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A Guide to Securing Guest Posts Through Guest Blogging
Introduction
Guest blogging is contributing content to another person's blog. Guest blogging helps to build awareness and authority for the contributing writer. Through guest blogging, you expand your reach to a relevant audience and introduce your brand to new readers. That's why you must be strategic about it. It's a great way to grow your digital visibility. To succeed, you must find the right guest blogging sites, reach out to the editors, and blog managers, and pitch to them. Write great content that fits the site and send your post to them. This article will give you a step by step guide to guest blogging.
1. Determine your guest blogging goals
Before starting with guest blogging, you must first outline your goals. Knowing your guest blogging goals will help you identify the best guest blogging sites. Knowing the results, you want to achieve from your guest posts will help you identify the road map for getting there. There are three major goals for guest blogging. It can be to position yourself as an authority in a particular niche, drive traffic to your website, or build backlinks to your website. When you identify what you want to accomplish from guest blogging, it will be easier to identify guest blogging opportunities.
2. Find the best sites for guest posting
The next step to effective guest blogging is finding the right websites to pitch your guest post. You can start by looking for sites that attract your target audience. You can create a list of sites that will help you connect with your audience. Find out the user engagement on the sites and the frequency of guest blog posting. You can find guest blogging opportunities via google search, connections with other guest bloggers, or relevant blogging community.
3. Create a compellingguest post pitch
Guest blogging isn't as easy as submitting your post, and the publisher uploads it on their blog. Your priority should be to get the publisher's attention, and you can only do this through a good guest post pitch. First, you have to contact the right person. Check for the contact information of the editor or blog manager and reach out to them directly. Look for the blog's guest posting guidelines. Don't send your post if you know the publisher won't accept it. Create a compelling subject line. You aren't the only one pitching to the publisher, so you need a compelling subject line to stand out in their inbox. Avoid writing something vague like "guest post submission." Include links to your portfolio to show your value. Also, when sending your email, be personal. Don't send generic emails to every publisher. Write your pitch as though you are writing a one-to-one correspondence.
4. Create good content for the post
Once the editor or blog manager respond to your email and finalizes on the topic, you can start writing your post. Review the guest post guidelines as it contains information such as word count, types of links to ass, etc. When creating your post, make sure it has similar elements to most guest posts on the site. Avoid promotional guest posts as guest posts are intended to offer information to the readers. Use keywords smartly and add links within the post. If you quote someone, be sure to add a link to them as well. End your guest post with a call to action that will motivate users to read it.
5. Use the right images
Finding the right image for your post can be a daunting task. Unless the publisher chooses to do it themselves, you can save them the stress and time by including the right image for your guest post. Pictures make it easier for the reader to understand your post.
6. Follow Up on the post
Once your post has been published on the website or blog, the work doesn't end there. Once it's live, you have to follow up on the post. Keep regular tab on the comments and reply to each of the comments individually. Try to reply to most of the comments on the post. You should also promote your post on social media and encourage people to read it. You can choose to send a thank-you note to the editor or blog manager, but it depends on you. It helps to make the relationship stronger, and you can get approved the next time you plan to guest post on their site again.
7. Track the Performance
Now, you need to track the performance of your guest post. You can use Google Analytics, and it helps you measure the referral traffic to your website and other essential performance metrics. You can also compare all the referrals from all the guest pots you have written to see how successful you have been.
8. Create the right author bio
Now, it’s time to create the author bio. Here, you are free to promote your brand and add links to your site and resources. You can include a single link to your homepage, a link to any page on your site, and a link to your social media pages. That's because it's where you get to link back to your site and resources. Some publishers do not put restrictions on links in the bio and in most cases, and you can add a link to a URL of your choice.
Conclusion
Guest blogging is a strategic way to grow your target audience on other websites. It helps to expand your reach and promote your brand. But this is only possible if you get published on the right platforms. So, if you aren't guest blogging, it's time to start now.