Guest blogging has been touted as the next generation of link building because it allows you to simultaneously reach out to a new community, display your expertise, expand your brand, and (of course) build links to your website in one fell swoop.
Used effectively, guest blogging can quickly become a main staple of your business during peak launch periods, bolstering review and money pages, lead to greater list building, and allow you to “get your foot in the door” with fellow website owners.
What this does mean is an increase in your content production frequency and additional work, on your end, to lurk the Web to find these opportunities but, if you so choose to pursue this traffic generation method, you’ll see the immediate benefits and return on investment.
In this guide, the biggest questions will be answered about guest blogging along with a clear-cut guide for integrating the traffic method into your affiliate business.
Why the method is far more valuable than you may have thought
A lot of website and online business owners scoff at placing more time into content production since it generally deters their resources from doing other activities such as closing a sale. These types of individuals are short sighted but it may be a case that they’re unaware of the immense benefits of guest blogging.
Here’s an expansion on how guest blogging plays a major role in your marketing strategy:
- Community expansion – Creating content for other websites allows you to share your expertise with a new segment of the overall community; taking this action encourages members on the target website to visit yours, and many of these individuals are newcomer’s which means fresh opportunity to create engagement.
- Authority building – Spreading your message solely through your preferred platforms limits your reach because the people listening have already heard it all, but guest posting gives you a fresh set of eyes and ears to show off our expertise and reinforce your authority within your niche; building this authority leads to greater opportunities in business and expedites the sales process due to trust.
- Link sculpting – An obvious benefit to guest blogging comes in the form of a backlink (generally you’ll have the privilege to fill in your author bio and use one or two links); these can become very powerful links to your site to gain an edge in the search engines.
- Buzz generating – The first 24 hours of a product launch is most crucial because it’s when interest and buzz spikes; incorporating a host of guest blogging strategies, timed with your product launch, will increase your chance of building a buzz which naturally leads to a greater chance of creating sales.
- List building – Crafting specific landing pages aimed at the visitor coming through your guest post is an effective method for increasing your email list; you use a landing page with opt-in forms as your backlink rather than pointing to the home page.
- Networking – Talk is cheap which is why giving something of value to another website owner, such as a guest post, opens the doors to a greater relationship with the individual; you save them time from having to create content and they’ll come back at you with feedback, business opportunities, and being supportive of your work.
In essence: guest blogging does everything you need to generate leads to your business, solidify your authority and brand, and build great relationships.
If you still feel resistant to guest blogging then you’ve effectively shot yourself in the foot.
Getting your foot in the door with website and business owners
Site and business owners generally accept guest post for one simple reason: they’re stressed on time.
We all know that constant content production, on your site, shows a direct boost in web traffic (since you have something to share on social networks and something to get indexed in search engines) but everyone hits a point when they don’t have the time to push out a fresh piece of content – it’s at this moment where the guest post truly shines.
Of course, there are those blogs that are always open to guest posting and rely on community creation to keep the site running but these are pretty easy to get in with since it’s such an open platform.
There are plenty of online resources, tools, and methods to landing a guest post but if you know how to communicate and follow this three-step process then you’ll have done 80% of the leg-work:
1. Build rapport with the website owner through social media, email, or even give them a phone call.
2. Ask how you can aid in their website and business development to display value to the individual.
3. Pitch a guest post after a thorough amount of research about their community and align your writing style, topic, and tone to that of the website.
That’s really all there’s to it.
You want to become part of their community, to understand it, communicate with the individual, and offer some of your content so they’re not stressed on time and worried about the lack of fresh content.
Writing done right – the guest blogging way
When it comes to writing – it’s a whole different story.
Let’s keep this short and sweet:
Write as if it’s the last piece you’ll ever create.
Your guest post is a pitch to the new community and website/business owner – it’s like sending off a resume – you have one shot to make it happen.
Pour every bit of effort into your guest post.
- Make sure it aligns to the community needs and desires
- Cover important topics and back your work with resources
- Inject links to other articles on the site (this relieves work that would be done by the owner)
- Keep the same tone as the target blog but remain unique
- Have someone read and edit your work
If you treat the piece as the only one you’ll ever create – you’ll go the extra mile to not only make it a powerful piece of content for the target site but make it work for you when it comes to traffic and engagement.
Making it all worth your while for traffic, authority, and conversions
If you have made the pitch and pieced together the content then it’s now just a matter of using it to build your work.
Many guest bloggers do a “hit and run” whereas they submit the post, it’s published, and then they vanish, never to follow up with the community or site owner.
Don’t do this.
It not only burns the site owner but it does so for you, too.
A guest post should be a commitment.
After all, you spent a good deal of your time building a rapport with the site owner and took the time to produce valuable content – so why blow it now?
Whether it’s to gain leads for your business or done so to build authority, don’t forget to follow these actions in order to tap into the full potential of your guest blogging efforts:
- Monitor and respond to comments that appear on your guest post to continue the discussion and show that you’re an active member in the niche.
- Share and keep sharing the content on social networks, bookmarking sites, and other platforms to generate buzz, deliver the site owner some traffic, but also increase your chances of the click through to your site.
- Thank the site owner for allowing you to submit a piece and ask if you may do so again, in the future, depending on what’s happening with the sites and businesses.
- Ask if they know of other opportunities for guest posting seeing they most likely have a few individuals, in their network, which could use some fresh content.
- Go the extra mile to set up landing pages to capture the visitor’s attention by pairing it with a message that not only thanks to them for visiting but aligns content that’s similar to the one they have just gone through (this is a great way to increase your opt-in and community retention rates).
Treat that guest post as if it’s your product. Do everything you can to promote the work but take the time to nurture it as it begins to do the ‘rounds’ on social media. A little extra effort goes a long way to turn an otherwise forgettable guest post into a powerful platform for your branding and message.
Read this guide to content marketing for additional resources and strategies.
Don’t forget this most vital step in the process …
Make guest blogging a normal activity in your marketing efforts.
Don’t worry about volume – go for quality.
Work on getting your guest posts onto the big, authority websites with massive communities; doing this gives you a stronger link, better opportunity to reach a new community, and does wonders for building authority in your niche.
Try doing just one or two guest posts a month. It will only be a few hours of your time but will be immensely valuable for your long-term goals.
