Quality link building is a crucial part of SEO and a key element for ranking your website atop Google search results. One strategy for effectively building organic traffic and links that direct to your website is to publish an expert roundup.
An expert roundup is a blog post that features a collection of quotes or interview answers contributed by a group of industry experts or niche influencers. Usually, the creator of a roundup reaches out to these people, who are authorities in their fields and can draw upon years of experience, and asks them one or two specific questions that they can easily answer. All insights that these experts share are combined and published in one single piece of content.
Expert roundups can be about almost any topic that interests a reading audience. While the subject may relate to a particular product or service, you should take educational in assembling the content. Be creative in selecting the most compelling topic. Assemble complementary perspectives that interlink to provide comprehensive together.
What are the benefits of using expert roundups?
Now that you understand what an expert roundup is, it is important to understand the benefits that come from incorporating this type of blog post into your content strategy
Increased traffic and social shares
Expert roundups often increase engagement and can create a viral effect, which may mean hundreds or even thousands of social media shares.
The secret here lies in the fact that many of the experts that participate in a roundup will share the content in which they are positioned prominently with their own followers. Since a roundup provides valuable insights from a diverse group of respected industry representatives, people are more willing to trust and follow the actionable advice provided therein.
The amount of traffic that a roundup attracts correlates to the popularity of a particular topic. While thousands of shares might be out of reach for a highly technical or specific law-related subject, compelling content can result in positive social media activity and reinforce your value when your article appears in search results.
Dozens of backlinks
Not every visitor that stumbles upon your roundup runs a blog or owns some other type of website where he or she can link back to your site. But some of them do. And if they like your work, chances are that they will reference it. I mean, this is the whole idea behind backlinks, isn't it? There are expert roundups that have landed as many as 500 links from more than 100 different domains.
Connect with people in your industry
An expert roundup is a great way to engage and connect with different people in your industry that could one day become your partners, investors and friends. Building these types of relationships allows you to earn trust and network through the process. It is much easier to converse with someone new when you are offering to feature them in your thought leadership article rather than contacting them for a favor or request. And since you are promoting these people and their businesses for free, they are often more likely to return the favor by considering you for opportunities in the future.
Increased awareness and authority
With the help of roundups, you can gain awareness for your business and position yourself as an industry authority. Even if you have never met all of your roundup participants, people now associate you with both the featured group of professionals and their expert advice.
How to create expert roundups
The drawback to expert roundups is that they usually require a significant investment of time and effort to organize into a memorable final product.
It's not like you simply reach out to random people and ask them the first question that comes to your mind. It's a bit more complicated than that. Here are four steps to consider when creating an expert roundup.
1. Ask the right question
Every roundup starts with the right question. The right question is one that your target audience really needs to have answered. In the best-case scenario, your roundup will provide solutions to a specific problem that people already have.
On the other hand, you have motivated experts to spend their valuable time to create a thoughtful answer. Avoid choosing a topic that's too complex because you may only receive a few quality responses or even no responses at all.
Also, keep in mind that the more detailed the main subject, the fewer potential contributors you will be able to find that have the appropriate knowledge that's needed.
2. Find the right experts
Your next step is to find the right experts. These people really have to know what they are talking about, because most of the content for your roundup will come from these third parties, so make sure that you do your due diligence. You want to look out for people who:
- Have proven that they are capable of creating great content;
- Have a name recognition factor
- Have a large following to share your expert roundup
You can find experts by conducting a thorough Google search for compelling topics in your niche. You can also use Facebook, Twitter and other platforms to find posts from influencers.
One of the best sources for identifying knowledgeable experts, those who will most likely agree to contribute to your roundup, are other recently published roundups. By referencing other roundups, you have a long list of contacts on a single page. This simplifies the process of determining the right ones to approach.
3. Make contact
Once you have created a long list of experts that you would like to invite, it's time to contact them. You can do that by writing an email or sending them a direct message, such as through Twitter or LinkedIn.
It's customary that the majority of your prospects will not reply to your inquiry. Don't hesitate to send one or two follow-up messages in the event you didn't receive a response. The magic word is persistence. At the same time, don't push it too far, you don’t want to bother anyone.
The busiest and most successful people often have the least time for someone they don’t know, until they realize it could be in their best interest to reply and contribute. It is oftentimes better to delay a roundup by several weeks or even month if that means you are going to offer a better perspective and include more contributors of influence.
4. Put everything together
After you've made contact and hopefully received a diverse group of responses, it's time to put everything together.
I always recommend including a short introduction at the beginning of the post and then featuring the insights that your experts provided. Don't forget to include the name and company of each person, and also add links to their business website or blog. Make sure the final article reads well and is a reflection of your high-quality standards.
Once you've published it, don't forget to send a direct link of your masterpiece to each of the contributors. This increases the chances that they will share the roundup with their own network.
An expert roundup is a great way to boost your profile and direct traffic to your site, so I recommend that you consider creating one for your website or blog.