Do you have a strategy in place for finding guest post opportunities?
Bloggers are always seeking out the best content, and most of them will grab the chance to add great content to their site that their audience will love. Guest blogging is one of the most effective ways of building relevant links to your blog from authority websites in your niche. However, for you to be able to efficiently use guest posts for your link building strategy, you need to be able to recognise the best guest post opportunities.
Here is a rundown of the best strategies for finding the most rewarding opportunities.
The Essentials
Build on Personal Connections
If you have connections within your niche or friends who have blogs, they should be your starting point. And because they know you, the trust factor is already taken care of. Contact them via email or other communication channels. Site owners are always in need of quality content, so if you get your pitch right, you should be contributing guests post on their sites in no time.
Your Blog is Your Ad
This one is a no-brainer, especially if you own a blog. Make use of the readers on your blog; they may have blogs or sites that need content. The fact that they are on your website means that they already trust your opinion. So, if you put a post on your site letting them know that you’re available for guest blogging, you’ll be amazed at how much they’ll value your contribution on their websites or blogs.
Social Networking
Ask for Guest Post Opportunities
You can ask for guest posts within your circle on social media. You can reach out to your friends in this way or they could link you up with their own friends who have websites or blogs. Just send out a message on social media and see how things work out.
Search for Guest Post Opportunities
Take advantage of the search feature on Twitter. Most blogs have a twitter account where they send out tweets about new posts. And if it’s a guest post, they’ll tag the guest poster so that the guest poster’s followers can see the tweet as well. If you search Twitter for the right phrases, such as ‘guest post’ or ‘writers needed’, you should be able to find blogs that accept guest posts or that are looking for writers. If you approach a blog that is conversant with the guest posting process, they might be open to your offer.
LinkedIn Network
LinkedIn is a professional network, so it’s more likely that you’re connected to people in the same industry as you, who are also connected to other people within the same industry. Your chances of finding guest posting opportunities on this platform are really high.
Use Search Engines
Power of Google
A simple Google search will reveal a list of relevant blogs in your industry. See if they accept guest posts and if there are any requirements to fulfil when submitting your post. If it’s a blog that doesn’t accept blog posts, go the extra mile to see if you can convince them to accept yours. Interacting with them on social media or being active in their comment sections is a good way of putting yourself out there and forming a relationship with them. That way, you won’t come across as an opportunist when you pitch your guest post ideas to them.
Google Blog Search
Google Blog Search is a great way to find blogs in closely related industries. You can also find larger blogs with a category for your niche amongst the other categories that they cater to. It’s a great way to discover outstanding blogs and some blogs you probably never knew existed.
Leverage Communities
Guest Blog Communities
These are communities designed specifically to facilitate a connection between bloggers and guest writers. Although you might not discover the biggest and best blogs in your industry on these networks, they are usually a great place to start your guest posting journey.
Forum Communities
Forums are a great place to find guest posting opportunities. It could be a forum suited to your needs or one where everyone knows how it works and where people are looking for guest posters. Be active on the forum. Connect with other members, then lay your cards on the table.
Craigslist
People look for bloggers and website owners on Craigslist. So, it might be a great idea to approach them and let them know you want to contribute a post to their website or blog. You can include a caveat that they’d have to link back to your website. This should be easy because these people have a growing need for content, so all you have to do is convince them to accept and publish your content.
Blog Directories
These can help you discover the best blogs with the most amount of traffic within your niche. They give you an idea of the top guns in your industry. Being able to link to these blogs gives you a massive amount of link juice and huge amounts of traffic.
Using Previous Guest Posts
Make Use of the Byline
Guest posters typically use the byline space on the guest post to indicate their social media profiles to gain more fans and followers, or to mention their availability for guest posting opportunities. The space is also good for including links to the target website.
Relate With Commenters
Once your guest post is accepted and published, you have to be active in the comments section. This gives you the chance to network with the readers of the blog that published your post. It’s possible that some of them have blogs, and interacting with them gives you an opportunity to connect and open doors for more guest posts.
Make Repeat Guest Posts
Even though you might not be getting new backlinks from doing this, it still allows you to link to other areas of your site, grow your following, and generate more traffic to your site or blog. This time you’ll be using guest posting as a PR strategy.
If you simply don’t have enough time to embark on a guest posting strategy, consider outsourcing to a guest post agency. Not only will you notice an appreciable increase in traffic to your website and sales, but your brand will also be seen as an authority within your industry.
Get in touch with us today to enquire about our guest post service.