By 2021, the content marketing industry will reach $412 billion in value. Whether you’re promoting a start-up, established business, or personal website, content marketing strategies are the backbone of success.
Guest posting and content marketing are two sides of the same coin.
Guest posting allows you to promote your ideas, brand, and company to a large audience. At the same time, you increase your domain authority through backlinks to create better rankings.
Discover the basics of guest postings and how you can use our list of blogs to grow your business.
Why You Should Be Guest Posting Already
The answer is simple: SEO.
SEO — or search engine optimisation — is tailoring your website so it ranks higher than your competitors in search results. Your goal should be for potential customers to easily find your webpage.
Search algorithms rely on many factors to determine rankings. However, the exact ingredients of algorithms are unknown to outside users. So Moz, a marketing analytics company, created Domain Authority (DA).
READ: The Crazy Easy Guide to SEO Essentials
What is domain authority?
Domain Authority helps users better understand how Google determines search rankings. Overall, there is a direct correlation between higher DA and higher rankings.
Informed and well-written blog posts and articles establish a website as an authority on a subject.
This has a twofold effect. Search bots will use this figure when ranking a particular site. Also, when this site links to other sites it establishes authority for them as well.
Your DA score is ranked between 1-100. The closer you are to 100, the more traffic and better ranking you will have. Scores are logarithmic. This means it is much easier to improve your score from 20-30 than it is to jump from 60-70. Here is a general score breakdown:
- Below 40: Low
- 40-50: Average
- 50-60: Good
- Over 60: Excellent
It takes time and effort to climb these rankings. You’ll notice the highest scores are top websites like Huffington Post, Mashable, and Harvard Business Review. Guest posting on their sites is extremely difficult. This is particularly true for newer writers or companies.
Instead, gradually work up the system. As your DA improves, more sites will engage with your submissions.
Over time, guest posting maximises your audience reach, grows your business network, and creates new opportunities. Best of all, it doesn’t take much effort or investment to unleash its full potential.
How to Guest Post Like an Expert
Guest posts build DA, earn high-quality backlinks, and drive traffic to your website. It should be a win-win for all parties.
The key, however, is creating relevant, high-quality content.
Ultimately, search bots and users are looking for quality. If an editor says yes to your irrelevant blog post idea, it might come back to haunt both of you.
So, follow these steps.
Find the right place to post
To explore your options, check out our comprehensive Guest Post Directory.
Consider our Guest Posting Directory your best friend. It’s packed with a huge range of different blogs in every category. You’ll also find everything from the easiest to most difficult guest posting opportunities.
Moreover, it’s up to date. If you dig into other lists online, you’ll find them full of expired links and websites that no longer exist.
Take some time to browse the different categories. This will give you a sense of the different types of blogs out there.
Search for 5-10 blogs that match your industry. For example, if you market IT services, you should check out a tech blog. Remember — DA refers to authority in specific industries. A blog with a DA of 90 in one field may not even rank in another. So choose relevant examples.
Consider also a combination of local and international sites to maximise your reach.
Lastly, choose a mixture of blogs that are easy, moderate, and hard to guest post. You’ll be surprised — you may be able to post on some sites with a high DA!
Read their blogs and other posts
Have you been to an open mic night where a person only comes to perform and leave right after? That’s what trying to guest post on a site without knowing the audience and style of the blog is like.
Take some time to review the blog. If it’s in your industry, it should be relevant and interesting to you. Look into its rankings, reviews, and other important features.
After reading, note the following:
- Style: Formal or informal? Narrative or educational?
- Length: What’s the average length of pieces?
- Content: Is it mostly text-based? Are there images and videos?
- Social: Does it link to social media?
- Formatting: Many blogs follow SEO style with H2 headings, internal links, and other features.
- Check external links: Where do these pages link to? Can they directly reference a product or is it more general?
- Guest Post Bio: What information can you include? Does it link to their website or blog?
Start crafting your ideas
You’ll need to have a few ideas to pitch to the editor. After reading the blog, you should have a good understanding of what types of content they publish.
Use this to inform your ideas. You can pitch something new as long as it related to their core mission in some way. So take time to look into other parts of the website including their About page and their social media.
Question: Can I write about the goods and services my company offers?
There are no firm rules about guest posting. However, most websites will reject promotional material. Each blog varies. You may be able to describe your company if it’s relevant, but this usually will be in bad taste.
Instead, position yourself as an expert in your field. The guest post will then link to your website where people can learn more about what your company offers. If your piece is informative and helpful, people will want to learn more about you.
Aside from driving traffic and increased DA, this will build your reputation. This leads to more guest posting opportunities!
Contact the editor
Many popular blogs provide guidelines for pitching guest posts along with submission pages. If they do, be sure to check them out. Don’t try to bypass them, as this frustrates many companies.
If there is no submission page, then you’ll need to contact the editor through the Contact page.
When you do this, identify yourself and your qualifications. Ask permission if you can submit a guest post. Then, include a brief pitch idea and how it fits their website. Wait for the editor to contact you and put together a more comprehensive pitch from there.
Wait for approval
Don’t write anything until you get approval. Wait for the editor’s response. Sometimes they’re busy and it may take a little time.
If you don’t hear anything from them for 4-5 days, send a short follow up. If you still receive no response, it’s best to find another place to submit your idea.
Write and submit the post
When you get the approval, it’s time to craft your post. Be sure to follow the blog guidelines, proofread your work, and submit it on time.
The editor may ask you to make changes — don’t argue with them. Listen to the feedback. Make the corrections until your blog meets all requirements.
It may take a post or two on a particular blog until you get the rhythm right. But, it’s worth your patience and flexibility to build key relationships.
Follow up
Once the editor has published your guest post, pat yourself on the back. Unless your post goes viral on a major website, don’t expect overnight results. Guest posting takes time and patience.
Follow up with the editor to discuss your post. You want to nurture these relationships. They’ll have good feedback for you. Use this as you work on your next submissions.
Talk about the guest post on your own site
Create a blog post about your successful guest posting. For newer websites, this can be helpful in creating more external links. It’s also a nice gesture for a website that allowed your submissions.
Keep going!
Target at least two guest posts per month while building your own blog and website too. Over time, your DA will gradually improve. Sooner than later, people may even be sending you submission requests!
Rank higher on Google by guest posting
Guest posting increases your domain authority, builds your brand, and creates new connections. And, the more you guest post, the more you’ll improve your blogging and other skills.
Best of all, it doesn’t take much time or effort.
Focus on creating quality content for blogs that will accept your submissions. Success won’t happen overnight. Content marketing — like all marketing strategies — takes time to pay off. But it will.
Now you’re ready to check out our Guest Post Directory to discover what opportunities await you. Click Download now!
