Guest Blogging Opportunities for SEO

We all know the power of ranking highly on Google.

It can help you establish authority, expand your network, and increase your chances of being discovered by your target audience.

Adding guest blogging to your SEO efforts is a key step in achieving online marketing success.

If you’re ready to learn the ins and outs of guest blogging for SEO, keep reading!

What is Guest Blogging?

The definition of guest blogging or “guest posting” as it is sometimes referred to, is pretty straightforward. It means contributing to another person’s blog or website as a guest.

These days, guest posting is one of the most valuable tools in your digital marketing arsenal.

Generally, guest bloggers will write for similar blogs within their industry with the goal of generating referral links and attracting traffic back to their website. It’s also a great way to connect with new readers and get your name out there.

If you’re still wondering if guest blogging should be part of your traffic-generating activities, the numbers speak for themselves:

• 60% of blogs produce 1-5 guest posts per month.
• 3% of blogs write over 100 guest posts each month.
• Only 6% of bloggers publish most of their original content as guest posts.
• Nearly 63% of readers perceive blogs with more than one author to be more credible.
• The demand for guest blogs is higher during the summer months of June, July, and August.

How to Do Guest Blogging Correctly

Landing guest blogging opportunities is no easy task, especially as more and more businesses get into the content marketing game. As a result, there is a dwindling number of placements for a growing number of pitches. To help you navigate this crowded field, following these best practices can put you on a path to success.

Understand Your Goals

Before making any moves, consider what you want to get out of the guest blogging experience.

Are you trying to earn money?

Do you want to expand your organization’s reach?

Does your expertise align with the interests of their audience?

Is there a topic you’re well-versed in that they don’t have on their blog?

Create a List of Websites You Want to Write for

Once you’ve established the value you can provide, it’s time to build your blog outreach list.

The spreadsheet should only include the essentials—website, name, email address, outreach date, and notes.

You’ll want to target high-traffic blogs with a domain authority score of 50 or above. The higher the domain authority, the bigger the SEO impact you’ll receive from each backlink.

And the more visitors the site has, the more readers your post will get.

Analyze the Target Site

Now that you’ve officially selected a site to write for, take time to understand what it’s all about.

Who are their readers?

What types of articles do they publish and how often?

Are they long-form or short-form blogs?

Are they visual or text-driven?

Brainstorm Pitch Ideas

Guest blogging is all about quality, not quantity. If you only have the bandwidth to write one guest post every few months, then be sure to make it count.

There are thousands (if not millions) of recycled articles on the internet. That means your pitch needs to be authentic, relevant, and most importantly, unique. Even if it just provides a fresh perspective on an existing subject matter, that could be enough to sway editors to consider your pitch.

Strike a balance between focusing on what you know and building an idea around what’s currently trending. The goal here is to get them to see you as someone who can enrich their website with killer content.

Write a Clear, Concise Pitch

If you want your email to catch the attention of the recipient, your pitch should include the following elements:

• A catch subject line
• Your intention to submit a guest blog
• An explanation of why their readers will care about your post (explained briefly)
• Describe what makes you an authority on the subject
• Summarize the article’s main points, including any statistics/research

Simplicity is paramount here. But, you also don’t want to come across as dull or generic. Wow, the editors with as few words as possible.

Customize Your Outreach Emails

Putting together a pitch takes time. And one of the worst things you can do to ruin your chances of getting published is sending the same email to every site you pitch. If you want a response, you need to personalize it.

Make sure to tailor each email to the specific person (and site). Also, don’t forget to include the recipient’s name (and the name of the site), as well as the reason why your pitch should be accepted.

Consider this example below:

Hey (First Name),

My name is [NAME] and I’m the [JOB TITLE] at [COMPANY NAME].

I’m reaching out because I love [BLOG NAME] and your recent [BLOG ARTICLE NAME] really resonated with me because (Reason).

I write (#) guest posts per month and would love to contribute to your (ADJECTIVE) blog. Given my understanding of your blog and your audience, I wanted to propose three guest posts:

[Sample 1 URL]

[Sample 2 URL]

[Sample 3 URL]

Please let me know if you’re interested and I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Thanks,

[NAME]

Look Up Submission Guidelines

Editors receive tons of guest posting submissions each day, depending on the publication. They know exactly what they’re looking for and they don’t have time to review pitches that don’t meet their standards.

Luckily, most of these sites publish their submission guidelines online that explain how to submit your guest post to maximize results.

Follow Up

It never hurts to reach out to editors to confirm your interest in writing for them. Many of them welcome follow-ups via phone.

Sometimes, the issue may not even be your topic, but poor timing.

If you still haven’t heard back after a few months, try taking another angle on the same topic.

Promote on Social Media

Once your post is live, you should waste no time promoting it on social media. This will not only be beneficial for your readers, but it will also generate more traffic back to your guest blogger.

This is a great way to express gratitude to them for publishing your guest post.

Top Sites to Guest Blog on

To help you get the most out of your guest blogging opportunities, we’ve put together a brief list of the top sites that accept guest posts:

The Huffington Post

Chances are you’ve heard of the Huffington Post. Founded in 2005, it’s one of the largest sites on the web today. While they generally cover news and current events, the Huffington Post also publishes a ton of opinion pieces. Contributors range from smaller bloggers to Pulitzer journalists.

ReadWrite

ReadWrite s a web technology blog that focuses mainly on tech news. The main categories on this site are blockchain, artificial intelligence, smart cities, connected services, start-ups, and product reviews. They prefer their guest posts to be provocative and controversial but backed by data.

Medium

Similar to Tumblr and Blogger, Medium is a free publishing platform that covers topics spanning mental health, financial trends, relationship advice, and much more. With over 120 million readers, anyone can become an individual contributor to Medium. However, the site is more geared toward sharing longer-form content, as opposed to shorter pieces.

Social Media Examiner

While always on the lookout for new writers, Social Media Examiner is very strict about its guest blogging guidelines. They typically only publish well-researched, tactical articles around social media. Blog posts that are overly strategic or editorial in nature will likely be rejected. If you want to be selected as a contributor, your article should go beyond commonly accepted social media best practices and advice.

Design Milk

If you have expertise in art, fashion, architecture, travel, or interior design, then consider contributing to Design Milk. The website has a sleek, modern layout and is a fantastic website to be featured on, particularly for creatives. 

Mashable

Receiving more than 45 million page views per month, Mashable is one of the most popular sites in the blogging community. You can select your niche from over 90 categories, including digital media, business, technology, and entertainment.

Inc.com

Unlike some of the other blogging sites on this list, Inc.com specializes in practical advice for small businesses and start-ups. You’ll come across plenty of business articles and tips from industry experts on how to succeed as an entrepreneur.

Content Marketing Institute

As its name implies, the Content Marketing Institute offers its audience the chance to learn about a wide selection of content marketing strategies. The site currently has over 140,000 subscribers, as well as more than 260,000 followers on social media across different platforms.

Final Thoughts

When done correctly, guest blogging can work wonders for your business. It can also be a huge win-win for both the author and the publisher.

Just be sure you’re following guest blogging for SEO best practices and tailoring your pitches accordingly.

Remember—the more you guest blog, the better you’ll get at it.