Expert Roundup

If you’re smart, you don’t necessarily write everything yourself. By asking a number of experts to comment on a subject, you can turn their comments into a roundup, also known as crowdsourced post. This is a type of blog post that features multiple industry experts. You typically provide a compelling question or engaging discussion topic (relevant to your target audience) and reach out to experts asking them to share their insights/opinions.

If you manage to get 20 to 50 people to participate, then your content will be quite substantial. And that is without you having to think about everything and formulate it yourself. Everyone writes a few sentences or one or two nice paragraphs on a problem you brought up.

Who will benefit from a roundup article?

A well-crafted expert roundup post brings a number of benefits – to all parties.

Reach and Traffic: Without a doubt, as the “organizer” of the roundup, you get a lot more reach and traffic than you would otherwise. This is because the experts interviewed will help you promote the article.

• Superior Content: By getting content from experts, your article will automatically be filled with very high quality content.
• Mentions and Backlinks: If your roundup is well received, it will probably be shared and linked to frequently.
• Expert Status: While it’ true that with a roundup you’re giving a stage to the invited experts, your status as an expert will also increase. How you are seen by others depends, among other things, on who you are seen with. So you’re raising your profile by being in touch with the experts.
• Showcase Expertise: Obviously, the experts are also able to improve their own standing. After all, they demonstrate their expertise outright and thus draw further attention to themselves.
• Contacts: Equally important as the traffic are the contacts you establish. Use your roundup to get in touch with experts you didn’t know before.
• Google Rankings: When several experts write about a topic, good content is created. So it’s no wonder that it ranks well in search engines.

What should you look for in a roundup post?

While this method may be helpful for starting a new blog or website, if you haven’t made contacts and know other people in your niche beforehand, chances are that many won’t join in.

Anyway, you should already have content online and have been at it for a bit. Also, your own content should match that of the targeted experts so that they also see an advantage in giving their expert opinion.

In order to find out what other blogs and websites exist in your field, do some research. A Google search certainly helps.

Additionally, you should check which YouTubers there are in your niche and which podcasts exist. Those also have a large reach these days and are often happy to take part in something like this.

Next, it is important to write to these people and encourage them to participate in your roundup. They get a backlink, visitors and will be presented as experts in the niche.

Set a deadline by when you need the answers and put it all together into a great article at the end.

Pick a topic and ask the right question

The first (and most important) thing is to find the right topic as well as the right questions to focus on for your roundup post.

Think about your readers and their issues. Your question should focus on a solution to a specific problem. Whatever topic you choose, make it as easy as possible for your experts to answer the question. Also, ask specific questions to make it easy for them to answer.

Here are some tips on how to ask a meaningful question that will lead to the answers you want:

1. Find the perfect balance: if your question is too specific, the answers won’t be diverse enough. In other words, your article will be boring. On the other hand, if your question is too vague, the answers will diverge to the point where no connection can be established. You don’t want one or the other.
2. Ask what readers are interested in: Stick to the topic of your blog. Even if you might be able to get more popular experts on other topics, or more attention. If your readers don’t get anything out of it, it will be a short-lived success.
3. Current topic you don’t understand yet: Take the opportunity to address an area in your niche that you don’t know much about. Or bring up new topics that you haven’t dealt with before.
4. Discussions and questions: Look around in forums or groups (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn) and let yourself be inspired.
5. Keyword research: Align your search for the optimal question with Google’s search volume. Check the Keyword Planner to see what is really being searched for and craft a question for your experts around this keyword.

Find the right experts

The bigger the names you can attract, the more successful your roundup is likely to be. In order for you to get the best possible result, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

Celebrities in your niche

In every niche, there are some bloggers who are considered stars. Having them as your experts is particularly beneficial for your expert roundup, as they are likely to drive a lot of traffic to your site if they promote your article.

However, in order for a celebrity to join, you need to offer them something. In other words, if you just launched your blog yesterday and have zero reach, you’ll most likely be turned down. Therefore, you should rather target bloggers who are one step ahead of you.

However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.

Industry leaders

Unlike celebrities, industry leaders might be less Internet-savvy. This means that they won’t be of much help to you when it comes to promoting your article. However, just having a well-known name ensures that readers will share the article more often.

Social Media Authority

While the stars of your niche are known on all channels, there are always some people who have made a name for themselves on individual networks.

These people are also very interesting for you, as they can help you promote in their respective platforms.

Overlapping Niches

If you want to increase your reach, you should definitely not just invite your blogger friends. This is because it is fairly common for them to have a very similar reach to your own.

It is therefore interesting to invite bloggers who are active in an overlapping niche.

Other similar events

If you can find similar campaigns related to your subject (e.g. interviews or blog parades), invite people who have participated there. They are obviously interested in presenting themselves in this way and may accept.