Cold Email Outreach Templates For Link Building

18 Types of Link Outreach Email Templates

Subject: Got Room for a {{Keyword}} Deep Dive

Hi {{Editor Name}},

I enjoyed your piece on {{keyword}}. It sparked an idea for a complementary article that covers {{Article Content Summary}}.

I'm {{Your Name}}, with a seasoned background in {{Keyword}}. This topic is close to my heart, and I'm eager to share perspectives that I believe your audience will appreciate.

I’ve put together a rough outline (attached) and I’m open to any suggestions you have. Also, if there's a specific angle or topic you're looking to cover in {{Target Blog Name}}, I'm all ears.

Thanks for the consideration and would love to hear back.

Best,

{{Your Name}} {{Signature}}

Subject: Fresh {{Keyword}} Insights for {{Target Blog Name}}?

Hi {{Editor Name}},

Hope you're doing great! I've got an article idea that might just be a perfect fit for {{Target Blog Name}}. It's titled "{{Your Article Title}}" and dives deep into the world of {{Keyword}}.

A little about me – I'm {{Your Name}}, and after a decade in {{Keyword}}, I've got a knack for looking at things from a unique angle.

Curious? Feel free to take a sneak peek at my past work on {{Your Website}} or my articles for {{Previous Publications}}. They'll give you a taste of what I can bring to the table. This particular piece will focus on {{Article Content Summary}}.

I've attached a brief outline to give you an idea. Let me know what you think!

Really appreciate your time and looking forward to the possibility of adding something special to {{Target Blog Name}}.

All the best,

{{Your Name}} {{Signature}}

Subject: Team Up for a {{Keyword}} Guest Post?

Hi {{Editor Name}},

How about a guest post swap for {{Target Blog Name}}? I’m {{Your Name}}, a {{Keyword}} enthusiast. I've got a great piece in mind: "{{Your Article Title}}."

I can bring fresh content to your site and share it with my audience for extra reach. Let's help each other grow.

Interested? I’ve attached a quick outline.

Best,

{{Your Name}}
[Signature]

Subject: {{Target Blog Name}}

Hi {{Editor Name}},

I've got an article idea for {{Target Blog Name}}: "{{Your Article Title}}." It's all about {{Article Content Summary}}, which I think will hit the mark with your readers.

Being a decade into {{Keyword}}, I'm deep into this topic and believe your audience will find the content both insightful and engaging.

I’ve attached a quick outline to give you a glimpse. Totally open to tweaking it to fit your style and readers' preferences.

Thanks for considering this! Keen to see if we can make it a great add to {{Target Blog Name}}.

Best,

{{Your Name}} {{Signature}}

Subject: Hot Topic: {{Your Article Title}} for {{Target Blog Name}}

Hi {{Editor Name}},

Noticed {{Keyword}} is trending lately? I've got a piece that could fit right in with this buzz. It's called "{{Your Article Title}}," diving deep into {{Article Content Summary}} - right on trend with {{Keyword}}.

I’ve sketched a quick outline to lay out the main points. I’m confident it’ll spice up the content on {{Target Blog Name}} and get people talking.

Eager to hear what you think!

Cheers,

{{Your Name}} {{Signature}}

Subject: Fresh {{Keyword}} Insights

Hi {{Editor Name}},

I'm pitching an idea for a guest post on {{Target Blog Name}} – a piece titled "{{Your Article Title}}" that dives into {{Article Content Summary}}. It's a topic I’ve really researched and have some nuanced insights to share.

I'm {{Your Name}}, a bit of a {{Keyword}} nerd. You can check out my past work at {{Your Website}} and my contributions to {{Previous Publications}} to get a feel for what I do.

I've attached a brief outline of the article for a sneak peek.

Looking forward to possibly joining forces with {{Target Blog Name}}!

All the best,

{{Your Name}} {{Signature}}

Subject: Continuing Our Discussion

Hi {{Editor Name}},

I've been reflecting on our recent chat and thought, why not take it further with a guest post for {{Target Blog Name}}? I'm proposing an article titled "{{Your Article Title}}" that ties right back into our talk on {{Topic of Previous Interaction}}.

As someone who’s deep into {{Keyword}}, I’ve got some unique takes on {{Article Content Summary}} that I think your readers would find super engaging, especially following up on our previous topic.

Eager for your thoughts and thanks again for the great conversation. Let’s keep this going!

Best,

{{Your Name}} {{Signature}}

Subject: Fresh Data

Hey {{Editor Name}},

Got something special for {{Target Blog Name}}: an article titled "{{Your Article Title}}." It's not just another opinion piece – it's loaded with the latest data and research in {{Keyword}}, offering a whole new angle on {{Article Content Summary}}.

I've included a sneak peek of the key findings and how they’ll resonate with your readers. It's all about bringing solid, data-backed stories to the table.

I'm stoked about the potential of this piece to shake things up on {{Target Blog Name}}. Let’s chat about how we can make this fit just right for your audience.

Thanks a bunch for considering this. I’m all ears for any ideas or tweaks you've got in mind.

Cheers,

{{Your Name}} {{Signature}}

If you want to build backlinks, sooner or later, you will have to do outreach as well. But you already know that if you ended up on this page.

You’re also fully aware that email outreach can be a ton of work that takes up hours of your precious time, and often it feels like it’s not going to pay off because, for each reply, your messages are one of 330 billion daily being sent and are going to end up unanswered nine times.

One of the very first things you’re going to read in just about every outreach guide out there is “Don’t use outreach email templates.” And while it is better to write each of your messages from scratch for them to feel natural and like a genuine person wrote them, if you have hundreds of prospects on your outreach list, you’re going to have to resort to templating your emails at least to some degree.

The trick is to personalize each email to the point where your recipient is unable to tell it used to be a template. Besides, the word “template” refers more so to the general structure of the email than the exact words you say.

Below, we have collected a bunch of email outreach templates for pretty much every link building occasion out there. From guest post pitches to interviews and influencer collaborations, these templates are yours to grab and speed up your outreach campaign.

Just remember that personalization is king and to get the most out of your time you should tailor each message personally for every single one of your prospects, actually read their content, make references to it and engage with them on social media (or at least pay attention to what they post there).

Broken Link Building Outreach Email Templates

Broken links are one of the lowest-hanging fruits that are pretty easy to grab. All you really need is a fitting piece of content that will plug the hole created by a moved or deleted page organically.

The trickiest part about broken link building is actually finding broken links. To do that, you can use either Ahrefs, Moz, Screaming Frog, or other backlink-checking programs.

You’re going to be looking for such opportunities within your own niche, or another one that is relevant to yours or has a touching point of some kind. You can start by looking for dead links pointing to content on the same topic as yours, but you will probably get better results if you find dead links first, and then produce content that fits it perfectly.

Pages get moved or deleted quite often, so to score that backlink for yourself, you should also make sure that your content is in some way superior to the one previously linked to by your prospect (longer, more informative, etc.).

Link Reclamation Outreach Email Templates

If we were to continue comparing link building opportunities and how low they’re hanging from their trees, then this one, is practically laying on the ground, waiting for you to pick it back up.

Seriously, reclaiming links is so much easier than a lot of other link building tactics for one reason: your prospect already knows you and has linked/mentioned you before.

All you have to do is politely ask to restore a broken link or, in case of an unlinked mention, ask to turn it to a proper link, and 99% of the time, they will do it.

Resource Page Links Outreach Email Templates

Resource pages aren’t hard to score links at either. In fact, they’re practically asking for you to submit your page to them so that they can link to it.

Resource pages are places that gather other pages on the same topic so that their users can have a lot of quality data all in the same place.

So, if you find a resource page dedicated to a topic relevant to yours, you’re practically guaranteed to land a link there. For example, creating a website about hackproofing will get you links on cybersecurity resource pages.

All you really need to do is have a fitting piece of content that adds value to the resource page. Really, resource page link building is so efficient it’s one of the most used tactics by SEOs and link builders alike.

Expert Roundup Outreach Email Templates

Expert roundups are an awesome way of creating engaging content, gaining social media traction, and immeasurably valuable exposure.

The best thing about expert roundups is that the experts who participate in it are much more likely to share it on Facebook or Twitter, or even link to it in one of their own posts.

Each person whose opinion you feature in your roundup is a potential share, and it is in your best interest to invite as many experts as you can.

Guest Post Pitch Email Templates

Guest posting is one of the most widely-used link building techniques, and there’s a very good reason for it.

First of all, most websites accept guest posts, even if they don’t have a “write for us” section. All you have to really do is find the owner’s email and send them a pitch offering a solid piece of content.

The only trick to pitching guest posts is offering topics (or finished articles) that will engage with your prospect’s audience and provide real value. After all, a link back to your resource is not a particularly high price for a well-done article.

Skyscraper Outreach Email Templates

The premise of the skyscraper technique is very similar to guest posting, but with a twist.

The first step for carrying out this strategy is finding popular content, relevant to your niche, which already has a lot of backlinks. You can use Ahrefs, Moz, or any other backlink checker that you like.

Once you find a well-performing article, give it a read. Analyze its strong points and note areas where the author missed some details or didn’t elaborate as much as they could have.

Then, you make an article on the same topic, but better. Longer, more informative, maybe with additional resources like videos or infographics.

Making something bigger and better than something that’s already quite impressive can be a challenge sometimes, and this is exactly why this tactic is called the skyscraper. In other words, you have to add more floors to something that’s already high.

But, once you finish your own article and pitch it to the webmaster (or webmasters) that linked to the previous one, there are literally zero reasons to turn down your offer.

Link Insertion Email Outreach Templates

Link insertions are exactly what it sounds like. You’re trying to insert your own links into someone else’s content.

It’s not a particularly time-consuming tactic to use, and all you have to really do is discuss the insertion opportunity with your prospect. But, of course, just like with everything else in the world of link building, there’s a catch.

And that catch is none other than the fact that the insertion needs to provide value to your prospect.

One way of doing it is finding relevant articles and offering webmasters links to resources that elaborate on something that adds extra value to the original post. For example, an in-depth guide on something they briefly touched on, or some additional data they missed out on.

Infographic Email Outreach Templates

Infographics are awesome. They are probably the most efficient way of gathering data and presenting it in an easily readable, highly-visual format.

It’s a fact that the human brain is much better at interpreting visual data, and it makes perfect sense to take advantage of it. Do you know what infographics are also great for? Exactly, scoring links.

If you’re planning on using your infographic to build links, you’re going to need to find prospects interested in the topic you write about. You can start by monitoring their social media profiles and pitching to those who have recently spoken about your topic.

Or, similarly to the skyscraper technique, you could find people who have linked to infographic similar to yours and pitch your own one instead of it. Just make sure that yours is bigger and better.

You are Featured Email Outreach Templates

People are much more likely to link to you when they know they have linked to you before, or if you have gone ahead and linked to them or did some other kind of favor.

So, if you start by a few words of flattery, describing how much you fell in love with someone’s content that you absolutely had to link to it on your own site, that’s going to instantly boost your relationship with your prospects.

Now, it may not make your prospects fall in love with you immediately, but it is a good start and a sign of respect that will help develop your relationship with the prospect further.

You don’t even need to ask them to share anything or link back to your content, as people are quite likely to share posts that mention them.

Epic Post Email Outreach Templates

This is less of a link pitch and more of an “asking for your opinion” kind of deal. This category works better for promoting your content and gaining extra traction for your work, but it can definitely earn you a couple of shares or even links along the way.

The trick to this outreach strategy is finding prospects that are actually interested in the topic you write about. You can start by pitching experts, pros, and the most prominent figures in the niche mentioning how much their opinion matters to you and that they are the ones who inspired you to produce such content in the first place.

A bit of flattery is a pretty common ingredient in pretty much all outreach emails, but it’s equally important not to overdo it.

You can ask for them to share your post or link to it, but the truth is that if you send them something they truly enjoyed, there’s a pretty good chance they will share it on their social media anyway.

Early Content Promotion Email Outreach Templates

Promoting your content before publication is equally as important as doing it after it comes out.

You can approach experts with an “exclusive offer” to take a look at your article way before it gets published, asking for their professional opinion, or you can come straight to influencers asking them to help you promote it.

Either way, you’re going to need to throw in some value for your prospects. And while an expert might be interested in seeing what you have to say, they are probably not going to link to it just because they like it.

A good approach would be pulling on their “hungry for more data” strings and providing them with something they will find useful themselves.

You can also ask for feedback and comments.

As for influencers, some kind of sponsorship or partnership would definitely tip the scales in your favor.

Product Review Email Outreach Templates

This category is split into two templates: one for influencers, and another one for customers.

Sending someone your products for them to review is one of the oldest tactics utilized to gain traction with the help of influencers. Just make sure to send them more than one sample of whatever your product is to sponsor a little giveaway. People love those.

The trick is finding an influencer whose audience would actually find your product interesting or useful, so pick your prospects wisely.

The second template is aimed at customers who have already purchased your product or service. And while customers can’t really provide you with links, they can leave reviews on your website or their social media profiles. Even though those won’t make as much of an impact as a solid backlink, they are still very helpful in establishing a better image for your brand.

Don’t forget the golden rule of outreach, though. You need to provide value to the people you reach out to. In the case of converted customers, it could be a freebie or a discount on their next purchase.

Update Anchor Text Email Outreach Templates

This one is for those times when you already get a link to your post, but it gets edited, moved, or renamed later, and you wish to update the anchor text on the linking person’s website for it to better reflect your content.

Not really much to say about this one other than that all you have to really do is ask nicely. If they’ve already linked to you, chances are you’re not a complete stranger, and if you describe why you need to change the anchor text they will probably do it without asking anything in return.

 It’s still a good idea to offer some kind of help or ask whether there’s anything else you can do for them at the end of your pitch.

Press Outreach Email Templates

Getting attention from the press is not easy. But, if you succeed, there’s an entire world of promotion opportunities.

People from the press have one weakness: an insatiable hunger for new information, and the latest data. This is exactly what you can take advantage of.

If you offer them your most recent research or study, describe the key points, and lay all of the most important data out right in front of them, they are likely to at least give it a look. As always, a bit of flattery won’t hurt; just take care not to overdo it.

Another trick you can use with publishers and press people is to seek out typos, mistakes, and inconsistencies in their own content.

If you start your email by pointing those out, they will have no choice but read it to the end. After all, the integrity of their own resource is of utmost importance to them, and by helping them improve, you’re helping yourself get their attention.

Influencer Collaboration Outreach Email Templates

An influencer collaboration doesn’t necessarily need to involve a sponsorship, but it definitely helps to get on influencer’s radars. We already spoke about product reviews and giveaways as a way of collaborating with influencers, and indeed, the template from the product review category fits into this one as well. But it’s far from being the only way to collaborate, and you can come up with original projects that will bring value to both of your audiences.

Content Collaboration and Partnership Email Outreach Templates

Establishing long-term relationships is absolutely the way to go when building links. After all, if you become partners with somebody, that opens up opportunities not only to build more high-quality links but also to running joint projects and creating content that will engage with both of your audiences.

It’s even better if you join up with multiple bloggers/businessmen/influencers at once. A prime example of such a collaboration would be organizing an event or producing content together.

Your prospects can be much more than simply linking opportunities, and by taking those relationships a few steps further you will be surprised by how much you can actually achieve when you don’t work alone.

Scholarship .EDU Link Email Outreach Templates

.EDU link building is tricky but well worth the effort. As you might imagine, .EDU domains don’t link to unproven resources, so to get on their side, you really have to be an expert in what you write about.

.EDU resources also aren’t run by bloggers or influencers, but rather teachers and professors, and the only thing they care for is knowledge.

So how do you get a placement on an educational page? Well, you could start by getting in touch with one of the professors and showing them that your content would be a good fit for their page.

Another good .EDU outreach tactic is finding broken links on their resource and offering your own content instead.

You could also support your local university by supplying their library or offering some other kind of service since establishments often list businesses that support them.

If you provide scholarships, though, your chances of getting a link from an .EDU page grow to almost one hundred percent.

Participating in seminars is also an awesome opportunity to get on universities’ radars.

Link Exchange Outreach Email Templates

Google doesn’t like link exchanges very much, but they are still a viable way of building links. As long as it’s not an outright exchange/purchase since if the algorithm finds out about it, your website can get penalized.

You can start your pitch by telling your prospect you loved their content so much you linked to it already, and after those words, the other person will be much more eager to hear you out, and maybe even share some of your own content on their Twitter, for example.

And while straight-up exchanges are somewhat of a grey area in link building, guest posting on each other’s resources is perfectly fine.

Feel Free to Make Use of These Templates

Thank you for coming to our page, and good luck with your outreach campaigns! Feel free to use these templates to speed up your work (it’s exactly why we gathered them in one place for you anyway), but remember to personalize each pitch you send to the point where your prospects would never guess it was a template in the first place!

And always keep in mind that you always need to provide value to your prospects and their audience, regardless of why you’re pitching them.