What’s one of the best digital marketing strategies? There are hordes of tactics that businesses use for generating website traffic, building authority and establishing their online presence.
SEO, social media, video marketing – there is definitely a lot to experiment with and choose from.
Of these, guest blogging has always been a particular favorite with our content writers – a technique that conveys your message and wins the trust of your target audience, whom you reach out to through other already well-established and popular blogs.
So, in essence, you actually direct traffic from other popular blogs onto yours, and if you pull it right,it can actually be worth the efforts.
Our content writers have put down the most significant benefits of guest blogging in this post and also share some great advice that they’ve picked up through their experiences.
Let’s take a deeper look at what guest blogging is and why we like it so much.
What’s the Concept of This Content Strategy?
Guest blogging is when you develop posts for other people’s blogs – blogs that already get plenty of traffic on a daily basis.
You share your expertise and offer value for potential readers, just like a typical blog; however, you don’t post them on your own site.
Instead, you upload the content on another blog so as to direct some of their traffic onto your website.
Guest blogging builds your authority, helping you establish strong relationships with industry experts and credible content writers.
What’s in It for You?
Greater Exposure
Contributing to other blogs generates more interest amongst your target audience. If you can develop topnotch content or if you hire content writing services to do it for you, you can direct a significant amount of traffic to your website when the post is up.
Like with typical blogs, be sure to use effective CTAs, and you’ll soon be converting a significant percentage of the visitors that flow in.
Expansive Personal Network
Just a few years back, it was too difficult to connect with industrial influencers – but guest blogging has eliminated all the pain, massively simplifying the process.
As an example, certain websites that enable guest posts also enable a strong community of bloggers who are involved in similar niches.
Many of these websites allow you to participate in email chains, where contributors brainstorm topics together as they to offer value to their targeted audience through a collaborative platform.
In fact, many of these bloggers even co-author posts for greater attention and engagement.
So, basically, guest blogging allows you to leverage your expertise as you try to seek partnership opportunities with mega influencers.
Share ideas, promote content together, have deep conversations or conduct extensive interviews with experts – all of this increases your credibility and expands your reach.
But remember that you’ll have to participate actively. Leave comments, share other people’s posts and even invite other influencers to post on your blog.
Social Media Shares
We’re all well aware that social media increases online reach at an exponential rate. Obviously, the more your content is shared, the more your products or services get noticed, increasing your leads.
If you select guest blogging sites after proper research and post valuable content, you’d automatically get shares on social media.
And if you somehow leverage the power, for instance, produce more shareable content, like infographics, you enjoy engagement rates that are nearly three times higher.
Social Media Following
Since guest blogging increases shares, it provides you with more opportunities to increase your followers as well, thereby generating more leads.
When you contribute to authoritative and reputed blogs, you garner the attention of your target audience, and if you add value, you earn their trust in return.
Most of the websites that allow guest blogging allow you to customize your profile, often providing options to add your social media accounts. With all the attention, you increase your followers.
But once that happens, do reward them constantly with regular updates and use information that they really want to know.
Online Authority
Success with your content strategy widely depends on how authoritative you appear to your target audience.
Even if your content is original, unique and supreme, you might not be able to convert your readers because you couldn’t build trust.
But when you contribute to other blogs regularly, you continue increasing your credibility. And potential customers soon realize that you can be trusted, and they start recognizing your brand.
Thus, they are more likely to respond to your offers and perform your desirable actions.
Backlinks
Generally, websites that enable guest blogging also allow you to line the content back to your website.
Guidelines vary from website to website, but in most instances, you can mention your brand name or add a keyword optimized link.
This contributes to your SEO strategy as well, making your website more discoverable. But do ensure that you’re guest blogging on only those websites that fall under the same niche as yours.
Brand Awareness
Guest blogging helps you increase brand awareness. Use the posts to shred details about your company and what you can do to resolve problems or challenges faced by potential users.
Like any other digital content, your guest blogs should also resonates your brand tone and image and be consistent with the rest of your online content.
If your targeted audience doesn’t comprise of business professionals or c-suites, then content writing services often prefer using a humorous or entertaining tone in the blogs to derive greater engagement levels.
But don’t add fluff or repeat the information that is shared – that may hurt your authority.
Shorter Sales Cycles
Sales funnel is one of the biggest challenges for web copywriters and bloggers.
Guest blogging enables you to push potential customers down the funnel at a faster rate – you make them familiar with your brand, which shortens typical sales and purchase cycles.
What to Keep in Mind When Guest Posting on Other Blogs?
Guest blogging is a valuable part of any digital marketing campaign. But when posting, whether you do it yourself or hire content writing services, there are few key guidelines that you must follow.
- Your primary goals are branding and building your reputation –nothing else is more important. When you guest blog with this in mind, you can select better and more effective targets. That does mean lower choice in terms of the websites where you can post, but quality is always better than quantity in the online world.
- Remain relevant – if the guest blogging website is not closely related to your niche, don’t waste any efforts and move onto the next site on your list.
- Target the most authoritative websites – take time out and identify the most reputed sites in your niche, study their guest posting rules, and then strike partnerships with them. When you’re new, the Top Tier blogging websites may not want to work with you; go down to the second tier then, build your reputation and then target the top tier again.
Conclusion
Guest blogging positions you for online success, generating greater leads and conversions.
Now that you’re aware of the benefits involved, do try it out and experience the wonders yourself. Good luck!
