You know that guest posts can help grow your site.
But do you know all the tactics to make your guest post a successful one?
For years, guest blogging has been one of the most popular and effective ways of link building.
However, not everyone can get the taste of success with their posts, and there’s a common reason for it.
Most bloggers tend to stick to their “quantity over quality” mindset when writing a guest post for other websites.
While they somehow manage to publish that content, they don’t get any long-term benefits, no traffic, and no ranking at all.
For a successful link building, the quality of the article is something that can’t be compromised at any cost.
Do it right and you will end up having a significant number of audiences converted to your site.
But do you know how to do it?
If you read this article, you will learn about some tips that will help you to create a wildly successful guest post for link building.
13 Tips for Writing a Successful Guest Post for Link Building
Why do we bloggers write guest posts?
The answer is simple – to get some quality backlinks.
While writing for a popular website can put you in limelight, it can also help you to get in touch with other bloggers through discussions and comments.
So, whether you write the content by yourself or hire a guest post service for link building, there are some important things that you may want to consider.
Find The Best Blogs in Your Niche
You can’t just send your write-ups to any website and expect them to publish.
Wondering why?
The exact reason you don’t look for electrical gadgets in a grocery shop.
Like every business, websites have their specialties that match a certain niche.
Publishing your article on a website that doesn’t go with your niche will lead you to the wrong audience group.
While you may get some traffic on your site, your site’s bounce rate will go up because these readers will not spend much time on your website.
That’s why you need to find the right website on your niche and pitch the publisher with the guest post idea.
Do proper research to find some of the prospective blogs where you can publish your content.
You can also check your competitors’ backlink to find some prospecting domains for your guest post.
Read Their Content Regularly
This is one of the most crucial parts that most bloggers skip.
Before you write for the site or even approach the publisher for the guest post, you need to have a solid idea about the content they publish.
If you write an article for a website without reading their existing content, chances that you will end up reaching the wrong audiences.
For example, if your business is about safe toys for kids, you may want to publish your content in a site that promotes kids’ safety during playtime or simply safe toys, not something that promotes general toys.
But how do you know it? By simply reading their published content.
While you’re reading the blog posts on a particular site, you will not only learn about the types of posts they like but also know how they write, the format they use, word limit, as well as the audiences they are targeting.
So, before you write your content, subscribe to that website and read their blogs, follow the comments to know which blogs are getting the most compliments, and finally come up with a relevant idea.
Study Other Guest Posts on That Blog
Before you jump into a conclusion after reading some articles on a blog, have a look into their guest posts.
Many sites have a guest blog section. But, the question is do the bloggers do well?
Do the guest posts get sharing and comments as much as the other posts?
Analyzing those things is crucial because no matter how good a website is, writing for them may not give you enough link juice.
Some websites publish guest posts only to turn audiences into their own site, not to the page they are linking to.
To check if your selected site is doing such things, check the site they are linking to.
This way you will know if a site from your niche stands a chance to get a backlink from that site.
Do Keyword Research
Keyword research is a must regardless of which site you are writing for.
It’s a crucial part of guest blogging and without it, you can’t imagine successful link building.
No matter how well-written your content is, it may not rank on Google if it’s not optimized for a target keyword.
Because if you do not optimize your guest post content with the keyword you want to rank with, the link juice will not mean much for you.
There are some keyword research tools such as Keywords Everywhere, Google’s Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, Ubersuggests, among others.
The best part of using those tools is you will learn about the keyword difficulties, search volume, as well as some related and long-tail keywords that will help you to create a properly optimized content that Google loves.
Besides, while doing keyword research, look at the keywords that your publishing website is ranking for.
Also, instead of just finding the keywords that match your niche, choose something that matches your readers’ search intent as well.
Generate Topic Idea
So, you did your keyword research, found something with less difficulty, and high search volume, thus came up with great content for the site.
Your guest post can still be rejected.
Do you know why?
Because you choose the wrong topic or something that doesn’t go with other published articles of that site.
One of the most common reasons why guest posts get rejected is that bloggers come up with an entirely different topic that has no relation to the existing content.
Webmasters tend to protect the reputation and integrity of their site at any cost. They will not approve any topic that will do more harm than good.
How do you come up with a relevant and trendy topic?
While reading their published content, try to understand what type of topics they usually cover, make a list of those topics, and finally come up with a similar one.
Create a Nice Pitch for The Publisher
Even if you have something amazing to share with the audiences, your guest posting can still be a failed project.
Do you know why?
Because you failed to create a pitch that can convince the editor to publish your content.
If you don’t understand the necessity of a nicely written email, you’re not alone.
The way you write your first email to the publisher can create a permanent image about your website, your pitching sense, as well as the content you’re about to write for them.
A poorly-written email on some copied templates will do nothing but annoy the publisher.
Remember, these people receive a lot of emails per day. They will not even read your email, let alone publish the article if the email doesn’t have a touch of personalization.
So, before you send the email to the publisher, check it properly.
Make sure you don’t show a lack of confidence or arrogance while pitching for the guest post.
Do check for the grammatical errors and spelling mistakes and avoid any kind of shameless flattery.
Your guest post will only see the light of success if you can prove your worth through your email.
Build a Relationship with The Webmaster
Your guest post content is the bridge between your website and the site you’re planning to get a backlink from.
The connection can only be made if you can make a connection between you and the webmaster.
Sending a common email template to each and every publisher may work on one webmaster, but not on everyone.
Since webmasters are human beings, they are definitely different from each other.
So, it’s quite obvious writing in a common pattern won’t have any effect on all of them.
That’s why to make them care about you and your content, you need to create a relationship with them.
Just look into this email below –
Hi Sarah,
Greetings from this fellow wanderer. Hope you’re enjoying the busy life in New York and not missing Miami much.
I once lived in Miami but recently got shifted in Dallas. It’s nice to know that you’re a fan of Star Wars, so we’ve got something in common.
My business is about health supplements and since your site is about health and nutrition, I thought you might be interested in the following content.
Best,
Harry
Just look at this email. The writer did thorough research on the author, where she lives, what she likes, and most importantly he mentioned her by name.
Such emails can make the publisher feel that you care about them.
As a result, they will start caring about you and may publish your content.
Write a Value-Driven Content
Once you’re done with your keyword research, finding a relevant domain for backlinks, and convincing the webmaster to give you a chance for guest posting, here comes the most important part.
Writing the guest post for them.
Create a well-researched, value-driven content that can fulfill the search intent and impress the readers.
Make sure your article provides in-depth information about the topic you’re writing, thus benefiting the readers, as well as the website that will publish the content.
All you want the readers of that website to visit your website and eventually become your loyal customers.
So, give them a reason to do so.
The content must be able to answer all the questions the audiences might have on a certain topic.
No webmaster will publish an article that doesn’t match their quality.
That’s why you need to make sure you put an extra effort into writing the content.
Make Sure The Anchor Text is Relevant & Natural
An anchor text is more than just a clickable text that directs the readers to your webpage.
It’s a connection between you and your audiences that may convert them to your loyal customer in the future.
That’s why it’s crucial that they feel right to click that link.
If you don’t do proper research and just put the anchor text somehow in the content, it will be unnatural and readers won’t feel right to click it.
Besides, placing an anchor text in a way that doesn’t match the content can make your site suspicious to Google.
To avoid such issues, make sure you place the text naturally so that it blends with the article.
Format The Content According to Their Publishing Guideline
While you’re trying your best to create an amazing piece of content, how you present them matters as well.
If you research a website before pitching, you will see most of them have their own publishing guideline, mentioning which format you should follow, font type, size, as well as the way you need to submit the guest post.
It’s important to follow those guidelines to make sure your article matches their style and quality.
Regardless of the quality of your content, you can’t expect any publisher to read your pitch if they find that you submit the content in a wrong way.
It will not only annoy them but also create an impression that you didn’t read their guideline. And even if you did, you weren’t serious about it.
Do you really want them to think like that?
If not, do read their publishing guideline and format your article accordingly.
Don’t Forget to Proofread
Is there anything more annoying than reading a copy full of spelling and grammatical errors?
No matter how amazing a writer you are, mistakes can happen.
However, it’s your job to make sure you don’t send the content to the publisher without fixing those errors.
Although they have their own editors and proofreaders who will check the content and make sure it’s ready for publishing, you shouldn’t make them do everything.
Otherwise, it will create a bad impression in their mind.
Always proofread the article once you’re done writing and check for any major problems to minor glitches.
If you use any statistical data or research, do check them twice to make sure you didn’t put any wrong information.
Craft an Amazing Author Bio
Why are you writing a guest post?
To promote your site, your business, as well as yourself.
So, it’s quite obvious that you would like to include a nice author bio with your content.
Most people don’t understand the importance of a good author bio, but it’s an essential part of link building if you want to promote your site.
If your content becomes popular and starts to get huge responses, chances are people will want to know about the writer.
Create a detailed author bio mentioning your background and interests that your audiences might want to know.
Do not forget to add a link to your website since it can direct the readers to your site.
Also, if you have any social media profile, add a follow me section with the link of your top social network at the end of the bio.
Post Comment and Share The Guest Post After Publishing
So, you successfully convince the webmaster and make them publish your content.
If you think your job is done here, you’re wrong!
Most bloggers tend to forget about the content once it’s published. They don’t reply to any comments, and don’t even share them on social media.
The result?
Even though their webpage gets some traffic in the beginning, soon they start to lose those traffic and the ranking as well.
Your site is likely to lose traffic if you don’t cooperate with your audiences.
Make sure you reply to all their queries and try to create a good bonding with your audiences.
Share the content on your social media profiles and keep your audiences updated about the latest services.
Final Thoughts
While a guest blog is one of the most effective strategies to get a backlink, the success depends a lot on how you do it.
Starting from finding a suitable website to pitching the webmaster and making them publish your content, there are a lot of things you need to be careful about.
Do proper research on the website and its target audiences, create a nice pitch that will create a nice bonding between you and the publisher, give your best while creating the content, and don’t forget to co-operate with the readers once it’s published.
Remember, you’re writing this content for a successful link building. So, make sure the article is well enough to make the publishers, as well as the readers say WoW!
Sujan Sarkar is the Co-founder of OnelittleWeb, a leading SEO agency specializing in helping businesses improve their online presence and search engine rankings.
