Guest posting, also called guest blogging, is an off-site SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) technique that can improve your website’s visibility on SERPs (Search Results Pages) while strengthening its authority. In essence, guest posting is writing for another website that can link to your website, building more links and directing traffic.
Whether you are new to guest posting or seasoned, this piece will guide you through the guest posting process and top strategies for building links to boost SEO and authority, mainly:
- Understanding Guest Posting and Its Importance to SEO
- Top Guest Posting Strategies
- How to Create a Value-adding Content
- How to Create a Guest Post Pitch
Understanding Guest Posting and Its Importance to SEO
Guest posting is a multifaceted technique that can boost SEO through link building. It can also enhance brand authority, expand the audience, and foster industry relationships. Though many digital marketers have debated the ROI of guest posting, many guest posters have seen significant results.
Take, for example, Ryan Robinson from ryrob.com. His views spiked when Buffer posted his guest post.
Image source: Ryan Robinson
Aside from the increase in views, he also saw increased conversions. In this case, he observed a 50.96% conversion rate to email subscribers from guest posting on Inc.com. Look at his compiled results from guest posting:
Image source: Ryan Robinson
Are you now convinced that guest posting can deliver results? Let’s explore the following discussions to understand it more.
What is Guest Posting?
Image Source: Ahrefs
Guest posting, or guest blogging, as many digital marketers call it, is writing and publishing an article on someone else’s blog or website. Its primary purpose is to provide valuable content to the host site’s audience while also gaining exposure, building backlinks, and strengthening the credibility of the guest author.
Guest posts typically include a brief bio or author byline where the writer can link to their website, thus creating a backlink.
This backlink is often the most sought-after benefit, as it helps to improve the guest author’s SEO performance. Moreover, guest posting offers additional advantages, such as reaching new audiences, expanding brand visibility, and establishing authority in the industry.
Why Guest Posting Matters for SEO?
Guest posting is a powerful tool for SEO because of the following reasons:
Building High-Quality Backlinks
Imagine writing on an authoritative and popular website with millions of readers daily. That also means that there is a high chance that millions of eyeballs can also see your content and your byline linking to your website.
There is also a high possibility that some of these millions of viewers will click on a link that redirects them to your website, eventually adding traffic you can funnel to leads or sales. That’s the organic power of guest posting!
One of the main advantages of guest posting is the opportunity to generate high-quality backlinks. When you post on authoritative, niche-relevant sites, these backlinks signal to search engines that your site is trustworthy and valuable. Search engines like Google consider backlinks from reputable websites to be a positive ranking factor, improving your site’s visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Improving Domain Authority
Image source: iTechIndia
Regularly publishing guest posts on well-regarded websites can enhance your site’s domain authority (DA), a key indicator of its potential to rank well in search engine results. Backlinks from high-DA sites hold more significant value, increasing overall site authority and improving search rankings.
Driving Organic Traffic
Host websites usually promote content on their social media accounts, including guest posts. When properly promoted and shared on the host blog’s socials, your guest post can drive significant referral traffic to your website. Therefore, you must choose niche and authoritative host websites that also have an excellent social media following so that your content can reach your target market.
Expanding Keyword Reach
Guest posting lets you focus on specific keywords or topics that may be challenging to rank for on your site. By strategically incorporating long-tail keywords and related phrases into your guest post content, you can improve your chances of ranking higher for those terms by leveraging the authority of the host site.
Benefits of Guest Posting Beyond SEO
According to Intuit, the SEO-related benefits of guest posting include:
- Building high-quality links
- Boosting search engine rankings
- Increasing website traffic
- Generating qualified leads
Beyond SEO, it has more advantages like the following:
Building Brand Authority and Credibility
When you write on another website, you not only direct viewers to your website. You also have the opportunity to showcase your expertise and knowledge, therefore positioning you as a thought leader in your industry. By creating value-adding and informative content for authoritative blogs, you are strengthening your brand’s credibility. This effort can lead to increased recognition and influence within your niche.
Expanding Your Audience and Network
Guest posts expose your brand to the host site’s audience, often different from yours, helping you reach new potential customers, followers, and subscribers. Additionally, the relationships you build with bloggers and influencers through guest posting can lead to further collaboration opportunities, such as partnerships, social media mentions, or future guest posts.
Creating Content for Multiple Platforms
Guest posting lets you share your expertise on platforms other than your website. By diversifying the platforms where your content appears, you increase your brand’s visibility and authority across various corners of the internet, thus reaching a more diverse audience.
Enhancing Social Proof
Writing on a popular and respected website is a privilege and a bragging right. It is also a form of social proof. Readers who see your content on reputable blogs are more likely to perceive your brand as trustworthy and authoritative. This effort can lead to higher trust and credibility, which are crucial for influencing purchasing decisions and customer loyalty.
Top 7 Guest Posting Strategies
Identify High-Quality Sites for Guest Posts
One of the most critical aspects of a successful guest posting strategy is selecting the right websites to contribute your content. Posting on low-quality or irrelevant sites can harm your SEO efforts, while high-quality, niche-relevant blogs can significantly boost your authority and search engine rankings.
Here is a table of criteria for selecting blogs or websites, including why the criterion matters and the tools you can use to assess the host website’s performance.
|
Criteria |
Description |
Why It Matters |
Tools To Use |
|
Domain Authority (DA) |
A score (1-100) that predicts how well a site ranks on SERPs |
Higher DA sites provide more valuable backlinks, boosting your site’s authority |
Moz, Ahrefs, SEMrush |
|
Relevance to Your Niche |
How closely the blog’s content aligns with your industry, products, or services |
Relevant backlinks are more valuable for SEO and attract a more targeted audience. |
Manual check, Ahrefs, SEMrush |
|
Audience Size |
The number of visitors the site receives regularly |
Larger audiences increase your post’s visibility and the potential referral traffic to your website |
SEMrush, Ahrefs |
|
Engagement |
The level of interaction that the audience has with the content |
Engaged audiences increase the chance of your content being shared, driving more traffic and engagement |
Social shares, blog comments, Ahrefs |
|
Publishing Frequency |
How often the blog posts new content |
Frequent updates mean more search engine crawling and better post visibility, improving SEO and reader attention |
Review the site manually, Ahrefs |
|
Content Quality |
The quality of the blog’s existing content (depth. readability, accuracy) |
Posting on a site with high-quality content improves the credibility and reception of your guest post |
Manual check of the site |
|
Backlink Profile |
The strength and authority of the blog’s own backlinks |
Strong backlink profiles indicate that the site is trusted by other reputable sources, increasing SEO benefits |
Ahrefs, SEMrush (Backlink Analytics) |
|
Traffic Trends |
How the site’s organic traffic has grown or declined over time |
Consistently growing traffic is a sign of a healthy, authoritative website that can offer SEO benefits |
SEMrush (Domain Overviews), Ahrefs |
|
Spam Score |
A percentage score that indicates how likely a site is involved in black-hat SEO tactics |
Lower spam scores are crucial in avoiding penalties from Google for associating with poor-quality or spammy websites. |
Moz Spam Score, SEMrush |
Build a Relationship with the Host Website Before Pitching
Building relationships before you pitch is a powerful strategy that significantly increases the likelihood that the host website will post your guest post. By establishing rapport with blog owners or editors, you create a foundation of trust and familiarity, which makes them more inclined to approve your guest post request. Networking and engagement are key elements of this approach.
Commenting on Blog Posts
Leave thoughtful, insightful comments on recent blog posts. Engage with the content by offering additional insights, asking follow-up questions, or sharing your experiences related to the topic.
Sharing Their Content
Share their blog posts, articles, or other content on your social media platforms. When you share, tag them and add a thoughtful comment or insight. By sharing their content, you help promote their work, which is appreciated and builds goodwill.
Engaging on Social Media
Follow the blog owner or editor on social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram. Engage with their posts by liking, commenting, or retweeting when relevant. Participate in any discussions they initiate and respond to their questions or polls. Over time, this helps build familiarity and shows your genuine interest in their niche.
If you want to go the extra mile, you can also network with website owners by attending their events or webinars. Ensure that you introduce yourself as having a foot in the door. You can also join their online communities or forums. Be an active member of these communities. You can contribute to conversations, build credibility, and make yourself known within the community.
These actions get you noticed by the blog owner and help build a reputation as a thoughtful, engaged audience member. When you eventually send your guest post pitch, you won’t be a stranger to them, which increases the likelihood of a positive response.
Create a Personalised Outreach Plan
Creating a personalised outreach plan is crucial for securing high-quality guest posting opportunities. Personalisation increases the chances that the host website owners notice your outreach email. Moreover, this effort builds genuine relationships with blog owners, making them more likely to accept your guest post proposal. Here’s how you can create an effective outreach strategy:
- Step 1: Research the blog and the blog owner
- Step 2: Craft a compelling subject line
- Step 3: Personalise the opening
- Step 4: Propose a relevant guest post idea
- Step 5: Highlight your credentials
- Step 6: End with a Call to Action
- Step 7: Proofread and double-check
An outreach email for a marketing blog might look like this:
Subject Line: “Guest Post on SEO Trends for 2024 – Loved Your Post on Algorithm Updates!”
Hi [Name],
I just finished reading your post on the latest Google algorithm updates, and I appreciated how you broke down the fundamental changes. Your analysis on [specific detail] gave me a lot of ideas for my SEO strategy!
My name is [Your Name], and I’m an SEO strategist passionate about staying ahead of search trends. I’d love to write a guest post for [Blog Name] that builds on your SEO content. Here are a couple of topics I had in mind:
“SEO Trends for 2024: What Marketers Need to Know”
This post will focus on the upcoming SEO trends and how marketers can prepare for them, including AI-driven and voice search optimisation.
“How to Optimise Content for Featured Snippets”
I’d break down the strategies for increasing the chances of ranking in Google’s featured snippets with actionable tips and examples.
I’ve previously written for [relevant blogs], and you can see some of my work here:
- [Link 1]
- [Link 2]
I’d love to hear your thoughts and explore how I can contribute to your blog.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
[Your Website/Social Media]
Write High-quality, SEO-Optimised Content
So, the host website has already agreed to give you a guest posting opportunity. The next step is creating high-quality, SEO-optimised content. This effort will maximise your site’s SEO benefits and ensure the blog owner sees the value of your contribution. If your content performs well, it could lead to more future collaborations. But before you write, here are some reminders:
Tailoring the Content to the Host Website’s Audience
Understand the Audience
Research the blog’s audience first to resonate with the host website’s audience. Check the previous posts. Learn about the writing style and the tone of the write-ups. Be also keen on whether the posts cater to beginners or advanced readers.
Tailoring your content to this audience ensures your guest post fits seamlessly within the blog’s existing content, adding value for readers. For instance, if the blog caters to digital marketers, your guest post should use industry-specific language and provide actionable insights relevant to their challenges.
Follow Site Guidelines
Clarify the host website’s specific content guidelines. Do they have a minimum word count requirement? Do they have style expectations? Adhering to these guidelines is crucial so your post can be published.
If there are no specific and clear guidelines, be keen on the structure of the existing posts. How do they do their heading styles? Do they post with images or infographics? Do they allow video embedding?
Balancing Value-adding Content with SEO Optimisation
To make the most out of your guest post, you must create valuable content for readers and optimise it for search engines. Here are some techniques for balancing informative writing with SEO optimisation:
Keyword Placement
Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to identify relevant keywords for the guest post topic. Focus on keywords that are valuable to both your audience and the blog’s target market.
Naturally, place your target keyword in key areas, such as the headline and subheadings (H2s and H3s), within the first 100 words of the introduction. However, avoid keyword stuffing, as this can detract from readability and be penalised by search engines.
Internal Linking
Internal linking is an important SEO strategy that can benefit your site and the host blog. If the site owner permits, include links to the blog’s content. This effort strengthens the blog’s SEO by providing a better site structure and showing that you’re familiar with their content.
Moreover, include a link or two back to your website if allowed. Ensure that these links are relevant and provide value to the reader, avoiding overly promotional language.
Content Format
The format of your content affects both readability and SEO. To make the article easy to read, use short paragraphs (2-3 sentences), bullet points, numbered lists, and plenty of white space.
Ensure that the post is well-organised, with clear headings and subheadings. This effort helps search engines understand the structure of the content and improves the reader’s experience.
Incorporating Rich Media
Including images, infographics, or videos (if the site owner permits) enhances the post’s visual appeal and engagement. You can use descriptive alt text for images to improve SEO and provide additional keyword optimisation.
Leverage Long-Tail Keywords in Guest Posts
Leveraging long-tail keywords in guest posts is a smart way to boost SEO while targeting specific, highly relevant audiences. It is a highly effective strategy for gaining better rankings.
Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific phrases that typically have lower search volume but higher conversion potential. With less competition and greater relevance, they offer a higher ranking potential and mainly target niche markets or voice search queries.
How to Naturally Incorporate Long-Tail Keywords Without Overstuffing
- Focus on User Experience First: Create helpful, value-adding, and informative content that addresses the reader’s needs. Keyword optimisation should come second. As long as your content is relevant to the readers, keywords will follow naturally and seamlessly.
- Use Keywords in Key Locations: You can strategically place the long-tail keywords in titles and headings, introductions, particularly in the first 100 words, and the meta description and alt text.
- Vary the Phrase for Natural Flow: Avoid repeating the exact long-tail keyword throughout the post. You can use variations of the phrase. For example, “best marketing tools for small businesses in Singapore,” you can use variations like “top marketing tools for Singaporean small businesses” or “marketing software for startups in Singapore.”
- Use Long-tail Keywords in Anchor Text: If you’re linking back to your website or other pages within the host blog, use long-tail keywords as anchor text when appropriate. This effort helps improve the relevance of your internal links without appearing unnatural.
- Answer Long-tail Keywords Queries Directly: Many long-tail keywords are in question, such as “How to improve local SEO for small businesses.” Create content that directly answers these questions. Use subheadings in the form of questions and follow up with concise, informative answers. This effort helps with SEO and provides a great user experience.
Provide Valuable, Actional Insights in the Guest Posts
In writing your guest post, you must offer practical advice backed by data and expert insights. This effort builds trust and ensures readers leave with clear takeaways. Here’s how you can structure content to deliver maximum value:
Start with a Clear Introduction
Begin by addressing the readers’ problem or need. Explain what they will learn from your post and why it’s relevant. Hook your readers with a compelling statement that shows you understand their pain points.
Example: “In today’s digital landscape, businesses struggle with effective link-building strategies. This post outlines actionable guest posting tactics to build high-quality backlinks and boost your SEO efforts.”
Provide Step-by-Step Guides
For your advice to be easily understood, you must write it into clear, step-by-step guides. Walk readers through each part of the process, providing instructions they can easily follow.
For example, if you’re writing about optimising guest posts, you could include steps such as “1: Research Relevant Blogs, 2. Create a Personalised Pitch, 3. Write SEO-Optimized Content.”
Incorporate Case Studies
Image source: MediaOne
Case studies are a powerful way to show real-world applications of your strategies. Highlight a brand or personal experience that demonstrates how the advice you’re giving has led to success.
Example: “XYZ Company’s organic traffic increased by 30% within three months after implementing guest posting strategies.”
Include Actionable Tips
Alongside broader strategies, offer specific, actionable tips that readers can implement immediately. These quick wins help engage readers and keep them invested in your content.
Example: “Instead of generic outreach, personalise each email with the recipient’s name and mention a recent blog post they wrote.”
Add these things to your guest post to cement your voice as a thought leader. These items will increase the authority and trustworthiness of your content and you as a guest blogger.
Add Statistics to Support Claims
Including statistics adds credibility to your post by showing that data back your insights. Readers are more likely to trust your content when you support it with evidence.
For example, “According to HubSpot, companies that blog receive 97% more links to their websites than those that don’t.”
Incorporate Research to Add Depth
Referencing recent studies, surveys, or reports gives your content a data-driven foundation. Research enriches your post and provides readers with context and deeper insights into industry trends and consumer behaviour.
Quote Expert Opinions to Build Trust
Quoting industry experts or thought leaders adds another layer of authority to your guest post. It shows that your advice is along with the opinions of the professionals in your field. Expert quotes reassure readers that your insights are grounded in widely respected knowledge, making your post more persuasive.
Example: “As Neil Patel notes, ‘Guest posting on high-authority sites can significantly boost your site’s SEO performance by earning you quality backlinks.’”
Incorporate Natural, High-Value Backlinks
Including backlinks in guest posts is one of the most effective ways to build authority and improve SEO. However, to benefit from them genuinely, these links must be natural, high-value, and relevant to the content. Over-promotion or excessive linking can harm your reputation and diminish the value of your post.
Best Practices for Including Backlinks in Guest Posts
Link to High-Authority Sources
The quality of the websites you link to matters. Ensure that you include backlinks to authoritative, credible sources that provide value to the readers. High-authority backlinks improve your post’s credibility and signal to search engines that your content is trustworthy.
For instance, if you’re writing about SEO strategies, linking to recognised industry experts or research-backed sites like Moz or Search Engine Journal adds authority to your content. Be selective about your outbound links. Ensure that every link you include enhances the reader’s experience and supports your main points.
Balance Internal and External Links
If the site hosting your guest post allows, consider including a mix of internal and external links. Internal links (linking to other articles or pages on the host site) help boost the SEO of the blog hosting your guest post, making your contribution more valuable to the blog owner.
External links should ideally direct to reputable sources, including your site, where it makes contextual sense. This balance creates a natural link profile, avoids looking promotional, and provides a better user experience.
Limit the Number of Backlinks
Too many links can overwhelm readers and come across as spammy. Generally, a standard guest post should include no more than 2-3 backlinks. Ensure these links are well-distributed throughout the post and strategically placed to flow with the content.
Each link should be intentional and offer additional value rather than just being a promotional tactic. This selective approach makes the links more credible and beneficial to readers and SEO.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is guest posting, and how does it benefit SEO?
Guest posting involves writing and publishing content on another website or blog in exchange for a backlink to your site. It benefits SEO by helping to build high-quality backlinks, which can improve your website’s authority and search engine rankings. Additionally, it increases your visibility and traffic by reaching new audiences.
What are the key strategies for selecting high-quality sites for guest posting?
When selecting sites for guest posting, consider the site’s domain authority, relevance to your niche, and audience size. Use tools like Moz, Ahrefs, and SEMrush to assess these factors. Target websites with a strong reputation and align closely with your industry or topic to ensure relevant and valuable backlinks.
How can I create an effective outreach plan for guest posting?
Personalisation is crucial in outreach emails. Start by researching the blog owner or editor, and tailor your pitch to their interests and the blog’s focus. Highlight how your guest post will add value to their audience and include a few topic ideas or sample content. Follow up professionally if you don’t receive an initial response.
What are the best practices for writing high-quality, SEO-optimized content for guest posting?
Tailor your content to the target blog’s audience and guidelines. Balance informative content with SEO optimisation by incorporating relevant keywords naturally, using proper internal and external linking, and structuring your post with compelling headlines and introductions. Ensure your content aligns with the blog’s style and tone.
How can I measure the success of my guest posting?
Track the performance of your guest posts using tools like Google Analytics, Ahrefs, and SEMrush. Key metrics to monitor include:
- Referral traffic to your site.
- The number and quality of backlinks generated.
- Improvements in your search engine rankings.
Analyse this data to understand what works best and refine your future guest posting strategies.
