Woo! I got links from Huffington Post, Forbes and The Chicago Tribune!

I've been trying to get links to my travel blog for a long time, and it's hard to get real links that actually help me rank higher. It was easy 5 years ago, but most of those links don't count anymore. I miss guest posting.

I decided to get serious and see what I had to do to get some editorial links. I joined HARO (Help a Reporter Out) a few years ago but never made much of it.

For those that don't know, HARO is a site that lets you help out journalists by providing some comments or expert advice so they have more information for their articles. When your quotes are published, you usually get a link back. It's free to do.

I'd sent some replies before, but I never got much back. I decided to try again...

Here's what worked for me:

· Put a detailed bio / about me page on your site. List all your qualifications. These journalists want to know you're worth quoting.

· Also put a short bio at the bottom of your email.

· Answer the questions directly. Don't be overly detailed, just give them what they ask for.

· Google for more information, even if you think you understand the subject in detail.

· Don't pitch additional ideas or interviews to the journalist. Just give them the information they asked for.

· Check for requests and respond every day. There are morning, afternoon, and evening inquiries. Respond to as many as possible (with short answers).

· I figured out that when I tried before, I was pushing too hard. Shorter replies seem to get better responses. And the shorter my response, the quicker I can answer.

Instead of trying to do a reply every now and then, I started responding to every request I could. Since I started only sending a few sentences (they can ask for more info if they want), it was easier to respond to a lot of them.

I started just before April (about 5 weeks ago) and already got Forbes, the Huffington Post, and the Chicago Tribune to either publish links to my travel blog or schedule them for an upcoming post.

Just try to be professional and answer everything like an expert would (even if you have to Google information and fake it a bit).

I think these will help me get better rankings and traffic. It's also pretty cool that people are mentioning me as an "expert".