Guest posting has a long and proud history in the digital marketing world. It is often referred to as one of the most effective ways for content publishers to gain organic traffic from search engines like Google, Yahoo!, Bing, and even academia’s top-ranked journals. But it isn’t without its risks – so what are some lessons that can be learned from guest posting? My work has appeared on various websites, including Business Insider and Entrepreneur Magazine and specialist blogs like Copyblogger and Search Engine Land. Some of my postings performed well, while others did not do as well as I had hoped. Over the years, I’ve guest-posted over a hundred times and learned a lot.
Few points to consider while using this tactic in your marketing arsenal:
Lesson 1: Relevancy takes precedence over traffic.
I selected the most prominent names when picking which sites to guest-post on. For instance, I would prefer Huffington Post to Moz. Why? Because the Huffington Post receives far more traffic than Moz. However, guest writing on major content sites like Huffington Post, which cover every subject under the sun, has one major drawback. They have a shallow level of reader engagement. Take a look at this Huffington Post piece. It has a small number of comments and social shares, but every post on Moz receives dozens of comments and hundreds of social shares. Because sites like Moz exclusively cover one subject, this is the case. As a result, if your company is relevant to the topics covered by the blogs, their followers are more likely to convert. When I look at my statistics, I discover that guest pieces created for specialty, rather than broad-themed, sites generate over 93 percent of my leads. Focus on writing for specialized areas if you want to make money from your guest articles. Because the viewers of such blogs are more engaged, they are more likely to convert into customers.
Lesson 2: You must stick to a schedule for at least six months.
If you decide to guest post, you should plan on doing it at least once a week for at least six months. With just a few postings, you can’t anticipate tremendous results. It’s all about the statistics. I had high hopes when I initially began guest blogging, but my efforts resulted in few to no signups. I didn’t see any changes in my branding, either. If you keep blogging for a year, you’ll find that revenue begins to flow in since the content you published six months ago begins to rank well in search engines. The same thing happened to the Buffer crew. They’ve been guest posting for well over a year, and their content now produces hundreds of signups each month. They would still receive signups if they stopped guest blogging today since their past guest posts rank highly for searches like “social media tools.” Jayson DeMer also had a similar experience. When he initially began out, he received relatively few inquiries. After six months of guest writing on sites like Forbes and Huffington Post, he began to be approached by corporations such as Cisco, who were eager to pay him for his expertise. If you wish to be a guest blogger, you must commit to posting at least once a week for at least six months.
Lesson 3: Choose blogs depending on how active they are.
Which niche blogs should you select now that you know you should concentrate on them? The number of comments and social shares a blog receives should be decisive. It makes little difference whether a blog has a million monthly visits. These visitors aren’t engaged if they don’t share the article on social media or leave comments on it. Consider this: do you think people would go through to your website and take the time to purchase a product from you if they are unwilling to share an article or remark on it? Most likely, they aren’t. Choose sites with a lot of user involvement while you’re looking for places to guest post.
Lesson 4: Don’t forget to take part in the activities.
Guest writing is also about establishing your brand. A post may not result in any conversions, but it will increase awareness of you and your company. So, how can you make sure that each guest article benefits your business the most? Each of your postings should be promoted on your social media pages, and you should answer every remark.
Engaging with your readers takes time, but if you’re going to spend hours writing a guest post, you may as well spend a few additional minutes responding to comments. The benefit of interacting with individuals is that they will learn more about you and your company and may even begin to follow your blog if you have one. It’s one of the simplest methods to get new readers, and it’s exactly how Mashable’s Pete Cashmore grew his readership by commenting on his competitor’s blog.
Lesson 5: Do not guest-post for the sake of SEO.
One of the most common motives for guest posting by marketers is to influence search results. Because of their guest articles, I know several marketers who have received link warnings in Google Webmaster Tools. I understand how tempting it is to include keyword-rich anchor text in your guest articles, but this is something you should avoid. It would be best to consider following the link when connecting to your site. If you want to do this, go ahead, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Some areas are beginning to follow author profiles, which is good. For example, if your guest writes on Search Engine Journal, all links to your site will be immediately followed.
Lesson 6: Make sure you’re with the right people.
Do you recall how in high school, excellent kids hung out with cool kids, nerds hung out with nerds, and band students hung out with band kids? You are, as they say, the company you keep. I believe in this, which is why you should be selective when picking sites to guest-post on. Assemble a group of authors who are considered specialists on related subjects. If you do, others will begin to see you as an expert as well. As a result, your postings will get more excellent traction, allowing you to attract more consumers.
Lesson 7: Write guest posts for other people’s sites.
We like guest posting on other people’s sites since it leads to more conversions. For example, while marketing Strideapp, a sales CRM platform, we guest-post on Strideapp and sales-related blogs. INinbox is another example. We guest-post on the INinbox site since we interface with the platform. Guest writing on partner blogs generates more signups and income than guest posting on any other channel, according to our research. When it comes to selling Woothemes, I’ll use a similar strategy. I’m working on a free theme for company owners and marketers that will be released soon. Woothemes will develop the music, and I will optimize it. Guest blogging on their blog will help the article get more downloads.
Conclusion
I hope you find my lectures to be beneficial. When I initially began guest blogging, I published my pieces on any site that would allow them, including the American Express blog. I was disappointed since I wasn’t getting any signups after months of trying this. Fortunately, I discovered how to turn guest writing into a successful channel. You, too, can be a successful guest poster. You have to give it time and keep changing your strategy until it becomes lucrative.