Guest posting is online marketing at its best. It involves writing a post on someone else’s blog or website, complete with a link back to your own website in the bio or resource box at the end. Done right, guest posting can:
- Increase exposure and reach.
- Generate direct, targeted traffic to your website.
- Improve brand awareness.
- Boost your overall SEO through building powerful links.
If you are new to guest posting or want to step to the next level, this guide is ideal for you.
Guest Posting – the ABCs
So what do you need to remember in order to take full advantage of guest posting?
- Target Relevancy – target high-ranking niche sites where what you have to say will be of genuine use and interest to readers.
- Get Acquainted – Read the blog in question. Familiarise yourself with the posts and the topics that have been covered and get a feel for the tone. Does the owner like dry humour, personal anecdotes, how-to guides?
- Get Involved – Join in the discussion by leaving comments. Try to break the ice with the blog owner and add value to their blog. That way, when it comes to proposing a blog idea you are more likely to get a response.
- Follow the Rules – Look for the guest post guidelines if there are any. Every website has its own unique requirements. There may be a word limit, taboo topics or suggested themes.
- Be Creative – Once you know the requirement, try to produce something interesting and original. Remember, this is an advert for your company and ideally you want people to click on that link back to your website. Stand out and bring you’re A-game.
- Keywords, Keywords, Keywords – By all means use keywords in your blog post, but don’t go crazy. The odd phrase is fine. If you can fit a suitable keyword into the title naturally then that’s even better.
- Stick With It – After your post is published, this is where you really want to get involved. You should:
- Answer any comments and back-up any statement you make.
- Announce the post to your social media followers.
- Start building links to the post to help it rank well on search engines.
If you get a blog post published on a high ranking website, the chances are that you will find it easier to get that page to rank than a page on your own website. In addition, if people searching for your company find an interesting and valuable post on a well-respected website on the first page of Google, this will only help to boost your image.
Unwanted Guests
SEO frequently turns into a numbers game as people opt for quantity over quality. It is important to take a slow, methodical approach which concentrates on quality and relevancy. Remember, one well-placed guest post on a high-ranking blog is worth 10 ‘light’ posts on smaller blogs.
Matt Cutts, Head of Webspam at Google, recently revealed that Google can view guest posting as positive and negative, depending on the techniques used. Firstly, “high quality writers” who endeavor to share valuable content through guest posting is a valid method of building links, website promoting and also a “good win” for the host site. Conversely, black hat techniques such as article spinning will be frowned upon by Google and links are less likely to be counted.
Watch Matt explain this in more detail:
Like any online marketing technique, guest posting can be abused. However, get it right and you will find that it is a powerful, ethical marketing technique that is available to any business, large or small. Concentrate on providing good information and attracting new customers and guest posting will become a successful component within your marketing strategy.
