Everything you need to know about guest posting

All you need to know about guest posting

 

What is guest posting?

 

This might be a good time to clarify what guest posting actually is?  “Guest posting” means that you write an article and it is published on someone else’s website or blog.

Now, before you think ‘why would I want to give my content away’, let me show you how guest posting can be very powerful and why Guest posting is an excellent strategy for expanding your audience and reach online.

 

The benefits of guest posting

 

• In order to actually be accepted as a guest blogger you’re going to have to reach out to other bloggers and site owners. This networking not only will hopefully get you the guest posting spot, but it’s also really important networking and could lead to friendships within the community.

 

• One of the most popular reasons for guest posting is to increase your backlinks. The value of the the backlink depends on the Domain Authority of the site you’re guest posting on. However, they all count to some degree and the back link is not the only benefits of guest posting. However, over time these backlinks will help to increase your search engine rankings.

 

• Depending on how big the hosts website is, guest posting can be a great way to get more exposure and increase your readership.

 

• You can also use guest posting to gain exposure. Not only to new readers but also to other opportunities. Perhaps to be featured elsewhere on the web, in traditional press or even live events.

 

• If you’re clever you can use guest posting to grow your list. Produce a great opt in freebie that is really congruent to the guest post content and use the link for this as the link you are allowed. You might also be allowed your url, but I would prioritise email opt ins. If you’re still building your Domain Authority, then perhaps you could alternative your Url and your opt in link every time you’re only allowed one link.

 

• Guest posting gives you a head start. You gain a perceived authority by your association with the host. Their audience automatically trusts you, as they trust the host and the host recommended you in the form of allowing you to post on their site.

 

 

GRAB THE GUEST POSTING KIT – GUEST POST TRACKING SPREADSHEET, CHECKLIST, STRATEGY GUIDE AND EXAMPLE PITCH!

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What are your guest posting objectives?

 

There are so many potential places you could guest post. At this stage it’s worth deciding what you want to get out of the guest posting that you do. If you know the objective, then you will be better positioned to secure the ‘right’ opportunities.

 

Knowing this goal ahead of time is key in determining the right kind of blogs to submit guest posts to. Typically there are three main goals for guest blogging. It might be that you want to gain exposure and drive more traffic back to your site. If that is the case then you need to find an authoritative blog, but also one with lots of traffic. Maybe you want to position yourself as an expert. In this case then you would be seeking a similar blog. However if you are only concerned about link building then you are simply looking for a blog that has a good Domain Authority. You can check out the D.A on the Moz toolbar.

 

How do you find guest posting opportunities?

 

Obviously, it’s important to find the right places to guest blog. You don’t want to spend hours writing content for a site that’s not a good fit. So you should be looking for a site that;

• Is focused on your niche.
• Is run by a blogger who’s active on social media.
• Has an audience that will be interested in your content.
• Has an engaged audience.

 

Where can you go to find these guest posting opportunities?

Google

My first stop would be good old Google. There are various variations of keywords you can use to find opportunities. Simply change ‘keyword’ to your specific niche or industry. e.g. Food, parenting, animal rights, feminism. You get the point.

• keyword “guest post”
• keyword “submit a guest post”
• keyword “accepting guest posts”
• keyword “writers wanted”
• keyword “accepting guest posts”
• keyword “guest post by”
• keyword “guest post guidelines”
• keyword “collaborate’
• keyword “submit article”
• keyword “become a contributor”
• keyword “write for us”

 

You can then delve a little deeper into each blog that comes up to see if it seems like a good fit for your content. Check out their social media follower numbers, how active they are, the engagement they get and whether their content is good quality.

Search social media

The guest posts people create will be shared on social media, so why not search Twitter – keyword + “guest post” and you will find the latest posts in your niche that are guest posts. This will show you all the potential places you can add to your hit list.

 

Check out your competitor backlinks

There are various tools, such as Open Site Explorer, that allow you to analyse your competitors site and see where they are getting their backlinks from. Another way to do this is to perform a Google search for link:domain.com “guest post” (replacing domain.com with your competitor’s url). This should show sites that your competitor has guest posted on.

 

GRAB THE GUEST POSTING KIT – GUEST POST TRACKING SPREADSHEET, CHECKLIST, STRATEGY GUIDE AND EXAMPLE PITCH!

If you want to join my mailing list and get access to my epic Blogger’s Resource vault of cheatsheets and downloads (INCLUDING GUEST POSTING KIT) as a welcome gift, you can do that here.

 

 

Use these great resources to find potential guest posts

 

500 places to syndicate content 

100 sites to submit guest posts to 

My Blog Guest

Alltop.com

 

How to pitch a guest post

There are some things you could do prior to sending your pitch. These things will stand you in good stead and make it more likely for your pitch to be accepted.

 

Become familiar with the target blog’s content

Get to know the sort of content that they post. Who is their content aimed at? Who do you think their idea reader is? What type of content do they post? Tutorials or story based posts? All of this is valuable info that you can feed into your pitch.

 

Check out who else has guest posted

Are the other guest posters bloggers or freelancers? Maybe their industry professionals? Does the site favour a certain type of guest poster?

 

Assess the performance of the existing guest posts

Do they attract the same level of comments and shares as the hosts posts? Or are the audience just invested in the host and not the guest posters?

 

Look at which posts do best?

In general on the site which sorts of posts seem to get the most traction? This will help you shape your pitch.

 

Reach out and make contact

Your pitch will be better received if the host of the blog you’re pitching to know your name; if you’re a little bit familiar to them. So you can do this by interacting with them on social media. Maybe you could share some of their content and just strike up a casual conversation.

 

How to pitch for a potential guest posting opportunity

So, now you have your hit list of great fit blogs, with an engaged audience, lead by an active blogger. You know how you’re going to give value to their audience and you also know how you’re going to highlight your relevant skills/experience without giving your life history. You are now ready to pitch. These factors are really important when pitching a guest post.

 

Make sure you read the criteria

Search the site for their guest posting information. What format do they want the post in? Is there a word count? Are you expected to provide images? How many links can you include? Do they want the entire post or just for you to just pitch ideas? It really pays to do your research so you know what’s expected.

 

Make your email personal

If there’s one thing that drives me mad it’s the daily emails I get addressed to ‘Dear You Baby Me Mummy’ or the generic ‘Hi’ ones. My name is on my blog multiple times and so to me, this is just lazy. It doesn’t bode well for a good relationship going forward. Try to find the name of the appropriate person, poke around the site and look at their social media profiles. Chances are it will be there.

 

Make your intro brief and relevant

The person you’re pitching to doesn’t need your entire life history, so make sure when you introduce yourself you keep it relevant and concise. Highlight your experience, but don’t bore them with all the details.

 

How you can add value

You need to highlight how you intend to add value to their audience. They’re not going to put you in front of them if you can’t add value, as it will reflect badly on them.

 

Outline your idea

If they don’t want the full post, then give them the headline the key points and conclusion.

 

How to write your guest post

Value so much value

Remember this person has worked to build up their audience and develop a good relationship with them. They have agreed to put you in front of them so you need to deliver value. Create a post so epic you wish you could charge for it. Focus on their audience and what they need. It’s not time to promote yourself.

 

Format your post in the site style

Match the style of the formatting on the blog already. This will save the host time and will show you’ve been paying attention.

 

Interlinking

As with every post you write you should include relevant internal links and external links where appropriate. Your guest post should be no different. Link to relevant posts the host has posted. You can find these posts by running a Google search – site:domain.com intitle:keyword. This will show you all their posts with that keyword, so you can then work in the most relevant.

 

Don’t forget your call to action

If you’re allowed, I would always offer an opt in gift for their audience. This means you are more likely to take some of that audience over to your blog. If they don’t opt in you have less change of continuing the relationship. Your call to action should be urging people to get the freebie. If you’re not allowed to give a freebie, then perhaps you want to direct people to your blog or to a particular social platform.

 

Now think about your guest posting bio

You bio is really important and how you play it will depend on the goals you set at the start.

If you’re backlink building your bio will include a link back to your site with your chosen anchor text. If you wanted traffic, then were do you want this traffic to end up? Your home page or a particular landing page? If you want to increase your email list size, then you need to add your opt in and if you want to build your social following then direct them to your chosen platform.

 

How to do a great job as a guest blogger

 

You’re guest posting partly to build relationships, so you want to make sure you do a good job.  You need to do everything you can to make sure it’s a positive experience for the host. It’s a great idea to respond to any comments that are left on the post, this will also help you start to build relationships with the audience.

 

Obviously, you should thank the host for the opportunity and then when the post is live, share it on your social media networks. You may also link to it from your site to highlight it further.

 

GRAB THE GUEST POSTING KIT – GUEST POST TRACKING SPREADSHEET, CHECKLIST, STRATEGY GUIDE AND EXAMPLE PITCH!

If you want to join my mailing list and get access to my epic Blogger’s Resource vault of cheatsheets and downloads (INCLUDING GUEST POSTING KIT) as a welcome gift, you can do that here.

 

 

Have you tried guest posting? If not do you feel more comfortable about starting to guest post as part of your blogging strategy?