Successful blogging is for the most part just about being smart and resourceful. Just as important is hard work, but relying on that alone has long proven to be illogical and impractical in itself.
Not long ago all it took for one to excel in the world of blogging was a consistent posting of blog posts stuffed with a few keywords. But eventually, the world of SEO would evolve, bringing with it other key players.
That went on to mean that keywords were no longer the most dominant SEO tool. Backing this up were a number of SEO experts who stepped forward and boldly stated that keywords were fast fading out of significance and would eventually become obsolete.
While we’re still waiting for that to happen, let’s shift our focus to the next new kid on the block, backlinks.
It’s no longer a secret that backlinks play a significant role in determining one’s rank in the Search Engine Result Pages, which kind of explains why guest blogging unexpectedly became the craze.
That a side, at a time when everyone is fast turning to guest blogging for their fair slice of the SEO cake, why NOT position yourself at the receiving end of guest blogging and reap the obvious benefits, which includes free content?
Accepting guest blogs can also be interpreted to mean drawing new attention or introducing variety to the type of content you post. That’s besides setting ground for new and meaningful connections.
Benefits abound, and as you get to learn about them, here are 8 solid tips on how to attract A-list writers to guest blog on your site.
Create Unique and High-Quality Content
Quality content does not merely mean creating a 1000+ words article as that is what Google prefers. Instead, it is about creating content that helps achieve marketing goals such as increasing brand awareness, improved Search Engine Optimization (SEO)ranking, increased click-through rates, lead generation, or improved social shares. Content that achieves marketing objectives is quality content.
Unique content adds value to your audience and guides them to a more incredible experience leaving a lasting impression that could help boost sales and customers loyalty. It also helps distinguish your site from other sites by providing additional information that other sites do not have.
How to write quality content
- Research the content and have a backlog of ideas.
- Research your topics
- Choose your unique voice or perspective
- Include your own experiences or data
- Create the content on a subtopic within your niche
- Use the different content form
- Review the final piece
- Measure your content performance
Build Up a Writing Portfolio
Constantly producing high-quality content regularly will help you build a writing portfolio. A good portfolio should only have relevant, up-to-date content that demonstrates your best writing ability within your niche. You can also include samples on different topics that you prefer.
A strong writing portfolio can lead to new opportunities on higher-ranking sites, resulting in obtaining new clients and business opportunities. Hence your guest posting strategy moves to the next level.
Send Personalized Emails
Website editors receive many spam guest post pitches every day and often do not reply to them. So, it would help if you made sure you send personalized emails. Be unique to the recipient and prove you care about building relationships with them.
A personalized pitch that is custom-written will stand out and increase the chances of getting a reply.
Here are some characteristics of a good guest post pitch:
- It would help if you had samples of your past writing. Including two examples more than that will be too much.
- Get headline ideas options. Showcase that you have already put in some work in writing, and propose a few topics ideas for articles you would wish to contribute.
- Include the name of the website you are inquiring about to customize your email.
- Keep it short but be sure to include all the relevant information. Nobody wants to read a five paragraphs email on a guest post inquiry.
Have A Swift Turnaround
Once you receive a go-ahead response from the website’s editor, the next step is to ensure you get the article done as soon as possible. Make sure it does not take too much time, as this will build trust with the editor.
Here are some pro-tips to write an article faster;
- Keep a list of ideas handy.
- Stay distraction-free.
- Do in-depth research.
- Always keep it simple.
- Edit after writing.
- Set a timer.
Consider setting up a process to track what you must write and have timelines for posting articles.
Build Relationships
Relationships with website editors should not stop when your article gets published. If you both are in an industry focusing on the same niche, it is essential to stay connected.
They could require you to contribute another article, or they may be in a position to connect you to other website editors in the space that fits. Hence, creating a promising avenue for running a successful guest posting strategy.
Put In the Work and Time
Like any other skill, guest posting requires optimum dedication, time, and patience to attain desired results. Your commitment to building backlinks through guest posting helps you build a portfolio that will expand your opportunities.
Giving time and effort to your guest posting strategy, creating higher-quality content, finding better websites to contribute to, and having your articles published will ultimately having you reaping benefits.
Let’s Explore Ways to Find Guest Posts Prospects
Get Yourself a List Of Sites That Openly Accept Guest Posts
The list will help you diversify your options for websites you want to contribute to within your area of expertise. Start with websites that openly accept guest blogs.
Be Organized
Set up an excel spreadsheet that will contain detailed information about your prospects’ websites. Your data should include; Website URL, guest posting guidelines, a comment section, other information on social media metrics such as Twitter followers, Facebook likes, etc., and comment section.
Use Google Search
With Google, everything has become easier to research. You can use this powerful tool to net a dozen of niche-relevant guest posting opportunities within your area of interest.
Here are some search strings that can be most effective:
- Keyword + “guest post”
- keyword+ “write for us”
- keyword + “This post was written by”
- Google Blog Search
Find Guest Posting Communities
There are a variety of online communities created purposely to help guest bloggers connect. They are avenues for finding and interacting with bloggers in your areas of focus or interests; they can be a great start place to start your guest blogging journey.
Use Blogger Directories
Blogger directors are yet another valuable resource for guest bloggers. The directories help find the most relevant blogs within your niche. A vital characteristic of these directories is that they mention the amount of traffic received by the list of blogs monthly, making the bloggers’ shortlisting tasks easier and faster.
Interact With Blog Commentators
A guest blogger’s work does not end once they have got their article published. Their next step should be interacting with blog readers in the comment section; this creates an excellent avenue for getting ideas and building authority which could help earn backlinks in the future.
Utilize Social Networks to Find Guest Post Opportunities
Guest bloggers should take advantage of social networks to find guest post opportunities. You can peruse through different social networking sites such as Facebook, Linked In, Twitter to get in touch with relevant bloggers or web admins willing to accept guest posts.
Contact Famous Bloggers Within Your Niche Directly
If you know famous bloggers with your area of expertise, you can consider perusing through their blog to see if they are accepting guest posts. If such an option is unavailable, you can try sending them an email to inquire if they have opportunities for guests’ blogs.
How To Choose the Right Blog for Guest Posting?
The good news is that as long as you put effort into searching for guest posting opportunities, there will always be many editors willing to accept guests posts on their blogs.
The next thing to consider is your choice of a blog. Ideally, your choice should be up to standards within your niche and have meaningful traffic and social media following. Else that opportunity to contribute will be pointless.
It’s therefore vital to choose the right blog for guest blogging. Here are some pointers
Domain Authority
Domain authority is a score that determines the ranking of a blog in Google search results. The best criterion is choosing blogs with a higher domain authority than yours; it would be pointless to write guest posts for blogs with a DA lower than yours.
Use this link to check the domain authority for any blog.
Social Media Following
It is crucial to choose a blog that has a decent number of followers on social sites. The majority of blogs depend on social media for traffic. If a blog has a meager social media following with minimum interactions, drop it from your list. Ensure that blogs have a good and loyal readers base at least on one social media account.
Same Niche
Writing a guest post for blogs that belong to a different area of interest or focus is pointless. Writing for blogs within the same niche as you can always guarantee a backlink.
Why Should You Consider Guest Posting?
Showcases Your Authority as An Expert
Guest posting is about creating unique, high-quality content that is fresh to the audience and demonstrates your authority on the subject matter. If you do guest blogging consistently within your area of expertise, you enhance and create your brand and, in return, gain your audience’s trust.
Boost Brand Awareness
A good brand image makes your audience easily trust you; it becomes even easier to convince them that your new business or website is worth considering.
Writing about something insightful and authoritative will get you traffic and, in return, attract a new audience and fans for your brand.
Increase Traffic to Your Site
If you write something that gets your readers entertained and informed, they will end up doing some research about you on your bio or profile. There is also a likelihood of them wanting to read more of your content and still recommend it to others while sharing it on their social site.
The results are you gain traffic to your site, improved brand awareness, and an improvement even on the search engine ranks.
Improve Your Domain Authority
Your goal in guest posting should be writing high-quality content that will offer genuine value to your readers. If your focus is writing meaningful content for your target readers, it can be advantageous to your site search ranking. Domain authority essentially looks at a website’s dominance in search, that is if high-quality links are pointing back to it. For this reason, it only makes sense if you focus on creating quality content.
Allows Room for New Business Opportunities
If your guest posts address your audience’s needs, offer new ideas, or improves perspectives on specific issues, you may start to see your inbox fill up with messages from the readers.
There might be publications that will need to collaborate with you on something. Or they might want to enquire about partnership opportunities. Some may ask questions or thank you for the post that could have impacted them in some way. Whatever the case, use that opportunity to network and engage your audience.
What To Do Once Your Guest Post Has Been Published?
- Send a thank-you email. It shows appreciation on your part as a guest blogger. Since you are in the same niche and profession, you need to keep the relationship if collaboration arises.
- Reply to comments. After your piece gets published, ensure you visit the comment section and reply to comments. This way, your readers will remain engaged.
- Finally, it is vital to promote the post. Pin it, share it on your social media; Facebook, Twitter, telegram channels, Instagram, and email list. The more eyes your post gets, the better for you.
Final Thoughts
Guest posting, as we have seen so far, is an excellent strategy to increase and drive blog traffic and prove authority in your area of expertise.
Frequent and consistent guest posting will get you building a brand that will help you take your blog or your business to the level. It also creates an opportunity for building networks, engagements, partnerships, and collaborations.
Creating high-quality content can also attract new audiences to your site and improve your social media following. You gain more audience who will always be looking forward to reading your blogs.
I hope this article inspired you to consider guest posting.
Happy guest posting 🙂
