If you follow some blogs, you must have noticed that it may be common for there to be some posts written by third parties, such as guests.
This is an exciting practice for those who publish since it is difficult to maintain a frequency of good articles, but it is also highly recommended for those who write.
That is why we always indicate that, on behalf of your company, you participate in this practice.
In this post, we will show you the benefits of writing a guest post, how to find channels to publish and how to create suitable content for these occasions.
The benefits of publishing guest posts
We have seen how some companies question the reasons for investing time in the production of content and posting on another site, generating traffic for it instead of posting on the blog itself and directly reaping those benefits.
It is undoubtedly a relevant point, but it can be explained by some advantages:
Reach a new audience
The work to create a community and have a good number of people around your brand is hard and the numbers tend to grow slowly.
In parallel, other vehicles are doing the same thing and already talking to the public. Writing for one of them means reaching a new audience, with a great chance of reaching people who have never heard of your company before.
Position yourself as an authority
Being present in various places speaking as a specialist on a certain topic offers great value, which is giving you – and consequently your company – a position of authority.
It is possible to position that image in the minds of readers and have your name present when they think about the subject.
get good links
When it comes to SEO, receiving links from other websites is one of the main factors to improve organic positioning.
The more quality links your company receives, the greater the chances of reaching the top positions in Google for the keywords that are important to your business.
Guest posting on relevant blogs in the marketplace is a guaranteed way to receive one of those links.
How to get a publication
There is a process that is not always easy between finding some options and getting an ok for the publication.
Therefore, we bring some tips that can increase your opportunities:
Find good targets
The first step to guest posting is choosing a good blog or portal.
Give a priority to those that are related to your topic or that at least have an audience interested in your domain issue.
Follow some market experts on social media and see the content sources they use. This is a good way to find good vehicles. Google searches can also help you find some results.
There is also a Google Chrome plugin that flags similar pages and can help you find more options.
Once this is done, identify if it is really worth publishing on that site. Look at the impact (number of times shared on social networks) of the latest posts or how many followers the blog has on Twitter and/or Facebook.
Another option is to use Open Site Explorer and measure the authority of the domain.
It is possible to do a thorough process and identify with great precision the vehicles with the greatest profit.
Try to build a relationship beforehand or look for contacts in common
It is not usually very easy to post on a quality site, as they have a reputation to uphold and may not trust anyone who contacts them.
Therefore, it is very important to start a relationship before placing the request to publish. Try to initiate that contact through comments on posts, emails, or on social networks. It also helps to share content from the site on your company's social networks.
An undervalued strategy, but one that is undoubtedly effective is face-to-face contact, in meetings, coffee shops, and events, for example.
Finally, another option that works very well is to be recommended by a common contact. It may be worth looking up the blog editor on Linkedin or Facebook and checking if a connection is shared by a close friend.
Have a good content portfolio
If your company already has a blog with a good history, it is easier to gain credibility and receive the ok to publish.
The history shows the mastery of the content, the cohesive way of presenting the ideas, and the grammar, in addition to showing if the topic is really attractive.
It is much easier to be accepted if you have a blog with already published content than if you had not created it.
Try to have something to show beforehand
When there is no close relationship with the blog editor and you want to initiate a contact to publish as a guest, seek to describe the topic and structure of the text, showing commitment and knowledge of the subject.
Sending a briefing is much more effective than just asking if you can send a guest post.
If the content is rejected, which can happen for various reasons such as editorial line, style, or format, ask the ally if there is a theme that you can develop for the blog or send ideas for themes for the editor to evaluate. The idea is to send at least 3 suggestions.
How to write a good guest post
There are some important aspects when writing a guest post.
This can guarantee better results and especially a good relationship with the blog owner, who can mention your company and your content more times and even open other doors:
Adapt to the editorial line of the blog
Commonly, there are big differences in the approach between each blog and that must be respected when writing your text.
Among the most common items we must observe:
- Theme: It's the most important thing. It is useless to try to write about a topic that is not common in the blog or is attractive to that audience. Look at some old publications, see what had a good impact, and try to work well on the definition of a subject that pleases;
- Content: In addition to the theme, the content itself must be appropriate. The public can be more beginner or more advanced in the matter and that makes a difference in the vocabulary and advice given. The blog can have a more formal or informal approach and this must be taken into account in your text;
- Text format: try to identify if the blog usually has shorter or longer texts, if they use images or not, if they are divided into paragraphs and use subheadings or if they are larger text blocks. This will maintain familiarity for readers.
Write good content, not hype
For a blog, it will only make sense to accept good quality texts, which they would write themselves if they had more time or more knowledge on the subject.
Various blogs charge as "public editorial" when the intention is to promote a specific product or service. To publish for free as a guest, it is necessary to generate value by writing interesting texts.
The higher the quality of your text and the more likely it is to stand out to readers, the better the reader will want to know more about who you are and what you do.
Use links carefully
One of the biggest benefits of posting as a guest is having control over the text and this includes the links and their respective anchor texts.
There are advantages to using links to important pages of your company and using keywords that summarize the content well as anchors for those links. This, in addition to bringing traffic to your site, will help those pages to rank better in Google.
However, be careful with excessive links throughout the text. In addition to being less SEO efficient, it is often not well received by the vehicle that opened the doors for you. It gives the impression that you are writing just to take advantage, of filling the text with links to bring traffic.
It is advisable to balance the links for the site itself and for third parties since it shows a bit of impartiality.
Some blogs only allow you to use the link in the signature. Look to analyze old articles and see what the blog's use policy is.
Facilitates the work of the ally
Try to submit the material in a format that is easy for the blog editor to copy and publish.
Normally Google Docs is the most recommended since it includes the distribution of paragraphs, images, and bold and allows the editor to make comments regarding some points that must be adjusted, facilitating feedback.
Should I publish partner guest posts on my company blog?
Now let's talk about the opposite situation.
Does your company blog already receive guest articles? Guest posts are great pieces of content that you can use to post on your blog.
Beyond being other content, it is a valuable way for your company to maintain its relationship with allied companies. Likewise, it is a way of guaranteeing an exchange of content so that the two companies can reach new audiences.
The advantage here is that you do not spend much effort in producing content, because someone else will do that.
It is important to always align the topic and the language of the post before the ally starts writing. This is essential for the article to be by the standards of your blog. By doing so, you won't have a rework with extensive edits.
If you already receive the first version that does not fit with your company's proposal, give feedback explaining the situation and request a new topic.
In the RD blog, we have published articles about this practice. In the same way, we publish as guests in several allied blogs.
And you? Already working with guest posts in your Content Marketing strategy?
