HARO / Digital PR

Digital PR earns links and mentions by giving journalists something they need: expert comment, original insight, or a story worth covering. HARO, which stands for Help A Reporter Out, was the best-known platform connecting reporters with sources. The original service has changed since it began, and a number of similar platforms and journalist request networks now fill the same role. The principle is unchanged. A reporter posts a request for expert input on a story, relevant experts reply, and the ones whose answers are used are usually credited with a link or brand mention.

These are some of the strongest links a business can earn, because they come from real editorial coverage on news sites, trade publications, and established blogs, placed there by a journalist rather than bought. They also carry brand value beyond SEO: a founder quoted in a regional business outlet or a clinic director cited in a health feature builds trust with readers who have never heard of the company.

Digital PR works best for businesses with people who have genuine expertise to share. Founders, doctors, lawyers, financial advisers, engineers, property specialists, and recruiters are often in demand, and the UAE angle helps, since international publications regularly want a view from the Gulf on topics such as property, tourism, remote work, fintech, and regulation. It is less suitable for companies that cannot commit a spokesperson's time or that operate in categories where public comment is restricted.

Our process starts with a spokesperson profile. We agree who will be quoted, what they can speak about with authority, their credentials, and any topics that are off limits. We also agree approval rules, so you decide whether each response needs sign-off or whether we can respond within agreed boundaries when a deadline is tight.

We then monitor journalist requests every working day across the platforms we use, filtering for ones that match your spokesperson's expertise and have a credible outlet behind them. Many requests have deadlines of a few hours, so speed matters. When a good match appears, we draft a response in your spokesperson's voice, based on the profile and on short input from them where needed. Good responses answer the exact question, add something specific the journalist cannot get elsewhere, and are short enough to quote.

Beyond reactive requests, we can develop proactive stories: a data point from your own business that journalists would find newsworthy, a commentary on a new UAE regulation, or a guide that becomes a useful reference for reporters. Proactive campaigns take more planning and are scoped separately.

When a placement lands, we record it on your live Google Sheet with the publication, article URL, link or mention type, and date. Not every mention includes a followable link, and we say so rather than counting everything as a win. We report on placements landed, not pitches sent, because the number of emails is not a result.

Our Growth Links plan includes two HARO or PR placements a month, and Authority Links includes four, alongside the plan's other links. Digital PR can also be run on its own.

The pitfalls are worth knowing. Journalist requests are competitive, so generic answers are ignored. Responding outside your expertise damages credibility. Some requests come from low-quality sites posing as media, and we filter those out. Spokespeople who take days to review a response miss most deadlines, which is why clear approval rules matter. And no one can promise a specific publication, since editors decide what runs.

On timing, the first placements often arrive within the first month or two once the spokesperson profile is set, though results vary with the topic and news cycle. Journalists sometimes publish weeks after a response is accepted. Over a few months, a steady flow of responses tends to build a recognisable pattern of coverage.

As with all our link building, the retainer is month to month, and your delivery lead and strategist review which topics are working each month so the effort goes where journalists are listening.

If you are unsure whether your business has the right kind of expertise for digital PR, ask during your free audit call. We will look at your sector, your spokespeople, and the topics journalists in your field cover, and tell you honestly whether reactive PR is likely to work or whether guest posts and niche edits would be a better use of the budget for now.