5 Benefits of Guest Posting + Guidelines for Success

Before we begin discussing the benefits and guidelines of guest posting, I’m assuming you found this article because you want to begin guest posting but have no idea where to start, or you want to learn a little more about guest blogging before you dive in.

It might seem like a lot of extra work if you are already crunched for time, but I encourage you to stay for the read and think about how you can add guest posting into your blog’s promotional strategy.

What is Guest Posting / Blogging?

Guest posting is writing an original piece of content for another blog or website, in exchange for promotion and a link back to your site.

Note the word ‘original‘.

When guest posting, you MUST ensure the content you are providing is written uniquely for that specific publication.

Also, never use that exact content on your blog – ever.

5 Benefits of Guest Posting

There are endless benefits to being a content contributor on someone else’s blog, but I will share with you the main reasons guest posting is so important.

With this, my hope is that you will start seeking more guest posting opportunities right away!

1. Access a New Audience

Whether you are a new or more seasoned blogger/content creator, guest posting for others allows you to access a completely new audience.

Getting your content in front of another blogger’s audience can lead to increased traffic on your website through referral traffic.

Tip: You can also ask if you can promote a lead magnet in the guest post to help grow your email list.

2. Build Blogger Relationships

I personally love working with other bloggers and their contributions to my websites means I have begun a relationship with them.

How so, you ask?

When someone contributes content to my websites, it means I am interested in what they have to say, and I believe their content would be beneficial to my readers.

Therefore, I will literally go out of my way to visit their sites, share their content on social media, and include them in future round-up posts.

>>Learn more about round-up posts in this article: 15 Types of Blog Posts to Grow Your Website Traffic.

3. Increase your Domain Authority (DA)

Domain authority is a search engine ranking created by Moz. With DA, you get a score from 1 to 100 and the higher the ranking, the easier it is to rank on Google.

Your DA score represents the number of websites that link to you, and the higher their DA is, the more it can increase your score.

Having a good DA tells Google and other search platforms that your content is reputable and trusted, due to good-quality websites linking to you.

Your Goal: Increase your domain authority by getting high-quality backlinks. This is where guest posting comes in.

What is a backlink?

As defined by SearchMetrics.com…

“Backlinks are links from outside domains that point to pages on your domain; essentially linking back from their domain to yours. To a larger degree, your backlink profile is made up of backlinks from external sites (also known as referring domains) that contribute to the overall strength, relevance and diversity of your domain’s backlink profile.”

Here is a tool you can use to check your current domain authority number.

4. Grow Your Referral Traffic

If you look in your Google Analytics under Aquisition/All Traffic/Channels you will see a breakdown of where your sessions (visits) are coming from.

Referral traffic is one of these channels. See screenshot…

The more you guest post and get involved in interviews, the more you will see your referral traffic increase.

5. Great Promotion for a New Product Launch.

If you have an upcoming product launch or a service you offer, what better way to promote it than by guest posting?

You will have even more people interested in allowing you to guest post if you also have an affiliate program set up which you can do on sites like SendOwl.

See my post on how to make money blogging for more on affiliate income.

How to Find Guest Posting Opportunities: Guidelines

Before you start guest posting, you want to make sure that you keep a few guidelines in mind.

1. First, you need to know who is accepting guest posts.

I recommend checking out sites in your niche so you can make a list of those who accept guest posts or article submissions.

The best way to find these sites:

• Look in the footer of websites to see if they have a ‘submit an article’ section or something similar
• Do a Google search for ‘places to guest post’ or ‘guest post site list’ – just make sure you find an article that has an up to date list
• If you’re in any online business groups (Facebook, Reddit, etc), leave a post that you are looking for guest posting opportunities.

2. Write for a blog that directly relates to your niche.

This way, you already know that the website’s readers are more likely to be interested in your content. It also means that your ‘dofollow‘ link will hold more clout from Google.

3. Ensure the blog has a strong social media following.

Strong can mean a good number of followers, but it’s actually more important that the followers are engaged.

• Therefore, visit the blog’s Facebook page and see if people are liking and commenting on posts.
• Check out the Pinterest page and look at the Monthly viewer number and the ‘Activity’ section of the profile. This shows what people are pinning directly from the blog pages.

4. Check for quality!

If you are guest posting, make sure the quality of the site is high.

I’m referring to the quality of the content and a professional-looking site.

5. Check their Domain Authority

It’s ideal if the website you are looking to write for has a higher DA than your own.

You can find out by accessing this DA checker.

Keep in mind though:

If a blog has all of the other criteria above and a lower DA, know that the blog could be new or is growing.

So, if it’s a great content fit and a high-quality blog, it’s still beneficial to guest post as domain authority numbers are constantly changing.

6. Contact the website owner

Either email or submit a request through the website. Follow any directions the site owner has already provided, such as proposed topics, details on the post and why you want to guest post for them.

Make sure you are professional, have excellent writing skills with no bad grammar and make sure you read some of their posts in advance so you get a true feeling of their content.

(I’ve had too many situations of people reaching out asking if they can write about beauty products or finance on my personal growth blog). This looks bad on the person reaching out for the opportunity and as a result, there will be no guest post acquired!

What You Should Get in Exchange for a Guest Post

What you receive promotion-wise from a guest posting opportunity is different for every publication.

There are however, some things you should get at a minimum:

1. Inclusion of a photo and bio of yourself/your website

2. A ‘dofollow’ link to your site

3. Links to your social media profiles

4. Promotion of your guest post on the publication’s social media.

Also ask if you can:

• Share a lead magnet in the post, or
• A product/service

If you aren’t sure what you’ll be getting in exchange, ask.

Also, if you have some creative ideas on how to get more promotion, ask the website owner. What have you got to lose?

What has been your experience with guest blogging?

Share in the comments below

More Blogging Resources:

• 15 Types of Blog Posts to Grow Your Website Traffic
• 9 of the Best Free Blogging Courses to Try this Year
• 15 Ways to Promote Your Blog for Free
• 150 Lifestyle Blog Post Ideas to Attract Loyal Readers

 

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