Blogging is popular with businesses and brands because it is an excellent way for companies to consistently produce content while also being informative, transparent, and connecting with their audience. But because continuously writing new content requires dedicated time and resources, guest blogging may be a more ideal solution.
Whether you are a blog or are a blogger, this article will give you the basics to guest blogging. It will also give you a quick run-down of its benefits and how to find guest blogging opportunities.
Table of Contents
Introduction to Guest Blogging
In short, guest blogging is when you invite a writer outside of your company to write something for you to publish. Alternatively, this practice can be called “guest posting.”
If you feel like guest blogging means you are somehow not skilled enough to run a blog, don’t be! Guest blogging is probably more common than you think, with 50% of blogs reaching out to 1-10 contacts to guest blog per month. So if you’re not jumping on the guest blogging train, you are likely missing out on a great strategy for content marketing.
Guest Posting Benefits
Because guest blogging involves two parties, let’s examine the guest posting benefits from both sides.
For the Site Host
Likely the most immediate benefit for the site host is that outsourcing writing can lift some of the strain on their content creation resources. With guest bloggers, your site can continue producing content while giving your team a little more breathing room.
Inviting guests to post on your blog can also help you build connections in your industry, especially if there are partnerships involved. The guest posts would demonstrate the relationship between you and the partner site as well, helping with transparency and publicity on any future endeavors.
Always having the same people write your content can lead to repetitiveness and just an overall lack of variety. Guest bloggers can add a breath of fresh air to your content, be it from their writing style, knowledge, or perspective. Even if the content may be similar, no two people will write the exact piece. Guest bloggers are a way to help keep your content engaging and give you an edge over your competitors.
Publishing blogs also provides you with a platform where you constantly have SEO opportunities. As you strategize each post, you can make keyword optimization plans that will help the post appear high on search engine results. Every post becomes an opportunity for you to be discovered!
For the Guest Blogger
Connections, especially in the writing world, are critical to success but they can sometimes be difficult to obtain. For guest bloggers, seeking guest blogging opportunities will allow for opportunities to build experience and connections. Building favorable relationships with businesses may lead to future opportunities. Should the writing find good reception, other companies may also reach out to you to write for them. Just keep in mind that if you want to use a guest post as part of a portfolio you present to future employers, double check to make sure that you have the right to do so.
As a writer, writing for an established brand or company also helps them expand their reach. If a reader likes a writer’s work, they may look further into their content, potentially linking back to a writer’s personal blog or finding their other affiliations.
As always, money is often a factor, and guest bloggers are paid to write their pieces. While there is no fixed rate, most companies seem to be willing to pay anywhere between $50 and $300 for a guest post. You can also charge per word, which gives you more control over how much you earn. Other details, such as the popularity of the host company, the urgency, and the quality of writing may also influence blogging pay.
How to Find Guest Blogging Opportunities
So guest blogging is a popular practice, but how do people find these opportunities? We let you in on exactly what you need to know here.
As a Site Host
If you are writing or hosting a blog for your company, you should be reading other blogs in the industry too! Not only will this give you an understanding of what others in the field are writing about, but you could also take note of any writers who stand out to you. And if they have already established themselves as someone who guest posts, there’s a higher chance that they’d be willing to write a guest blog for you. Often, guest bloggers are noted on their bylines, usually as “guest author” or “contributor.”
When considering who to invite to post on your blog, make sure that they also match your company. Does their writing style fit the tone you want to convey? Are they providing helpful content or just spamming thinly informational posts with a slew of keywords? As a writer, do their interests and values align with your company? At the end of the day, you still have a brand to maintain and it’s important that your guest bloggers meet those conditions so your brand remains cohesive.
Bloggers who are active are good bets. These are the writers who are still posting new content, replying to comments by guests, sharing other blogs on their topic. Looking out for these traits will take you to writers who know how to produce engaging content and connect with audiences.
For the best success with guest blogging, you should have a goal with what you want to accomplish. Do you want to grow your followers? Or are you more interested in optimizing for search results? Knowing exactly what you want from your writing will help you guide the content you want from your guest writers and produce writing that brings you to your goals.
As a Writer
While pitching is important and is what ultimately leads to a blog being written, there is quite a bit to do before you are ready for the pitching stage. Every writer is different and you need to market what makes you unique. Do you have any professional writing or copywriting skills? Do you typically write about specific topics or have certain areas of expertise? Know what are your strengths and let recruiters know how they can benefit from hiring you to write their blog.
It’s also helpful to have writing samples or a portfolio available to present. You can also have a website or your own blog that you can show companies. Make sure that you also have the best parts of your career in your biography as well.
Next comes looking for the businesses and brands you would like to write for. You could search them on Google, but there are also platforms and websites specifically for guest bloggers. Some of these are Copyblogger, Social Media Examiner, and HubSpot. If you are a blogger or content writer as part of another website, you could check out non-direct competitors and see if you could find a writing opportunity.
When choosing which companies to reach out for, do the research. Know what values they support, what content is already up on their blog, and who their audience is. If you can, make sure that their guest bloggers get attention too, not just posts by the host. Do your best to also find a website that gains a decent amount of traffic and is still active. Inactive accounts and platforms will make it harder for you to be discovered, and you may be writing for an audience that is no longer there.
After all of that, if a business’s content and target audience aligns with yours, you may have found a great website to guest post for. Once you have found a company you like, get in touch with them and try to pitch an idea for a blog post you can write for them.
Building Your Blog
SEO Design Chicago can help you integrate blogging with your content marketing strategy and assist you in creating blog content. You can also hire our network of content writers to create high-quality content to feature on your blog.
FAQ:
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