Guest Blogging – The Complete Guide

One of the major strengths of digital marketing stems from its multi-faceted nature. There are numerous cost-effective ways and strategies for a business to implement digital marketing, and one of the most productive ways is guest blogging or posting.

Guest blogging is integral to inbound & content marketing, two of the most prolific avenues in digital marketing. Popular blogs sites in different niches are a highly effective and economical medium for acquiring inbound traffic to a website. It is important to choose relevant sites for guest posting, so if you’re blogging about UK education then you’d want to get a guest post published on an education news uk blog. For any news related content you would look for national news sites or trending news blogs.

Backlinks embedded in related engaging & informative articles do not just boost the chances of gaining more inbound traffic but play a crucial role in a website’s Google SERP rankings. According to an article by Ahrefs.com, backlinks remain the most critical ranking factor and a vital factor in search engine optimization & inbound marketing strategies. From freelance essay writers to online coursework help services, guest blogging is popular across the digital masses.

This article offers a step-by-step approach to developing guest blogs that guarantee a solid impression.

So, without any further ado, let’s dive right in!

Guest Blogging: The Nitty-Gritty Of It All

Writing a guest post is not unlike writing any other kind of write-up. In a typical digital marketing department, content writers and SEO in Digital Marketing work closely to develop class content tailor-made for different blogging sites. Guest blogging is a step-by-step process, and this section elucidates each vital step in precise detail.

Step 1: Finding The Right Target

One of the first and most crucial steps is to find the right place to post.

Here are a few potent tactics:

• Use Google Search Strings to find guest blogging opportunities. For example, writing the following strings in the search engine’s search bar will reveal blog sites accepting submissions.

 Write the topic or the primary keyword and then add the terms

• “guest post”
• “write for us”
• “guest article”
• “guest post opportunities”
• “This is a guest post by”
• “contributing writer”
• “want to write for”
• “submit blog post”
• “contribute to our site”
• “guest column”
• “submit content”

Twitter research is another excellent way to learn about trends on the Web and in any specific industry.

All you have to do is enter the keyword along with the term ‘guest post’. And, voila, you will end up with a list of results that will contain a handful of tier 1 sites to send your blogs to.

• Reverse engineering competitor backlinks is another crafty technique. And, com’s Site Explorer functionality comes in extremely handy over here.

Go to a competitor web page that is ranking high in your SEO domain. Copy their URL and use Ahref’s Site Explorer to get a list of all the relevant backlinks to their site. Note the ones that link back from quality blogging sites, and you are good to go.

• com is an excellent place to find a bunch of the best places to guest blog. Find the right topic and the right place all at once, right here.

• Do some legwork on the Web, and you are bound to come across several lists of guest blogging sites online.

Now that you have located an excellent site to post one, it is time to convince them to give you an opportunity.

Step 2: Warming Up The Blog Owners

Convincing the owners of a blog site is the next major step. Again, it would be best to showcase your talents, authority & renown as an article writer in an articulate way to impress them.

• First up, select the right site to post on.

A good guest blogging target site should have an authoritative link profile, be relevant to your domain, posts ONLY high-quality content, brings targeted traffic, and has tonnes of social media & online followers.

Some of the biggest names on the Web are authorities in their respective domains and accept only top-notch content.

1. com,
2. HubSpot,
3. The Huffington Post,
4. Investopedia,
5. Mashable,
6. Copy Blogger,
7. AhRefs,
8. Single Grain,
9. Backlinko
10. Social Media Examiner,
11. Buzz Sumo,
12. Buzz Feed,
13. Business Insider,

• Share guest posts already published by your target blog site on social media. That’s bound to catch their attention and put you on their radar.
• Leave meaningful and insightful comments on their sites & blogs.
• Finally, send in your pitch via email to the site owner. DO NOT send an impromptu & poorly crafted message like that can be rejected outright. Keep in mind that those guys probably receive hundreds of guest post-writing proposals every day.

Make sure your proposal stands apart from the rest and piques their interest. Use effective email templates and craft a mail that tells them:

• who you are,
• why you deserve to write for their blog (list & link your previous write-ups, experience, achievements, etc.),
• offers at least four trending & relevant topic ideas, and
• does a bit of soft-selling as well;
• is precise, succinct, and flawless;

Determining an appropriate topic for your guest blog is integral to getting your blog writing pitch and the blog writing itself.

Step 3: Finding The Perfect Guest Post Topic

There are different ways to scope put the best topics for guest blogging.

• One of the first things you can do is go through the various posts on your target blog site. Get a good idea about what they publish most about. Next, check out their most popular articles and note their topics.
• Scour the Web and social networking platforms. Go through different posts in your domain and from your competitors. Find out what’s trending and analyze advertisements for inspiration.
• com is a great site to find out the best-performing articles on any blog site. Enter a domain and learn all about their published & highest-rated articles through their Content Explorer functionality. You can also view content trends through this powerful paid tool.
• com is yet another convenient site for keyword research, content analysis, identifying blogging opportunities, and much more. Find out the hottest trending topics for your blogs and boost the chances of getting your pitch accepted by blog site owners.

Buzz Sumo is a great place for finding trending topics and finding more places to guest blog. Well,  now that you have got your topic and sent your pitch, keep your fingers crossed and wait for that acceptance. And, when it finally arrives, get down to writing a fantastic piece of content to rake in loads of traffic and boost your credibility & authority.

Step 4: Writing The Best Blog

If you want to establish yourself as a guest blogging authority, always keep the following in mind.

• Never write to gain backlinks and traffic. Instead, deliver informative and engaging content that offers something of value to the targeted audience.
• A guest post should remain relevant for years to come. Writing good content with credible data, valuable insights, and exhaustive research will stand the test of time and be a timeless resource.

Write good quality content that digs deep into a topic, employs credible sources of information, and uses visual content to engage readers. Write something that will provoke discussions and debates and make the audience think hard about what they read. Work towards delivering value in an engaging & intriguing manner. High inbound traffic, top SERP ranks, rep boost, and new contacts will follow in its wake.

• Use relevant & authority references and sources of information to improve content credibility.
• Longer content attracts more viewers.
• Mention the names of big blogging sites in your niche in the content. Such free promotion will help you do some professional networking and get you in touch with renowned names in the industry.

If they associate themselves or at least mention your blogs in a Tweet, that’s some great mutual publicity right there.

• Make your guest blogs a central part of your inbound marketing funnel. Deliver content of value and lead your audience towards an outcome.

Whether getting their contact details through an opt-in form, offering a niche-specific FREE giveaway, asking them to sign up for a newsletter, or pitching your latest product/service, guest posts & their backlinks can be a crucial aspect of any sales & conversion funnel. Link your backlinks to effective landing pages, well-designed opt-in forms, or a catalog of relevant products or services. Use the content funnel to direct any traffic to a specific outcome, not just a random post or page.

Writing a great guest post takes time. Use that time to craft valuable content that will impress bloggers and readers in your industry and in general for the best possible results.

Step 5: Following Up

Once your blog goes live, do not put your feet up just yet!

• Follow up the performance of your blogs by tracking hits, CTRs, traffic, comments, shares, and engagement.
• Answer every comment in a friendly manner.
• Share your live URL on your social media profiles, your author bios, future references & writing pitches as well.

Guest blogging is and will remain a dominant force in digital marketing. The demand for quality written content online will never dwindle, and people will always look for how-to guides, tips, step-by-step approaches, walk-through, and the like.

So, put in your effort, chalk out proper plans, and deliver top-notch guest blogs crafted and published with the right strategies. They WILL boost brand image and drive more traffic like very few other online marketing techniques.