When it comes to marketing, it’s hard to know which tactics to invest in. If you want to reach a wider audience, improve your search engine rankings, and further establish your brand as an authority in your niche, have you considered writing for other publications? This week’s newsletter is about guest posting the right way, the benefits of hiring guest writers for your blog, and why you should guest write with search engine optimization in mind. Let’s go!
In this week’s issue 📨
- Guest posting explained
- Bringing in guest writers
- Guest blogging for SEO
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Joining forces
As an independent publisher or solo creator, if you’re looking for a new strategy to drive traffic and grow your audience, why not consider investing in guest posting? This approach takes a lot of time and research to succeed, but if you ask yourself the right questions and have patience, you’ll know if pitching guest posts is just what the doctor ordered to help your bottom line.
Let’s examine what guest posting is, how to do it the right way, and if it’s the correct approach for your brand.
What is guest posting?
- Guest posting is when a guest author creates original content for someone else’s publication. If you’re looking for a boost in SEO from a backlink to your own site, traffic from referred clicks, or more brand awareness, guest writing might be your solution.
- Keep in mind that guest posting is not a golden ticket to growth, but it can be a shiny piece to your overall publishing puzzle. Start by identifying good audience alignment with other blogs and ensure you have something valuable to offer their readership.
Preparing your pitch
- Before you pitch a guest article, you’ll want to ensure you’ve shown proof that you’re an expert in your niche, provide a well-researched article idea that is valuable and unique, and have already built up some rapport with the publisher you’re pitching to.
- If you haven’t already connected with the publisher in some way, start engaging with them on socials, be an active participant in their community, and study their content to determine what gaps you could fill. If your approach isn’t genuine, pitching a guest post can feel a lot like spam.
Writing your pitch
- The last thing you want your pitch to be is generic. A personalized pitch takes more time but also increases your chance of success. Begin by briefly introducing yourself, complimenting their work by linking to articles you enjoyed, and setting realistic expectations of what you’ll do next.
- The best people to start with are people you already know. Keep your pitch as concise as possible, and make it very clear what value you intend to bring. If you’re sending a cold email, the chances of getting a response at all are low, so it’s acceptable to send a follow-up, but don’t overdo it.
Creating guest content
- Once you have an accepted pitch, ask if they have any content guidelines you can review. You’ll also want to prepare to receive feedback from their editor, so be open-minded about having to tweak your work as you go. Share your draft in a format that is easy to collaborate on, like Google Docs.
- Remember, know the audience by finding out what their readers need, keep your pitch personal, and don’t send an article you’ve already published elsewhere (unless they’ve agreed to this). Guest posting should feel like a partnership if you’re doing it correctly.
Interesting stories & ideas 📚
- News publishers shouldn’t give up on print – Press Gazette
- Facebook woos the kids – One Man & His Blog
- Journalism for people who don’t trust journalism – Nieman Lab
- 10 ways to improve your work – For The Interested
- The perfect cheating machine? – Cal Newport
Be our guest
Rather than guest posting for other publications, what if you’re looking for writers to hire for your blog? Maintaining a website and creating 100% of your content all on your own isn’t easy, and bringing in a guest blogger is one way to relieve some stress and clear your calendar. If you’re unsure if hiring guest contributors is the right approach for your business, we’ve got you covered.
Darla Ferrara, writer for Rock Content, helps us break down the benefits of hiring a guest writer to help keep you sane.
#1 Bringing in a guest blogger who is an authority on your niche can potentially increase your brand’s reputation.
#2 If your content is starting to feel a bit stale, hiring guest bloggers can be a solid way for your publication to expand into new specializations.
#3 Nobody is safe from writer’s block. If you’re struggling to think of new topics, a guest poster can bring new energy with a fresh voice.
#4 Guest writers can help gain new traffic to your site by promoting their posts on social media and other blogs.
#5 Bartering is timeless, and hiring a guest blogger usually means both sides see benefits. Consider writing a post for them in exchange for their services.
#6 Guest posting builds high-quality backlinks to your publication. This is one of the main factors that Google uses to rank websites.
#7 If you haven’t quite gotten the swing of networking, making connections with guest writers can help you build relationships with other blogs.
#8 This all boils down to saving time and money. Be sure that whomever you hire fits your brand’s vibe and falls within your budget.
All engines go
As we know by now, guest posting is a solid marketing tactic. It can help build your personal profile, raise brand awareness, and drive traffic to your site, but what happens when you combine guest blogging with other marketing strategies like SEO (search engine optimization)? Some experts say guest posts can harm SEO, while others say they can be beneficial.
The team at Semrush examines best practices in guest posting for SEO so you can increase your reach in the right ways.
‣ If your guest posting becomes too excessive, this can lead to poor-quality content. For example, having identical guest posts published on multiple sites can raise some SEO red flags. Unique content is key!
‣ When you link to your site from a guest post, you should always instruct Google to ignore the link for SEO purposes by setting it to nofollow. If you don’t do this, Google may issue a penalty against your site.
‣ If you want your guest post to rank well in Google, you can use tools like Semrush’s SEO Content Template and SEO Writing Assistant. This will help score your content based on readability, originality, and tone of voice.
‣ If you fail to disclose that your posts are from a guest writer, you might violate Google’s guidelines. You should always be completely transparent with your readers, clearly labeling all guest posts.
‣ Publishing on spammy sites can harm your guest blogging SEO. Spammy sites tend to sell guest post opportunities or links for a fee, publish low-quality content, and have low engagement among readers.
‣ Guest posting can be good for SEO because it helps you build your brand profile. When partnering with respected sites to show your expertise, you can establish credibility with readers and Google.
Curator’s pick ✍️
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