Guest blogging, the practice of contributing content to another website as a guest author, offers many benefits for business owners. From boosting website traffic to establishing thought leadership, here's why guest blogging should be a cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy, along with practical tips on how to execute it effectively.
Why guest blogging matters
- Enhanced visibility: By publishing content on reputable websites within your niche, you gain access to their existing audience base, exposing your brand to a wider pool of potential customers.
- Establishing authority: Sharing valuable insights, expertise, and thought leadership through guest blogging helps position your business as an industry authority, earning trust and credibility among your target audience.
- Quality backlinks: Securing backlinks to your website from authoritative sources drives direct referral traffic and improves your site's search engine ranking, boosting its visibility in search results.
- Networking opportunities: Collaborating with other industry professionals and influencers through guest blogging opens doors to valuable partnerships, collaborations, and networking opportunities that can fuel your business’ growth.
5 steps to writing and submitting successful guest blog posts
Choose an objective. Guest posting works best if it’s tailored to a specific purpose, whether that’s proving yourself as an authority in your field, upping web traffic, or building your mailing list. Once you’ve identified your core goals, you can create appropriate, focused content that will resonate with your audience.
Search for websites that offer guest blogging opportunities. Begin by investigating well-established websites in your niche or industry that will fit the content you wish to promote. Tip: type ‘write for us’ and ‘guest posts’ in your search phrases to bring up websites that accept submissions. It’s also a good idea to contact sites that have previously mentioned your business.
Do your research. Once you’ve identified a few potential publishers, check their site for submission guidelines (often tucked away in a section titled ‘Write for Us’ or ‘Submissions’. Pay attention to their requirements and read recent blog posts to see if you’re a good fit.
Write and submit. It’s time to craft a blog post tailored to your chosen site’s audience. Consider their location, age range, interests, and unique problems during the creative process to ensure your piece is pitch-perfect. Remember to include a link to your site, and don’t be too self-promotional.
If possible, track down the name of the site owner or the chief editor and contact them directly via email, introducing yourself, your article, and why you think it will suit their audience. While you can use a template to help you, don’t forget to tweak it to suit each site, mentioning them by name and referring to recent successful posts relevant to yours. If they don’t respond after a week or so, feel free to send a polite follow-up email before pitching elsewhere.
Promote and analyse. Success – someone has accepted your post and published it. Ensure you post the link on your platforms and monitor metrics such as referral traffic stats, mailing list sign-ups, and brand engagement. What went well? What could be improved? Use the answers to formulate your next post.
The takeaway? Don't overlook the potential of guest blogging – embrace it as a key component of your digital marketing arsenal; it might just be the missing piece.
