In this era of growing e-commerce and adopting an integrated approach to marketing across different channels, creating engaging content is crucial. Companies are constantly seeking new ways to communicate with customers and each other.
Writing in blogs is one of the methods that many companies use to inform their customers and guide them towards products and services. But constantly creating new content can be a huge task. One tactic is to invite guest writers to create that content. But what is guest writing, and what benefits does it have in SEO and Marketing?
What is a Guest Post?
A guest post is a piece of content written by a blogger for someone else’s blog. A guest post blogger is not a staff member of the website or blog for which he/she writes the post. This is usually used as a marketing tactic to achieve the following objectives:
- Establishing authority in the niche (specialized field)
- Expand your audience and network
- Increase traffic to the Web site
- To Boost domain authority through backlinks
- Build a profile as an industry expert
And while guest posting has become common practice, navigating this field can be challenging if you have little experience or contacts.
That’s why we’ve put together this comprehensive guide on guest writing. We will explain how beginner bloggers can get guest writing opportunities, write a good guest article, and optimize content for success.
Importance of Guest Posting for your Business
Guest Posting offers a number of benefits for any commercial activity. By sharing your content on other websites, you can establish yourself as an authority figure in your market, build relationships with the latest leaders in your industry, and expose your brand to a whole new audience.
Additionally, submitting guest posts to your blog will help you provide new perspectives and fresh content to your audience. We all make the mistake of falling into routines and getting bored with the usual things, so submitting guest articles is a great way to keep readers interested – not to mention the promotional push that happens when guest bloggers share their articles with their personal networks.
Some websites, such as medium, rely on industry leaders to source most of their content. Even if you don’t have the resources to commit to a solid blogging schedule, guest bloggers can help you deliver fresh content to your readers without requiring a lot of time and extra effort from your team.
How does it benefit the host?
Guest posting benefits the host in various ways:
- Increases brand awareness by associating the blog with interesting content and expertise from different talents.
- Provides fresh content, avoiding repetition and staleness.
- Enhances the perception of leadership in the industry by featuring expert guest contributors.
- Boosts SEO and search engine rankings through the use of relevant keywords and links.
How does it benefit the guest blogger?
Guest posting benefits bloggers in several ways:
- Relationships: Guest posting helps build relationships with bigger organizations and popular bloggers, leading to more opportunities and benefits.
- Reach: Writing for prominent sites extends the writer’s reach, attracting more readers to their own business or blog through effective engagement.
- Audience: Guest posting on sites with large readerships helps writers gain a bigger audience, with increased chances of social media shares and blog visits.
- Money: Guest bloggers can often be paid for their efforts, and some individuals make a good living solely from writing guest posts.
- Fame: Consistent guest posting and a solid content strategy can boost a blogger reputation and lead to more opportunities, increasing their recognition in the field.
The Impact of Guest Posting on SEO
Guest Posting impacts SEO positively through brand awareness but can lead to penalties with manipulative linking.
- Guest Posting is not inherently bad for SEO and can be beneficial.
- Google does not discourage guest posts that provide value to users, educate audiences, or raise awareness for a cause or company.
- However, guest posts can have negative SEO impact if they engage in manipulative linking practices, leading to Google penalties and lower search rankings.
- Google recommends nofollowing guest post links to avoid potential penalties and to indicate that they are not impartial endorsements.
- Despite potential pitfalls, guest blogging can still be good for SEO and wider marketing strategies.
- It helps build brand profile, credibility, and brand awareness by showcasing expertise and partnering with respected sites.
- Guest post links may not directly pass SEO value, but they can generate referral traffic and open new partnership opportunities.
- To maximize the impact of guest Posting on SEO, focus on quality over quantity and target high-quality sites relevant to your niche.
Importance of Guest Posting in Marketing
A content marketing strategy centered around guest blogging can deliver numerous benefits, including enhanced brand awareness, trust-building, and increased customer loyalty. It drives conversions and generates leads without resorting to overly aggressive sales pitches.
- Guest blogging remains a relevant and effective inbound marketing strategy in 2023.
- Inbound marketing involves capturing leads through customer-initiated actions, rather than direct outreach.
- Guest blogging allows businesses to reach a wider audience by publishing content on external websites.
- It provides opportunities to showcase expertise, build brand awareness, and drive traffic to the author’s website.
- The practice of guest blogging has not become obsolete; it continues to offer valuable benefits for businesses.
How to Become a Successful Guest Blogger
Guest posting usually starts with finding blogs, pitching your ideas to the site owner, and collecting and promoting content to attract an audience.
This section will cover each step and provide some best practices for guest posting.
1. Set specific, achievable goals.
The first step to successful guest blogging is setting smart goals related to your business or website performance. These goals will help you choose topics, target blogs, and determine frequency.
- Set smart Goals: Define clear, measurable objectives for guest blogging.
- Choose Relevant Topics: Select topics that align with your goals and target audience.
- Measure Referral Traffic: Track the number of visits your guest posts generate.
- Obtain Quality Backlinks: Focus on gaining high-quality backlinks from authoritative sources.
- Analyze and Adjust: Regularly review performance data and adapt your strategy accordingly.
2. Stick to your niche & expertise
The key to expertise is simple: you must be an expert in whatever you write about. If you write professionally on more than one topic, you risk muddying your brand and confusing the search engine.
- Stick to Your Niche: Write about topics directly related to your expertise and focus in your business.
- Narrow Focus: True experts have a specific and narrow focus, avoiding writing on too many unrelated subjects.
- Avoid Confusion: Writing professionally on multiple subjects may confuse your brand and search engine evaluation.
- Stay in Your Lane: Exploit your expertise and knowledge by sticking to your area of specialization.
- Rare Exceptions: While there may be occasional exceptions, in general, guest post within your field of expertise.
3. Brainstorm Ideas for the Guest Post
The second step is to brainstorm blog content ideas for the target site.
- Brainstorm Content Ideas: Generate blog post ideas that align with the target site’s criteria and address the audience’s pain points.
- Review Guest Posting Guidelines: Check for guidelines on the target site’s page to understand preferred topics and content formats.
- Analyze Popular Content: Study the most popular content on the site using SEO tools like Ubersuggest to understand what resonates with the audience.
4. Find relevant guest blogging sites
Now that you’ve mapped out your content ideas, it’s time to find relevant publications and guest blogging sites.
- Create a Guest Blogging Sites List: Compile a list of target websites that accept guest posts.
- Use Advanced Search Operators: Utilize advanced search operators like “intext:submit a guest post” to find relevant opportunities.
- Google Reverse Image Search: Use headshots of popular guest bloggers to locate websites where they’ve published in the past, indicating potential guest post opportunities.
- Prioritize High-Quality Blogs: Focus on blogs with a Domain Authority of 40 or higher (or Domain Rating if using Ahrefs), a Spam Score of 3% or lower, and a thorough editorial process.
- Craft Tailored Pitches: Personalize pitches for each blog on your list, highlighting your expertise and proposed content ideas.
5. Optimize Your Bio
Many websites don’t allow linking to personal websites throughout your blog, so focus on making your bio as strong as possible.
- Choose the Right Link: As linking opportunities may be limited, link to a website that benefits most from the exposure and is highly relevant to your audience.
- Craft a Captivating Description: Create a one to two-sentence description that effectively captures your brand’s essence and resonates with your target audience.
- Utilize a Professional Headshot: Include a standard headshot that presents you in a professional and approachable manner.
- Maximize Bio’s Potential: Recognize that your bio often serves as the primary source for people wanting to learn more about you, so make it compelling and impactful.
6. Focus on long-lasting content
You definitely want your content to last as long as possible, so focus on creating long-lasting content.
- Emphasize Longevity: Aim for content that remains relevant and useful over time, even a decade later.
- Balance Newsworthy and Evergreen: While occasional newsworthy topics are fine, aim for 90% evergreen content in guest posts.
- Consider Ever-Changing Industries: For rapidly evolving industries like technology, strive to create as much evergreen content as possible.
7. Write high-quality content
Once the idea is finalized, it’s time to write the content. Although every blog has its own guidelines, there are several best practices to follow to create a great guest post:
- Consider Search Intent: Address the readers’ main goals and questions related to the topic in your guest post.
- Be Unique: Stand out from competitors by offering new information, a unique angle, or more actionable tips.
- Include Expert Quotes: Use quotes from industry experts to enhance the post’s authority and credibility.
- Avoid Self-Promotion: Refrain from promoting your products or services explicitly in the content.
- Use Keywords for SEO: Incorporate relevant keywords naturally and grammatically.
- Match Existing Style: Ensure your post aligns with the blog’s style, formatting, and overall quality.
- Prioritize Readability: Make the content easy to read and understand with simple language, active sentences, short paragraphs, and lists.
8. Create a attractive headline
After writing a great post, all that remains is to create an attractive headline for it. It should immediately grab people’s attention, forcing them to click through to the article from the blog’s homepage or search results.
Here are some things to consider when coming up with main ideas:
- Address the Reader’s Problem: Clearly show how the article can solve the reader’s needs or pain points.
- Use Numbers: Include numbers in the headline for listicles and how-to guides to boost click-through rates.
- Utilize Questions: Pose relevant questions to capture the interest of searchers and indicate the article’s relevance.
- Optimize for Search Engines: Keep the headline under 70 characters, include the target keyword, and avoid clickbait tactics.
9. Use Internal and External Links
Importance of Internal and External Links in your guest post:
- Credibility Boost: External links to reputable sources enhance your content’s credibility and back up your claims.
- SEO Advantage: Both internal and external links contribute to better search engine rankings and improved visibility.
- Audience Engagement: Internal links direct readers to related content, encouraging them to explore more and stay on the website longer.
- Establishing Connections: Linking to relevant external sources can foster relationships and potentially lead to reciprocal link opportunities.
10. Review content & submit post
The final step is to submit a guest post. Before submitting proofread the content and check for grammatical errors, misspellings or broken links.
- Quality and Accuracy: Review the post for grammatical errors, misspellings, factual accuracy, and overall writing quality.
- Formatting and Readability: Check that the post is well-organized with headings, subheadings, and proper formatting for easy reading.
- Proper Links and Citations: Verify that all external sources are properly credited, and that links are correct and functional.
11. Track your posts’ results over time
Tracking the results of your guest posts is indeed crucial for assessing the effectiveness of your efforts. Here is a summary of the steps and tools for tracking guest post results:
- Set Clear Goals: Define specific metrics and objectives you want to track, such as backlinks, organic traffic, or keyword rankings.
- Baseline Measurement: Record the initial performance of your website before starting the guest posting process.
- Guest Blogging Tools:
- Ahrefs
- Moz
- SEMrush
- SimilarWeb
- Regular Analysis: Monitor the selected metrics consistently over time, comparing data with the baseline measurements.
- Adaptation and Improvement: Use insights gained from tracking to adjust your guest posting strategy and improve future performance.
By using these tools and consistently tracking your guest post results, you can make informed decisions to optimize your guest blogging efforts and achieve your SEO goals.
12. Build Your Relationship With Good Publications
Building a strong relationship with good publications is crucial for successful guest posting.
- SEO Concerns: Some SEO professionals may not favor this approach due to the reduced value of additional links.
- Link Placement: Guest posts usually contain a link in the contributor’s bio, with the first link being the most impactful and subsequent links having diminishing returns.
- Brand Building: Instead of fixating on link value, concentrate on building your brand through influential publications.
- Content Quality Over Links: Avoid providing irrelevant content solely for obtaining a link, prioritize content that resonates well with the audience.
13. Share post on Social Media
Sharing a guest post on social media can significantly enhance its visibility and reach. Here’s how to effectively promote your guest post on social media:
- Compelling Content: Craft a catchy headline and share intriguing quotes from the guest post.
- Visual Appeal: Include eye-catching visuals and relevant hashtags to increase discoverability.
- Personal Touch: Tag the publication and add a personal touch to make the post more engaging.
- Strategic Timing and Collaboration: Share at peak hours and cross-promote with the publication or author.
- Maximizing Engagement: Engage with comments, use various platforms, and consider paid promotion for broader reach.
Where can you guest post?
If you are looking for sites that accept guest posts, here are some sites to start your guest blogging journey.
Marketing and Business Blogs
Here are some marketing and business blogs that accept guest posts:
- Business 2 Community: A publication for knowledge sharing in the B2B and B2B industries.
- Bplans: Focuses on content related to planning and launching a small project.
- Content Marketing Institute: A business blog for professionals working in mid-sized companies to B2B companies.
- hacker: A marketing blog specializing in writing ad texts.
Travel and Lifestyle Blogs
- Practical Wanderlust: Friends seeking guides and informational destinations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe.
- Global Grasshopper: A publication that specializes in beautiful places or hidden treasures around the world.
- Honeymoon Always: This site focuses on vacations for couples who want to go extravagant.
- The Blonde Abroad: A women’s travel blog with over 1 million monthly visits.
Sports Blogs
These sites are usually looking for writers who can report on the latest sports news or share expert opinions about the industry. Here are some blogs that open their doors to sports content:
- Sportskeeda: This post accepts guest posts about major leagues, such as the NFL, electronic sports, and WWE.
- FanSided: This network’s flagship website primarily focuses on sports and entertainment news from a fan perspective.
- Off The Post: Looking for sports news reports with a cool twist.
- SB Nation: This post is similar to Fansided and has a host of sports blogs where you can submit guest posts.
Fashion and Beauty Blogs
This genre specializes in covering the latest trends in fashion, styling tips, shopping guides and product reviews. Here are some fashion and beauty publications that accept guest writers:
- Men Style Fashion: Specializing in men’s clothing and lifestyle content.
- The Curvy Fashionist: All about plus size fashion, beauty news, tips and tricks.
- The Everyday Man: Online magazine covering men’s fashion, health and fitness.
- POPSUGAR: This blog is looking for beauty product reviews and tutorials as well as clothing recommendations.
Food Blogs
Depending on the niche, food bloggers are generally looking for original recipes, restaurant guides, cooking techniques, nutrition tips, or stories about the culinary industry.
Here are some food blogs that accept guest writers:
- Serious Eats: This posting is looking for experts who can write about regional cuisines.
- Menuism: The city’s restaurant guide and content covers genres of cuisine and an inside look at the food industry.
- PaleoHacks: This blog accepts guest posts about Peleo fitness, health, lifestyle, and recipes.
- HuffPost (Food and Drink): This top publication looks for cooking tips, recipe collections, and investigations into food marketing tactics.
In Conclusion
To conclude, a guest post is an article you write on someone else’s blog. Bloggers usually present this type of post on another website to build their authority, expand their network and increase their influence.
This article has broken down the entire process of writing a guest post into seven steps:
- Find guest engagement opportunities: Find trusted, active sites that accept contributor content and align with your blog’s specific audience.
- Develop new content ideas: A typical post should meet all contributor guidelines, validate the blog owner’s goals, solve audience problems, and demonstrate your expertise.
- Submit ideas for guest participation: Better to make your name more popular in the site owner’s network first, then craft a personal cold mail to suggest content ideas.
- Write quality content: It must meet the search intent and patterns of other guest posts. Also, make sure it is unique, readable, and keyword friendly.
- Create a compelling headline: It should grab the attention of potential readers enough to click through and check out the article.
- Include internal and external links: Engage your readers with more information by referring to related articles from the blog. When you link to your content, it must be appropriate in context.
- Submit the guest post: Review the content and craft a writer bio before sending the final draft to the blog owner. After publishing the article, promote it on social media and respond to comments if any.
Now that you know how to become a guest blogger, all that’s left is to take the first step of starting a blog. Check out our list of blogs that accept contributor content or do a little Google search to find the right site. If you have any additional questions or comments, leave them in the comments section below.