Is Invitee Posting A Valid Fashion To Expire Links?

The Definitive Guide to Using Guest Blogging as a Link Building Strategy

“Guest blogging is dead!”

How many times take hold yous heard variations of this contention on marketing blogs as well as forums?  Despite evidence to the contrary, at that topographic point are nevertheless a issue of pervasive myths as well as beliefs most invitee blogging, especially when it is used as a link edifice strategy.

I take hold published over 1,400 articles for myself as well as my clients inward the final decade. My experience has shown that invitee blogging is fantastically effective when used correctly.

In this post, I volition dispel all the myths related to invitee blogging as well as demo yous a step-by-step guide on how yous tin exercise invitee posts to create reputation, authority, as well as exposure through backlinks.

Dispelling the Guest Blogging Myth

Let’s go dorsum inward fourth dimension to Jan 20, 2014, when Matt Cutts published his at nowadays famous post on invitee blogging: The decay as well as autumn of invitee blogging for SEO.

Here’s the quote that everyone likes to reference:

“So stick a fork inward it: invitee blogging is done; it’s just gotten as good spammy...I wouldn’t recommend relying on invitee posting, invitee blogging sites, or invitee blogging SEO as a link edifice strategy.”

By all accounts, that sounds similar a real clear repudiation of invitee blogging as an SEO strategy. If that is the case, why are respected publications similar ProBlogger nevertheless accepting invitee posts?

The reply to this inquiry lies inward Matt Cutts’ master copy anti-guest blogging post.

Matt makes it clear that he is talking most a certainly type of invitee posts. He fifty-fifty shares an electronic mail from such a invitee post spammer:

The highlighted sections demo that this is basically a mass spammed electronic mail amongst aught personalization or intention to create lineament content. If yous run a pop blog, yous take hold probable seen such emails inward your inbox.

From Google’s perspective, yous tin meet why such invitee posts would go problematic. The content is low-quality, lacks insight, as well as isn’t associated amongst whatsoever existent author. Most links from such content Pb to spammy SEO-optimized affiliate sites.

However, this describes blatant spam, the sort yous tin disclose from a mile away. What most to a greater extent than subtle kinds of link spamming, where the content looks authoritative as well as mightiness fifty-fifty exceed a spam sniff test?

For such invitee posts, Google had some other post about “large scale article campaigns” (read: mass invitee blogging). As per Google, the next 3 tactics are especially frowned upon:

• Stuffing keyword-rich links to your site inward your articles.
• Using or hiring article writers that aren’t knowledgeable most the topics they’re writing on.
• Using the same or similar content across these articles; alternatively, duplicating the total content of articles found on your site.

The commencement betoken is obvious enough, but the other 2 points highlight a recent phenomenon, to a greater extent than as well as to a greater extent than marketers are adopting. They outsource content creation to inexpensive writers as well as inquire them to write variations of the same article, hence spread them around as invitee posts.

Such content doesn’t come upward from writers who genuinely know a subject. It is obvious from a cursory glance that this content is meant to teach links, non part insight. Google evidently has a work amongst this approach.

So what is the solution to this problem?

Simple: don’t invitee weblog for links. Instead, invitee weblog only when yous take hold an original insight to part on a topic yous already understand. If yous take hold been working inward SEO all your life, hence teach ahead as well as write a post most a novel SEO tactic - Google wouldn’t take heed that, as well as neither would publishers.

In other words, go authentic. Share instance studies, results from your work, as well as tactics that worked for yous inward a personal capacity. This has been my strategy as good as well as it brings wonderful results inward price of rankings as well as reader satisfaction.

To amount it up:

• Mass invitee blogging for backlinks is definitely dead.
• Sharing personal insight as well as knowledge is goodness as well as encouraged.
• Don’t outsource your content creation to inexpensive writers, as well as definitely, don’t materials your invitee posts amongst keyword rich anchor links.

Any backlinks yous teach through invitee posts should go a by-product of your content, non its sole reason.

Why Guest Blogging

To reply this question, I desire to highlight some other Matt Cutts quote:

“While there’s ever a grain of common salt involved amongst Google gospel, it does seem to follow along amongst what nosotros knew (or suspected) most authorship: quality as well as trust signals are increasingly surrounding content as well as the individuals who write them.”

The heart of this quote is that Google is increasingly attaching potency to non just websites, but individuals as well.

For instance, if Elon Musk were to write an article most edifice electrical cars on a completely new, unranked domain, Google would desire to rank the article higher. The domain mightiness non take hold whatsoever potency signals, but Musk’s private potency makes the article worth existence on the forepart page.

This thought aligns amongst Google’s mission: to render value to users. This mission is hence of import that Google fifty-fifty penalized Wall Street Journal when it stopped providing value.

The inquiry is: how practise yous create this potency as an individual?

Simple: through invitee blogging. Think of it this way: if yous telephone squall upward yourself a “marketing expert” yet the only house your content appears is your site, your claim is suspect.

However, if your content appears on authoritative marketing publications, your claim has a trivial to a greater extent than legitimacy. Kind of similar how the issue of citations for a enquiry newspaper is an indicator of potency inward academia.

More than backlinks, this is the argue yous demand to pick out upward invitee blogging. The to a greater extent than sites your content as well as call appear on, the to a greater extent than authoritative Google sees yous (and yesteryear proxy, your sites) as.

In fact, this is i of the major reasons why I built JustReachOut in the commencement house - to aid startups practise their ain PR as well as teach found on other websites.

Besides this, at that topographic point are the obvious benefits as well:

• You teach targeted traffic.
• You tin exercise invitee posts to capture leads.
• You teach lineament backlinks from potency domains.
• You prepare call recognition - for yourself as well as your business.
• You prepare social proof.

Plus, effective invitee blogging is difficult plenty that it volition proceed out all but the most motivated of your competitors.

Guest blogging works. In fact, I used it to rank a site #1 for a competitive, high-volume keyword in nether xc days. I volition demo examples from this post to demo yous invitee blogging plant for SEO. I volition also demo yous how to exercise invitee blogging as a link edifice strategy.

Using Guest Blogging to Build Backlinks

Here is a step-by-step procedure to create backlinks through invitee blogging:

1. Before You Start

Before yous start your invitee blogging campaign, at that topographic point are 3 things yous must know:

I. The Right Approach to Guest Blogging

The commencement dominion of invitee blogging for backlinks is to non exercise invitee blogging for backlinks.

I know this sounds confusing, but successful invitee blogging is never backlink focused. You weblog because yous desire to create potency as well as earn a readership. Any backlinks yous teach are just incidental.

This is an of import mindset to adopt. If yous approach invitee blogging entirely amongst the intention of earning a link, yous mightiness destination upward targeting low-quality sites or compromising on content quality. This volition invariably touching on the impact of this strategy.

Embrace this thought earlier yous start. Take upward invitee blogging because it helps yous create influence as well as authority, non just for its SEO benefits.

II. Have a Brand

Ask yourself: would yous link to a invitee blogger whose site looked similar this?

Your site’s design, potency signals, content, domain, as well as focus volition impact whether your invitee posts teach accepted or not. Most editors volition hesitate to link to spammy affiliate sites filled amongst low-quality content, no thing how non bad the invitee post mightiness be.

Before yous start, create certainly that yous take hold a feasible brand. This includes:

• Clean, modern pattern as well as logo.
• Social signals, i.e. Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. following.
• Trust signals such as mentions inward potency publications, testimonials, etc.
• Relevant, high-quality content
• About us, contact, legal pages, etc.

Essentially, yous desire to human face similar a existent someone amongst a existent concern - non an SEO spammer.

III. Develop a Guest Post Portfolio

If yous desire to teach a shot at invitee blogging on top publications, yous volition demand to take hold at to the lowest degree i lineament invitee post published on a respected site. You volition demand this to give editors an illustration of your writing vogue as well as quality.

If yous take hold never invitee blogged before, I recommend writing the best post yous tin write as well as getting it published on a known site inward your niche. It doesn’t take hold to go a top potency site, just something people would recognize.

Another possibility, write a stellar post as well as position out it on your ain blog. Give this as an illustration of your writing lineament when yous pitch editors.

2. Finding Guest Blogging Opportunities

To start a invitee blogging campaign, yous commencement demand a large listing of invitee blogging targets.

There are multiple ways yous tin disclose these opportunities. I volition demo a few of my favorites below:

I. The Google Search Method

Many blogs hold pages where they solicit invitee posts. These are usually slow targets since they are publicly sharing their invitee blogging guidelines.

To disclose these pages, exercise search operators similar the following:

“[your keyword]” + “write for us”

“[your keyword]” + “guest post/blogging guidelines”

“[your keyword]” + “contribute”

This volition go inward nearly whatsoever niche.

The work is that this method usually yields misfortunate lineament candidates. Although non ever true, most top potency blogs don’t explicitly solicit posts - they already take hold tons of people wanting to write for them otherwise.

To disclose these sites that don’t hold populace “write for us/contribute” pages, essay the next searches:

“[your keyword]” + “this is a invitee post by”

“[your keyword]” + “this is a invitee contribution”

“[your keyword]” + “guest column/post”

“[your keyword]” + “contributing writer/author”

This volition demo yous blogs that take hold at to the lowest degree i post written yesteryear a invitee author. If they’ve accepted invitee posts before, they mightiness pick out yours as good - fifty-fifty if they don’t take hold a “write for us” page.

II. The Influencer Method

One of my favorite methods to disclose invitee blogging opportunities is to follow inward the footsteps of an influencer.

Essentially, you:

• Find a top influencer inward your niche who publishes invitee posts frequently, and...
• Target every site they invitee weblog on

If yous have been working inward a niche for some time, yous would already know a few top influencers inward your niche. The adjacent measuring is to just exercise a unproblematic Google search to disclose their invitee posts:

“Guest post” + “[influencer name]”

For example, hither is what I meet when I search for my ain name:

Including the influencer’s call mightiness pick out upward results from his/her ain website. You tin withdraw these yesteryear adding the next to your search string:

“Guest post” + “[influencer name]” -site:[influencer’s website]

This volition demo yous a lot of non-obvious candidates. Plus, since top influencers generally position out on potency blogs, you’ll teach some top lineament targets.

III. Competitor Backlinks Method

This i is the easiest to understand: human face upward a competitor’s backlinks as well as disclose whatsoever sites they take hold invitee blogged on.

For example, when I human face upward JustReachOut.io inward SEMRush, I tin meet some of my invitee post backlinks, such as this i from Entrepreneur.com:

This method plant best for minor to medium-sized competitors. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 large site similar HubSpot would take hold far as good many backlinks to analyze effectively.

IV. Buzzsumo Method

Buzzsumo isn’t just non bad for brainstorming content ideas. It also has a nifty characteristic to disclose invitee blogging opportunities.

Here is how to exercise it: Log into your Buzzsumo account. In the left sidebar, teach to “Content-type” as well as cheque only “Guest posts”. Next, search for your target caput keywords. Buzzsumo volition demo top performing invitee posts.

Once yous disclose all these targets, add together them to a divide spreadsheet.

2. Filtering Guest Blogging Opportunities

If yous take hold followed the steps above, yous volition take hold a listing of dozens of invitee blogging targets. Not all of these targets would go as important. You volition take hold some stellar potency sites mixed inward amongst some low-grade blogs.

Dig through your listing as well as figure out the following:

• Domain-level metrics: Domain Authority/Rating, referring domains, backlinks.
• Content quality: Go through a few weblog posts to meet what sort of content practise they commonly post. If yous meet a lot of spammy 500-word articles, mightiness go a goodness thought to remain away. Tag your targets as “poor”, “moderate” as well as “high-quality” based on this metric.
• Profile location: Does the site give invitee authors a clearly visible profile inward a higher house the fold? Or does it bury the profile at the destination of the article? Do yous teach a profile motion-picture demo as well as bio?
• Engagement: How many shares does a typical post have? Is at that topographic point a lot of comment activity? Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 highly engaged audience is a goodness sign.
• Content relevance: Does the site regularly post content on your niche? If yes, what is the typical engagement flat for such topics?
• Guest authors: What sort of invitee authors has the site hosted before? Do they come upward from potency sites or spammers? You don’t desire your backlinks to go from a bad neighborhood.

Based on your answers to these questions, segregate your listing into iv categories:

1. Authority Sites: Top-tier blogs that are widely read as well as followed inward your industry. Most would take hold a 60+ DA. These are blogs you’ll desire to add together to your “published in” list.
2. Mid-Tier: These are good, but non not bad blogs, generally run yesteryear private bloggers. Their DA is betwixt 50-60. They often pick out the cue from potency blogs regarding topic selection.
3. Low-Tier: These are average lineament blogs without substantial potency of their ain (DA 40+).
4. Rejected: Low-quality blogs that often entertain spam, usually amongst a DA nether 40. Avoid these blogs; they mightiness really wound your rankings.

Category #1 targets volition demand substantially high-quality content. These should go your top priority, but sympathise that potency sites pick out a lot of fourth dimension to position out content.

Category #2 volition go your staff of life as well as butter. These sites require goodness content, but it doesn’t take hold to go your best work.

Avoid category #3 sites if yous can. Too many links from such domains tin create yous come upward across as a spammer. The domain potency is also as good misfortunate for link building.

3. Approaching Guest Blog Targets

Before yous tin start sending pitches, yous demand to disclose electronic mail addresses for each target. For some potency sites, yous mightiness also demand to flora a human relationship amongst the editor commencement (though it’s non ever necessary).

I volition demo yous how to practise both below.

I. Finding Email Addresses

Thanks to a issue of novel tools, it has never been easier to disclose anyone’s electronic mail address.

I have covered a bunch of these tools as well as tactics inward the past, hence I won’t repeat them here. For the most part, yous won’t demand anything to a greater extent than than Interseller.io or AnyMailFinder to disclose emails.

With Interseller.io, for instance, yous just demand to go inward your target’s call as well as domain name, as well as it volition practise the rest.

The goodness purpose most Interstellar is that it volition also verify emails for you, hence yous ever know you’re getting the right ones. It is also inexpensive - paid plans start at just $15/month.

If yous demand something to a greater extent than industrial strength, cheque out Clearbit. Their database is incredibly accurate, as well as they tin practise mass lookups real easily.

I recommend outsourcing this task. You tin easily teach someone to practise it for nether $10 on Upwork.

II. Building Relationships

You tin usually exercise a mutual frigidity approach for most sites. However, top-tier potency blogs often don’t pick out unsolicited contributions or are as good bogged downward yesteryear their existing calendar to entertain your pitch.

For these targets, yous volition take hold to create a human relationship commencement - or at to the lowest degree register your call on their radars.

In my experience running PR campaigns, the next routine plant well:

• Follow on Twitter.
• Respond to 2-3 tweets.
• Leave comments on 2-3 weblog posts.
• Leave longer comments/feedback/ideas to a weblog post via email.

You don’t take hold to follow the exact order, of course. Just flora a cadence of regular communication. This ensures that when yous ship them a invitee post pitch, you’re non just “random blogger #239” but “Dmitry from JustReachOut who leaves non bad feedback.”

Usually, the to a greater extent than authoritative the site, the to a greater extent than attempt yous volition take hold to position in. This is especially truthful for sites that are well-known amid the full general public.

In either case, yous should start a communication channel amongst most authoritative site editors as well as owners. Even if yous are non invitee blogging, regular communication tin opened upward up additional opportunities.

4. Brainstorming Ideas

Once yous take hold got a listing of electronic mail addresses, yous volition take hold to come upward amongst invitee post ideas.

Your approach hither should go to non go master copy - at to the lowest degree for the bulk of sites on your listing (barring a handful of top-tier potency sites). Instead, yous desire to create ideas based on what is already known to go for their blog.

Understand that your target blogs also desire to a greater extent than readers. When yous ship them an thought that has worked for them inward the past, they volition go to a greater extent than probable to give yous a spot.

Start yesteryear entering the blog’s domain into Buzzsumo to disclose their most shared content. For each slice of content, consider the following:

• Whether the article is a listicle, a how-to, a step-by-step tutorial, see piece, etc.
• What primary topic(s) does the article bargain with
• What sort of words as well as linguistic communication does the headline include

For example, pick out a human face at Copyblogger’s top content:

Notice how 2 of the top iv articles are most writing. Also notice how "how-tos" dominate the listing as well as how every championship uses emotionally rich powerfulness words (“power as well as authority”, "nobody”, “vividly”, etc.).

This shows that how-to content related to writing amongst emotionally-rich titles does good amid Copyblogger’s audience. If yous were to pitch an thought along these lines, it would probable pique the editor’s interest.

Besides the above, at that topographic point are a few additional guidelines yous should follow:

I. Align Topic Complexity amongst Target Audience

Keep the audience’s expertise flat inward take heed when yous ship a pitch. Don’t hold off to write a “beginner’s guide” to SEO as well as teach it published on SEMrush.

Check the existing content on the site. If yous meet a lot of advanced-level stuff, alter your thought accordingly.

II. Keep SEO inward Mind

Since your objective is to create backlinks, yous should strive to pick upward ideas that align amongst your site as well.

For instance, if yous run a site most “growth hacking” as well as your target weblog does a lot of posts most “content marketing”, disclose an thought that brings the 2 topics together (like “How to exercise large content to unlock exponential growth”).

Come upward amongst at to the lowest degree 3 ideas for each blog. This should include a championship as well as a curt 1-2 judgement description of what the article volition cover.

5. Pitching Ideas

The adjacent measuring is to ship an electronic mail to the blogger/editor as well as pitch your invitee post ideas.

Here is a mutual frigidity electronic mail template that plant inward most situations:

Hi [Name],

[Personalized comment]

Anyhow, I'm writing to yous because I'm interested inward contributing a invitee post on your site.

Based on what has worked for [Site name] inward the past, I experience that your readers would dear these ideas:

• [Idea Title #1][Brief Description]
• [Idea Title #2][Brief Description]
• [Idea Title #3][Brief Description]

To give yous an thought of my writing vogue as well as quality, here's a invitee post I of late wrote for [Guest post link]

Do yous recollect these ideas would go a goodness fit?

Best,

[Your name]

The personalized comment tin go related to something they publicly posted on Twitter recently, their final weblog post, etc. You tin skip this for smaller blogs, but it helps yous teach noticed yesteryear busier bloggers as well as editors. Check out this article for to a greater extent than mutual frigidity electronic mail templates and this i for inspiration on making your email endings to a greater extent than memorable.

If yous don’t teach a response to your initial pitch, hold off a calendar week hence follow-up. Use a tool like MixMax to automate follow-up.

6. Creating Content

Once yous take hold an approved idea, yous tin teach downward to creating content. Here are a few things to follow during content creation:

I. Focus on Readability

While the lineament of your content is evidently important, yous also demand to teach inward to a greater extent than readable.

To practise this, try:

• Keeping sentences curt - 10-15 words at most.
• Keeping paragraphs express to 2-3 sentences.
• Adding plenty of sub-headers.
• Add bullet points as well as blockquotes.

For example, pick out a human face at the Pipedrive post on sales management:

The sub-headers as well as blockquotes create this long post (3,000+ words) slow to read.

II. Include Custom Images

Images practise 3 things:

• They aid illustrate examples as well as ideas, making the post easier to read as well as understand.
• They aid intermission the article into sections.
• They amend the perceived value of a weblog post.

The final betoken is especially important. Images aid differentiate yous from SEO spammers. Few invitee bloggers bother to create high-quality images for invitee posts. If yous pick out the fourth dimension to practise this, yous at in i trial stand upward out (and earn minute approval).

You tin either teach your ain in-house designer to create these images or outsource them on Fiverr for $5/image - inexpensive for the amount of value it adds.

III. Get Contextual Backlinks

Remember how I told yous to brainstorm ideas that align amongst your site’s content? This is of import because it helps yous earn contextual links to your site.

While yous volition evidently add together a link to your site inward your profile bio, for maximum SEO impact, yous also demand to teach a link inside the content. This acts as an editorial link as well as gives yous lots of SEO juice.

Take a human face at this post published yesteryear Pipedrive’s co-founder. Notice how it weaves inward a link to the sales administration article on Pipedrive using a keyword-rich anchor text.

Try to add together similar contextual links to your target page inward your content. Make certainly that it gives value to the reader, or the editor volition spend upward it.

7. Go Live

Once yous ship the content to the editor, hold off until a few days to hear their feedback. Make whatsoever changes as required, hence hold off until the article goes live.

Keep inward take heed that some large blogs take hold a 1-3 calendar month waiting list. Factor this into your campaign.

If yous practise this right, yous tin easily earn some high caliber backlinks. More importantly, in i trial yous invitee post on a blog, yous also prepare a human relationship that yous tin mine for futurity opportunities.

Over to You

Good invitee blogging isn’t easy, which is exactly why it is hence effective. Few of your competitors volition take hold the resources as well as the patience to teach their content published on top-tier blogs.

Of course, invitee blogging purely to create backlinks isn’t viable. But when it is used as purpose of a broader marketing strategy, it tin termination inward some top-notch backlinks. If yous tin position out fifty-fifty a minor volume of invitee posts on potency sites, yous could meet a meaning boost to your traffic as well as rankings.

source : semrush.com