A guest post can be a great way to reach a new audience and snag some valuable inbound links. These, in turn, can affect how you show up in the search results. For many site owners, guest post opportunities are an important step for directing traffic back to their own blog.
However, you’ve got to go about guest posts the right way. This means high-quality content, strong social media promotion, and adherence to Google’s algorithm. On top of this, there are a few guest post don’ts that can reflect poorly on your own site.
DO: Review the guest blog thoroughly.
If you’re offered an opportunity to post some guest content, it can impact the search engine optimization (SEO) of your own website in a positive way. That is if your post is accepted by the blog owners. The best way to ensure that you’re providing quality guest content that matches the core theme of the guest blog. This is doubly true if you hope that the blogger will promote your guest post on their social media profiles.
DON’T: Write derivative guest posts.
If your guest post is something that has been hammered to bits by other site owners and bloggers, you’re not going to see much search engine traction, even if you’re on a high authority site. This is because low-quality content, short answer pieces, and guest post content that doesn’t fit the core theme of the blog are seen as irrelevant. Plus, most blog owners will consider rejecting guest posts that are viewed as low-effort. Even if you think you’re guest posting for the right reasons, poorly optimized or written content will only come back to haunt you.
DO: Create a strong, relevant title.
This is a fundamental aspect of content marketing, whether you’re a guest blogger or you’re creating a blog post for your own site. The right way to develop guest content starts with a strong, engaging title that encourages the special attention of a blog’s audience. Many content creators either struggle to match the body text with the title or write a generic title that doesn’t hook readers or isn’t SEO optimized. Without a strong, SEO-friendly title, your guest post likely won’t be seen as high-quality content. If you’re struggling to come up with an SEO-worthy title, you may want to start with a high-quality, relevant, trending keyword. This can help you determine how to craft your title so different search strings pick it up.
DON’T: Promote yourself too much.
There’s a keyword in the phrase “guest blogger” which is the word “guest.” You have to remember that, while you’re providing guest content, you shouldn’t stuff your guest blog with dozens of links back to your own blog. This kind of link-stuffing often leads to the death of guest posting relationships. Before you craft a guest post, ask the site owners about linking back to your pages. It’s also worth asking if your byline can include links to your social media profiles. Even if you’re only getting one link from the site owners, it can still be valuable for you as a blogger.
DO: Consider some outside assistance.
If you’re struggling to create relationships with site owners or find opportunities as a guest blogger, you may want to reach out to a content marketing agency. Guest posting can be incredibly beneficial but it also needs to be handled adeptly and effectively. Since content marketing is the cornerstone of effective site performance and SEO, an agency can help you build solid relationships and score incredibly valuable placements. The SEO juice sent back to your own site can really help you shake things up in the search results, too.
Guest posting continues to be a useful SEO tool for clever site owners. Don’t forget to incorporate it into your digital marketing strategy. You could be pleasantly surprised by the outcome.
