Have you thought of how popular sites rank on Google? For how long have you been blogging without getting the desired traffic? While blogging can be a challenging task, having massive traffic can be daunting. Although suggestions have been made about SEO research and keyword usage, it won't be surprising if you've heard about guest posting. You may have been discouraged about it based on many posts about how ineffective it has been in recent years. There's also a possibility that you've tried it out but have gotten no response from popular sites. Hang in there for there's a high chance you're doing something wrong.
What Is Guest Blogging?
Guest Blogging is a method used by the site owners to gain traffic to their sites. As a guest blogger, you'd have to come up with web contents that will be posted on other websites. You may be pondering, "If I'm taking my time, creating quality articles and posting it on other sites, how do I benefit from this?" Well, here's the exciting part- the primary reason why people guest blog is to include links to their own websites. In doing so, other users get to know about their sites. As easy as this may appear, there are millions of websites out there without engagement; therefore, proper steps must be followed to be able to benefit from this.
How To Do Guest Blogging
Just like you, millions of website owners seeking for guest blogging positions on different websites. To be successful in guest blogging, you have to stand out amongst your peers. As long as you carefully adhere to the instructions and tips given in this guide, what many see as challenges will be a piece of cake to you.
- Identify Your Niche
Today, there are over 1.5 billion websites on the World Wide Web. Although this is some record-breaking number, research proves that this value can only keep on increasing. However, a crucial point to note is that these websites can be categorized into different niches. A niche is a specific area in the market with its specific customers and products. Weight loss, sports, pets, and fashion are a few of the thousands of niches. So, the first step is to identify your niche.
- Search for Niche-related Websites
For every niche, some websites rank high in terms of audience and activity. Searching for these websites may be one of the most straightforward tasks for you; however, you've got to stand out from others by the proper use of the Google Search Engine. A traditional way of searching for Dog-related websites is by typing Dog websites on the search engine. Sadly, the results you'll be receiving may not be the kind that meets the needs of guest bloggers. You need to find a way of telling Google to search for guest blogging opportunities in your niche. One way of doing this is by typing "[keyword] guest post, or [keyword] contributing writer." A relatable example for the pet niche would be "Dogs Guest post, or Dogs Contributing writer."
Another strategy is by using the ‘inurl’ operator. In this case, the format would be inurl: “write for us” [keyword]. The previous examples would be; inurl: “write for us” Dogs. A unique advantage of this method over the former is that it actually restricts the search results to webpages with “write for us” in its URL.
- Brainstorming
Yes! You may have seen websites in the niche of your interest. Please, don’t be too quick to start writing content for these sites so you won’t be disappointed in the end. A common mistake that newbies make is creating similar contents that must have been posted. Therefore, you have to carefully browse through these sites to ensure that the content you’ll be creating is unique. For instance, if you're writing on ‘How to Train Your Dogs,' type into Google "site: WebsiteURL [Keyword].” In this case, the essential keywords are train and dog. Hence, you can just type in “site: WebsiteURL Train Dogs.”
After completing this crucial process and taking note of the sites you’re interested in, the next step is to check the guest posting guidelines of these sites. The information obtained from this intensive research is used in writing your pitch. This is a crucial step as it gives you a competitive edge over your peers as it is always glaring to the site editor that you’ve actually gone through every detail on the site as regard guest posting.
- Pitching
Pitching entails writing well-structured proposals to website owners and informing them of your interest in guest blogging on their sites. For high traffic websites, it may surprise you to know that the blog owners receive hundreds of emails daily, and as such, if you’re thinking of getting generic templates on the net, you're doomed to fail. It will take something beyond the ordinary to be considered on these sites.
Try to make a genuine connection with the site editors. You can personalize the pitch by including the name of the person you're pitching. Also, give little details about the topics you wish to write about and how you feel it will connect with their readership. Keep in mind that these site owners don't care about your wish of boosting the traffic on your sites, and as such, avoid being like the 25% of people who pitch sites and talk about how they require massive traffic on their sites.
Paid Guest Blogging
There is no such thing as a free lunch! Well, that’s what the economists say, and it is not surprising to see this manifest in blogging. Many sites pay writers to guest post on their websites. Getting a spot on these sites is very competitive, but it's usually enriching.
Free Guest Blogging
When you guest blog for some sites, the sites benefit from it just as you do. Fair enough, some sites are happy with guest bloggers and are willing to give you a spot to share content with their audience. Although there are many free guest blogging sites, it is essential to do your research as regards the popularity, audience, and engagement on the sites.
Make Money Guest Blogging
If you've been patient enough to have completed the previous steps, you may as well cheer up as you're about to learn something terrific. Money! Everyone loves money. While a few people are concerned about increasing the audience on their websites, the majority are more concerned about how traffic is converted to passive income. Whichever category you may belong and whether you like it or not, you can earn a lot from guest blogging.
Guest Blogging Sites that Pay
As of today, many site owners charge guest bloggers to post on their sites. You may be thinking, how is it possible that I put in so much effort into creating top-notch content, and yet I have to pay to get featured? The thought of this could be discouraging to the few people who are genuinely interested in getting their content out there. Hang on, you don't have to pay for guest blogging. A better point to note is that some sites pay guest bloggers to post on their websites.
Here are the types of company that pays.
- SEO Companies: Thousands of website owners usually pay to have their sites rank on Google. This responsibility is rested on the shoulders of SEO Companies. Although most of these companies make use of SEO tools, the importance of guest blogging cannot be overemphasized. These companies make use of guest blogging to build high quality, long lasting backlinks.
Here's the exciting part, these SEO companies require thousands of niche related articles every month, and it's where you come in. They usually pay guest bloggers to post top notch contents on their client's sites. As long as you're creating quality content, you can make passive income from guest posting.
- Marketing Companies: Another type of company you should target is the Marketing company. These companies usually have in place varieties of plans to help their clients get a lot of results, and guest blogging is one of these plans.
- Big Brands: This should be up on the list as one of the most challenging types of companies to pitch. The best way of getting a guest blogging spot in companies like this is by getting in touch with the marketing managers or their SEO professionals and letting them know about the service you offer. While this process may take a lot of effort and time, the pay is excellent. Don't get it twisted, a big brand doesn't necessarily mean massive online presence or audience. In fact, some big brands might be new and emerging online start-up with a reasonable budget.
- Professional Bloggers: Surprisingly, professional bloggers may need guest posts written for them. Most of these bloggers have affiliate sites that need search engine traffic for sales. Regularly, they hire people to guest post on blogs, which in turn builds quality links to their affiliate reviews and improve their rankings and income.
Whether it is paid guest blogging or free guest blogging, you're doing yourself a favor as you build quality backlinks to your sites. Bear in mind that this is crucial in ranking your website on Google, and for as long as you adhere to the instructions in this guide, you can make passive income from guest blogging. It pays!
