A resource page is a curated collection of links to external resources such as articles or tools. Resource pages are quite popular because they’re relatively easy to create and provide value to visitors by cutting out the time needed to research and find the answer.
Resource pages are important for SEO for two reasons.
First, resource pages are helpful for the publisher by generating social shares and backlinks from those mentioned on the resource page. Second, external resource pages can be used for link building.
Second, resource page link building is one of the most popular SEO methods. For example, if you have a resource that can bring value to the reader, such as an eBook or guide, you can reach out to the publisher of the resource page to get a link back to your resource.
There are a few ways to find relevant resource pages, but the most common is Google search operators. These are effectively advanced search modifiers that allow you to pull a specific set of results from Google. Here are a few examples of search operators you can use:
coffee intitle:resources inurl:links.htmlcoffee intitle:links inurl: resources.htmlcoffee inurl:.com/resourcescoffee inurl:resources intitle:resourcesIf you’re an Ahrefs user, you can easily collect resource pages with the SEO Toolbar. It extracts the Google search results and downloads each SERP to a CSV file. You can also use Ahrefs to reverse-engineer your competitors’ resource page links using the backlink checker.
After you’ve downloaded what might seem like thousands of resource pages, you need to vet the pages.
Analyze these pages in a Batch Analysis report. Your main target should be pages on relatively high-DR websites. Ideally, those that get at least some organic search traffic.
When manually reviewing the pages, you need to pay attention to the overall page and website quality. The pages should also look like they’re regularly maintained or updated. Then identify the gap where your link will add the most value.
Once you have a list of vetted resource pages, you need to reach out and suggest your resource for their page. Typically, if your resource is relevant and adds value, all you need to do is let the right person know your content exists.
To do this, you should contact the person responsible for the page using their preferred method of communication and persuade them that your resource is worthy.
You can also check the resource page for broken outgoing links and report them to the webmaster or editor. The chances are high that your resource can be used as a replacement.
Check out our detailed guide on resource page link building.