Guest Blogging: Beginner’s Guide
verb. Writing and publishing an article for another website or blog
Created by Lauren AtwellLast Modified: 1/30/2013
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Why?• Drive traffic to client’s site
• Improved online presence, search engine rank & client reputation/brand = Happier client with a more profitable business. – Ok, but HOW? Answer: Produce content w/ external link
• Internal linking: Posting a blog on client’s site that includes a link navigating to another page on the same site
• External linking: Posting blog/other content on different (yet credible) site & including link that navigates to relevant content on AE client’s website.
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Up Your Game• Posts should be around 500 to 1,000 words —
this is a pretty standard. It ensures the guest blogger is providing an insightful article, not just trying to get a link on your site. (Which you are in one aspect)
• This does not mean you can:– Stuff weak words into a sentence to make it longer– Go off on pointless tangents or ramblings (very tempting
when trying to meet a word count)• Ultimately, it just leads to weak content.
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Why Your Writing MattersWell-written content is what search engine spiders feed on, and quality content is the key to improving rank.
Content (aka your writing) is the absolute #1 draw for both search engine spiders and its users: humans. If your content is badly written and isn’t relevant to what your clients wants to be found for, then client site is neither search engine-friendly or user-friendly.
Content must use targeted keywords and phrases (but not unnaturally so). Well-written content is what search engine spiders feed on, and content is the key to high rankings.
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Again, your writing matters. So you matter.
Isn’t that fabulous?6
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No one cares.
You’re was7ngmy 7me.
#omgboring
#UghNothingWorse
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NEED IDEAS FOR CONTENT
GENERATION? LOOK @ TRENDING
TOPICS
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• Do not write for low-quality sites. • What constitutes low quality?
– Low-quality sites are deemed by Google to be “spammy” or illegitimate. If these sites have a link to your client, Google could “penalize” your client.
• How am I supposed to know? Answer: Domain authority
• Domain? That sounds technical. Answer: It’s just a technical way of saying website. (www.agencyentourage.com is our domain)
– Domain authority: • Domain Authority: The number of (Number that reflects (# & quality) root domains which
link to different pages on your website (rather than getting all links pointing directly to your homepage).
• Domain authority is a measure of the power of a domain name and is one of many search engine ranking factors. Domain authority is based on three factors: Age, Popularity, and Size.
Site Quality
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Iden7fying Quality Sites • Download SEOmoz toolbar
– http://www.seomoz.org/seo-toolbar
– Whenever you “Google” something, all results will have the toolbar underneath each result giving you the site’s page authority (PA) and domain authority (DA) (Just focus on DA for now)
• It’ll look like this on results pages:
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Iden7fying Quality Sites: Domain Authority
• Analyzing DA can get a little more complicated, but for guest blogging purposes, determine site quality with these numbers:
• High quality: DA 40+• Medium quality: DA 18-35• Low quality: DA < 15 (Don’t. Just.....don’t.)
– Domain authority is based on a scale of 0-100. The only sites with DA of 100 (or even close) are Twitter, Facebook, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.
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Examples
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If you get a link from a site with DA 50+ (totally achievable-‐btw) Lauren Jake will do this...
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Promise!!!
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Questions so far?
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Outreaching is Similar to a Sales Pitch • Be determined. Every guest blog you write must be published.
• Be confident. You’re supposed to be an authority.
• Make it very clear they will need to include the link that leads to www.yourclient.com/page-that-is-relevant-to-anchor-text-slash-blog-topic
– (If you included another link b/c it navigates to helpful, authoritative content, [the only reason you should link to a site other than client’s] it’s ok if they remove it.)
• Do NOT sound desperate. (Even if you are...)
– Factors that will make it impossible to get published:• Your article (especially headline) is boring, unoriginal, or generic. • Content that is obviously written to promote a business. Fit client
naturally into the topic.– If you write a cheesy blog that is obviously an attempt to get a link, the
blog owner won’t want it. It only makes their blog and its reputation suffer.
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But you shouldn’t be desperateb/c you should have produced AMAZING content.
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(One of MANY)
“Plan B”* Outreach Tac7cs• BloggerLinkUp (BLU) Sign Up• You can offer your guest posts (see next slide) and they
will appear in one of the issues within a couple days. Issues are emailed out Mon., Wed. & Fri.
20*Not the morning-‐a\er type
Plan A is to contact prospec7ve blogging opportuni7es directly(through Google searches, research, etc.).
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Sample Submission Form
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What a BLU Email Looks Like..
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Hi! I’m Cathy from BLU. I loveshoulder pads even more than Blogger LinkUp. I’ve alsofound that overheadshots make double chins disappear.
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More Blogging Platforms
triberr.com
blogdash.com
blogsynergy.com
grouphigh.com
guestblogit.com
myblogguest.com
guestr.com
Find even better ones & spread word to AE team!24
Qualifying Leads
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BAD! That means they accept duplicatecontent & duplicate content = VERY BAD
Good. They pass STEP #1However, DA was only 16 -‐ try & aim higher
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Other Tips on Qualifying Sites• Try starting with resource lists along the lines of: “Top 10 Blogs
about [Niche]” These will point you toward reputable blogs in the industry
• Consider starting by asking this question: “Where is the go-to place for my target audience? Is it possible for me to get a post there?”
• AVOID: Blogs that accept all content sent their way with the obvious goal of publishing as much content as quickly as possible.
• AVOID:Blogs that have no clear target audience or subject matter.• AVOID: Blogs with guest post guidelines that are easy to meet with
minimal effort.• AVOID:Blogs that do not get updated regularly.
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Stay Away From:
• www.website.blog.com
• www.website.blogspot.com
• www.website.blogger.com
• DA will say 100..98..etc. but that is blogspot.com’s DA. Not the blogger’s page. Blogger’s page has (basically) zero value.
• So just......don’t. Your guest post will be a waste.
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Dig a Lihle Deeper• Just because a prospective credible blog
doesn’t advertise that they accept guest posts, doesn’t mean they don’t. Find out how to contact the blog’s editor/webmaster/etc. and ask them in an email.–Most “high-authority” blogs (ex: CNBC’s
Finance Blog, etc.) don’t - even though they accept them.
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Qualifying Sites (Resource)• This article is very recent & written by a
top trusted source in SEO. Author lists 20 “Dos” and 20 “Don’ts” related to qualifying possible sites for guest post opportunities.
• http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-advanced-guest-blogging
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Keep Updated RecordsAlways keep a list (Excel?) of sites you have reached out to.
(Even sites you haven't yet contacted, but would in the future for different post.
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Before You Send Content..• Make any edits webmaster may have requested• Submit to SEO dept. for editing & approval• Remind webmaster that you would like to know (at
their soonest convenience) if they decide to post or not. – (Why?: It’s not going anywhere else. You have to make sure a blog is
or isn’t getting published before you send content to someone else.)
• If so, they should give you a publishing date.–Even better - publishing date & link
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The Last (Very Important) Step
• Promote published content through social media platforms!–Mention this to blog owner/editor
when you outreach to them. They like hearing that you plan to promote (and drive traffic) to their site!
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The End
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