Guest blogging is when you blog on another blog as a contributor. It’s one of the most effective ways to build a brand, get traffic and acquire quality backlinks.
When you create useful content for authority blogs within your niche, you not only get long term benefits, but also get to build relationships with popular bloggers. These influencers are constantly looking for great content to add to their blogs. If you can provide them that, they’ll be more than happy to publish your article and give you a backlink.
The Rules Have Changed
The link building game is no longer what it used to be. Today, it’s very important that you gain backlinks from websites that Google and other search engines trust. (Read About the Panda Google Update) And guest blogging helps you do that, which automatically gives you a better hold on your site’s off page SEO. Here are the main advantages of guest blogging as far as SEO is concerned:
- You get backlinks from relevant sites, which means that you’re not linking to a spammy sites or a link farms – your motives are clear.
- You generate contextual backlinks since your links are wrapped up in quality content that’s relevant. What’s more, if your guest post acquires a pagerank overtime, it’ll boost the quality of your backlink.
- Your outbound link gets more importance and authority because the backlink you’re getting through your guest post will be on a dedicated page on the blog. What does this mean? Your link won’t get lost in a between other links on the page, and your pagerank won’t get distributed.
Now that we know how guest blogging can be beneficial, let’s find out how you can get the most out of your guest posts in terms of SEO:
1. Give Exceptional Value – If you want to have your guest post published on an authority blog then you will have to over-deliver. This not only increases your chances of getting it accepted, but also helps you generate more backlinks to it. After a while your guest post may acquire a good pagerank, which obviously gets passed on to your own site.
2. Write for Top Blogs – If you want your guest post to count then focus on a handful of blogs that are reputed, because quality matters. There’s a common misconception that guest posting for well known blogs is difficult. However, the truth is, if you do your groundwork well and actually build a relationship with the blogger over a period of time, you can very well get published on any blog of your choice – no matter how big.
3. Leverage Editorial Backlinks – While getting your site’s link in your guest post’s author bio is great for driving traffic, you shouldn’t solely depend on it for your SEO. Why? Because of one of the most efficient ways to get a backlink is to link from within the body of your article. Remember, editorial links make you look credible in the eyes of search engines, so don’t ignore them.
