What Are Niche Edits And Do They Work?

Looking for an easier way to build links?

Niche edits (also known as link inserts) are one of the most overlooked ways to build links.

Why?

Niche edit backlinks are considered:

•  Riskier
•  Lower quality

…than getting backlinks from well-known strategies like guest posting.

The truth is niche edits are a completely safe way to build powerful backlinks from reputable websites.

You just need to know how to build them correctly.

They even offer benefits that other types of backlinks can’t give you!

Below, I’ve shared everything you need to know about niche edits as well as my top 3 strategies for building them.

What Are Niche Edits?

Niche edits are a link building strategy that is used to add a link to existing content rather than newly published content. This is usually done by adding additional content along with your link.

The main value that niche edits offer is that you build a backlink from an established page that already has established authority and history with Google.

That page authority will pass onto your website, improving your website’s rankings.

Niche Edits are sometimes called Link Inserts.

How Do Niche Edits Work?

The key to niche edits is having the right strategy in place.

Here’s what I mean:

Most links are built through guest posts. The value proposition here is obvious – you write great content for the website owner and get a link in return.

But with niche edits, you aren’t providing any new fresh content.

So how do you create value for the prospect?

1. By helping them in some other way
2. By building a relationship with them

Do this well and niche edits can become a great link building strategy.

Guest Posts VS Niche Edits

Niche edits are the lazy person’s guest post.

What does that mean?

Guest Posting

… is a harder process that requires you to pitch a guest post to a site owner and then write a fresh, unique and relevant piece of content to place your link in.

Niche Edits

…is an easier process that requires you to ask site owners to add your link inside existing pieces of content. With this method, you may only need to write 2/3 sentences.

In other words:

Rather than pitching a guest post and then writing a new piece of fresh content with your link in it, you simply ask the website owner to edit your link to an already published piece of content.

That can be done by offering to update their content or adding a couple of sentences which in turn triggers Googles freshness algorithm so it’s win win.

But there are also some drawbacks to niche edits you need to understand.

GROWTH ALERT: Sign up for my FREE link building training and learn how to build links that move the needle.

3x Things You Need To Know About Niche Edits

Niche edits come with some risks.

If you plan to use niche edits as a core link building strategy, you need to be careful. Here are some things to be aware of.

1. All Link Building Is Against Google Guidelines

I’ll be honest with you:

All link building is against Google’s guidelines. That includes niche edits.

Google only wants you to earn links naturally because they view links as “endorsements“. This means that they are on the hunt for people who build dodgy, spammy, low-quality links to manipulate their algorithm.

Make no mistake: Google link penalties do happen.

And Google penalty recovery is hard work. Google has a dedicated webspam team that hands out manual penalties to websites that build dodgy links.

If you think you have been hit with a Google penalty, I recommend getting experts to take care of it for you.

Search Logistics are specialists in Google penalty recovery and have an excellent track record in helping clients recover from them.

You can also follow my Google penalty checker guide, showing you exactly how to identify a Google penalty.

Remember:

Be wise with your niche edit link building and only build high-quality links from TRUSTED websites. This should keep you out of hot water with Google.

2. Link Building Always Come With Some Risks

If link building is against Google’s guidelines then it comes with some risks.

But that doesn’t mean link building is dead.

You just need to:

•  Use safe strategies.
•  Only build high-quality links.

Do this and you will minimise any risk of penalties from Google.

I have built thousands of links for myself and for clients and we have never had any serious trouble with Google link penalties.

Why?

Because we focus on quality control. We only build links that seem natural from high-quality websites.

3. There Are Safe And Unsafe Ways To Get Niche Edits

Are niche edits an effective and safe way to build links?

Short answer: It depends.

Like all link building, there are both safe and unsafe ways to place niche edit links.

While it is tempting to use “black hat” techniques to acquire more links, it will only hurt you in the long run.

You will often see an initial short-term gain in rankings and traffic, but you are putting your site at risk in the long term.

It just isn’t worth it.

PRO TIP: Before starting any link building campaign, it’s best to determine how many backlinks you need to rank.

4x (Safe) Ways To Get Niche Edit Links

Ready to get some niche edits (or link inserts) in the safest way you can?

Pay attention to this next section to learn my top 3 strategies from acquiring powerful free backlinks through niche edits.

1. Use A Reputable Service

The easiest way to build niche edit links is by using a reputable service like this one.

They will take care of everything for you including making sure links are placed on articles that are at least 1 year old, plus a bunch of quality control checks.

If you are short on time and just want to build the best niche edits with the least amount of effort. This is the best service to do that for you.

1. Broken Link Niche Edits

Broken link building is one of the best known and most used niche edit strategies.

And the best part? With a solid process and the right tools, it’s completely scalable.

Here’s how it works:

Broken link building is when you find broken links on other peoples websites and offer a link to your website as a replacement.

It works really well because you help website owners identify broken links that could affect their own SEO and then you provide the solution with your own link.

They fix a problem on their site and you get a niche edit link. That’s a win-win, right?

Learn more about the broken link building process here.

2. Press Mention Niche Edits

Press mention link building is the easiest way to acquire niche edits.

But so many people don’t do it. Regardless of:

•  What business you run
•  How big you are

…you should have a press mention link building strategy in place. Website owners who don’t do this are missing out on those juicy low hanging backlinks.

Here’s how it works:

When people mention you online, they often forget to link to you. But they mentioned you in their content so it should be an easy fix. You just need to contact them!

Setup Automated Alerts

How will you know when people mention you?

You need to set up an alert tool that tells you whenever your brand name is mentioned online. For this, you should use Google alerts. It’s completely free and will automatically email you with alerts.

To set up a Google alert, Login to Google Alerts and create an alert.

You need to create an alert for your:

•  Brand name
•  Website URL

Fill in all the details and finalise each alert by clicking Create Alert.

Every time you are mentioned online, Google emails you the website that mentioned you.

We also use Ahrefs Alerts:

To make sure we find absolutely everything that is relevant to us for link placement.

Contact Each Website Owner

Next, all you have to do is reach out to the person who mentioned you.

You want to find their email address. To do so, you can:

1. Check their website
2. Use Hunter.io
3. Use their contact form (if you can’t find the email address)

Use this template below to reach out to a website that mentions you:

Hey [NAME],

I’ve seen you mentioned us on [PAGE].

Thanks a lot!

By the way, I’ve seen you haven’t linked to our site. It’d be of great use for your readers if you added a link, so they can learn more about us.

Here’s the link you can use: [URL].

Thanks a lot,

[YOUR NAME]

Don’t forget to customise the template and add your own charm. Personalising each email will increase your response rate.

Press mention niche edits are one of the most passive link-building strategies.

So go set up the alerts now!

3. Resource Page Link Building

Resource page link building can win you some excellent niche edit links on influential websites. This means you get the powerful link and often some high-quality traffic as well.

What are resource page niche edits?

Tons of website owners have a page dedicated to helpful resources for their users.

Resource page niche edits are when you get yourself featured on a blogger or influencer’s “resource” page.

This is how you do it.

Create A List Of Prospects

To get featured, you first need to find some perspective pages on relevant websites.

Go to Google and search:

•  [Your niche] + “resources”
•  Inurl:[your niche] + resources

Google will return a bunch of websites that are in your niche and have resource pages. Take each website and add it to a Google sheet.

Now you need to filter to results so you only have prospects that are:

•  Relevant websites
•  High-authority websites
•  Valuable links used (you only want dofollow)

This ensures that you only get featured on quality websites where the links will provide value to you.

Pitch Each Website Owner

Now you need to pitch each website owner.

Think of something of value they could add to their list. This could be a:

•  Free trial
•  Discount
•  Exclusive access
•  Guest post on your site

Whatever you think will be valuable to your prospect (or their audience) will help you get the placement.

Finally, you need to get their email address and use this template for the pitch:

Hey [First Name],

I’ve been researching [topic] for a while now and I felt pretty stuck until I found your resource page. Learning about [topic] from the link on there really helped me do [desired outcome].

Since you helped me so much I’d love to offer something in return. I’ve [created/written] a [product/article] about [topic] and I think it would be a great help to your audience and a good addition to your resources page! You can find more here niche edit services from our articles

[Your link]

Keep up the great work, and I really look forward to reading more of your stuff.

Have a great day,

[Your name]”

Make sure that you customise the template so it sounds more like you.

Now you just need to rinse and repeat for every prospect you have.