Guest posting is an excellent way to promote yourself, your business, and boost your own website’s search rankings. Increasing traffic to your site, earning backlinks – it is all possible with guest posts.
But what should you do on the way toward guest posting?
Prepare the basics first:
- Create social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)
- Search and follow influential people in your niche
- Show your social media presence (comments, retweets, likes, shares)
Afterward, you have to determine your guest post purpose:
- Guest posting for building your authority
- Guest posting for getting traffic for your site
- Guest posting for earning backlinks
It looks like there is nothing difficult about making these first steps.
However, if you’ve never done it before, you could merely achieve any success in guest posting without a good plan.
In this guide, you will find some effective tips on how to:
- Come up with a guest post idea
- Find guest post opportunities
- Send a guest post inquiry (make it right and successful)
- Do the final steps when the blogger is on the hook
Let’s begin!
Come up with a Guest Post Idea
It is important for you to find a guest post idea that is in demand.
There are several ways to do this:
- Using the Skyscraper technique
- Using Quora
- Using BuzzSumo
- Using popular blogs as a source of inspiration
1. Use the Skyscraper Technique
This practical method was popularized by Brian Dean, founder of Backlinko. The main purpose of this technique is to use ‘ancient’ content from a new perspective.
You just follow these steps:
- Choose an article with dozens of shares, backlinks, etc.
- Write a much better version of it
- Get in touch with the people who liked it before
- Offer them your version of this article
By the way, in this case, you can use an effective helper Ahrefs Content Explorer. It is especially handy when you need to see which content performs the best according to the total amount of social shares and backlinks.
This tool suggests a list of top content according to your keyword inquiry. Type a keyword into a search box and choose a topic that you like the most.
Let’s say you want to write an article on “email outreach.” So, you put this keyword “email outreach” in a search box and see what Content Explorer will suggest:
Content Explorer will show you the most popular content related to your inquiry. Now you can choose any topic you like and turn it into a brand new article, for instance:
“Email Outreach Tools Any Marketer Must Use”
Or
“How to Build Backlinks with Email Outreach”
I guess you got a clue on how to search for ideas with Ahrefs Content Explorer. Furthermore, if you like to form topics for articles from the juiciest keywords, you should have a look at how to find these keywords with the Keyword Explorer tool.
Skyscraper technique is a great opportunity for those who don’t want their writing to be hit and miss. It helps create content that people will love almost for sure.
2. See what people ask on Quora
Quora is a place where people ask questions and get answers. Basically, any question you’re stumbling upon could be an ideal topic for your article:
Here you can see some questions people ask where the ’email outreach’ keyword has been mentioned. For instance, choose the question: “What are your best outreach email process methods?” and turn it into the topic “Best Email Outreach Process Methods Any Marketer Could Use.” Easy, right?
That’s why Quora is an excellent way for you to find whatever topic you want.
3. Search blogs for guest posting on BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo.com is also a solid tool for searching for new blog post ideas. Basically, you do the same steps as with Ahrefs Content Explorer. You use a keyword related to your niche and see what the results BuzzSumo suggests to you.
For instance, you’re using the keyword “email outreach” and choosing the content you like:
If you want to get the freshest ideas, filter the results for the past month. Afterward, choose the topic you like the most and create your own material.
BuzzSumo is another secret weapon in your toolbox that you can use to your advantage.
4. Popular blogs are your source of inspiration
Another cool trick for finding ideas for future articles is searching for the best blogs that get tons of visitors every day. Depending on your niche, search for those blogs that are the most popular.
For instance, you are interested in content marketing. Thus, one of the blogs you should discover is smartblogger.com. As you can see, any of the posts have lots of comments here:
It means the topic of the article is in demand. Moreover, comments can give you tips on what you should avoid or add in your future posts:
Now you can write a brand new article on the related topic, considering the items mentioned in the comment above.
Guest Post Opportunities: How and Where to Find Them
When it comes to discovering which blog would be better to choose, new writers make a common mistake. They write the article first and afterward start searching for a blog to publish it. Instead:
- Find the blogs that accept guest posts first,
- Get in touch with the editor of this blog and offer your blog post idea,
- Write an article that fits this blog perfectly and send it over.
Why so? Because you will be 100% sure that your article will go live on the blog you chose. Otherwise, you might be upset if all your tries were in vain. It is especially important for those who have a posting schedule.
There are several places where you can find blogs in your niche for guest posting:
- SEMrush
1. Google search
Google search is the first place where you can find blogs for guest posting. The only thing you will have to do is use the right keyword (related to your niche) and the following word combinations:
- Keyword + “submit a guest post”
- Keyword + “write for us”
- Keyword + “guest post guidelines”
- Etc.
2. SEMrush
SEMrush can help you search and find guest post opportunities as well. Use as an inquiry the following types of keywords: “write for us”, “submit a guest post”, etc.
As a result, you get a list of blogs that accept guest posting:
Guest Post Inquiry
Once you’ve collected a list of blogs you need, it is time to send your guest post inquiry. Before sending your inquiry, pay attention to:
- What topics blog accepts
- Blog posts’ reception (comments, shares, likes)
- Structure and formatting blog posts have
- Guest posting guidelines section (if available)
Right after that, you can start reaching out to bloggers. Here is a little trick for you: offer just the topic of your article with a few details about it first (even if your post is already written). Don’t send your article at once! Here’s a rough template I use quite often:
“Hey [name]
I saw you’re accepting guest posts on your blog. I think I’ve got an awesome guest post idea for you.
5 Steps to Improve Your Email Outreach
In it, I want to share 5 outstanding tactics every marketer should use for improving email outreach. What do you think?
Cheers!
Sergey Aliokhin
Outreach Manager at @Ahrefs”
Of course, this template is just an example of what you can send, but I’m sure you got a general idea. Don’t forget to include your email signature (or introduce yourself somehow in your message at least). The person you’re sending the letter to must understand who you are.
This approach works quite effectively! Wait a bit and the blogger you’ve sent the message to will get in touch with you.
The next step is to introduce your article to the blogger. But, again, don’t hurry with this (even if you have already written the article). Try to figure out what the blogger thinks about the topic you offered him.
Once the blogger shows interest in your post, send it over or start your writing.
Blogger Is on the Hook
Actually, your general work starts here. Writing an article is a time-consuming and tedious process. Despite the fact, you can make it easier with the help of extra tools for writing and editing your piece of content.
This free service helps you automatically properly capitalize your titles.
This one helps you do headline evaluation. It shows a word balance, headline type, length analysis, headline tip, etc. To come up with new eye-catching blog topic ideas, you can use one of these simple headline formulas.
Find and fix grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors with the help of Grammarly.
Use the tool for checking lexical, style, and grammar mistakes.
Hemingway Editor will help you write as easily and clearly as Ernest Hemingway.
Conclusion
Guest posting opens the door to sharing your knowledge with new people and attracting a new audience. It builds your credibility and brings more traffic to your site.
Using the tips above, you will be able to write interesting, unique, and well-shaped articles.
Written by Sergey Aliokhin
Sergey Aliokhin is an Outreach Manager at Ahrefs. He spends most of the time discovering and learning SEO and Internet Marketing tendencies. His primary goal is to study and practice new aspects of an outreach strategy. In his spare time, he likes to spend time with family, visit a specialized sports club, and study martial arts. If he has nothing to do at all, he prefers reading books on science fiction and playing the bass guitar.
