Guest blogging – what it is, why you should do it, and how to go about it!
Charlotte Stephen - 22 August 2017
If you have your website up and running, the chances are that you already have a blog included on it. Blogs are brilliant for keeping your content up to date and relevant, creating valuable information that users want to read and share, and for incorporating the keywords and long tail keyword phrases that can really improve the way that Google ranks your website.
But, if you are an avid reader of other blogs, you may have noticed that sometimes they will have a ‘guest blog’ featured on their site and you might have wondered what a guest blog is and why people write them. In this article, Wagada HQ will take a look at what guest blogging is, why it can help your website and how you can approach other sites and encourage them to accept a guest blog from your business.
So what is a guest blog?
A guest blog is created when you or your company are given an opportunity to write a blog post which will be hosted on another company’s website. Guest blogs will often be published on sites which have a shared area of interest or operate within the same industry sector. For example a hairdresser could contribute a guest blog to a personal stylist’s website or a childcare company might have an opportunity to write a blog on a parenting blogger’s site.
Now if you find it hard to come up with or write content for your own site, you may be wondering what the benefits would be of writing for another site – after all if you have a great blog idea don’t you want to keep it for your own blog? The answer is, not necessarily. There are actually a range of reasons why writing guest blogs for other sites can be really beneficial to your business and can help you to see your website moving up those all-important search engine rankings.
What benefits can guest blogging bring me?
One of the most vital things that guest blogging can do for your website is to help improve the way that Google views your website’s authority. When you provide a guest blog, the host site will usually let you include a link back to your own website. If you have the opportunity to blog for a site that already has a good page ranking and good page authority, then the search engines will notice this ‘link juice’ running to your site, and will assume that your site is also trustworthy and relevant. Of course this increase in authority can really help your search engine optimisation and the more high quality sites that you can get to link to your website the better.
A great guest blog can also really improve the number of hits that you get to your website. If you write a guest blog for a website that has a high volume of readers and you are able to entertain and engage them, then they will often click through to have a look at your business site too. Of course there is also the added benefit to the increased click-throughs of potentially increased sales. If you pick the sites you guest blog on carefully, then your product or service should be of interest to their readers and so it is a great way to widen your customer base.
Social sharing is becoming an increasingly important ranking factor for Google and guest blogs are a fantastic way to increase your website shares and engagement on channels such as Facebook and Twitter. Often when a company accepts a guest blog from your business, they will also be happy to share the content on their social media. If they have high levels of followers, this will really get your name seen and may help you increase your own likes and followers too.
That sounds great – how can I get a guest blog on another website?
Firstly it’s important to choose the websites you are targeting to host a guest blog very carefully. As we’ve already mentioned, the website’s authority is really important and you can use online tools such as Open Site Explorer to make sure you fully understand whether the site has a good ranking with Google. You really don’t want to hold a guest blog on a website which is perceived as spammy or low quality as that could actually end up with the search engines penalising your website.
You also need to make sure that the websites you are choosing are relevant to your industry. Google places a high level of importance on businesses using their website to add value to customers and so your blog will need to offer something useful to their readers. For example, a wedding cake maker could write a blog about the latest cake trends and this would work brilliantly as a guest post for a wedding dress shop. Equally it would be totally unsuitable as a post on a local MOT centre’s website!
Once you have chosen the sites you would like to offer a guest blog to, then really take the time to get to know their site to ensure that you can offer them a personalised guest post. Read their own blogs and think of a topic that would appeal to their readers. Don’t simply offer all the sites the same post, but ensure that each guest blog proposition is unique and will add value to what they can offer their customers.
It’s often hard simply emailing a website out of the blue. So aim to build up a relationship with them first via social media. Chat to them on industry Twitter hours, engage with them and share their posts and content so that they grow to know and trust you. Talk to them about what you do so that they understand the benefits that a guest post from your business could bring them.
Also keep an eye out on social media for websites actively asking for guest posts, either on a regular basis to help increase their content or as a one off if they are particularly busy at that point in time. If you are offered this opportunity then take it! You can also make use of your networking contacts with other local businesses to chat to them and see if they would be interested in a guest post from you – you could even come up with a reciprocal arrangement where you swap guest blogs with each other.
As you can see, guest blogging has a whole host of benefits for your website. From boosting your search engine rankings, to increasing your social media followers, and ultimately bringing more custom to your door, it’s an essential part of your SEO strategy. However, it is important to make the right choice of websites to offer guest blogs to and to ensure that the content you offer is going to inspire and engage them. Wagada HQ can help your business with both writing compelling guest blog content and researching and contacting the ideal websites to work with your brand. So if you are interested in guest blogging, but need a little help or advice come and chat to us – we speak human!
