Hey everyone, I thought I’d start a thread that showcases some good examples of content that has earned a bunch of backlinks. I’ve listed out the URL of the content, the number of backlinks (by domain), some notable links and then a quick reason why I believe it has done well.
You can use this as a source of inspiration for thinking about the assets that you might build out yourself. And if you have any other examples that you think are really strong, just drop them as a single reply in this thread using the same format as me
Hope this is useful
URL: https://www.divorce-online.co.uk/blog/is-fortnite-becoming-a-relationship-wrecker/
Title: Is Fortnite becoming a relationship wrecker?
Linking Domains: 616
Links From:: Bloomberg, Quartz, CNET, CNBC, plus many more.
Why it Earns Links: Very timely, provocative, and easy for publications to create stories around.
URL: https://www.staveleyhead.co.uk/blog/news/nine-superbugs-found-on-london-public-transport
Title: London: Under the Microscope
Linking Domains: 57
Links From:: The Guardian, London Metropolitan University, ITV, BBC, + more.
Why it Earns Links: Highly emotional/shocking, original data, regionally focused.
URL: https://www.spaseekers.com/spa-blog/dream-summer-job
Title: Become our official spa-ologist and professional hot-tubber this summer
Linking Domains: 42
Links From:: The Sun, Fox News, Metro, The Irish Post, + more.
Why it Earns Links: it’s a job listing purely created to earn links/coverage – I put this in the ‘too good to be true’ bucket that triggers a lot of people to share and discuss (covers the perfect range of emotions). It’s also regional, which makes it easier to pitch local news outlets.
URL: https://www.unilad.co.uk/food/you-can-now-get-paid-to-be-a-yorkshire-pudding-taster/
Title: You Can Now Get Paid To Be A Yorkshire Pudding Taster
NOTE: this is one of the pieces of coverage that this link asset got, not the link asset itself (it’s just easier to explain with this). Similar to the above, this is a job listing built for coverage/links. It was done by Airtasker, where you could become a “Yorkshire Pudding Taster” (if you don’t know what this is, you’re both not British enough and absolutely missing out). Airtasker has now 301d the listing, but what I love about this is that they hosting the job application on Airtasker, so you had to sign up for an Airtasker account to apply, creating new user signups as well as links – genius. This is the original listing URL: https://www.airtasker.co.uk/tasks/need-help-perfecting-my-yorkshire-puddings-12224037/
Linking Domains: 33
Links From:: Marie Claire, Lad Bible, OK! Magazine, Pretty52, + more.
Why it Earns Links: It’s another emotion-fueled, highly shareable piece that makes for a great headline with very little effort on the journalist’s side.
URL: https://www.plumbworld.co.uk/blog/shy-bladder-plumbworld-launches-the-privi-pee-cape
Title: Shy Bladder? Plumbworld Launches the Privi-Pee Cape
Linking Domains: 39
Links From:: HuffPo, Maxim, Metro (and was also discussed on US national tv news).
Why it Earns Links: it’s a fake product that’s just about believable. It sounds utterly ridiculous but is just within the realm of possible that it makes for a funny and quick headline for a journalist. This is all about how easy it is to cover it. They also made it look as legitimate as possible, while keeping lighthearted still.
URL: https://appinstitute.com/pokemongo-realtime-stats/
Title: Pokemon Go App Downloads and Revenue
Linking Domains: 215
Links From:: Android Authority, The Next Web, Games Radar, CNET, + more.
Why it Earns Links: collates ‘real-time’ data, was launched very timely around the hype of Pokemon Go, it provides a great way for a journalist to write a headline from without needing to do a lot.
URL: https://fleximize.com/from-millionaires-to-billionaires/
Title: From Millions to Billions
Linking Domains: 133
Links From:: CNBC, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, + more.
Why it Earns Links: Provocative, data-backed with great design, and it’s easy for a journalist to reference it in a story (in particular as it pits one person against another).
URL: https://www.folly-farm.co.uk/news/sloth-retirement-home/
Title: New sloth arrives at Folly Farm
Linking Domains: 48
Links From:: Boston 25 News, Cheezburger, + more.
Why it Earns Links: highly shareable and may for a regional outlet to pick up the story and run a piece on it.
URL: https://animagraffs.com/how-a-handgun-works-1911-45/
Title: How a Handgun Works
Linking Domains: 257
Links From:: Gizmodo, Wikipedia, + more
Why it Earns Links: at the time it was a unique way of presenting the content and was highly shareable. You won’t get news pickup, but it will easily get into highly relevant, topical publications.
URL: https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/resources/the-american-idea-of-success/
Title: The American Idea of Success
Linking Domains: 74
Links From:: CNN, Fox, Entrepreneur, + more.
Why it Earns Links: credible brand, unique data, regional spilt – all makes this very easy for a publication to create a story around it.
URL: https://drugabuse.com/featured/instagram-drugs-and-rock-n-roll/
Title: Instagram, Drugs, Rock & Roll
Linking Domains: 107
Links From:: Vice, The Daily Beast, Billboard & more.
Why it Earns Links: for the time it was a unique content format, it was unique data (even though it was collated), and pits a number of festivals against each other that also have a controversial angle that will get pickup and be easy to create catchy headlines to.
URL: https://www.injuryclaimcoach.com/analysis-of-the-florida-man.html
Title: An Analysis of the Florida Man
Linking Domains: 24
Links From:: NPR, University of Florida, Miami Herald.
Why it Earns Links: timely and has a strong regional angle to it, making it perfect for local news outlets.