Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging

Out of all content marketing strategies available at your disposal, perhaps none is more heavily scrutinized (other than obvious black hat SEO techniques) than guest blogging. The practice has the potential to do wonders for your company, but the process to do it right has become more convoluted over the years. If you’re going to reap the rewards of guest blogging, you’ll need to go about it with the right strategy.

The Benefits of Guest Blogging

There is quite a lot to gain from having your writing posted on another website’s blog. For one, you gain tons of exposure when you post a guest blog with your company information attached. You open yourself up to a new audience with the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise through your written content. This has the potential to funnel a large amount of new traffic to your website, generating new leads.

Not only do you gain plenty of direct exposure through your content, but you also have the chance to boost your website’s SEO. By including backlinks to your website, you can drive more clicks and climb in search engine rankings. Of course, doing this also simultaneously gives you even more direct exposure.

When you post a blog on a guest website, you also establish a positive relationship with a new business partner. If the blog gets positive feedback, there’s the possibility of them letting you post another guest blog down the road.

Important Things to Know About Guest Blogging

Because guest blogging became such a widely pursued strategy for gaining exposure, there are now lots of spammy requests for guest blogging in many editors’ inboxes. It can be tough to get in touch with publications that want to post guest blogs and actually stand out enough to get them to agree to feature you.

When looking for places to guest blog, check the connections you already have. You could do this with people you know personally, or leverage positive and established connections on LinkedIn. Moving out from there, search for industry blogs that are related to your practice but aren’t necessarily direct competition. For example, you might look for companies who sell orthodontic products or orthodontic associations. If you find websites that have already allowed guest blogs, those are the best places to start asking.

When you do make contact with a new connection asking to contribute a guest blog, be sure to make your email professional but personal. Include a link to your blog, your contact information, and a concise but compelling message about why it would be a good idea for them to post your content on their blog. Of course, if you don’t have great content on your blog already, you’ll want to start with that first.

You may have to start small before aiming for more major publications, but don’t settle for garbage. If they aren’t proud of their engagement stats, or if they aren’t willing to send them over at all, then it’s probably not worth your time and effort. Look for blogs with similar buyer personas as your company and a strong following to make a guest blog beneficial.

When you negotiate your guest blog contribution, make sure both parties are on the same page. Some blogs charge to post on their website or ask that your guest blog be completely original and exclusive to their blog. You should also ask about any conditions for including backlinks as well.

When you make good connections and find quality websites to post guest blogs, it will be well worth your effort.