There are many benefits to guest blogging. One of the most valuable is the ability to secure high-quality links back to your website. With most major search engines placing heavy emphasis on inbound links, guest blogging is a great way to secure these links, varying the anchor text and gaining the type of links that are most valuable to your website. This move helps increase organic search visibility. Whether through the link in the post or the author biography, securing links on other blogs within your niche helps to build brand authority. High-quality bloggers have developed their reputation by consistently posting useful information, so getting featured on their blogs often times can solidify your own status as an authority in a particular subject area. Lastly, the visibility from guest blogging can greatly increase the readership of your own blog. Often times when you are guest posting, there is an opportunity for the author to share the blog post with their own community. Providing this is done on reputable blogs, the very same community that you are trying to target. Getting in front of new sets of eyes and bringing in more traffic is always a positive for any blogger.
Benefits of Guest Blogging in SEO
Overall, guest blogging can be a great method for establishing yourself in your industry. Stick with it, and over time, it will lead to many great opportunities. No one actually said you had to blog on your own site.
Step Six – The final step in the process is getting the post published and promoted. After the website owner has reviewed the post, make sure they schedule it for publication. Note: If the website owner does not remember to post it, this will take away the backlink opportunity, so make sure this is done. Once the article is posted, it is in your best interest to promote it to your own audience. This will help to increase the traffic of the post and will help to reinforce your relationship with the website owner.
Step Five – Now that the post is written, it is time to send it over, and this is the most important post of the entire process. The goal here is to do more than just a good job. You want to impress the website owner with that post, so much so that he or she will invite you back for another post. More often than not, if you do a solid job with the first post, it will lead to more work.
Step Four – After you have secured a deal to produce a guest post, it is now time to start writing. When writing the post, make sure you are keeping it under the same quality standards as you would your own site. Think about the audience that will be reading it, and try to match the tone of your writing to the website. This will result in the best reception for your post.
Step Three – Now that you have a list of potential sites you can work with, it is time to reach out to them and propose a guest blogging opportunity. Your first contact with any website owner should be very direct and to the point. Do not beat around the bush and ask if they are accepting guest posts. Many of them will not be, and you will only be wasting your time. Instead, link them to a recent post you have done, and ask them to critique your writing. This will show them that you are open to improvement, and it will help to sell your skills.
As you did in your first paragraph, repeat the keyword in the last sentence to make a strong close.
When it comes to guest blogging, the number one benefit you can receive from them is creating relationships. Many of these relationships will lead to an opportunity for things like partnerships and business deals. If you can impress influential people within your industry, there is a strong possibility that they will want to sort out a mutually beneficial agreement between you. This could mean a JV partnership, a marketing deal, or a sale of your products on their website. Those are all things that can escalate your company to the next level. Among other things, guest blogging will force you to sell yourself and your company. A crucial part of selling anything involves getting people to like you, and that is what you are trying to do.
Increase Website Authority
Before we begin, it’s important to re-emphasize a point I made in a previous guest post called “The step-by-step guide to guest blogging”, when it comes to any form of link building, be it through guest blogging, article marketing etc., the best forms of links are the ones you don’t actually have to build. In other words, anything that appears naturally without your direct intention to build a link. Given that we understand this point, this article will go into detail on how to use guest blogging as a means to increase your brand or individual authority within your respective industry.
The internet is not lacking in misinformation about what to expect in terms of guest blogging. We all know the benefits of guest blogging, and how the top bloggers have used the tactic to take their brand to new heights. Unfortunately, despite the fact both parties (being the guest writer and blog owner) have much to gain from a guest post, there is a significant lack of resources on how to best go about increasing one’s authority through the use of guest blogging.
Build Quality Backlinks
All links are not created equally. To benefit your SEO, it’s really important to be able to spot the links that are useful to you and those that are not. This is possible and is a simple task to achieve. Links from websites that are relevant to your industry or sector are more valuable than links from random websites that have no relation to what you are writing about. Backlinks are a huge part of the Google algorithm; so much so that they are one of the most heavily weighted off-page SEO factors. In order to increase your website authority and improve your keyword rankings, you will want to gain links from these relevant sites. Guest blogging is a great way to secure these quality backlinks. With manual link building often being frowned upon, guest blogging provides you with the opportunity to gain links in a legitimate way. An example of this would be if a guest post is written for free, in exchange for the post they may ask for a link or two to their website included in the content. This is the most natural way to link build and the “safest” in terms of not receiving a penalty from Google. If the content is high quality and the links add value to the reader, guest posting and blogger outreach can be one of the most rewarding backlink tactics available to you.
Expand Online Presence
Overall, guest blogging is a win-win situation for both the client and the writer. When done properly, guest blogging can be the best way to increase readership for the client, while helping the writer gain a new source of steady work. With luck, opportunities from guest blogging can turn into non-guest blogging work for the same client in the future if the relationship aligns for both parties.
Typically, “Mega-Site Roundup of 100 Guest Blogging Tips” is used as a resource for guest bloggers who have only posted on their own blog. This resource provides tips and links to more resources that can be found on the topic of increasing online presence. “Step By Step Guide to Guest Blogging” is a guide to guest blogging on YouMoz. Although it is not only focused on increasing online presence as a benefit of guest blogging, the guide is worth a read for anyone who is guest blogging or looking to guest blog. On a side note about improving online presence, SEOmoz is too often used as an online marketing tactic for search engine professionals and internet business consultants.
By contributing to other blogs, guest bloggers can increase their online presence and get their name in front of an already active community or a wider audience. This is often a necessity for up-and-coming bloggers who want to take their own blogging to the next level. The first step to getting involved in guest blogging is to find blogs in your niche worth contributing to. This is a tedious and important step. A common mistake for many guest bloggers is contributing to unrelated blogs. If the two blogs are not related, it is very difficult to share an audience from one to the other. This is important because the ultimate goal of most guest blogging is to increase the size of the readership of a blog or website.
Effective Strategies for Guest Blogging
Crafting high quality content is often a struggle for businesses. It is important for blog owners to understand that what they post on another blog is a direct representation of their business. Poorly written content, or content that does not provide valuable information will do more harm than good. There is a fine line between opinion-oriented “soft” content and more direct “hard” content. Depending on the type of product or service, a business will have to decide the type of content that will best represent their business. “Soft” content can sometimes be entertaining and provoke thought, but more direct information.
When identifying a blog for posting promote, its owners should first research blogs that are relevant to their own business. This is very important because posting on an irrelevant blog will not attract the right audience and will not result in increased traffic on their own site. It is a waste of time and should be avoided completely. Instead, search for blogs that are related to the business by industry, product/service type, or even by consumer type. This will help identify an audience that is already interested in what the business has to offer. This is the first step in creating an effective strategy to use guest blogging to build authority and backlinks on their site.
Research and Identify Relevant Blogs
Another important factor to consider is the size of the community and the frequency of new posts. A community of any size can always be beneficial, however the larger the community the more traffic your post will likely receive. Some small communities may still have dedicated readers who comment on every post, and also subscribe to the comments of any follow-up comments. A good community can be identified by a healthy number of relevant comments on recent blog posts. High post frequency is also a good sign, as it indicates that the blog owner is an active blogger who has dedicated readers. Posting on active blogs can increase your exposure and the level of feedback you receive.
When selecting potential blogs to submit your content to, it is important to evaluate the blog and the owner. First, identify if the blog is a do-follow blog. There are many free tools such as SEOmoz toolbar that will allow you to determine if the blog is a do-follow, providing valuable link juice to your website. By submitting to a do-follow blog, you will increase your page rank and SERP rankings with popular keywords. If the blog is a no-follow blog, there may still be some benefit in terms of building a brand with a targeted community, so in this case the decision is up to you. Keep in mind that there is a do-follow attribute in WordPress, and many blog owners may be willing to change your links to do-follow links upon request. This attribute is sometimes referred to by blog owners as a “full link”.
Craft High-Quality Content
High-quality content can have varying definitions, this will depend on the goals and desires of different guest blogging campaigns. High-quality could indicate that the content is keyword rich and persuasive, which is a tactic to try to improve search engine rankings for a specific website. High-quality could mean the content is interesting, humorous, thought-provoking; essentially it captures the reader and compels them to share it with others. An understanding of what the client is seeking should be reflected in the content. Oftentimes it will be apparent whether the blog post was successful in meeting this goal.
A guest post, which an SEO service takes the time to research, write and edit wonderfully, can greatly increase his/her standing inside the search engine optimization community. Moreover, high-quality content also provokes the readers to visit the writer’s related website. If the content happens to be engaging or useful, the reader might even subscribe or return on a regular basis. These are all ideal outcomes.
High-quality content is paramount to the success of any guest blogging strategy, and not only rewards the host with increased traffic and search engine authority, but it also enhances the blogger’s credibility and recognition. In order to forge the best results, it’s imperative to tailor content specifically for the target audience.
Establish Relationships with Blog Owners
Building a relationship with the blog owner can benefit you a lot. Blog owners have more control over the publishing of content and are more likely to accept you as a repeat contributor if you have already established a relationship with them. Start by engaging in their communities: comment on the blog, engage in social media, and build a rapport. Once you have proven your value and expertise, you can pitch a guest post idea. By this point, they already know who you are and are more likely to accept your post. This strategy has been crucial for me to get my posts accepted at the higher authority blogs in my niche. In addition, I have developed some strong relationships and even gotten other writing, consulting, or link opportunities. Another approach is to meet blog owners in person. This is how I got my first guest post back in 2008. I had been engaging in the SEOmoz community, and they knew who I was. During a conversation with Gillian (the content queen at the time) about a post I had written in the SEOmoz PRO forums, she asked me to turn it into a guest post. This was the beginning of my relationship with SEOmoz, which has led to many great guest blogging and consulting opportunities.
Optimize Author Bio and Link Placement
Subscribers are very important as they are the repeat visitors for your blog. Most guest bloggers realize that the collection of loyal readers is more important. While many would want to build links and improve search engine traffic, the link between a content anchor and subscribing is incomparable. A repeat visitor is a lot more valuable. With a new audience and deep links on the guest blog, subscribing is the next step that is easily achievable. The writing of an intelligent, elaborative article can often persuade the audience to subscribe to article comments.
Most guest bloggers are using guest blogging to acquire a brand new audience. The readers you can get from a well-written article can be more than usual. The other good news is if the blog has a decent-sized audience, your blog post may be seen by thousands. This will provide immediate exposure, then building your blog to acquire the same results. With immediate exposure, guest bloggers can turn that into subscribers or RSS readers.
Efforts in guest blogging, identifying relevant blogs, would fall flat if the blogger fails to take advantage of key benefits of guest blogging. Drawing new traffic and subscribers is the very reason most bloggers invest time in guest blogging. Furthermore, backlinking is a vital component for any SEO campaign. Optimal use of the content anchor text is necessary, as well as deploying the bio and linking to the home page and business links.
Best Practices for Guest Blogging Success
A good method of getting around this is to suggest a list of acceptable ideas to the author in order to get a feel for what kind of topics will be suitable for his/her blog. It also gives the author better peace of mind knowing exactly what it is you’re trying to post. This method can prevent wasted time and effort writing a blog that ultimately the author will not want to post. With the list of ideas, it is also possible to showcase your blog post before it is actually written, again to give the author a good feel for what he/she will be posting.
When engaging in guest blogging, you should act first and foremost in accordance with the guidelines of the blog you are posting on. This will prevent any tarnishing of your or your brand’s image and prevent any strained relationships between you and the author of the blog, come the posting of said blog and in the future. It is important to note, however, that some bloggers may not have any set guidelines.
Follow Guest Blogging Guidelines
Typically, the most challenging and time-consuming aspect of guest blogging is simply finding the opportunity with relevant sites. The first step to do this is to build a solid list of potential blogs. This can be done through searching Google for relevant blogs, using tools like Drop My Link to find blogs through commenting on similar posts, and even looking at where competitors have guest blogged in the past. A compiled list should be continuously updated, and at no point should one shy away from submitting to a quality blog simply because they feel their site is not ‘big enough’.
Following are general guidelines to ensure success when looking to use guest posts as a tool for inbound marketing. Before starting, it is important to note that guest blogging for the explicit purpose of creating backlinks is against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. This has been confirmed by Google’s own Matt Cutts. That being said, the indirect benefits of high-quality guest blogging can still be tremendous.
Engage with Readers and Respond to Comments
Some guest bloggers mistakenly believe that their work is done once their post is published. Sporadic engagement is not enough. Plan to spend at least the amount of time you did to write the post to engage with the readers. Answer their comments and questions thoroughly. Get to know who is reading and discussing your posts, learn from them, and build relationships. These readers will be the ones to turn into regular readers and/or customers. They can also be your strongest brand advocates. A quick thank you comment can mean quite a lot to a frequent blog reader. You might even want to subscribe to the comment threads of your posts so you can follow the conversation if/when you return and continue the discussion. If you have a lot of guest blogging opportunities, you can try utilizing the CommentLuv plugin, which makes linking to your latest blog post easy when you’re commenting on other blogs. This step ties directly with your goals for your guest post. If you set out to generate leads, comments can be a strong indicator that you are on the right track. If you were just trying to connect with people in your industry, then the responses can tell you if you are in fact doing that. Step one was about building up resources, and this step is about using them. Whether that is new relationships or new knowledge, it’s a step in the right direction.
Promote Guest Posts on Social Media
When it comes to guest posts, there are no limits to how much you can promote them. After a guest post goes live, I recommend sharing it on Twitter, as well as submitting it to Digg and Yahoo Buzz. These sites often do wonders for increasing the social exposure of your content. With Yahoo Buzz you’ll need to be careful that you’re not overly promotional or your account could be suspended, but this varies from case to case. Obviously if you’re already active in the social media space, you have more opportunities to promote your content. If you have a large friend base on Facebook, or are part of relevant groups on LinkedIn you may be able to share your link in an appropriate manner bringing attention to your guest post. Remember not to be spammy and always respect the rules and etiquette of the given social location.
Track and Analyze Results
An often overlooked benefit of guest blogging is the improvement in writing quality which can result in increased search engine traffic. Guest posts usually have higher editorial standards than articles posted on article marketing sites. Providing written content of high quality will give visitors a positive impression of your site and will encourage repeat visits. In addition to visitors, high quality articles are more likely to be linked to from other webmasters in your niche. This organic linking is an excellent way to improve the search engine rankings of the pages on your site. As such, it is important to ensure that the anchor text for the links you provide in your guest posts contains the keywords you are targeting for the page, as this will help to increase the search engine rankings for those keywords. A good way to track the success of your keyword targeting is to use rank tracking software to monitor your search engine rankings and determine if they have improved over time.
In order to determine whether guest blogging has a positive impact on your SEO efforts, you will need to track your links and monitor your search engine rankings. Ideally, you will do this for the keywords you are targeting as well as for your domain as a whole. The first and most obvious benefit of guest blogging is the acquisition of high quality links back to your site. Assuming the blog you are guest posting on is reputable, the backlinks will provide your site with an increase in both Page and Domain Authority. You can use a tool such as Open Site Explorer to determine if your domain’s authority has increased. Additionally, depending on the blog, it is also possible that your links will provide your site with an increase in referral traffic. You can use server logs or an analytics package to track whether referral traffic is flowing and whether it is coming from sites you have guest posted on.