7 Free Link-Building Email Templates for Outreach Success

If you have a website with any semblance of traffic, you know what it’s like to be endlessly inundated by shitty, thoughtless cold emails begging you for backlinks.

It’s like infomercials. You wonder, “are people really picking up the phone to buy this vibrating chair?”.

Surely it’s working. Otherwise, advertisers wouldn’t persist.

The same logic applies to email outreach. It can work. But only if you do it well.

In this post, we share 7 link-building outreach email templates that we’ve developed over many years through trial and error.

Save yourself the time (and embarrassment), and copy these templates to start acquiring links today.

Let’s start with the 1st one.

1. The broken link email template

Nobody wants broken links on their website, so offering a replacement is in itself a value-adding gesture.

First thing—keep your email subject line descriptive and straightforward. Here are some examples:

• Broken link
• 404 error
• Your post XYZ has a broken link.

Email template #1 – the broken link email

Hi there/first name

I was googling {topic} and noticed a broken link on one of your posts. The post is XYZ and the broken link is ZYX – right at the end of paragraph 2.

Broken links happen all the time, and I know we only fix them when we’re really bored, but I thought this was a cool opportunity for you to upgrade this piece by linking to this {infographic/study/in-depth article…} we published a few weeks ago.

It’s getting pretty big traction over on { LinkedIn / Facebook / Medium / +link } and I think it’ll really bring value to your readers.

So there you have it, won’t take more than a minute, will make your blog a teeny bit better, make me eternally grateful, and bring you good karma.

If you’re reading this line, please take 2 mins for this! 😇

Thanks!

Identifying broken links requires time on your end. So make your offer proportionate to your efforts.

You’re not asking for much for a link update. The suggestion in itself should be enough value.

Another approach is to be super direct. Your prospect knows what’s up—so getting to the point shows that you respect their time.

For example:

You have a broken link on your post XYZ.

I was checking out sites linking to this post because I recently published a related {infographic/study/in-depth article…} when I noticed it.

[…]

Email template #2 – the broken link email follow up

Seasoned marketer Jason Zook found that 75 percent of his 2,000 deals came from sending follow-up emails. So always follow up on your link-building emails.

Use tools where possible to set reminders or even send your backlink outreach messages automatically.

Hi there/first name

Looks like karma didn’t cut it, huh? Tell you what, I’m guest posting on domain.com & domain.com in the next couple of weeks. How about I link to your site from domain.com or domain.com. Would that be enough to convince you? 🙂

Let me know!

Best,

One of the oldest tricks in the book is to escalate the reward in your follow-up message. You’re limiting your cost while increasing your overall conversion rate.

2. The better content link building email template

If you’ve genuinely created superior content to your competitors, you have a chance to take their backlinks.

Here are some subject line examples:

• Content update suggestion
• Your post XYZ
• Suggestion

Email template #1 – the better content email

Hi there/first name

I was googling {topic} and noticed your post XYZ, and specifically your link to competing post 123 (with link).

We recently published a more detailed, more thorough, and more recent post on the same topic (with link).

I realize you have a lot better to do than to evaluate the quality of our post VS that post, but I think I can make it worth your while:

+ Offer a free backlink
+ Offer to mention another one of their posts in your newsletter

It’s getting pretty big traction over on { LinkedIn /Facebook /Medium +link } and I think it’ll really bring value to your readers.

So there you have it, wouldn’t take over a minute, would make your blog a teeny bit better, make me eternally greatful, and bring you good karma.

If you’re reading this line, please take 2 mins for this! 😇

Thanks!

Besides offering a better quality post, be sure to sweeten the deal with links and mentions.

Email template #2 – the better content email follow up

Hi there/first name

Looks like karma didn’t cut it, huh? Tell you what, I’m guest posting on domain.com & domain.com in the next couple of weeks. How about I link to your site from domain.com or domain.com. Would that be enough to convince you? 🙂

Let me know!

Best,

3. The “you forgot to link” outreach template

Sometimes your brand is mentioned in a post without linking to your website.

It’s especially common if you’re building a blog on top of a tool that gets referenced. Or if you regularly share viral resources.

In any case, this presents an easy opportunity for email outreach for backlinks.

The approach is simple. Track any mention of your brand. And ask for a link when a link wasn’t originally included on the page.

To identify opportunities, use tools like Google Alerts, Mention, and Brand24. These are called social listening or social monitoring tools, and there are plenty of them to choose from.

These programs tend to be quite pricey as they’re also used to monitor mentions across social media platforms.

However, Google Alerts is free and does a pretty great job at tracking mentions over the “open” internet—which is what we’re interested in here for link building.

It’s worth noting that there are generally 3 reasons why a website didn’t include a link to your page:

1. They had every intention to link to you but forgot. This can easily happen with prominent blogs with sophisticated operations, and writers aren’t clear on the linking guidelines. Sometimes content managers can forget to check whether an external link was added. This is the best-case scenario to score a link.
2. They’re baiting you. Yes, believe it or not, many blogs make a living from selling links. Ahrefs found the average cost of a link was $361.44. And SEO agencies and link builders like to run blogs on the side—which they use for link exchanges. Some of these businesses have guidelines to never link to anyone—but are always open to link exchanges.
3. They’re not going to link to anyone…ever. It’s hard to understand. Yet some people believe that the internet, as in (inter-net), isn’t a place where you link to external pages. From our experience, this isn’t standard practice, but some folks value outgoing links way too much. It can’t be helped, so don’t fight it. Take them off your contact list, and don’t reach out to them in the future.

Like our other outreach email templates, you want to make your subject line direct and descriptive. Here are some examples:

• Thanks for mentioning us!
• Thanks for mentioning my work!
• Your post XYZ

Now onto the templates.

Email template #1 – the forgot to link email

Hey there, noticed you mention {our brand/infographic/video/etc. } on your post XYZ. Thanks!

I also noticed there’s no link to our {website/free resource/blog post covering this topic}. Would you be open to adding a link?

Here’s a suggestion:

In paragraph #X, replace “this and that” with “”this link and that””. If you’re on WordPress, here’s what the HTML updated paragraph would look like:

[Insert updated HTML]

As easy as a copy-paste, and it’ll allow me to share your brilliant post on my {LinkedIn /Twitter…}

Let me know what you think?

Best,

Email template #2 – the forgot to link email follow up

Hi there, just following up on my previous email.

I’m sure you have better things to do than to go and add a link for us in a post you’ve already published but I’d really like to make this work.

What can I do to make this worth your while?

Thanks!

4. The competitor link email template

Stealing your competitor’s links presents a tricky situation.

On the one hand, it’s easy to get a list of websites linking to a competitor’s site. However, it’s challenging to get accurate context on that link.

The competitor affiliate link template

Affiliate websites are unlikely to link to you for free.

In most cases, affiliate sites are time-constrained and won’t take a “make money in a few months” offer seriously. These sites want links and money. That’s it. They couldn’t care less about you mentioning them on Twitter.

So be sure to lead with upfront value to give yourself a chance.

The tools we recommend for finding competitor link opportunities are Ahrefs and SpyFu.

SpyFu has a cool feature where they can identify sites linking to your competitors with an affiliate link. Knowing that there’s an established monetized partnership will inform your approach.

Before looking at the templates, here are some subject line examples:

• Your post XYZ
• New player in the XYZ market
• Suggestion

Email template #1 – the competitor link email

Hey there! I’m reaching out because I noticed you mention competitor 1 and competitor 2 on your post XYZ.

I’m Axel and I built/work for themetablog.io, a new blog about how to build a blog.

I’m sure you get requests like these every other day, but I’d really like it if we could be mentioned there. This is exactly the kind of traffic that works well for us.

What would it take?

Thanks!

Email template #2 – the competitor link email follow up

Hey there, following up on my first email.

I really think being mentioned on your post XYZ would bring a ton of value for us. I’m happy to look at what we can do in exchange.

{Pitch a guest post link if you have something really big – or leave the door open for a $ ask}

If you haven’t heard of us before,

+ reassuring argument 1,
+ reassuring argument 2,
+ reassuring argument 3

Let me know what you think?

Thanks,

Regarding the reassuring arguments, be careful not to fall into a product pitch. Odds are, you’re talking to someone who knows the market inside out and is most likely aware of you and your product.

They’ll probably know that most of the features you pitch aren’t new or exciting. This is where you need excellent product marketing.

In this section, highlight what’s unique about and impressive about your brand. You could mention:

• The number of users you have
• Your customer reviews on platforms like Capterra or G2
• Your feature depth
• Your product vision (if it’s really mature)
• Beta features

The competitor “naked” email outreach

If you’re reaching out to folks who’ve added “naked” links (i.e., not affiliate links) to your competition, find out what they’re linking to and why.

Depending on the situation, it will fall under one of the following categories:

• Are they linking to the homepage and mentioning your competitors as a solution? Then pitch your solution, and give something in return. Toe the line of an affiliate partnership without mentioning money. They might ask for a flat fee to include you.
• Are they linking from a sponsored post? It’s not ideal to target sponsored links, so move on.
• Are they linking to an in-depth blog post or resource your competitors offer? Refer back to the better content pitch. You’ll need higher-quality content for this to work.

5. The gated content template

Presenting gated content is a unique approach to backlink outreach—and can be very effective if you’re starting out.

The process is simple. Build a gated resource like a spreadsheet, notion database, or a free tool. It needs to be something truly valuable.

Then go to Google, and search for related blog posts.

Pro tips:

1. You can search up to 100 results at a time on Google. Use a tool like LinkClump to copy all the links to your clipboard, and put everything in a spreadsheet.
2. Once you have a list of posts, update your spreadsheet with domain names, domain ratings, contacts, emails, etc. Aim for a list of 500-1000 unique domains.
3. Filter out the stuff you don’t need, like unrelated posts, and only keep domain ratings (using Ahrefs DR score) that are moderate. Say above 30 if you’re starting, and 50 or 60 if you’re an established blog.

Now that you have your list, you’re ready to start your email outreach for backlinks. But before we do that, here are some examples of effective email subject lines for this outreach template:

• Free downloadable resource
• New blog
• Free spreadsheet
• Name of the spreadsheet (what it does): For instance: Link building campaign spreadsheet

Email template #1 – the gated content email

Hey there! I’m Axel and I’m working on a new blog called themetablog.io since July 2021.

Like every new blog on the planet, our authority is painstakingly low, and growing it is a definite challenge.

So we built a pretty cool spreadsheet to setup a link building campaign. It helps identify good opportunities, collect and enrich websites with domain rating & contact information, and you can even plug it in directly to YAAM or another mail merge tool to send your link building outreach.

We gated it on this post (link) to see if it’s of any interest, and it’s getting insane capture rates (+15%!).

Would you be interested in offering it to your audience? With the traffic you’re getting on your post XYZ (link), it could really help build your list.

Totally free of course, and you can decide to capture emails or to give it freely, it’s really up to you 🙂

All we’d ask in return is that you mention (and link to) us 😇

Sounds fair?

Let me know!

Best,

Email template #2 – the gated content email follow up

“Hey there!

Following up on my previous email about guest posting on your blog.

Do any of the following topics make sense?

Topic 1
Topic 2
Topic 3

Or maybe you have something in your content backlog I could take care of?

Let me know!

Best,

Quick note about the 15% capture rate. The idea here is to provide reassurance and show that what you’ve created has value or can at least prove interest.

Another approach is to share your resource as a lead magnet on LinkedIn and share the view and download numbers. You could also provide an overview of what’s in your resource.

It’s a nice touch to suggest writing a paragraph or two to present your gated resource.

6. The guest post email template

Prospecting for guest posts is probably the simplest and most effective approach for getting links.

It’s also very costly as you need to write an article to earn each link.

The most straightforward way to do this is to find a list of sites in your niche that accept contributions.

Pitch 2-3 topics per site. Do it properly. For example:

1. Don’t pitch a subject they’ve already addressed.
2. Mention how your piece will form part of their content cluster. For instance, “I’m happy to write a support article for your cornerstone piece on XYZ, and I was thinking of the following topics.”
3. Share 2-3 examples of your content. Make them relevant, and of course, share your best work.
4. Triple check your email spelling and grammar.

Here are some subject lines you can use:

• Guest post
• Free content
• (Topic): select one kickass post title and use it as your subject line

Email template #1 – the guest post email

Hey there! I’m Axel and I’m working on a new blog called themetablog.io since July 2021.

I’m reaching out because I notice you seem to be taking on guest posts?

I think I could write a really good support article for your {topic} content cluster. I was thinking of the following titles:

1. Title 1
2. Title 2
3. Title 3

All our guest posts follow exactly the same writing process as our own posts. We typically go for 2000 word-posts, with solid examples and actionable ideas.

Here are a few examples:

1. On our site (link to post)
2. On domain.com (link to post)
3. On domain2.com (link to post)

Let me know what you think?

Thanks,

Email template #2 – the guest post email follow up

Hey there,

I’m following up on my previous email about guest posting.

I’m sure you get a ton of requests, but I really feel like I could write up a really cool post about {topic}.

Would any of the following topics interest you?

1. Title 1
2. Title 2
3. Title 3

Or perhaps you have something in your content backlog I could work on?

Let me know!

Thanks!

7. The guest post & free link template

This is similar to the guest post template, but you’re throwing in an extra link.

It’s a trickier pitch to deliver, but the value is much higher—so it’s worth the effort.

The idea is that when you guest post at any scale, you can include more than one relevant link in your articles.

Now you can leverage these other links to open new guest post opportunities.

Here are some subject lines you can use:

• Free backlink on domain.com (make sure the domain.com is a significant domain)
• SEO
• Guest post

Email template #1 – the guest post & free link email

Hey there! I’m Axel and I’m working on a new blog called themetablog.io since July 2021.

I’m reaching out because we’re guest posting a lot these days, and I can get you a link from one of our posts on domain1.com or domain2.com.

Would you be interested? All we’d ask in exchange is for the opportunity to guest post on your site.

I think I could write a really good support article for your {topic} content cluster. I was thinking of the following titles:

1. Title 1
2. Title 2
3. Title 3

All our guest posts follow exactly the same writing process as our own posts. We typically go for 2000 word-posts, with solid examplification and actionable ideas.

Here are a few examples:

1. On our site (link to post)
2. On domain.com (link to post)
3. On domain2.com (link to post)

Let me know what you think?

Thanks,

Email template #2 – the guest post and free link email follow up

“Hey there,

I’m following up on my previous email about guest posting.

I can still get you a link from domain1.com or domain2.com if you’re interested. We’re writing about XYZ on the first one, and YXZ on the second one.

Would you be open to let us guest post in return? I realise quality is of the essence here. That’s why everything we write follows the exact same process. Here are a few examples: on domain.com (link to post), on domain-x.com (link to post), and on domain-y.com (link to post)

Perhaps you have something in your content backlog I could work on? Otherwise I’m happy to pitch a few post ideas!

Let me know?

Thanks!

Link building email templates: best practices

Below are some quick link-building best practices to tie your campaign together for the best results.

Please don’t tell them they’re doing a good job

Please don’t. People who feel the need to say, “I really liked how you mention XYZ on this post” because they read some garbage article really need to stop.

Don’t waste your time coming up with some sleazy flattering line. When doing email outreach for backlinks, you want to show you’ve done your homework. Follow these steps instead:

1. Find the right person: If you’re about to email [email protected], think again. Put in the extra effort to find the content or SEO manager.
2. Mention the right post: if you’re pitching a link to an email marketing piece, find the post where that link makes the most sense. Don’t just pitch based on a random #78 result in a Google search. Go through the blog posts on the topic, and find the optimal spot. That’s doing your homework.
3. Ask for the right thing: this complements the previous point. Don’t pitch your competitor’s biggest affiliate to add you in instead of their bread marker. Don’t pitch your competitors to link to you. Try to find an angle that’ll genuinely bring value to your prospect.
4. Offer the right thing: the value you’re adding with quality content or identifying broken links won’t really justify spending time on the topic. If you ask any blogger, they’ll tell you they have 1000 edits in the backlog—but they haven’t had the time to address them. Help them help you and offer something that brings immediate and tangible results in return. Share their content on LinkedIn, offer a backlink, mention them in your newsletter. Find something that makes it worth their while even to read your email.

Effective outreach email templates for link building

Bloggers and marketers are becoming savvier and understand the value of links. The days of mass-produced generic email outreach templates are well and truly behind us.

Do your homework to find ways to add value to your prospects—case by case.

Then use these templates to increase your response rates, and more importantly, secure more links.