Have you ever considered writing for someone else’s blog? It’s called writing a guest blog post. Imagine if your content was featured on a leading blog in your niche, and seen by thousands of people in your target audience.
Guest blogging is a marketing tactic that involves writing content and publishing it on someone else’s blog. This provides a new outlet for your content and also exposes you to a wider audience. Guest blogging can help you achieve a variety of goals in your online marketing strategy.
It offers several key benefits:
Traffic to Your Site. When you publish on another blog, it will lead traffic back to your site. Usually, guest bloggers are provided with a direct link in their author bio. If people like your work, they can follow this link to see what else you offer and become readers of your blog. It also gives you a high-quality backlink, which is great for your SEO.
Show Your Expertise in Your Niche. Publishing outside your website helps to raise awareness and establish your expertise. It shows that your work is worth publishing. Through association with this larger blog, you will become a trusted source of information.
Grow Your Audience. Guest blogging is one of the best ways to grow your audience. It offers exposure to the blog’s audience and provides an opportunity to establish a relationship with them. If readers like what you have to say, they’ll follow the link to your site and see what else you have to offer.
Build Relationships. By offering content to other bloggers in your niche, you’ll build relationships that can benefit both of you in the future.
Does this sound like a strategy you could use? Here are the 5 steps to getting your first guest blog published:
- Define your guest blogging niche
- Identify blogs to pitch
- Get on the blog host’s radar
- Write an effective pitch email
- Write your high-value guest post
Step 1 – Define Your Guest Blogging Niche
The first step is to choose your guest blogging niche. You already know your overall area of expertise, so get more specific and decide exactly what you’re going to write about.
Identify Your Goals: Start by defining your goal. This will help you choose your niche. If your goal is to grow your audience, you’ll want to write on popular topics that appeal to your target and are aligned with your overall business objectives. If your primary focus is selling products, you should write about topics related to the products you want to sell.
Write to Your Strengths: Another way to determine your niche is to consider your strengths. Your guest blog posts will expose you to a whole new audience. You should make a good impression on them and write about topics that they’ll find valuable and interesting.
If you’re not sure, go back over your existing content and make note of which pieces performed best. Where do you get the most engagement or conversions? Which posts get the most traffic and have the most staying power?
Follow Your Audience: You can choose a compatible niche by considering your audience. What do they most want to learn from you? Look for topics that are trending now among your target. Conduct some keyword research in your niche to find out what people are searching for.
Key Products and Services: Get inspired by the key products and services you want to sell. This could be a new product that’s launching soon, your most popular items, or products you’d like to sell more of. Think about topics that are related to these products and make that your focus.
Step 2 – Identify Blogs to Pitch
Once you’ve chosen your niche, it’s time to find blogs to pitch.
Guest blogging requires solid planning to be successful. For starters, you’ll have to research, get on the blog’s radar, interact with commenters, and write a pitch letter. There’s a significant time investment involved before your post even gets accepted, so it’s important to carefully choose the blogs you’ll pitch. Focus on blogs that are compatible and will provide a good ROI.
It’s natural that you want blogs with large readership, as you’re trying to grow your audience and spread your expertise. But the most important factor should be relevance.
If you choose blogs that aren’t relevant to your niche, no matter how many readers they have, you won’t gain new audience members. On the other hand, if you write for a blog with a relatively small readership, but those readers are hungry for content like yours, you’ll win them over and your investment will have been worth it.
You may also want to consider keywords. Try to find blogs that rank for the keywords you want to rank for. Your guest posts will help you build backlinks, so the host blog should be ranking for your target keywords. You can find relevant blogs by searching these keywords in Google and seeing what appears in the results page.
The size of a blog’s readership is also important, so look for that as well, but place a higher priority on relevance.
Start searching by looking at your direct network. If you know the blog owner, you’ll have a better chance of getting published. Look at people you’ve already collaborated with, you’ve interacted with, or who are in your business or personal network.
Once you’ve exhausted your direct network, expand your search. Use keywords related to the niche you’ve chosen, and phrases like “guest post” or “write for us.” This will help you narrow it down to blogs that accept guest contributors. Not all do.
Step 3 – Get on the Blog Host’s Radar
It’s much easier to successfully pitch a blog if you are familiar with the host and their content. You should spend some time first getting on their radar.
Start by researching the blog owner so you know who they are and what they’re about. This will help you pitch a post idea that’s a good match for their site. You can also gain some insights into ways to appeal to them. Remember that you are contributing content for their blog, so you should frame it in the ways it will benefit them.
The best way to get on their radar is to become familiar with their blog and readership. Leave comments that are thoughtful and relevant. Try to demonstrate your understanding of the topic, while also contributing value to other readers. They’ll notice you and come to see you as a fellow expert with value to offer.
However, do this authentically. Don’t force it. Only comment when you have something to say. Also, don’t leave generic comments like, “Great post!”
Another benefit of commenting is that their readers will get to know you as well. They may be more receptive to reading your posts if they recognize your name.
You should connect with the blog owner on social media and elsewhere for the same reason. If they have a podcast, become a listener. Check out their YouTube videos. You don’t need to bombard them with comments, but become a follower and authentically enjoy their content and engage with it.
A word of caution: don’t be overly familiar or pushy. Flooding the host with multiple comments or messages is bothersome and can come across as aggressive.
Step 4 – Write an Effective Pitch Email
Once you’re familiar with the blogger and you know what you’re going to write about, you’ll reach out to them with a pitch for your guest post.
Don’t contact them through their blog’s direct messages. Many blog owners don’t check them. The same goes for social media. The best way to reach out is by email.
Your pitch email should include:
Subject Line. Give it a strong subject line. Keep in mind that the person doesn’t know you or why you’re contacting them. It should clearly and succinctly explain the purpose of your email and get their attention.
Brief Intro. Give them your elevator speech. Keep it short, but make sure it’s impactful. It should explain who you are, what you do, and what makes you unique.
Share a Favorite Post. It’s good to let them know you’re a reader. Choose a post you especially liked or found helpful and tell them you liked it and why. The point isn’t to flatter them, but to demonstrate that you’ve done your research.
The Reason You’re Writing. Explain why you’re reaching out. Tell them you want to write a guest post for their blog.
Offer Ideas. Offer a few unique, relevant topic ideas that you think would interest them based on your research. It’s good to pitch 2-3 ideas in your email. They can then choose the one they like the best.
Data about Your Work. Provide data about your site or direct them to your best-performing post. Once you’ve started guest posting regularly, include links to work you’ve done for others.
A Hearty Thanks. Thank them for taking the time to read your email.
Send this one email and wait for their reply. If you don’t hear from them, follow up around 10 days later if it’s a smaller blog, and up to 3 weeks later if it’s a larger one.
Once you’ve written this email for your first guest post pitch, you can turn it into a template to make future pitches easier to write.
Step 5 – Write Your High-Value Guest Post
Once you get the go-ahead from the blog host, it’s time to get started on the actual post.
You want to give it your best and make it high quality, but don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Follow the guidelines below and make sure it offers unique value to the reader. If you can achieve that, you’ll hit a home run.
Here are the elements of a great guest blog post.
Strong Opening Paragraph. Start strong. Remember that this is the readers’ first impression of you. Grab their attention and tell them what they will learn from the post.
Offer Value. While writing, focus on offering as much value as possible. Don’t make it self-promotional. Forget that you’re writing for a new audience and try to make it the best post possible.
Length. Blog owners will usually specify the length they want. Stick to this length. Show that you can follow editorial guidelines. If they don’t specify how long it should be, 1,000 words is a good best practice to follow.
Images. Supply a relevant, high-quality image. Images are important for blog posts and you should supply your own.
Headline and Call to Action. Create a powerful headline that will grab attention and set expectations. Close your post with a strong call to action.
Author Bio. Write an author bio. The blog owner will probably set guidelines for the bio, so follow these instructions. Include a professional headshot that shows you smiling naturally if possible.
Are you ready to start guest blogging and growing your audience? It sounds like a lot of work at first, but it’s a simple tactic that you can work into your marketing repertoire. Eventually, you’ll have an editorial calendar and you’ll be submitting posts regularly and reaping the benefits.
And that’s how you get your first guest blog post published!
Download this guide as a PDF HERE.
