Are you also under the false impression that Guest Blogging is outdated? A lot of bloggers have been missing out on this rewarding strategy in the last couple of years due to no awareness. The truth is Guest Blogging is not dead. In fact, if you use it optimally, it is one of the easiest ways to increase engagement and create interesting content. Guest blogging strategy is a great tactic to promote traffic and content marketing ROI.
What is Guest posting?
In simple words, Guest Blogging is just like the name suggests, a guest that you invite, using your blog to create content. A guest blogger is generally someone outside your organization who has significant knowledge about your niche, a famous personality, etc. It is advisable to invite people from the same or similar domains as you.
Guest Posting Strategy Guide
Just like everything in SEO and Online Marketing, Guest Posting can be a very simple process if you just streamline it. To make it easier to follow, look a the following recommended guidelines that you should abide by when participating in guest posting:
1. Set Clear Goals
In order to reach a destination, you need to know where you are going. A good Guest Posting strategy thus begins with clearly defining your destination. There are different reasons why people do guest posting but you should know your reason.
A few of the reasons why guest posting is used is as follows:
- You want to increase traffic to your website in order to generate more sales or leads
- You want to amplify your Brands awareness
- You want to utilize inbound links to boost SEO
- You want to increase your credibility as an expert in your field
- You want to increase your reach via email or social media networks
As we have seen, there are multiple reasons why you might want to foray into guest posting but clearly defining it makes it beneficial for both you and the user by building trust.
2. Find Sites to Contribute To
You will need to find a website that is looking for a guest author with your qualifications. A website in the same domain as you that is open to guest posting is your best bet. You can find other blogs that are interested in doing more research and networking.
You can find potential sites that allow guest blogging by searching on google with the right keywords. For Example,
- [topic keyword phrase] + “write for us”
- [topic keyword phrase] + “guest article”
You can search on Twitter using similar keywords also. You can use Alltop. Alltop is a website that has an exhaustive list of blogs and websites from all niches. Don’t shy away from checking out your competitor’s guest post resources or popular bloggers.
3. Form a Connection with the Site Owner
If you approach the site owner out of the blue, the chances of them accepting your guest post are slim. Not just that, it is good manners to first introduce yourself and establish a cordial connection before going into any collaboration. You and they both need to know who you will be working with.
Cold pitches rarely work and when they do, it is only if the content is exemplary. Sometimes, site owners get a lot of spam or poor quality content and thus, they are hesitant to accept pitches from strangers.
You can try to form a bond with them through engaging on their social media posts, regularly commenting and responding. You can share their content on the page with a message so you are promoting them as well as initiating a conversation. However, don’t be fake just for the sake of pleasing them. Be authentic, approachable and interesting.
4. Choose a Winning Topic
Once you have developed a clear understanding of what the site owner needs and convinced them to publish you, you can start working on your topic. But what topic? There are thousands and thousands of relevant topics today that can make an intriguing blog post. But if your target website is a fitness blog and you write an article about the tastiest burgers you had in France, it is not going to work out. Keep your topic relevant but trendy and interesting.
When you write a guest post, you want to be memorable so that the audience demands to see more of you. If you are boring, you are unlikely to get a second chance from the same website owner at the very least.
To choose a good topic, ask yourself, “How can I use my knowledge to be useful to the audience?”. You can provide your take on what is given on the site, give expert knowledge on a famous topic or write something that will resonate with the audience.
Try to avoid doing generic or repetitive topics. You want to bring a fresh perspective. Also, don’t forget to abide by the guidelines of the website.
5. Make a Winning Pitch
A good businessman understands the importance of a good pitch. A pitch is a crisp and clear way for you to communicate your wants with the owner and convince them about your resourcefulness. Once you have created a personal communication with the owner, your pitch is the final icing on the cake.
Some points that will help you make a good pitch are as follows:
- Keep it crisp and clear: Don’t diverge from your topic and avoid adding unnecessary side information. Site owners get a lot of pitches and if your pitch is an incomprehensible blob of text, they are not even going to read it properly before moving on to the next.
- Address them using their personal name: This shows that you are diligent enough to do basic research before applying and makes a good impression.
- Mention your post title: A lot of successful pitches mention the topic they will be writing at the beginning of the pitch. If your topic piques the interest of the owner, you are good to go.
- Tell them about yourself: Remember it’s not a job interview so they don’t need to know about your high school GPA. However, it is important to convince them that you are certified and knowledgeable in the field since they won’t accept guest posts from any random person.
6. Write Great Content
If you’ve followed all the previous steps correctly, your pitch is likely to be accepted. First, congratulate yourself for doing a good job!
Now, work on creating the best content you can!
Here is a checklist to make sure your content is up to the mark:
- A Catchy Headline: Spend a good time researching and thinking about a headline since your headline is 90% of the reason why people decide to read your article. A good headline includes how the article will help the user’s problem or taps into the emotions of the audience.
- Use Well Researched Keywords: Site owners will be impressed with you if your content brings additional traffic to their website and ranks high on SEO. When you are a guest, you are on your best behaviour. So use only good SEO practices and use only relevant keywords. Don’t try to stuff random keywords or look for shortcuts.
- Use Links Smartly: A good guest post always has a good link profile. You can use internal and external links throughout the article, wherever relevant, to good quality links. You can use links from popular and credible websites or you can use links from the same website to similar topics. Always follow the site’s unique linking guidelines.
- Find Images: Choosing the right images to accompany your piece is no walk in cake. Although, it is not always a writer’s responsibility to do so. You can make the post ore creative and as per your liking by helping in the process of choosing images. You can use free sites to get images.
- Use Correct Formatting: Go through other posts on the website and format your post in a similar manner so that it matches the theme. Use subheadings, capitalization, bold text, lists, etc. appropriately. Don’t leave easy things like these for site owners. If the website you are guest blogging for provides guidelines, follow them carefully.
7. Use Your Bio Resourcefully
Your Bio is the culmination of all your hard work. It’s the fruit of your efforts and here’s you can make sure that it is as sweet as can be!
Your Bio is how you get recognition and quality traffic for your own website. It is a way to create quality leads. You can use Bio to create links to your home page or any other page on your site, link to your Socials, etc.
As long as you follow the guidelines of the page, you can link to whatever landing pages you want. This will generate quality leads from people who liked your guest post and would like to read more of your content.
Always include an executable CTA in your Bio so your audience knows what steps to follow next. Some commonly used Call-To-Actions are:
- Visit your site to read about “xyz”
- Get a Free Trial
- Check out your social media
You can customize your Bio for every guest post depending on your goals and what kind of traffic you want to achieve.
8. Be Responsive
Responding to comments and reviews helps you form a connection with your readers. It is a good etiquette that makes your readers feel like you respect their opinions and time. Your main aim should be to form as many new connections as possible throughout the guest posting collaboration.
It is also helpful to Blog owners if you’re responsive. If you make a good image on them, they are much more likely to approach you for future collaborations and accepting of new pitches. This is how you make the most of your guest blogging strategy.
If allowed, you can subscribe to comments on your guest post, so you’ll be notified every time someone comments on your post. Otherwise, you can track mentions and shares through Google alert.
9. Promote Your Content
When it comes to building a digital presence, promotion is of utmost importance. You can promote your Guest Post just like you promote your normal posts. For instance, you can tell your readers you will feature on a blog post through email marketing, social media channels, on your website, etc.
If you bring your follow base to engage with the guest post, the site owners will be happy as well. Your audience will also be happy to see you in a different space and you will build authority as an expert.
10. Write More Guest Posts
To make meaningful benefits through Guest Posting, you need to write more than one guest post. As long as you can find websites willing to accept your guest blog, there is no need to limit yourself. However, ensure to only write high quality and useful content.
Make sure to manage your time and plan content in a well-structured way. You can use a Calendar to keep track of all the different posts you are working on. You can use tools like Asana and CoSchedule for the same.
11. Track Success
Like any other marketing campaign, you need to monitor your Guest Posting strategy closely. This is how you will find areas that need improvement and areas that are reaping maximum results. You can track how many leads your posts are brought by using tracking tools like Google Analytics, and OptinMonster’s conversion analytics. You can use Buzzsumo to find how often your guest posts are being shared.
Conclusion
Guest blogging on reputed websites is a rewarding way to use the popularity of successful blogs in your niche. You need to curate convincing pitches that show the site owners what you bring to the table in order to geṭ accepted as a guest blogger. You can leverage your guest posting experience to form new connections, generate new leads and bring quality traffic to your own website.
Your ROI will thank you for investing your time in Guest Blogging. It is one of the strategies that you need to includein your content marketing campaign in 2022!
