CONTENT-LED SEO

FIND YOUR LINKREATORS

MODULE 1 LESSON 3
WORKSHEET
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WOR K SHE E T

Find Your Linkreators

Welcome to Lesson 3.

In this lesson I showed you the 3-step process that you can use to find your Linkreators.

Step #1: Find Linkreators in Google

Step #2: “Best of…” Lists
Step #3: Who Links to Linkreators (Optional)

And in this worksheet I’ll recap the key points from each step. And help you put each step into practice.

Let’s dive in!

STEP 1 Find Linkreators in Google Search

I’ve tried every SEO tool under the sun. And I can tell you straight up: Google is THE best way to find
Linkreators. Period.

After all, Google basically only ranks popular and authoritative sites on the first page. Which means
that the sites that rank in Google make perfect Linkreators.

Here’s how to do it:

First, search for a broad keyword that someone would use to find content about your site’s topic.

For example, let’s say that you run an SEO agency. In that case, you wouldn’t want to search for
highly-commercial terms like “SEO agency New York” or “web design Chicago”. That’s only going
to bring up your direct competition… not Linkreators.

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Instead, search for informational keywords that people would use to find content on SEO and
marketing related topics, including:

“How to build your email list”

“Link building tips”
“How to get higher rankings”

These will bring up Linkreators (blogs and news websites) that will actually link to you.

Another example: you run an ecommerce site that sells organic coffee. Instead of searching for
keywords like “buy organic coffee”, search for terms that hardcore coffee enthusiasts might search
for, like: “how to brew cold brew coffee”, “aeropress reviews” and “french press vs. filter coffee”.

That way, Google will show you coffee blogs (Linkreators) that aren’t directly competing with you.

Now: what if you or your client is in an obscure or boring niche? This is a common issue that people
run into. After all, not every topic has mass appeal (like fitness, nutrition, video games, etc.).

Fortunately, this is an easy roadblock to overcome... thanks to Shoulder Niches. Like I mentioned
in the video, a Shoulder Niche is a niche that is closely related to your site’s main topic.

For example, let’s say that your business sells something ridiculously boring, like vacuums. Needless
to say, there aren’t many blogs that write about vacuuming (“5 Tips for Vacuuming”? Yeah right).

So what are some topics related to vacuums? Natural cleaning supplies, household organizing, air
purification… the list goes on and on. Unlike vacuums, these Shoulder Niches have lots of Linkreators.

So go ahead and search in Google for an informational keyword in your industry. Or a keyword in
a Shoulder Niche.

Then, go one-by-one through the top 20 results. Then, add any quality sites that you find to your list
of Linkreators below. And once you’ve finished with one keyword, try another keyword. That will bring
up a whole new set of potential Linkreators. Repeat the process until you’ve identified around
5-10 Linkreators.

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LINKREATORS FROM GOOGLE SEARCH

STEP 2 Find Linkreators in “Best of...” Blog Posts

Fortunately, when it comes to finding high-quality bloggers and influencers in your industry, a lot of
the hard work has already been done. In other words, people have already scoured the internet for
the best blogs in your niche. And they publish what they find in the form of “Best of” blog posts.

“Best of...” blog posts are articles that list out the best blogs or websites in a given industry. Here’s
an example.

Needless to say, these lists are an absolute Linkreator gold mine. Here’s how to find them.

First, use these search strings in Google designed specifically to uncover “Best of...” blog posts:

“[keyword] blogs to follow”

“best [keyword] blogs”
“best [keyword] posts [year]”
“top [keyword] blogs to follow” + [year]”

Then, go through the list and add any solid-looking sites to the list below.

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For example, let’s say you run a marketing agency. You’d want to search in Google for:

“Marketing blogs to follow”

“SEO blogs to follow”
“Best digital marketing blogs 2023”
“Best SEO blogs”

In addition to using these search strings in Google, an optional step is to use a site called Alltop.com.
Alltop doesn’t work for everyone (for example, it only lists English-language blogs). But for many
industries, Alltop is a super helpful hand-curated source of quality blogs.

To use it, just search for a broad keyword that describes your industry, or a Shoulder Niche.
For example, if your site sells gluten free desserts, you’d search using terms like “nutrition” and
“gluten free”.

Then, take a look at the blogs listed under that category (here’s an example of an Alltop category page).

So now, using “Best of” blog posts and/or Alltop, go ahead and add 5-10 Linkreators to this field.

LINKREATORS FROM “BEST OF...” BLOG POSTS

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STEP 3 See Who Links To the Sites You Just Found (Optional)

This optional step can reveal Linkreators who may not be ranking for the particular keywords
you searched for.

(Why is this step optional? Because most of the time you can find enough Linkreators using steps
#1 and #2).

For example, a Linkreator may rank #1 for “paleo breakfast recipes” and “25 for “paleo dinner recipes”.
So this step helps to expand your net.

In fact, you can find some of your best Linkreators this way. The people you find in this step are linking
to content in your niche. They’re literally creating links… which makes them, by definition, Linkreators.

Here’s how to do it:

First, grab a site that you found in the last step. Then, pop it into a link analysis tool like Semrush.

Next, click on “Backlink Analytics”.

For example, let’s say that you found NerdFitness.com in step #1.

Well, pop that site’s homepage into Semrush and go to “Backlink Analytics”. And you’ll find a bunch
of Linkreators that didn’t show up in Google, like artofmanliness.com, strengthrunning.com, and
paleoleap.com.

You don’t need to worry about a site’s authority, number of Twitter followers, etc. If the site looks good
(and seems like a good fit for your business), go ahead and add it to the list.

Now it’s time to add 5-10 quality Linkreators from this step in this field.

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LINKREATORS FROM LINK ANALYSIS

And once you finished with Step #3, feel free to combine all of the Linkreators you found above into
a single handy Linkreator list.

(How many total Linkreators should you have on your list? 10-20. In fact, 20 is PLENTY. In my
experience once you find 20, you’ll find the same information as you would with 100. In other words,
a group of 20 Linkreators will typically represent your entire group of Linkreators. Of course, you’re
free to grab more than 20. But there’s no need to have 100+ Linkreators here).

And with that, you’re done. Great work!

One thing to keep in mind as you go through this process. Finding your Linkreators isn’t always easy.

In fact, many of our most successful students struggled with this step at first. So if you have some
trouble finding your Linkreators, no problem. It’s normal.

The key is to do your best using the strategies from this worksheet. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
And remember: once you have a list of Linkreators ready to go, you’re set. A huge chunk of the hard
work is over. Things get much easier after that.

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What’s next?

Well, you just identified your Linkreators.

And in the next lesson, Lesson 4, we’ll answer the question: what do these people tend to link out to?
In other words, what topics are your Linkreators likely to share (and not share) with their audience?

When you have answers to these questions, creating content that generates links and shares becomes
relatively easy.

See you in the next lesson.

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