Do you have a website or a blog that you want a larger audience for? Do you want to promote it to more people? Do you want to increase your website traffic and increase the number of visitors? Do you want to earn some quality backlinks as part of your SEO efforts? Then guest posts and guest blogging are fields that you should definitely try. In this post, we will find out more about them. Let’s get started.
Guest Blogging: All You Need To Know
What is Guest Blogging?
Guest blogging or guest posting is the publication of content that you produce on a website as a guest. You post content that you have created and has not been published elsewhere before, to another blog where you will be a guest contributor. If the content you submit is appropriate and gets published, you will be able to reap a lot of benefits from it.
What are the benefits of Guest Blogging?
Backlinks
You can add as many links to your blog as allowed in the article you sent and in the author’s tag at the beginning or end of the article. Thus, you will gain natural and quality backlinks.
New Readers
By being a guest on popular blogs that your target audience follows, you can introduce yourself to that blog’s audience and gain new readers and followers.
Traffic
As I mentioned above, you can increase your visitor traffic, that is, your hits, thanks to the links you will give to your blog in your article.
Network
Thanks to the communication you will establish with the bloggers you want to be a guest, you will expand your network, that is, your online social circle, and meet new bloggers.
How to take advantage of guest posting?
If your interest has been piqued by what you’ve read so far, we’ve got some more tips for you to maximize guest blogging.
Learn to look for the right places for guest blogging
Before you start writing guest posts, you need to find a platform that will publish them. This is one of the most important parts of the guest blogging strategy.
What do you need to look for?
- Websites and blogs focused on your specialty or industry
- Websites and blogs with an audience that might be interested in your topics
- Websites and blogs where the posts contain many comments and are shared frequently
- Websites and blogs that are active on social media and are likely to promote your content
Now that we’ve presented you with some criteria of what to look for, let’s focus on where to look. The first and most obvious option will be Google. If you don’t want to waste time on searches that aren’t relevant to your industry, create a specific industry keyword and add it to your queries. Here are some search suggestions to consider:
- Industry keyword + “guest post”
- Industry keyword + “submit guest post”
- Industry keyword + “guest post guidelines”
If you already know well-known guest bloggers in your industry, also search for their guest posts on Google. Here is a search suggestion for it:
- Blogger name + “guest post by”
Such searches will reveal any websites these bloggers have written for, so they might try to get in the game there as well. In addition, you can find the right sites by checking the social media profiles of relevant bloggers you know. In most cases, they share their latest guest posts there, making research quick and easy.
Be competitive
Once you’ve found the list of websites that interest you, move on to the next step in the process – the important sales pitch. While some sites accept all guest posts offered to them, others are quite picky and competitive. Usually, the more established the site, the more you need to work on your self-promotion to ensure that your idea of a contribution gets noticed and accepted.
How to prepare your application:
- Determine the experience level of the website’s audience. Are they beginners who need simple instructions in easy-to-understand language? Or are you dealing with experts interested in learning detailed tips and correct terminology (even field specific “jargon” for that matter)?
- Determine the target audience demographics of the target website. How is this target group made up? From people who work in the industry or from consumers who are interested in the products or services of the industry?
- Research the nature of the content offered on the target website. Are they general or do they go into specific detail? Are the posts long or short? Is the focus on guides and how-tos? Or is it more about industry related news and personal stories?
Check out other guest bloggers’ posts for additional inspiration. Also, pay attention to the comments – their absence could indicate that the site’s target audience is only interested in posts made by the operator himself. Also, take some time to get acquainted with the blog owner. You can do this by commenting on his/her posts for a few weeks, sharing on social media (and also mentioning the author), and similar things before you reach out.
Write your post
When it comes to the writing process itself, first and foremost, it’s important to read the policies of the site where your post is going to be published. These rules and suggestions are certainly not the same for every site. In some cases, you may need to add images to the post, which is usually a good idea too, as articles with images get more views. However, other operators prohibit you from including images and backlinks in the posts (yes, this also applies to effective and high-quality backlinks!).
After reading the guidelines, look again at the site’s guest posts. While you should always try to create original, quality content, it’s okay to determine your post’s length, tone, and topic by looking at the other guest posts created for a particular site. Your post needs to fit well while presenting new and informative content. It’s not always easy to create a lengthy post, especially when it’s limited in length. However, you should always make every effort to meet this requirement. In most cases, people share content that they find useful and that they believe could help or entertain others.
Be sure to focus on a specific area of expertise in your industry, keep in mind the audience’s experience level, and back up your claims by linking them to reliable sources of information. At the bottom of your post, don’t forget to invite your readers to comment and share your post. The more of it your contribution can generate, the better it is for you. Before you do that, though, you need to make sure that the site you are writing for actually has commenting enabled.
Write a bio
Not all blog operators will allow you to embed any promotional links into the post itself. However, in almost every post, you can add a short guest bio to your post and a self-promotion link. Many bloggers simply link to their posts. This is a good idea if your primary goal is getting good backlinks. However, if the goal is different, you should choose different links. If you want to grow your social media further, link to a social network of your choice and encourage readers to follow you. If you want to promote a new product or service, link the landing page or page to the item you’re promoting.
Once the post is written, the job is done—or so it seems. Still, take some time to reply to the comments (if there are any) and thank the blog owner for publishing your content. This will help you build good relationships with both the operator and the audience, making it easier for you to guest post for this page in the future. Of course, not all entrepreneurs have the time to do guest blogging. While the process is beneficial for any brand, it can be quite time-consuming.
How can you take advantage of guest blogging?
- Guest blogging publicizes both the guest author and the collaboration.
- Authority is the most important advantage.
- This way you can get the visibility you hope for your blog or website.
- Among the various benefits that guest blogging offers, you can see how everyone benefits.
- Everyone wins with guest blogging. This includes the website on which the guest publishes their content.
What are the advantages for the guest author?
If you receive a request to write on a blog other than yours and about the topic of your interest, consider yourself lucky. This could be a good start to improve your blog professionally as you will get many benefits such as:
You can increase your visibility
If you’re not a well-known author, you don’t have to worry anymore. This is because a guest post on a reputable blog can be a good place to start. On the other hand, writing a blog with a lot of hits is of interest. As a result, you can reach different users and position yourself as a potential author.
You can generate links for your blog
This is one of the best link building tactics you can use to generate successful links.
Professional relationships will improve
To build good relationships with other professionals, there is nothing better than collaborating with other websites. Also, it can help you increase your knowledge on social media and gain recognition for your attributes.
What are the benefits for the host blog?
This practice is so effective that synergy can be created in two directions. In other words, the guest author and the blog can reap the following benefits:
Increase in traffic
If you run a blog and want to find a guest blogger, you need to make sure that whoever you choose is an expert in the topic of your blog. Consequently, you present a more professional image. In addition, this way you offer versatile content that can reach the audience. On the other hand, quality content can grab people’s attention by making them interested in that blog. As a result, they will choose you over the competition.
Earn more links
Just as the author can earn links for their collaboration, the blog selected for publication also benefits from the increased number of links. If the guest has a lot of authority, the benefits are likely to be more relevant.
The highest number of subscribers
To get better visibility, you need relevant content that will allow for better blog positioning. When your content is eye-catching, it’s easier to get subscribers. These can be guest bloggers or other contacts.
SEO efficiency
SEO should not be missing from any blog or website. It is therefore important that you provide quality content and make the appropriate updates from time to time. Additionally, you need to add efficient links to achieve organic positioning.
Better inbound marketing performance
People who have used guest blogging before have noticed that having a guest author increased traffic. In addition, they were able to gain more subscribers and improve search engine optimization. Accordingly, websites achieve greater visibility because their goals can be improved and fulfilled.
What can you do with guest blogging?
Guest blogging has become an excellent technique as it allows you to blog for third parties to gain more visibility. The truth is that this technique is very useful and can do a lot with it.
It’s important to make it clear that guest blogging can earn you a lot from your website or blog, as you can power your website in many ways:
Branding
When you use guest blogging, you spread the word about your brand. Consequently, if you are an expert on a particular topic, the audience has a very relevant option from you. While this process would be an indirect benefit, it would be very beneficial to your brand.
Traffic
If it is published on a site outside of you, it will generate traffic to your site. For example, posting on a blog with a large number of subscribers and with well-known authors on social media will increase your exposure to become visible on the web.
Networking
With this technique, you can create an interrelationship with many people or elements that define life in the digital environment. Therefore, connecting with companies, influencers and bloggers can become a great opportunity for you. Thanks to this, you can create synergies by establishing a relationship with a recognized company. However, you must ensure that it relates to yours.
One way or another, a website will never be known if it doesn’t use SEO strategies. Posting on third-party websites gives you many benefits by placing links that you consider important. And if that wasn’t enough, you as the author can put a direct link. However, Google runs a few tactics to find out when this practice is being abused.
Guest blogging pitfalls to avoid
There are still many doubts as to whether blogging as a guest is good or bad for SEO. This depends on several factors such as the type of post you are creating. But it also depends on how natural the link you are going to use is. Besides, you also need to consider the type of topic related to the blogs you want to link to.
As long as you follow all the techniques to create a good guest post and link to blogs that can really add value to your content, you don’t have to worry.
However, there are problems with search engine optimization if you use your strategies uncontrolled. This is because Google is quick to notice and assume you are abusing guest blogging. As a result, Google may even decide to penalize you.
So what not to do for guest blogging? Once you submit a guest blog post, you face a huge responsibility. This is because your cover letter will be your business and whether you get good results or not is up to you.
Therefore, if you wish to write as a guest on a blog, you must follow the blog owner’s instructions. Otherwise, you will not perform this operation correctly.
When you post a message to a blog, it’s because you’re interested. Therefore, after your cooperation is approved, suddenly disappearing is not convenient. So remember that both you and your business can look bad to the blog owner you contacted before.
Finally, it would also not be right for you to suggest the same topics written for other blogs, as this is very obvious. Also, the blog owner will most likely ask you to read your previous work to determine its quality.
Don’t fall into irresponsibility
Blog owners often provide invited writers with guidelines on where to locate dates for scheduling articles. If you know both the delivery and release dates, don’t wait days before the due date to write as the content will likely not fit. So that you can write with real commitment, you will be informed in advance about the planned dates in the blogs. You should therefore only leave the letter at the last minute.
If you blog as a guest, you need to represent your brand well.
If you want to use guest blogging, you should know that this approach is not just about leaving a link on a blog as a guest. This is about a moment when you should make the most of it so that the audience you are trying to reach is interested in the content that is being published.
The person in charge of the blog you choose to write on also needs to have a good image of you and your brand. That’s why you need to show that you’re a pro at post writing and that you can add value to the brand.
What is guest blogging? Your brand will get a bad rap if you do the following:
- disappear after contacting the blog owner.
- deliver content that is considered plagiarism.
- not following the agreed guidelines for working as a guest.
- take the time to answer.
If you convey a responsible brand image, the blog owner will likely recommend you to other acquaintances later on.
What advice do marketers give to get good blogging from guests?
To write quality guest blogging, you need to follow the advice of the experts. This way you avoid irreparable errors. There are some basic steps that you definitely cannot ignore to get good results:
Read the blog you want to write for
This might be the most important step in guest blogging. First, you need to know what type of content is on a blog before you consider contributing as a guest author. If you’re emailing a blog to collaborate and you don’t know what the topic is, you won’t be able to provide quality content.
Make interesting suggestions
Write an attention-grabbing post if you know what the blog you want to write for is about. If you contact the blog owner and ask them what topic to write about, you don’t sound like a pro in this area. The blog owner must feel that you want to write for their site.
Stand out by writing a quality post
When you use guest blogging, you’re often writing on a blog that has a lot of authority on the web. As a result, you should create an eye-catching object. You’re wasting your time if you don’t because the blog owner won’t show any interest.
The idea is that you create a post that will catch the attention of both the blog owner and the public. It is very gratifying to know that when reading an article, a person remembers you positively and even recommends reading your post to other users.
No grammatical or spelling mistakes
To create good content, you need to take care of your grammar and spelling. For many writers, the message conveyed by the blog is more important than a misspelled word. However, if you have spelling and grammatical errors, users may misunderstand the content or not take it seriously at all.
For this reason, you should double-check your post as often as necessary to check the spelling before submitting it.
If you submit a misspelled article, the blog owner may think you wrote without interest. As a result, a bad image could arise as an author.
How to blog efficiently as a guest?
There are a few guidelines for knowing how to create a guest blog effectively:
Choose a blog that fits your field of interest
This might be the most important point about guest blogging. If you make a bad choice, your brand will not be projected properly. Therefore, you must not choose a poor quality website at first. If you make a wrong choice, the disadvantages of this website can be reflected in your brand. When choosing a blog for guest blogging, consider the following factors:
- Relevance – It must be directed to your website in the first place since your goal is to reach an audience that is interested in your topic. In order to connect with the public interested in your industry, you need to link to a website that caters to or is associated with the same niche as you.
- Authority – You may get a blog unrelated to your industry but with good authority. You can take advantage of this opportunity by writing a post adapted to the message and topic.
- Reputation – Before you upload a blog post, you should review it thoroughly. At the same time, you make sure that there are no negative features that could cause problems on your website.
- Enough content – If you want to increase your website’s visibility, you must avoid posting on blogs with few posts.
Also, guest blogs should not be redirected to sites that are over-advertised, spammed with comments, and bad content.
Get in touch with the blogger
At this point, you also need to be very careful in order for the process to run optimally. Generally, contact with a blogger is made through email, and the message must show interest. You also need to tell the blogger that you have sufficient knowledge of the site, which is why you want to post on it.
So you need to log in, read the posts and be aware of the moves the blog owner is making on social media. For example, we are talking about publications or other content that they share. This is the easiest way to send an accurate and customized message.
If you send the same message to all bloggers, you will surely make a mistake, since every website has its own characteristics.
Take care of the content of the post
To be a good blogger you need to prove that you can create quality content as this will become your cover letter.
When creating a post:
- Use the correct extension.
The minimum is 300 words.
However, some posts require more words to be useful to the user.
- Make sense of the message
The message should not be aimed exclusively at the link, since the goal must be that the link fits naturally.
- The benefits of SEO
You should apply some SEO strategies in your post. It’s also important not to overuse keywords and include headings. Last but not least, you should add a suggested meta title description as well as image optimization.
- Don’t forget to make a good adjustment.
To make collaboration worthwhile, maintain your style and editorial line so you can reap the expected benefits.
Guest posts and guest blogging: Final thoughts
You have to be very strict with yourself to create a guest blog as it’s not just about guest blogging. What is guest blogging? It serves to place your brand as a cover letter and it depends on your post whether the image you leave with the blog owner and the public is positive or negative.
In fact, blog owners are very demanding and it is not convenient for them to have an inexperienced writer as a contributor. Therefore, if you want to use this technique to create traffic on your website, you must strive to create quality pieces of text.
If you use guest blogging, you’ll find the details to consider and ignore when creating a blog post as a guest contributor. In the meantime, follow the tips that we have mentioned in this article. We wish you the very best in the world of guest blogging. Happy writing!