Guest Posting: The Ultimate Guide

Reading Time: 9 minutes

I’ve written everything you need to know about guest posting.

How to start, how to optimize, and what you need to pay attention to.

You’ll find the meat of it here, but let’s start from scratch.

What Is Guest Posting

Guest Posting, also well-known as guest blogging, means publishing material or a post as a guest on someone else’s website.

Guest posting involves creating and publishing content on another website or blog in order to reach a larger audience and promote your own brand.

This can be understood as publishing our article on someone else’s blog, but it can also refer to publishing posts by another person on a blog that belongs to us.

Example of Guest Posting

Look at this screenshot below:

Kim Co Lim, the CEO at TripZeeker, wrote an article on Entrepreneur.com.

Of course, Kim doesn’t work at Entrepreneur, also she’s not there a casual copywriter. She wrote the post about XYZ, and she contacted Entrepreneur to post it on her behalf. 

This is the definition of guest posting—you’re writing an article, and you’re contacting the owner of the website, whose site is well-recognized in the market, and being featured on their website could potentially help you promote your business to new customers.

How Guest Posting Impacts SEO

Well, the answer isn’t unequivocal, but let’s say:

By creating valuable guest blogs for reputable sites with care, guest blogging can greatly boost your domain authority and improve SEO rankings.

So, it can be said that guest posting is a very good form of promotion for both parties — the person creating the post and the one who subsequently publishes it.

Google also pays attention to guest posting and to the rankings of your pages. Here are the 5 most important factors:

1. Relevance and Quality of Content: Content should be high-quality, relevant, and valuable to readers and the host website’s theme.
2. Natural and Relevant Links: Include links that are contextually relevant and beneficial to users, avoiding excessive use of exact match anchor text.
3. Authority of Host Website: Sure, if the host site is a ‘spam’, your site won’t gain a good reputation. The better the host site, the better the outcome for you.
4. User Experience and Engagement: User behavior on your site after clicking a guest post link, like time spent and bounce rate, affects SEO.
5. Social Signals: Engagement metrics like shares and comments on your guest post can influence how Google views its quality and relevance.

Summing up: Guest posting rocks. It’s a highly effective way to get backlinks and  boost insanely traffic to your website.

Engage in guest posting regularly, reasonably, and on trustworthy host websites. And just watch the great results.

How to Start Guest Posting

Let’s begin with the strategy. Familiarize yourself with 12 key points that will help you succeed in guest posting.

1/ Identify Your Goals and Niche

Determine why you want to engage in guest posting. Whether it’s to build backlinks, enhance your brand’s visibility, or establish authority in your industry, clarifying your goals is essential. Also, identify your niche or industry so that you can target relevant websites.

2/ Research and Select Target Websites

Look for websites that align with your niche, have a good reputation, and attract your target audience. Make a list of potential platforms where you’d like to contribute guest posts.

3/ Familiarize Yourself with the Guidelines

Before pitching or submitting any content, thoroughly read the guest posting guidelines of each target website. These guidelines provide valuable information about the content they accept, formatting, style, and submission process.

4/ Craft a Compelling Pitch

Write a concise and engaging pitch to present your guest post idea to the website’s editors. Highlight the value your content will bring to their audience and how it aligns with their platform.

Note: Here’s an example of a succinct email for pitching your request.

Hi [Name],

My name is Simon, and I’m from simongorlak.com.

I’m reaching out because I’m interested in contributing a guest post to your website! 🙂

I noticed on your website valuable insights related to business operations, which aligns perfectly with my area of expertise and could benefit both my audience and yours.

I run a blog focused on SEO and Content Marketing, helping entrepreneurs drive more online sales. With the rapid growth of my website’s content, it’s poised to achieve higher rankings [Or Use Another Reason], which could be mutually advantageous.

I’d like to write a post about [Title], containing around [Number] characters. It would be great to have my post featured on your [Link] subpage.

What are your thoughts on such collaboration?

Looking forward to your feedback,

Simon

Also, you can try this script.

If you’ve got some interaction with your future host blogger, this one will pay off:

Hey [Name],

Thanks for taking the time to comment on social media at [Link].

What you mentioned is an important fact that [insert something what captured your attention].

I appreciate that!

Anyway, I’ve got another guest post concept that would be an ideal fit for your website.

I called it: [Guest Post Title]

Does it make sense for you

Thanks again for your insights and waiting for your feedback!

Best,

[Your First Name]

5/ Be Straightforward & Precise in Pitching

1. Give the concrete reason for reaching out.
2. Tell what you do.
3. Show the idea of your post.
4. Give the exact number of keywords.
5. Propose where you’d like to be posted.
6. Point out the mutual outcome (crucial!)
7. Ask about the feedback.

6/ Create High-Quality Content

Once your pitch is accepted, work on creating a well-researched and valuable guest post. Focus on providing useful information, insights, and a unique perspective that resonates with the target website’s readers.

7/ Optimize for SEO 

Incorporate relevant keywords, headings, and subheadings to optimize your guest post for search engines. This helps both the host website and your own site in terms of visibility.

8/ Format and Structure

Pay attention to formatting and structure. Use clear headings, bullet points, and subheadings to make your content easy to skim and digest.

9/ Include Author Bio and Links

Yes, it’s all about you. Write a concise and engaging bio that introduces you and your expertise. Also, include a link or two to your own website or social media profiles.

10/ Proofread and Edit

Before submitting, thoroughly proofread your content for grammar, spelling, and formatting errors. Presenting polished content reflects professionalism. You know, had to mention it 🙂

11/ Submit and Follow Up

Submit your guest post according to the platform’s guidelines. Be patient during the review process. If there are edits or revisions requested, address them promptly.

12/ Promote Your Guest Post

Once your guest post is published, promote it across your own social media channels, email list, and other platforms. This not only helps the host website but also exposes your content to a wider audience.

Here we are — your blueprint is ready!

Good Bio = More Money

Guest posting involves presenting yourself as a guest—as the name says. 

Remember the two golden rules:

1. Sell yourself!
2. Don’t be boring!

Many guest posters struggle to create compelling bios for their links. 

Often, bios are generic, too brief, or contain cliché statements. 

Instead:

>> Sum up your expertise clearly.

>> Highlight your/your company’s achievements.

>> Demonstrate the value of collaborating with you.

>> Include the number of served & satisfied customers.

Promote yourself, but don’t exaggerate auto-presentation. The effect might be counterproductive.

Here’s a good example of a well-written bio:

An unappealing bio results in very few visitors to your site:

Good bio = more visitors = more profit.

Don’t forget what really matters in business.

Benefits of Guest Posting

Here are 11 advantages, explaining why guest blogging will boost your business:

1. Boost your sales.
2. Expand audience reach.
3. Networking opportunities.
4. Revitalize content strategy.
5. Built high-quality backlinks.
6. Generate higher-quality leads.
7. Brand authority establishment.
8. Amplify traffic and SEO performance.
9. Improve search engine ranking for the website.
10. Enhance online credibility and establish authoritative presence.
11. Build partnerships with bloggers in the same field that help both sides.

Pros and Cons of Guest Posting

Pros:

It’s an effective way to build valuable backlinks that boost your website’s search ranking through relevant and high-quality links. 

Also, guest posts drive more website traffic, exposing your content to a broader audience and increasing engagement and potential conversions.

By sharing valuable content on reputable (it’s crucial!) websites, you can establish authority and expertise in your industry, building trust and credibility among readers. 

More importantly—guest posting facilitates opportunities for relationship-building and networking, connecting you with influential people and companies.

Cons:

Sure, it’s not always colorful. First, maintaining consistent quality across different platforms can be challenging, potentially affecting your brand’s reputation. 

Second, guest posting can be time-consuming, involving research, writing, and pitching efforts. If you’re not recognizable on the market, yet, you have to reach out to bloggers and influencers. But it’s the beginning, what is it that you don’t do to achieve success, right?

Finally, poorly managed linking strategies can lead to search engine penalties, negatively impacting your site’s rankings. Balancing the quantity and quality of links within your guest posts is crucial to avoid potential SEO setbacks.

As in every business, there’s always a give-and-take. Personally, I do believe that guest posting is a really good way to promote your brand and gain valuable traffic to your website.

Is Guest Posting Safe for SEO?

Guest posting, when following best practices for creating high-quality content, is a safe and effective SEO strategy.

However, some key considerations apply:

Firstly, choose niche-relevant websites for guest posting. This ensures alignment with your industry and attracts interested user traffic.

Secondly, prioritize content quality over simply obtaining backlinks. Valuable content engages readers and encourages them to explore embedded links.

Thirdly, use anchor text wisely in off-page SEO. Natural anchors are recommended to avoid appearing spammy and facing potential penalties.

Last but not least—select websites with high domain authority and traffic.

This guarantees valuable backlinks and indicates credibility with search engines. Target sites with at least 1,000 monthly, organic users for optimal results.

I’ve added below the video on How to Secure Guest Posts on Forbes. It’ll be helpful.

In a nutshell: if your website and the post are proven, and if you’re posting on a reputable and highly ranked platform—then yes. Otherwise, double check

Guest Posting = SEO Improvement 

Backlinks

The primary influence that guest blogging will exert on your website’s SEO lies in its impact on your site’s link profile. As you contribute content to new websites, you should aim to acquire fresh backlinks from these new platforms where your posts are featured.

Backlinks stand as one of the crucial factors affecting search engine optimization, and this importance is projected to persist in the near future.

There are several elements that Google considers when evaluating a link. These include the domain and page hosting the link, the positioning of the link within the page, and the anchor text (the clickable part of the text).

What About Follow & Nofollow Links?

While your goal should generally be to acquire regular (dofollow) links from blogs, don’t overly concern yourself with a few no-follow links.

Follow links, also known as dofollow links, are hyperlinks that search engines can follow to discover and index the linked web page, potentially passing on SEO value to that page. 

Nofollow links, on the other hand, are hyperlinks with a special tag that instructs search engines not to follow them, so they don’t contribute to the linked page’s SEO ranking.

Quick example how it looks like in practice:

The main difference between follow and nofollow links in SEO is that follow links allow search engines to follow and pass on SEO value to linked pages, while nofollow links instruct search engines not to follow and pass on SEO value.

In a nutshell: Follow links pass on SEO value and influence search engine rankings, when nofollow links do not.

Anchor Text in SEO

Guest posting allows you to control the words people click on when they link to your website, known as “anchor text.” 

It’s a general code sample:

Here’s an example of how anchor text might look in a guest post:

In the guest post:

“Looking for the latest tech gadgets? Check out our [the best smartphone reviews] to make informed choices.”

Anchor text:

In this example, “the best smartphone reviews” is the anchor text. It’s the clickable text that, when clicked, takes the reader to your website’s relevant page, which could be a page focused on smartphone reviews. 

The choice of this anchor text helps signal to search engines that your website is authoritative for the keyword “best smartphone reviews.”

By strategically choosing these anchor texts, you can improve your site’s ranking for specific keywords.

However, overusing the same anchor text can raise issues with search engines, so a diverse and natural approach is vital for SEO success.

How Much Guest Posting Costs

I’ll surprise you—there is no unequivocal answer.

The pricing is determined by the entity you’re contacting: other bloggers, global contributor or any marketing geek.

The price depends on the length of the article, the industry, your specific requirements, market recognition, and several technical aspects.

I assume Forbes would charge over $2,000 for a short post, but someone like X, who is well-known in a niche industry, might treat you much better.

The price is individual, so I believe you have nothing to worry about.

Takeaways

You’ve got the step-by-step guide on how to guest posting.

What’s going to be your strategy?

If you’d like to write a guest post on my blog, contact me through the page Contact Me or LinkedIn: Simon Gorlak.

I will publish your post along with your company’s information. We’ll set up the details individually.

If any further matters—let me know in the comments below.

Author Profile

Simon Gorlak

Simon Gorlak is a Digital Marketing Expert with over 8 years of experience. He specializes in 3 areas: SEO, Copywriting, and Email Marketing. Simon's blog gathers knowledge that helps Marketers & C-level to increase profits from their online businesses. Also, his content helps to reach the most difficult customers, make others' content to be read & purchased. Besides digital marketing, Simon speaks 4 languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Polish & works as a Head of Business at an Indian Start-up.

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