September 15, 2015: More and more, I’m noticing editors offering “guest blog” opportunities, in which an individual writes a blog to be considered for publication on an external authoritative website/publication. This tactic provides you the opportunity to offer your perspective and/or provide helpful information on a particular topic related to your industry. Brand exposure through a guest blog can help you increase business leads, create new possibilities to engage with qualified audiences, build your brand, and promote thought leadership.
Guest blogging is a tactic that every business owner, CEO and Public Relations professional should add to his/her PR arsenal. Unfortunately, most agencies don’t take advantage of this valuable opportunity. While some call it Content Marketing — because of the visibility and reach of many of these publications — having your guest blog get published is essentially synonymous with a PR press placement!
Not only can guest blogging be a PR win; it can also be great for your SEO (Search Engine Optimization). By sharing content with a website with higher authority than your own, your content and company name may become more visible in online search engines. In addition, this external website may promote your content via its own contact lists and social media platforms, extending the audience reach even further.
- Choose topics & publications in your business vertical.
Before hitting the keyboard, outline which topics you would like to write about. Choose subjects that have a direct connection to your business. For example, a real estate agency may write a guest blog on today’s home mortgage rates. Once you identify the topics, seek industry/trade publications that have a strong connection to your type of business. These pubs will be more inclined to print your guest blogs. - Avoid selling. Editors of print and online outlets look to include content that is interesting and helpful to their audience. They won’t publish content that promotes a particular company. While you can mention your company name in the guest blog, you should not try to sell a business or service through the content. Focus on offering an opinion and/or educating and informing readers.
- Follow the publication’s guidelines. Nearly every pub will provide you with writing guidelines, which typically include the guest blog copy length, bio and head shot requirements, submission timelines, and other parameters. Always adhere to them.
- Leverage news hooks or industry trends.
For some of your blogs, you may want to fold in a news hook or industry trend in the lead paragraph, in the hopes of intriguing the editor. Leveraging current events and new developments related to your industry can be interesting content fodder for editors. - Seek guest blog opportunities.
Once you identify the publications you would like to reach, check out their websites. Very often, pubs list opportunities on their sites. Another method is to register with a website that connects the news media with journalists – a free service is Help A Reporter Out (HARO), which often features guest blog opportunities. - Include a call-to-action. In the conclusion of your guest blog, include a call-to-action. For example, you can ask readers for their comments or to share your blog; request that people visit your website; or link them to a relevant landing page on your website. The more people engage, the more popular your blog will become in online search engines.
- Never use paid guest blogging services. Over the past several years, Google has taken action against guest blogging networks (also called “Private Blogging Networks”) used exclusively for SEO purposes. Users of these services have had their content de-indexed and in some cases have received Manual Penalties from Google, so avoid them.
Once your guest blog is published, promote it within your own internal network and social media. This approach will help generate more traffic back to the publication that’s running your blog and is also a nice gesture to the pub. Also, check the success of the blog by running Google Analytics to track how much traffic your content generated. This will give you a sense of the topics that readers are most interested in and will help you craft future blogs.
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