I have an “earned media” experiment going on right now. This is my live case study of Linkifi.io.
What is earned media?
It's news articles, interviews, or features that aren't paid for (ie: not sponsored posts) and that you didn't create yourself (ie: not guest posts).
You're familiar with HARO? That's one way to obtain earned media, contributing to news articles.
In the e-commerce and blogger worlds, folks often leverage earned media to also gain links from publications with high domain authority to enhance their SEO efforts.
Technically, earned media is free — if you've got the time.
Can you reach out to journalists, make relationships, establish yourself as an expert, respond to journalist outreach for quotes and/or scour HARO and other platforms looking for earned media opportunities? And can you do all that efficiently with all the other responsibilities you've got on your plate? Maybe, but probably not.
That's why there are companies that do the above for you as a service. So while the earned media itself is free, you are paying these PR agents to help you discover the opportunities.
Enter Linkifi.io
I started working with a PR agent called Linkifi.io to earn some high-value backlinks, and also have the ability to showcase an “As Featured In” section on my website.
When they reached out to me, I almost instinctively ignored the message, as I do with anything related to link building. But then I ended up hopping on a call with one of the founders, Chris Panteli, and became impressed with how they operate. Chris and his team understood all my concerns about link building and addressed them by explaining their process of scouring for press opportunities and pitching reporters on your behalf, operating as your agent as opposed to a link outreach service. In other words, it's not a spammy link building service.
Given that my words are my only product on Shopifreaks, I was extremely reluctant to “outsource” the writing, but I understand that it's crucial to their process, giving them the ability to move quick.
As part of their onboarding process, we went in-depth into which opportunities to focus on, which topics to avoid, how to write in my tone, etc. For example, I have to be very careful not to endorse any companies, because it could conflict with my sponsors. Or another example, I hate BNPL with a passion, and wouldn't want them to submit anything that was contrary to my very publicly stated opposition to BNPL.
It still took a leap of faith, but I think they are the real deal, so I've entered into an agreement with Linkifi.io for 5 earned media opportunities. I'll be documenting my collaboration with Linkifi.io moving forward via this live case study.
Will this earned media strategy increase my page rank and domain authority?
That's what the experiment intends to find out.
Shopifreaks.com Starting Metrics – Aug 1, 2024:
- PA: 31
- DA: 18
- Linking Domains: 152
I'll keep you posted in the coming months as I earn new links and also share whether or not it's helping increase my PA / DA.
First Earned Media – Aug 10th, 2024
So far Chris and his team at Linkifi.io have landed my first feature on Startups-co-uk (PA 57 / DA 71), which also included a do-follow link back to my site. Here's a screenshot. I'm not cross-linking back to the feature as to keep the link juice one-way and not accidentally impact the experiment in any way.
I don't know if this is a coincidence or based on other factors, but my DA jumped from 18 to 20 and my PA rose from 31 to 32 since the first link came through.
To be fair, I've got other SEO-related efforts in play this month as well (such as putting out more content outside of my weekly newsletter), which could also be a contributing factor to my increase in PA / DA. However even so, I'm not relying on Linkifi.io to carry my entire SEO weight for me, but to merely complement and enhance my other SEO efforts.
Second Earned Media – Oct 29th, 2024
Chris and the team at Linkifi.io landed my second feature and do-follow link on Hubspot-com (PA 73 / DA 93). Here's a screenshot.
I'm updating this post on Nov 1st, and the link just came through three days ago on Oct 29th, so I'm not sure if it's had any impact on my PA / DA (or if it will) — however here's where I currently stand.
My DA has actually dropped from 20 to 18 between now and the last time I checked in August, but my Page Authority has risen from 32 to 34. I've read on various forums that Moz only updates once or twice a month, and others said it takes them 3-4 weeks, so I may just be too early in taking that screenshot. When the experiment is finished and Linkifi has come through with all five features, we can look back and see long term results. I'll keep updating in the meantime though.
You'll also notice that my ranking keywords grew from 4 to 79 and the number of domains linking to me increased from 156 to 238. However this likely has nothing to do with Linkifi, and is the result of other content creation I've been doing on the website.
Whereas historically over the past few years, I've only published a weekly blog post — the latest edition of my newsletter as an archive — during the past few months I've been publishing 8-10 additional posts per week, which is helping me cast a wider net on Google and subsequently ranking the website for additional keywords.
As I mentioned a few months ago, the experiment with Linkifi is designed to complement my existing SEO efforts, not to carry all the weight. So I'm still moving and shaking with my other SEO efforts.
Third Earned Media – Dec 20th, 2024
The Linkifi.io team landed my third feature and do-follow link — this time again on Hubspot-com (PA 73 / DA 93). Here's a screenshot.
Is it as valuable to obtain two do-follow links from the same website as it is to have gotten a third link from a website other than HubSpot-com or Startups-co-uk (which were where the first two links came from)?
Let's ask ChatGPT:
In general, getting two links from two different high Domain Authority (DA) websites is more valuable than two links from the same high DA website. Here's why:
Diverse Referring Domains
- Search engines, like Google, value the number of unique referring domains (different websites linking to you) as a key ranking factor.
- Links from multiple high DA domains signal broader trust and authority across different sources.
Link Authority Diminishing Returns
- Multiple links from the same domain often have diminishing returns in terms of SEO value.
- The first link from a domain generally passes the most authority, and additional links, especially from the same page, contribute less incremental value.
Relevance and Context
- Links from different domains may also provide varied contextual relevance, which helps Google better understand your content and keywords.
Referral Traffic Potential
- Links from different websites increase your exposure to different audiences, potentially driving more referral traffic and engagement.
When Multiple Links from the Same Site Can Still Help:
- Authority Sites: If the site is extremely authoritative (e.g., Forbes, Wikipedia), multiple links can still carry weight.
- Different Pages: Links from different pages on the same site (with varied anchor text and contexts) can provide some incremental value.
- Deep Linking: If the links point to different pages on your site, they may help improve the rankings of those specific pages.
Final Recommendation:
For long-term SEO success, focus on building a diverse backlink profile with links from different high DA domains while maintaining relevance and quality.
Okay, well HubSpot is definitely a highly authoritative website, and the links were from different pages on the site — so it sounds like a win to me.
Let's see how my DA and PA are doing on Moz (checked on Jan 1, 2025):
- DA: 22
- PA: 34
When I started the experiment, I had a DA: 18 and PA: 31. Then after my first earned media link, my DA rose to 20 and PA rose to 32. After my second link, my DA dropped back to 18, but my PA rose to 34. Now my DA rose to 22 and PA to 34.
So far a net gain of DA+4 and PA+3. Obviously there are more SEO factors at play here than just these earned media links, but I think it's important to measure my DA/PA along the way for the sake of the experiment.
Note About Timeline
So far it's taken the Linkifi team a few months to deliver each of the first two links. The reason is that the marketing niche is one of the most difficult to obtain features because it is oftentimes less PR friendly or newsworthy. Chris made that clear going into the experiment, so I went into this knowing that I'd have to be patient between features (in order to get the good ones).
Usually the Linkifi team work with experts in a particular e-commerce niche — like chefs, fitness instructors, financial planners, etc — and the timeline to deliver features / links is quicker. A typical e-commerce brand could expect delivery of 5 links in 2-4 months.
The experiment continues!
Check back on this live case study in the future to see additional results or subscribe to my weekly Shopifreaks E-commerce Newsletter to get occasional updates.
Why am I sharing this?
I like to be an open book about my business and marketing practices, and I also think that these types of earned media services and the results of this experiment would be of interest to my Shopifreaks readers, many who are also running their own earned media campaigns.
As an additional incentive, I joined Linkifi's affiliate program, so anyone who clicks one of my links to Linkifi.io and subsequently becomes a client themselves, I earn a commission.
As you can tell from this case study, it's not quite an “endorsement” for Linkifi (yet… hopefully), as much as it is a live experiment. However nonetheless, this case study will inevitably introduce my readers to Linkifi's services, which is their incentive for providing me their 5 link package free of charge.
Will the experiment prove to be a success? Stay tuned!
Questions / Suggestions
If you have any questions about the strategy, feel free to ask. This is my first time employing a PR agent, so I'm still green to the strategy, but I'm an open book if you have any questions. Shoot me an e-mail to [email protected] or message me on LinkedIn.