Opinions are like elbows; everyone’s got a couple! Some opinions may be completely absurd, but others may be equally valid. Some things are a matter of preference. Even if you ask the experts, you can get a lot of different answers about “the best”, “the most important”, or similar questions. And they can all offer fantastic reasons for their choice!
An expert roundup is a type of post that allows you to ask a question of leading voices in your field and share them with your readers. It can be a great learning experience for the readers, and a win-win for you and those who contributor.
Most expert roundups consist of several contributors who all answer the same question. The answers generally run 200-400 words, although that’s flexible. And it’s great if you can get 8-12 people to offer answers!
What’s In It For Them
You might already see how this could benefit you. But if you’re starting, why would anyone bother to contribute? There are a few reasons that this can work.
Kindness
Yes, simple human kindness does exist. And many experts in your field are likely willing to help you out a bit by contributing. They understand what it’s like to get started. And they recognize that a little bit of help they give now can help you, even in a small way.
Exposure
Besides kindness, the experts you reach out to may be hoping for a bit of exposure themselves. They might hope that their small contribution to your blog may pay off with a few more customers for themselves. They know they’ll be featured in your article and your social media. It can potentially offer some return on a minimal investment.
Links
Of course, your experts might also be hoping for a link to their site. Sure, this can be included under exposure, but it can also be a part of their backlink building. Your blog might not be a big boost for them now – after all, they’re the expert, and you’re not (yet!). But if you grow, the link from your site could be a bit of a boost for them.
What’s In It For You
Of course, you’re doing this to help your business or blog, right? And there’s a couple of ways you gain, too.
Exposure
Exposure has many facets when you do an expert roundup.
First, you’re making some experts aware of your presence. Admittedly, they probably get a lot of similar requests. But at least they’ve seen your name. Maybe they take the time to check out your site. And possibly they’ll find something they fall in love with.
You’re also presenting material that’s attractive to current and new readers. It looks impressive when you can get some top names writing for you!
Hopefully, the contributors will also be willing to share your expert roundup on their social media. That means your blog is reaching a whole new set of possible readers. They may come to see what their expert said, but stay for your work!
Great Keywords
An expert roundup is a great way to add keywords to your site. The primary way is through the question you ask. Make it something that is often asked online but not a lot of other sites bother answering.
Also, all your contributor’s names are now part of your content as well. It’s unlikely you’ll rank well for their name alone, but if someone searches for their opinion on a particular topic that you address, you do have a chance!
Links
It’s not as likely that you’ll get a link out of an expert roundup, but it’s possible. Some contributors may have a place on their website where they link to places they’ve written. That means you could gain a fantastic link!
How To Get Started
It does take a good bit of work and time to create an expert roundup. We do recommend that you have a lot of good content and are starting to have some traffic before pursuing this, too. That helps show the people you ask to contribute that it’s worthwhile to write for you.
Find a question
Before anything else, you have to know what you want to ask. Brainstorm topics that would be of interest to your readers. At the same time, use your normal keyword research process to find out what questions are being asked online.
Form the question in a way that’s clear and easily understandable.
Develop a list of leaders
The next step is to create a list of people who can answer the question. Who are the reputable online authorities on the subject?
Odds are, you already know some of them. But you’ll probably need to do more research and find others.
It might be necessary to start with a list of thirty to forty people so that you can end up with 10 or so answers.
The first way you start crossing names off the list is if you can’t find contact information for them. It’s best to use a personalized email address. If necessary, you can use a website contact form or their business social media account, though.
Of course, if you can’t find a way to reach out to them, you won’t be able to include them. Cross them off the list for now.
Set a reasonable time frame
As we said, it does take a bit of time to get all this together. The largest part of that time is waiting for responses.
You’ll have to allow a reasonable amount of time for experts to respond. We normally ask them to let us know if they’re interested and send their reply within three weeks.
Some may answer within hours. Others might ask you to remind them if they don’t send you their answer before the deadline. And some will ignore you.
So if you initially allow three weeks for answers, figure on an additional ten days for those you have to remind. Then you’ll need time to format and publish it. So that means you should plan to write to them at least six to eight weeks before you’d like to publish.
A spreadsheet with all this information is an easy way to organize all the information. Keep track of their name, website, email address, and their responses.
Write to them
So when you have your targets, your question, and your schedule, it’s time to reach out and make your request. Here are some tips for doing that.
Be personal. Address the expert by name – remember that you’re relying on name recognition to help boost your post!
Introduce yourself. You don’t want to tell your life story, but at least mention your name and present your website by name and by purpose.
Make your request. Explain simply that you’re doing an expert roundup and would like their answer to your question. Tell them your target date for submissions. Ask if they’d be willing to share their opinion and give them guidelines for length. Ask them to include a photo (headshot), the page of their site they’d like the link to, and how they’d like to be referred to in the anchor text.
Thank them when you receive responses.
Let them know you’ll share it on your page and social media. They’ll appreciate the exposure.
Promise that you’ll let them know when it’s published.
Send reminders if necessary. Some of the people you contact may answer that they’d like to contribute. But they may lose track of time or get busy. If they haven’t sent anything by the first deadline, drop them a note to remind them and ask them to send it in the next week.
Getting It All Together
Once you’ve started your outreach, it takes even more organization to prepare the article. You’ll need to keep track of who has sent an answer and who has promised one.
Compile the responses. You can start working on the formatting of your post as soon as you start receiving answers.
Publish. As far as possible, try to stick to the publication date you gave to your contributors. Be sure to include their photo and a link to their site.
Thank them again when the article is published. Provide them with the link to the article, and ask if they can share it on their social media.
Conclusion
An expert roundup is a great way to generate more interest among your readers, create content for your site, and increase your site’s exposure. Don’t be afraid to reach out to leaders who can offer their opinions on a question. The worst that can happen is that they say “no.” But if they say yes, you’ve added great new ideas to your site!