5 Blogger Outreach Tips for Approaching Bloggers for Backlinks

It’s no secret that backlinks are the easiest way to increase the Domain Authority of a website, so today I’m sharing some tips to help when approaching bloggers for backlinks. Before we dive into that, let’s cover why I’m qualified to answer this question: I’m Tina and I have 15 years experience as a blogger, so these answers are based on real-life experiences.

My main blog - MotherGeek is now almost 15 years old, and I have spilt blood, sweat and tears on it. So when people enter my inbox looking for backlinks, there are some sure-fire ways to get ignored, or even called out for lazy requests. I’ve also been the website manager for several local businesses for the past five years, which has lead to me getting experience “from the other side”, too. So now we’ve covered my credentials, let’s dig into my tips when approaching bloggers for backlinks.

1. Don’t use Sir

If I had a pound for every blogger outreach email I’ve received which opens with, “Hello Sir”, or “Greetings Sir,” I’d need to declare the significant income on my tax return! According to a 2025 statistical analysis, the gender ratio of bloggers is nearly equal, with 50.9% of bloggers being female. That means slightly more than half of the people you’re emailing could potentially be annoyed by your gender presumptions.

If you have the time, I’d highly recommend seeking out the blog owner’s name. (It’s usually on the “about” page). I am far more likely to read and respond to an email which uses my name, but I won’t automatically write-off an email if it uses a generic opening. So if time is of the essence, or you’re bcc’ing 50 bloggers in one email, opening with a simple “hi” will offend far less people.

Consider the Recipient when Drafting Blogger Outreach Emails

2. Be Polite When Engaging in Blogger Outreach

Manners cost nothing, and using them when proposing a collaboration is a must. I will delete every email I get (and block the sender) when the email reads along the lines of, “I want a backlink”. Say hello, explain who you are and who you’re working for, THEN explain how you’d like to work together.

Maybe it’s a British thing, but I can’t stand blunt, rude introductory emails, and I will delete them without bothering to reply. When you’re approaching bloggers for backlinks, it’s important to remember that their time is valuable, so if you can’t offer them something in return for their work, at least be polite!

3. Be Clear About What you Want

Nobody wants to play email ping-pong, so try to keep your blogger outreach requests concise. If you can offer value to an existing post, I am far more likely to agree than if you send a generic email asking for a backlink. You’re expecting me to do the work, usually with no return and that’s not something I’ll ever agree to.

However, if you find a post with a broken backlink and tell me your link would be a great replacement, and that swapping it out will boost the post’s SEO score, I’m likely to consider it. (Assuming your link really will work well, and isn’t going to look unnatural).

In the grand scheme of things, sending a generic request out to 500 bloggers might get you one or two backlinks. BUT spending 5 minutes creating a specific email for each request, with a link to the post you’d like a link from is far more likely to bring in results.

4. Offer Something in Return

Most people with SEO experience know you can’t buy backlinks, and that google frowns on link swaps, but why not offer bloggers a chance to submit a guest post to your website as a thank you for their coverage.

Consider the Blogger's Time when Approaching Bloggers for Backlinks.

With written text becoming more important in AI search results, I predict more and more bloggers will want the chance to guest post soon, as a way to increase their online profile, and a byline backlink isn’t frowned upon by google. So it's worth factoring this into your blogger outreach proposals.

5. Byline Backlinks are Allowed

Google doesn’t penalise byline backlinks, so why not create an evergreen guest post which will likely bring in a good amount of traffic? When approaching bloggers for backlinks, offering them a guest post which their readers will value is definitely worth considering.

Adding your own blog url onto your byline is perfectly acceptable, as is your professional website url, if the post was written on their behalf. I have added things like “By John Taylor from JT Solutions” as a byline, and linked to the professional url in a guest post I have hosted.

Final Thoughts on Approaching Bloggers for Backlinks

Now we’ve covered my tips on things to consider when approaching bloggers for backlinks, I hope you feel more confident in reaching out. As a final note though, it’s worth understanding that bloggers receive dozens of requests every day, so don’t be offended if you don’t get a reply. One follow up is acceptable, but any more and you risk being blocked and marked as spam, so it’s important to know when to call it a day.