We talk through why bloggers and brands want to work together. What you can do to attract brands to work with you and what pitfalls you should avoid.

1. How to make your blog
attractive to brands
Blog On Conference
1st May 2016
Sophie Bratt – Campaigns and Social Executive, Click Consult
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

2. So, who am I?
Blogger at
sophiesscran.com
and Campaigns &
Social Executive Click
Consult – a leading
Organic Search
Agency (SEO)
@sophiesscran on
Twitter & Instagram
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

3. And what do I do?
As a campaigns and social exec at Click, I plan, create and
execute link-building campaigns, collaborating with bloggers
and brands such as…
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

4. What is a “campaign”?
In my world, SEO, a campaign aims to:
Build links and give client’s a boost in their search engine
rankings
The process (in a nutshell):
– Start with client objectives
– Come up with some ideas and a concept
– Create the relevant assets (eBook, visuals, fact sheets)
– Reach out to relevant bloggers
– Build links
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

5. Why do brands want to work with
bloggers?
- They want to gain online exposure for their brand
- They want to build links
- They want to spread brand awareness
- They want to team up with people who endorse them
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

6. Why do bloggers want to work
with brands/agencies?
- To endorse their favourite brands
- For some fresh, shareable content for their readers
- To get involved in fun, relevant campaigns
- To gain exposure
- To build relationships (long term)
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

7. Consider who is contacting you
Different pitches will land in your inbox
Depending on where they’re from, they will have different goals and
objectives
For instance, you might be contacted by:
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

8. PR’s goals, on behalf of a brand
Wanting to gain exposure for their brand/product
Not precious about specific links (no-follow vs. do-follow)
They will offer things like product/restaurant reviews, freebies, events,
giveaways, AKA blogger gifting
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

9. Follow vs. No Follow Links
- When you link to another site from your own, you are passing ‘authority’
- You are signalling to Google that the site you’re linking to is worthwhile
- Linking to good quality sites is good for your own site i.e. linking to The
Guardian, Oxfam the NHS website
- No-follow links are when you add rel=“no follow” to the <a> tag in your site’s
code
- This tells Google NOT to pass authority to the site
- You should do this when you’ve been given payment or a freebie i.e. blogger
gifting
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

10. SEO’s goals, on behalf of a brand
Wanting to build good quality, relevant do-follow links to the brand’s homepage
or relevant sub-page
Wanting to earn brand exposure that doesn’t directly “sell” the product
The most
important factor
is relevance to
the campaign
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

11. What is DA?
- Score of 1-100 that predicts how well a website will rank
on search engines
- A metric developed by Moz, who are independent of
Google
- The most common metric used by SEOs
- Looks at your sites link profile
- i.e. who is linking to your domain, are they good quality links? Are they relevant?
- Best to have your own domain and not .wordpress.com
or .blogspot.com
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

12. How do I check my…
Domain Authority?
Here: moz.com/researchtools/ose/
Trust Flow?
Here: majestic.com
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

13. A brand’s goals, if they contact you direct
• A mixture of PR goals and SEO
goals
• Very likely to have a PR
person/team in-house
• Likely to also have an SEO
person/small team in-house
• Looking for brand endorsement /
ambassadors
• Wanting to tap into your
audience
• Example: Manchester health
food blogger spamellab.com
(@SpamellaB)
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

14. Is the approach email collaborative?
Is the campaign right for me, and most
importantly my readers?
Key questions to ask yourself, if you
want to work with brands
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

15. Is this a chance to work with an industry influencer?
Assess the wider opportunity value
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

16. Working with Industry Influencers
Coming soon…
Blogger competition,
Oxfam link back to the
winning bloggers. In
another Oxfam campaign
they followed them all on
Twitter.
Two-way brand endorsement… They endorse you and your
blog as well as you endorsing them.
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

17. Will I gain some good exposure (social media or other)?
Assess the wider opportunity value
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

18. Gain Social Media Exposure
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

19. Deliver Something Awesome
Polly from thisenchantedpixie.org’s contribution to the Bedtime Stories eBook
for Adjustable Beds. http://adjustablebeds.co.uk/top-childrens-bedtime-
stories/
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

20. Deliver Something Awesome
Chance to be involved in
something relevant,
bespoke and beautiful
This Infographic for a
“Holiday Essentials”
campaign for
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

21. Avoiding potential pitfalls
- Try not to be tempted by every opportunity
- Look out for relevant, collaborative projects
- Remember, if you’re contacted by a good SEO it is part of
a wider strategy for the brand
- Never sell links on your site. However, if you’re writing
your own content, ask for compensation for your time and
admin costs
- Don’t go link crazy… One link to the home page or
relevant page is enough
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

22. Recap: how to make your blog
attractive to brands
Keep doing what you’re doing… blog, blog, blog
Make sure you have some posts with no links, such as unlinked brand
mentions
Build relevant, trustworthy links and practice good SEO on your blog
Produce unique content
Use a tone and style that matches desired brands
Interact on social media
Consider do-follow links where possible, when right for your blog and
readers
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk

23. Thank You
Questions?
outreach@click.co.uk
www.click.co.uk
hello@click.co.uk