Guest blogging isn't just a link building tactic (that has been spammed and abused). It's an excellent way to build your credibility, your community, and your customer base.
But you have to be strategic about it and put some quality effort into it.
When you guest blog, you've been provided the opportunity to leverage someone else's audience, someone else's brand, and someone else's established forum.
That means, if you're doing it right, guest blogging should be some of your best work. Think of it as a speaking engagement. You wouldn't get up in front of a group of people unprepared. You would take the time to carefully craft your message in order to make the biggest impact on your audience.
And when you're putting in all of that hard work, you don't just want to guest blog anywhere. You want to strategically put your effort into blogs that are a match for your values, philosophies, and company. Because ultimately, you're using guest blogging as a tactic to attract customers to your business.
Finding a guest-blogging match
So let's say you want to use guest blogging as a tactic for your business development and community building efforts. How would you find those opportunities?
How about these five simple steps:
[1] Determine goals and key performance indicators (KPIs)
Success in anything, but especially in guest blogging, starts with identifying goals. What are you trying to accomplish? What are you expecting to gain from it? And, also very significant: How will you measure success?
Let's say I'm looking for blogging opportunities. There are three things that I would like to accomplish:
- Become part of new communities and build relationships with people outside of SEO. (Not that there's anything wrong with SEOs. It's just an example, folks. Carry on).
- Attract business that is a match for Mack Web's culture and values.
- Find new information sources (blogs) where I can learn, teach the team, and better serve our clients.
[2] Define your audience by developing personas
In order to determine the right guest-blogging opportunities, you've got to identify your target audience. One way to do that is to develop personas. This will help you define the specific people you want to attract to your community and your company through your guest-blogging efforts.
For example, if I'm looking to attract people who are curious about social media marketing, possibly community building, and how that can help them build their business, one of my personas may look like this:
Name: Joanna
Title: CMO
Company: A small SaaS startup
Desires: Rapid growth, increased revenue generation
Goals: Drive ROI through social and community building
Having an understanding of who you're targeting will assist you in filtering guest-blogging prospects later.
[3] Find some targets in your niche
Now that you've figured out who in general you want to target, you'll want to actually find the specific people that you want to reach out to for guest-blogging opportunities. You can start by looking for influential people and then determining whether they have blogs to which you could contribute.
Using myself as an example, I would go to Followerwonk and do some searching. I'm going to start with the phrase "social media marketing" and then sort the results by Social Authority.
After sifting through just the first page of results, I recognize Jeff Bullas as a possible guest blogging target. He's not the CMO I'm looking to attract, but I'd be willing to bet there are CMOs that read his blog. So let's work with him as a possible target in the social media marketing niche.
[4] Qualify the source
Once you've found some possible targets in your niche, you'll want to do a little legwork to make sure they're the right fit. You may want to keep track of this stuff in a spreadsheet so that you can organize and filter your results later.
There may be bunch of things that you investigate with these opportunities, but if you're trying to do this quickly, try some of these:
1. Check for a blog
Clearly you cannot guest blog for someone who does not in fact have a blog, so that's step number one.
On Jeff Bullas's blog, I can conduct a simple search for [guest post]:
By clicking on these results, it's clear that he allows guest submissions (and, in fact, that he allows them quite frequently). So if this ends up being a good fit for me, I may have a greater chance of getting a spot.
2. Check for domain authority and link profile
You'll want to make sure that you're putting all of the hard work of your quality content on a blog that has strong credibility.
You can type the URL of the blog into Open Site Explorer to check their domain authority and link profile. You will certainly be earning a link from this blog, so even if it is nofollow, you want to ensure that you're being associated with a quality site. Not that a low DA is always an indication of a poor blog; some are just new and haven't yet built their authority. You just want to make sure you're building trust and not hurting your reputation, your brand, or your own link profile. In addition to DA, then, you'll want to check their profile:
At a quick glance, Jeff Bullas's link profile looks pretty swell; he's earned links from some reputable places. I would say he passes the domain authority and link profile check.
Just make sure when you're qualifying blogs that are not as established or well known that you're picky about this stuff so that you don't pay for it later. You want to be associated with high quality, so that's what you're looking for.
3. Check for engagement
You also want to make sure you've qualified this guest-blogging opportunity on the social side. What kind of engagement does the blog get? What does its community look like? What is its reach?
Looking at both Jeff Bullas's posts, and especially at his guest authors' posts, you can see that there's quite a bit of engagement. Not only do they get shared, but they even elicit comments:
Another way to look for engagement is to search for the URL of the guest blog post in Twitter. This will allow you to investigate the people who have actually tweeted this guest blogger's post:
Chances are many of the same people who read and tweet these posts are the same ones that may read or share mine (if I were given the opportunity, of course). Based on who is tweeting these posts, I can determine whether that audience is a match for the persona I've defined.
[5] Check yes or no
Once you've worked through each of the steps above, you're probably ready to make a decision about the guest-blogging opportunity that's in front of you. But before you check "yes" or "no" (and ask for the opportunity), I'd highly recommend asking yourself one final question:
Is this guest blogging opportunity a culture and value fit for your business?
Ultimately, if your guest blogging is a success, you will attract customers from this blog to your website and blog. So, most importantly, you've got to make sure the people who are part of this community are in alignment with your brand.
Go read the entries on the blog. Is the content of good quality? Do the posts resonate with your philosophies? Are the other contributors to this blog reputable? Would you hang out with them? If you were to guest on this blog, would it speak well of your brand? Are you going to want any of their readers as your customers? Would you spend time with their community?
Just some important things to think about before you spend a whole lot of time on guest blogging. Make sure it's a match for your business.
Time well spent
Guest blogging is a really powerful way to connect with people, build relationships, and find qualified leads for your business. If you take the time to strategically seek and qualify the right opportunities, it will be time well spent.
Have you had success in finding quality guest blogging opportunities? Share your successes and techniques in the comments below.
I think that Jeff is going to be bombed with guest posts requests :D.
Jokes apart, I think that it must be stated clear in BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS that Guest Blogging is not the New Article Marketing.
Guest Blogging must be just one tactic you put in the cradle of your Inbound Marketing campaigns and - even if links are a direct benefit - links should not being the primary goal, but reaching your targeted audience.
Said that, with Followerwonk you can also its "Compare Users" function. That way you will see how much your audience is overlapping with the targeted blogger one, you can find contacts who may help you introducing yourself to the blogger (a fact that can open apparently closed doors) and discover new potential alternative targets.
Ha! I hope Jeff doesn't hate me forever for this post :)
Agreed Gianluca, that it's important to hear that the point of this post is not to scale guest blogging for links. It's to find the right fit for your business and become part of a new community. When done right, there are great benefits for both sides.
"links should not being the primary goal, but reaching your targeted audience."
Couldn't agree more! I think that as long as you put your audience ahead of gaining links chances are you aren't going to run afoul of the search guidelines. The whole point of creating great content is to build up your brand and reputation, connect with and educate your target audience, and start to build some semblence of a relationship.
You also need to put your brand in front of gaining links. Yes, links are important, but more so is building trust in your brand so that you are connecting long-term with customers. That's why it's so imperative to be selective about guest blogging. Your intention is to gain exposure from the right audience and contribute value to the conversation.
Reaching your targeted audience should be the ultimate goal of the marketing efforts
This is a perfect piece to prove why guest blogging is not article marketing, it’s not a link building tactics... it is about building your brand’s image within the targeted audience and it’s about exposing your skills to the people who care!
The major problem is that people have a wrong understanding of Guest Blogging and as a result they continuously use it to generate links which in the longer run kills there brand like anything.
I personally love how you use followerwonk.com to find quality prospects!
Great Piece!
Thanks Moosa. The problem is that many people want the easy, "scalable" way of doing things. And the truth is, this stuff doesn't always scale. Sure, you can use tools like Followerwonk to identify prospects, but in the end you have to take the time to dig through the research and find a good match.
Guest blogging has been a great and valuable experience for me and has really helped Mack Web to build our brand. I highly recommend investing the time and effort.
Out of curiosity-how would a guest blog help to kill your brand?
I get it, that's the perception around here and common knowledge so to speak, but despite everyone spouting that off as fact, I haven't seen anything provide a case study or even an information to back up that statement.
How do you know that?
It's all about building trust and credibility in your brand. The type of guest blogging I'm referring to takes a lot of time and effort and I would not care to waste that on a low quality site for a link. I see guest blogging as an opportunity to build authority and attract opportunity and you want to do that in the right places. Just the same, guest blogging on a bunch of low quality sites does not contribute to the reputation I want to set for my brand.
Here I will agree with Moosa & followerwonk.com is really an amazing tool. I love it.
Thanks,
Yousuf
Hi Mackenizie Nice post i think link is more important than blogging because blogging is built relationship and connecting with the people.
Another awesome post Mackenzie :-) Also, use Faker Score to check the Twitter profile of the potential blogger, it allows you to see if they're manipulating anything when it comes to twitter followers and make sure you read the comments, I've seen plenty of blogs that fake comments or use automated comment posters... Or some blogs that just are unlucky and get spammed, SEO by the Sea had a serious spam issue but I'd still love to be able to guest post there! Just make sure you properly research the target before sending them an email, I've unfortunately ended up with posts for clients on pretty crappy blogs after not properly doing my research. Great tutorial for anyone looking to do some proper guest post outreach and some prime steps to follow when looking at targets!
Thanks Charles. That's a great point on Faker Score. And yes, research is really important. Unfortunately guest blogging has become so abused that you really do have to invest the time in making sure the source is credible (and the right fit for your company).
Totally agree, it's become a bit like article directory spamming of the 08 era! It's also super easy to go and buy some private blog network links which is like guest blog spam anyway... I'm a grey hat so I know most tricks in the book but I like to go with quality guest posts as my tier 1 links anyway, then just go with natural editorial links and my "internet engagement links" aka blog commenting, forum links and the likes of my Moz web 2.0 profile for everything else... In my opinion, as long as you've earnt your link with good quality content then I don't see why it should be a problem with Google!
I love this post. I'm just venturing into a guest blogging campaign and glad that quality not quantity is the recommended advice. There is a lot of people warning of pending Google penalties at the moment, but as far as I can see, as long as guest blogging is done correctly (in a quality manner), then I think it will be a worth while tactic for years to come. I like the fat that if you target blogs with good readership, you can actually leverage their audience for additional traffic and potentially more guest blogging spots.
Seen as guest blogging is now being targeted in such high volumes and there is a concerny of being spammed, is it not best to concentrate on your own blog post or alternatively, as one member mentioned, create your own niche and invite people of authority to this?
Certainly it is important to grow the quality content on your own blog as well as your following and the community that you're building for your own brand. What guest blogging does is helps you have a great reach than you may have on your own blog.
For example, when we first started the Mack Web blog we had absolutely no engagement and no following. People didn't share our content and they certainly didn't comment on it. As we've grown our following, our credibility, and our community, people now share our content and also take the time to comment on our posts. Doesn't happen every time like it does on Moz, but for the size of community that we have, we're really excited about the progress as these things take a lot of time.
So my advice to you would be to do both. Put a lot of quality effort into your own blog and a strategy that is going to help you reach your goals that you have for your blog. And also put a lot of quality effort into guest blogging in the right places. Over time (it took us almost a year) you will start to see some little victories. Eventually, your efforts begin to organically work for you and your investment will start to pay off.
PS. love that you used Jeff Bullas as an example, he has a great blog.
Hi,
I agree to the point that we need to make a brand and work towards it but at the same time I think we are drifting away from reality.
Guest posting is one of the most authenticated high quality link building techniques, so is that even possible not to create links and waiting for a period such as 10 months. If some one is writing from him/herself or his/her own business its alright.
I have a question from an SEO company point of view which has to create quality backlinks from guest postings, what do you suggest their approach should be.
having said everything the post was really informative. Waiting for the response.
TIA
I completely understand your concern. Any business will want to experience a return on their investment. And many won't wait 10 months for that to happen.
In the 10 months that it took Mack Web to earn clients from my guest blogging efforts, we weren't just using guest blogging. We were creating quality content on our blog. We were reading and learning so that we could step up our game. We were going to events and conferences and meeting people. We were using social media to connect with people and companies who we respected. We were using email marketing and SEO. But most importantly, we were working on becoming a better company. We were doing everything we could possibly think of to become more efficient in our systems and processes and better serve our clients. The results that we experienced in just 10 months went way beyond the clients and the links we earned.
I'm not saying that links aren't important. But focusing only on building links is not a sustainable way to build a company. There's too many components that are missing from that equation.
My recommendation is that you work to educate your clients (or your boss) that you've got to use an integrated strategy. And, I won't lie, if you've only focused on building links thus far, it's going to take a lot of work to make the evolution. Links and SEO are important but they're only one part of the tool set. I'd highly recommend working on building community and a brand for the success of any company long term.
Thanks alot for the response and I agree to all of it, especially building brands etc.
I am concerned about the small brands ( which are not even brands and dont also care about it ), say a yoga teacher or a small parking lot management company. Focusing on actual business scenario - neither they have budget nor patience for rankings or results. I would really appreciate if you can help to throw some light on scenario stated above. How do we deal with this ?
A great article describing how to find opportunities and guest blog, but are those all about guest blogging? Actually, I don't think so! Most often site owners hate guest posts, as they really look spammy and get fewer or no responses from audience. So, the link building process again goes back to the same old buying and selling links.
You may argue that the idea of guest posting is an innovative one and it's not this or that, but no matter what you say, it's actually the same old buying and selling. Interestingly, the difference between the old and new is the package.
The new rule is higher you can expense, more packages you can buy! Amazingly, this new package just comes up with three different ways, including an old one.
Hi Mackenzie, some sound advice here. I think as Content Marketers we have a huge responsibility to ensure the content we create, as well as the guest posts we source are not just quality, but as you say add real value and have a purpose. Whilst everything else you mention is spot on, I think this is the biggest part of outreach, ensuring it fulfills a purpose (something much more meaningful than just a link). Great post.
Your advice for pinpointing guest blogging opportunities is terrific! I’d like to add, in regards to step 4, point 3 which refers to checking the engagement, Klout is also a very good tool to help identify how influential a blogger is in social media and how much he engages with his audience. We know that there are still a lot of people in the industry looking for a good “formula” when it comes to evaluating the influence of a blog and that’s why we wrote the following article as well on the subject: https://www.newsmakergroup.com/blog/how-to-determine-which-blogs-to-pitch/
I like your bold viewpoints on Guest Blogging. Your writing style is both informational and Persuasive in this article. I share many of your same views. Thanks for this useful article.
Having such blogs it is easy to do guest blogging, I have Blogatize a guest blogging ideas are shared here
Hi Mack,
Thanks for this great post on guest blogging!!
Your all points hit the nail on head. Guest blogging must be used to build trust, vote of confidence, community, brand building & then links. I really liked the way you used followerwonk to get that match.
One thing I want to know is, how could we get customers from guest blogging? Suppose, a person who is writing SEO post & submitting it here but his post were being read by only those people who knows SEO's & not others.
Same applies to all other fields. So, what do you think, could we get client from guest blogging?
I'll be waiting for your reply.
Thanks.
Hi Hyderali-
Yes, I very much think that you can attract clients from guest blogging, but it may take some time. I have signed clients from my guest blogging, but that didn't happen until about 10 months in. This will be different for everyone, and it is quite possible that you can do a lot of great guest blogging and not gain clients from these efforts. Do keep in mind however that guest blogging brings a great deal more than clients. It helps you to build trust, credibility, your brand, friendships. Just like the serendipitous stuff that Rand always talks about, guest blogging has a lot of that in there too.
That's why it's so important for you to define your goals and how you will measure success with guest blogging efforts. What's in it for you? How long do you want to invest in it in order to see results? In general content marketing efforts like guest blogging are longer term, so I'd suggest at least investing a year before calling it quits.
As far as your question here goes:
Suppose, a person who is writing SEO post & submitting it here but his post were being read by only those people who knows SEO's & not others.
On Moz, you have a mix of people who are learning to do SEO and people who may be looking to hire people who do SEO. So it's quite possible, if you're trying to attract SEO clients, that you could find them on Moz through guest blogging efforts.
You just need to make sure that you do the research to determine who the target readers are in that audience that would be reading your posts.
Same goes for other industries. You just have to find blogs that have the right audience. If you follow some of the steps I mentioned above that will help you to investigate the audience and determine if they're a fit, that will help as well. Really, it's just something you need to try and see how it works for you. It has worked extremely well for me based on the goals that I have set.
Thanks Mack for the reply. Whoa! It took 10 months for you to get clients. I agree with your statement that people sometimes need everything very quickly but they don't know that it requires hard work & dedication like you people do. Definitely, I learnt something from your comment & post. Keep up the great work!!
Mackemzie
I agree with all your points and i find its quite impressive but let me ask you one thing - as you have mentioned about the websites with High Domain Authority and Page Authority, i am finding its quite tough to get all the guest post from those websites who are having such qualities. In that case, what should be the minimum DA and PA that we should consider.
Hello Nazre-
I think more than being concerned with a minimum DA and PA you need to be aware of the link profile as well as the engagement level. Don't get me wrong, DA and PA are important (especially because if you do earn a link, you want it to contribute positively to your site's authority), but there are many low level DA and PA blogs or sites that are high quality and credible, they just haven't yet built the authority.
What you're looking for are blogs that are reputable, have life, have a conversation that happens when content does in fact go up on their site. Many times a blog won't have a lot of comments, but they have a good amount of social sharing which means they do have somewhat of an engaged audience.
Use your intuition. Is this site/blog a place that adds to your reputation and brand (or your client's)?
U told me the things which was exactly running in my mind, basically a post or Link is beneficial only when it comes from a website/blog which is maintaining the quality, and quality may be calculated by defining the visitors, DA, PA, frequency of Updates on that website/Blog and the quality of content. In one sentence – the potential activities on that website/blog.
I am extremely thankful for sharing your experience and your valuable thoughts. It’s very helpful.
Ideally, your target blogger is on a positive DA trajectory just as you are. Over time, the host blogger will build more links of his own and your link will become more valuable. For this reason it is crucial to check for that culture fit. A site with a small but sketchy link profile will likely be tempted to go even more black hat in the future, and now you're permanently associated with spam and low trust on a much bigger scale.
what software do you use it ?
Great post, I love your content and advice
Hi Mackengie,
I have lots of doubts about guest posting .Thanks for your nice piece of information about guest posting.
It will help me.
Guest Blogging and Linking. This is as good as Hand and Glove co-ordination. If it works that's fine if it won't it will surely give you something which you and your body won't accept it at all.
Getting links is one part and I feel its a very small and a little shabby part, However "Credibility" is a biggest factor.
Great Post.. Kudos.
Honestly, I don't think that guest blogging can be that effective. For me your article looks kind of strange.
Hi Mackenzie! I tend to agree with you that guest blogging isn't just a link building tactic. It is an excellent way to build our integrity, community, and our customer base. We really need to be strategic about it and we need to put some effort into it.
Thanks for sharing such detailed ideas for guest posting. I had read about guest blogging but wasn't sure how to get started or what it really even was. Thanks again, will definitely be implementing these strategies in future.
And Google penalized guest blogging network... but guest blogging isn't dead for sure:)
Great guide! I have had a lot of trouble with finding fruitful guest posting possibilities, your way is definitely great!
yes very well said great article that reaching your targeted audience should be the ultimate goal of the marketing efforts. The best thing is that maintain the networks and relationships with people who trust you. Very informative article. Thanks.
I am the webmaster for a PA storage sheds builder in Lancaster County. I am looking for ways to get quality links to my site. For the past years I have watched as my competitors spam blogs for links but I have been determined to avoid this practice. What is disappointing to me is that their spamy link-building strategies seems to work just fine! I am looking into a service that seems to offer some really high quality guest blogging. Their website is https://guestblogposter.com/. I would like to hear if anyone knows of the usefulness of this practice.
[link removed by editor]
I like this post, Mackenzie! This is a perfect piece.
Guest blogging and article marketing were differentiated carefully.
“Guest blogging is a really powerful way to connect with people, build relationships, and find qualified leads for your business. If you take the time to strategically seek and qualify the right opportunities, it will be time well spent.”
Absolutely! I have no doubt with that. To wrap this up, this is insightful. I couldn’t add any.
This was a good article and if everyone followed these guidelines, then the web would be a much more pleasant place. Spammers ruin it for everyone! I think guest blogging can be quite beneficial for both parties involved. One person gets a submission of killer content and the other gets recognition in the process and less importantly, link juice. When I guest post I make sure I add value to someone else website because I look at it as an opportunity for me as well as them.
I use guest bloggers for a whole variety of reasons. Not just link backs and I believe Google and other search engines don't put that much weight behind link backs anymore. My guest bloggers are excellent and it keeps my online learning community informed about various topics that I, myself haven't got time to write or research.
Guest blogging for me is wonderful and an absolute key asset to have on my website.
I know having a personal touch with a blog is very effective. Coming from a B2C company, where our posts are authored by the brand...how do you connect on a personal level this way?
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Excellent post Mackenzie. We couldn't agree more. Google would be less concerned about chasing down spammy guest blogging if everyone followed steps like you have outlined in this post.
Great tips. I think this type of guest posting will never die for a couple reasons (even if currently SEO's everywhere are saturating other blogs with requests).
1) It takes a lot of hard work & effort if the above strategy is implemented correctly.
2) Because of #1, the weakest SEO's will never invest enough time to share quality content on someone else's blog & will look for more of the spammy guest blog sites just to get a back link.
Guest blogging is great not only for the backlink, but also to expose yourself to a new audience which can bring additional traffic & links further down the road. I think a lot of SEO's forget about this, and only look at the opportunity to gain a backlink.
i absolutly agree with you. SEO's should think about branding not olny getting backlinks though any means.
Yes, we should promote our website with Brand name, as it will be beneficial for any Penguin 1, 2 .. penalty.
Clean article with an example., It really explains some key factors in Guest Blogging also shows me some important thoughts om my work .Thanks for sharing this article
The 3rd step mentioned in this process.I know the great content is key for success but I see many site owners rejecting the guest posting request on two grounds.
1. The content is not fantastic.They always expect great not average no matter their site is that big.
2. They are part of link networks only allowing paid guys.
Any solution or best tool for finding niche related guest blogging oppurtunities?
As I've explained above, you can start in Followerwonk and look for influencers in the niches that you're looking to target. Then you determine if they have blogs and would allow for guest posting.
You can also try using SEO Gadget's approach to mining user data with FullContact API. The data you'll get there will help to define influencers within existing users which may also help to find targeted opportunities. You can also read Richard Baxter's post on really targeted outreach (which I've linked to in the post above).
It's not always easy to find opportunities. The best ones I've found are by going to conferences, getting to know people, and becoming friends. It's all about building trust with people. There isn't any software that can do that for you :)
Perhaps other Moz community members can suggest tools they use.
Amazing steps to search best guest blogging opportunities. Thank you Mackenzie for sharing your views with us. Really an Insightful Post.
My pleasure. Glad you find it useful.
Finding the Right Guest Blogging Opportunities is a challenging task. And it always differ in different niche. Mostly people search for guest blogging opportunities by using different Google queries, Such as; "write for us" "guest post" "submit guest post" etc. But I think Social Media sites such as Twitter or Google + is much better to find active bloggers with in your niche.
The more time you spend with relevant pages and communities on social and obviously with bloggers on their blogs, the more guest blogging opportunities you will get for your business.
Thanks for your nice Tips though. :)
Thanks for the Great article. Really appreciate Jeff Bullas
I would like to appreciate the jeffbullas.
I would also like to appreciate the efforts of Mackenzie Fogelson,
But my concern is that If you are going to do guest blogging in such sites which are not even going to read by any user then it will not have any more importance to do guest blogging on it.
@Mackenzie, You should include those method or procedure which people should follow after doing guest blogging. What you say?
I have very nice process for converting your any efforts regarding internet marketing into valuable results.
Right now, i am formatting the same process, And I will share those efforts very soon via the same platform (YOUMOZ).
Hey Brijesh,
Great question! waiting for it.
Thanks for reading Brijesh. Not sure I'm understanding your question correctly. Could you please help me understand and I'm happy to answer.
Its not my question Mackenzie but that was my suggestion: Let me explain again.
Guest blogging is very good platform. If you could explain that What people should after making their post as a guest blog post.
Some guys are just doing guest blogging and then don't even try to look back to their post.
So, If you can explain that how we can make our guest post more fruitful once it will be live on any guest blogging platform, This will very useful for your blog readers.
As i said above, I am going to format 1 post which will give you the idea about "How can we convert our efforts onto valuable result".
What you say about my suggestion?
Thanks for clarifying Brijesh. So it sounds like you're wondering about outreach and how you can get more people to read, share, and even comment on your post once it's live.
Three things here:
1) I would recommend that before you write your post, you reach out to people in the intended audience who may be interested in it and ask for feedback on your idea. This will allow you to write something that is very relevant and useful to them and also heighten their interest. Then, once your post is written, you have people you've already connected with who have an investment in the post and want to help spread the word.
2) When you're investigating places to guest blog, make sure you're selecting blogs that actually have engagement level. That will be more difficult in some industries as many blogs are not like Moz and they don't have this kind of following or the type of people who like to engage like the Moz community does. So do your best to find blogs that are alive with activity. Also talk with the blog before you write the post and ask them what kind of efforts are made on their behalf once the post is published. You want to know that they are going to use social media and their connections to get the word out.
3) Lastly, you want to drive links to your blog post so that organically you can continue to earn traffic from your guest blogging efforts. So after the post is live, make sure you're reaching out to people, websites and blogs that would find value in your post and earn the links to the great content that you've created.
Let me know if that helps. If I've misunderstood let me know and I'll give it another try :)
Thanks for Suggestions Mackenzie.
If someone is going to read our conversation then this will be very useful to him/her. I am totally agreed with your all 3 points.
I have some more points by which you can make very effective strategy after making your post live on any platform.
Let me finish my whole post once and will let you know about my blog post.
I hope you and your blog readers will like my post.
Finger crossed! :)
Hi Brijesh & MackenzieFogelson,
It's nice Question & Suggestion!
I have few question! please explain me,
How to identify people those are interested, it’s really tough for me that I have many in my list.?
Is there any way or tools to identified your circle/people are interested in your post or idea?
I think Social Media is the best way to reach maximum people to using different channels, but how?
Thanks!
Hi Het Shah-
You can start with tools (as I've explained in the post) but it really is about doing the research and building the relationships.
Hi MackenzieFogelson,
I do not found any tools that you have mentioned on above reply, you have described about feedback, engagement and interaction.
but my question is, suppose i am want to write something, and i asked to people about their feedback before publishing my post, and i do not get much interest by people, what to do on that scenario. because i do believe , usually people not interested to ans of any feedback and they always happy with their personal and social life.
so what to do that time?
I just want to is their any tools who specify that this number of users are interested on this topics. so i can target them directly?
You can check Google trends to get an understanding of what is trending in search. You can also type the topic that you want to write about (before you write it) into Google and don't hit enter. The topics that Google suggests will help you get a high level understanding of volume. This is also good because then you can differentiate your content based on what's already been written (your goal is to do it better and also uniquely).
Give that a try. If you do have your audience defined, you can always do an informal survey and ask them what content they'd like to read.
Guest posting is an enormous approach for makeup audience - there is no hesitation in relation to it. Guest blogging now works … when you accomplish it correct.
If you on a regular basis write down guest posts for genuine blogs that attribute superiority content, your guest posts can be a remarkable resource of traffic and inbound links.
Your work is to search out the guest blogging opportunities..
Here are 3 speedy traditions to do big investigate.
1) Topsy
- I love Topsy. You can discover new-fangled guest post promise previous to your competition do.
- It explore the social web (Google+ and Twitter) for well-liked topics
2) Google+
- Find various good quality bloggers to attach with, you can place comment on the articles with help of Google+ account.
3) Bing
- 2nd major search engine in the world. Discovering the word ["guest post" hotels] at Bing brings up over million results
So, those are just 3 fast behaviors to come across exceptional, guest blogging opportunities.
How on the subject of you?
I'm still not really into guest posting especially as Google hasn't shown that they are keen on it either. I suspect there is a difference between having a relevant guest post t and just spamming it to get links. I guess it depends on how you want your strategy on the whole thing.
Thanks for taking the time to write anyway.
There is a big difference between guest blogging as I'm advocating in this post and spamming for links. Google values high quality content written for a purpose. This article speaks to that point. And this video featuring Matt Cutts talks about how Google will penalize spammy guest blogging.
If you take the time to strategically guest post on quality sites with the intention to provide value and contribute to the community, you'll be in great shape.
To who clicked on the dislike button of nearly every comment in this post: points are here to let people actively interact with each other not to beat them. So users can just give their opinion on the post they read, say thank you for the information, or give other information about the argoument.
Clicking on dislike button is just for spam sake, so please just appreciate smart comments and try to dislike only spam.
Sorry for the off-topic.
The thumbs down is also for showing your disagreement to a comment or a post.
Obviously, I'd prefer to know why someone, for instance, thumb me down, but that's not an obligation.
On the other hand, thumbs down spamming is something we take care of at Moz, and those kind of and those spammers first are warned, secondly - if they don't change attitude - they could be banned from the site.
Thank you for posting about the benefits of guest blogging beyond link-building! As you mention in your post, it's a great way to expand the audience for your blog and hopefully gain new followers.
Very much so! If you take the time to do the research and figure out what's a match for your business, it makes investing the effort completely worth it. Plus, then you become part of new communities which is always a good thing :)
Great tips! I really like the idea of the personas for you ideal target market. One you clearly identify this group, you understand how to market to them! Thanks for sharing
Sure thing!
I'm in the process of trying out this program called Ziffinder right now. It seems to help out a lot with the searching and scraping process of guest blogging. That way you can really narrow down your search in a bird's eye view. I know people are still a little jittery when it comes to guest blogging, especially after the shake down of it in July, but it really is a great solution for any growth. Thanks for the time you put into this post!
This is a very strategic approach for guest blogging, I have never thought the opportunity that arises by doing it, thanks also for the Followerwonk tool, it's awesome.
I was trying to decipher the meaning of Moz's actionable guest post since long. For me, it was like a tutorial, written in a creative & light tone. But, your post deciphered the right way to write an actionable guest post for an appropriate blog instead of throwing valuable contents in someone's unfruitful bucket just for the sake of an inbound link. Coz, it is not just link building. It is more than that. You actually build a network for yourself. An appropriate guest post can connect you with the biggies of your industry. Hence, it is important to earn a name for yourself including link while being productive at large.
Thanks for such a nice and actionable guest post.
Superb one @Mackenizie. Always high quality content written for a purpose what Google and the audience love. Most valuable points Niche, Domain authority and Engagement. Links should be the last goal.
Great tips! Of course, following these tips won't mean much unless your content is top notch, like you said! I'm sure Jeff Bullas and other bloggers accepting hues blog posts do a little research on the guest blogger, as well.
Well, definitely these points seem very helpful. Till now I was not used to find the right way to find the right persona....but, it seems now that working on these tips I will surely able to target the right audience, which till now I was doing haphazardly. Thanks a lot.. :)
Great post MacKenzie! It's all about getting exposure to the right audience, growing awareness and driving quality traffic... the SEO benefits are secondary, but still extremely valuable. For those that get it... this will always be a valuable and viable tactic. The people who are chasing links from any site with a pulse will eventually be hit by the Google "Quail" update : )
Mack,
Thanks for weighing in on this. We've talked so much about should we/shouldn't we guest blog that we needed to get back to figuring out ways of identifying the best blogging opportunities for our businesses.
RS
If you do the work to find the right places then, in my opinion and experience, guest blogging can be a really powerful tool. You need to think of it not only from a brand building perspective but also from Google's perspective. If you are blogging on a bunch of sites and acquiring links that are low quality and completely unrelated to your industry then Google is going to have a problem with it. So, as I mentioned, you want to make sure that you research link profiles and authority so that you're covered.
With you being the writer you are, guest blogging would be a great way to build authority in your brand and get in front of the right communities.
One thing I'd find interesting to hear about-not every niche functions the same. As an example, in my wine niche, guest blogging is virtually unheard of. Sure, bloggers link to you if you send them samples and others certainly have paid reviews-but virtually no blogger in my niche accepts guest posts-what's the logical step there?
Hi Mark. The key for you is to find communities (that already exist) outside of (or tangentially related to) your niche that would appreciate and find value in what it is that you do. Companies that you also respect and that align well with your culture, values, and brand.
One example I've recently used is Wistia. They do great work and their philosophies and personality are a great match. Let's say Wisita is looking to expand their target demographic and through some digging they've determined that the people in Mack Web's community is essentially a potential customer match. Wistia could connect with start building a relationship with Mack Web. Their content is really high quality and creative, so they'd be a great fit for the Mack Web blog and would provide a ton of value to the Mack Web community. That's a guest blogging opportunity, but beyond that, it is a long-term relationship that could turn into some co-marketing and, even better, a friendship.
Does that spark some ideas for possible connections? They don't have to be in your niche.
Great post - I think it's important to do the right amount of background research before reaching out to a blogger for a guest post. It's important that you are reaching out strategically, otherwise it's a waste of time for everyone. I've found some great tools that help aggregate blogs - this way I can search through them quickly. I then supplement that with my background research on Followerwonk, etc.
I also think it is important that people recognize that this process takes time. Guest blogging requires a bit of a relationship building, planning, creativity and time - it has to be strategic and that will require time. And if people take the time, they could really reap the benefits of it.
So true Vicky. I'm providing five simple steps here but beyond that, you really need to take the time to build the relationship within those opportunities. And that doesn't happen with a couple of emails and even one blog post. You've got to prove yourself over time and then opportunities will continue to present themselves.
I've been approached by the wrong people on more than one occasion. This is a great post full of how to go about looking for an opportunity worth pursuing. Thanks!
Thanks to share this post on "MOZ" Mackenzie, It's such a long post based on "Blog Guest Posting" ... Looks like a Great and hard work done by you :) . I've learnt a lot of things from this post that will help to me to build authority and traffic from natural way for my client websites. Cheers and Thanks Mackenzie :)
Thank you for the post!
Things like defining audience by developing personas seem obvious and simple, but normally we move randomly and miss it. Your steps are really helpful to track the right blog.
You wrote useful tips and points on how to choose the right blog for guest blogging. Thank you, I will use your strategy for this kind of activity.
This is an informative post but would you list more guest blogging websites. It would be of much help. Also for lifestyle, travel and Hardware blog, I would like to know if there are any specific networks for guest blogging. Thank you.
If you are looking for "guest blogging networks", then you missed the core message of the post.
If, with that, you are meaning "networks/communities" that can help guest blogging, Myblogguest is a nice one.
But the best is being active in the bloggers' communities itself in the various social networks, as TBEX one on Google Plus.
Hi gfiorelli1
Thanks for your reply, i will do that.
In my opinion this is the Achilles heel for guest blogging, kind of the easy way out. Finding the right fit for posting is more then just finding a list of places that allows guest blogging.
Instead of just getting a list, why not scope out the niche? and do some good old outreach?
If you step back and look at it, where would you gain the most?
If you want more then just gaining a place to post a piece of content, when you should put in a little research on the specific topic
- What does the blog/community usually writes about?
- What kind of audience they have?
- And also how does all of it fits to the site/product/campaign that you want to promote.
Its all about being creative and smart about it.
.
Agreed. And it isn't always easy. It's very much a matter of being diligent about outreach and making that part of your routine. The best opportunities are going to come from relationships that you've built with people who trust you.