and is more knowledgeable about who you are. An increase in quality interactions is a good sign.

104. Shareable Assets

It is sometimes hard to find things to share on social media and in email newsletters.  Doing a good job with this strategy should produce many new digital assets you can share multiple times. This metric is something that saves you time, and puts out a quality message more often.

105. Email List Growth

Subscribers on your email list are a very valuable asset for any company. An increase in this number is an increase in people you can sell to over and over in the future. 

Additional Interview Section

Doing one complete, high-quality interview is great. Doing them regularly can produce a flood of good SEO, Marketing, and Sales.

106. Different Person

Different people from the same company can be interviewed. Depending on your size, it could be people in totally different areas.  HR about taking care of employees. IT about innovation. Executives on leadership. Marketing on new product features. Even a good customer could be interviewed about how they use your product or service.

107. Different Product

If your company has different products and services, then each interview should focus on one of the offerings, and not try to do too many topics in a single interview. For example, a basement waterproofing company could do basement waterproofing, then foundation repair, and third about the importance of having a dehumidifier. 

108. Different Company

If you are in business for a while, you may have spin-offs that are totally different companies.  Do an interview for each of these entities.

109. Case Study with Client

Do an interview where you highlight the impact your product or service has on customers.  Maybe invite a good customer to be part of the interview. Be prepared with specifics, and have it be a combination of interview and case study.

110. Update to Interview

Do an interview, Part 2, when you have more to add about the topic. It could be a continuation or it could be updates on what has changed from the earlier interview. Be sure they both get linked to each other so readers can easily enjoy both.

111. Executive Profile

Doing an executive profile interview is easy and interesting.  People like to know about leaders.  If your company hires a C level executive, it sounds like a great time to do another interview.

112. Productivity Hacks

Nearly everyone struggles with productivity. If you have some good productivity hacks to share, you have a hit interview on your hands. People are obsessed with improving good habits, productivity and success.

113. Leadership 

Leadership is not something you are born with.  It is a skill that you improve over time and something that requires a lot of study. If you are a successful leader of your company, you can do an interview about what you have learned about being a good leader, and people will want to read it.

114. Morning Routine

Habits and routines of the successful are very popular. Can you lay out in an interview the different habits that help you succeed during the day?

115. Giving Back

If you or your company participates in helping the community, that would make a great interview topic. Talking more about a cause your company supports can make people even more interested in your company.  The positive PR would be an added measurable outcome metric.

Conclusion

Please stop back frequently and review this list.  There is a lot on it, and you will discover new things as you review it again.  We are also committed to updating it frequently with new information as it changes year to year.  Add the link to a recurring calendar item (every 3 or 6 months?) and come back and see what has changed.

• Add a comment below if you have one
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And please feel free to share this with people.  We can team up with your marketing agency to get an SEO Authority Cluster set up and then they can promote it.