Need authority links? Twitter is one of the best ways I’ve found to get your site (or yourself as the case may be) on the radar of the journalists who decide what topics and websites are discussed (and linked to) in mainstream media.

Interacting with the folks who report on your chosen industry on Twitter – through being conversational, helpful and never overly promotional – is one of the quickest, and most cost effective ways to get noticed by your industry media.

All you need to do is find them. And here are a few ways you can do so.. here’s how.

Twitter Directories

You can easily use free directories, such as WeFollow to identify industry reporters and/or bloggers. By searching for tags like “reporter”, “journalist and “media” you can identify folks that would be applicable to your industry and begin following them on Twitter.

JournalistTweets.com

Journalist Tweets allows you to browse the tweets of various reporters, even limiting your search to journalists covering certain countries and a small range of specific topics. It also allows you to search for specific keywords.

Let’s say you’re a mortgage broker. A quick search for “mortgage” allows you to see which reporters are talking about the topic so that you can follow those focused on your specific topic of relevance and begin to build relationships with them.

Muck Rack

In my opinion, I’ve saved the best for last. Muck Rack tracks the tweets of journalists from all of the major news and media outlets and separates them into a detailed list of “beats” that you can browse to find reporters for specific niches. Operate a site about recipes, food or cooking? Check out the Food and Dining beat to find the reporters writing stories that your site would be relevant for.

Once on a specific beats page, you can view a listing of all reporters classified for that beat (and not simply wait to see who is actively tweeting for that beat), click to see a listing of the links they are dropping in their tweet stream (so you can see what type of stories and angles they find interesting), and you can also click “mass follow” to follow all the reporters from that specific beat.

The Rules of Engagement

Now that you’ve found the media/reporters relevant to your niche, you need to engage with them.

And to be clear:

THIS DOES NOT MEAN SPAMMING THEM WITH YOUR LINKS.

Follow them. If they post something of genuine interest to you, comment on it and give them feedback. Watch for them to ask questions and be helpful to them whenever it is possible for you to do so. You don’t need to spam them.

If you engage, in a real and genuine way, they will recognize your name after a while and might look into what you do or if you’re lucky, follow back. If you can succeed in building the relationship, you may have a good shot of being “who they think of” the next time they need a quote or opinion for their next story.

Opinions expressed in the article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.

Related Topics: How To: Links | How To: Social Media Marketing | Search & Social