Heck yeah. We’re back at guest blogging.
Remember last month, when we focused solely on how to secure a guest blogging opportunity? And here we are, a month later, and you DIDN’T ACTUALLY do it?
Here’s the thing. Guest blogging is so hard but so worth it. For you non-believers out there, here is the list to convince you to stop dragging your feet and just do it. Here goes:
- Guest blogging builds relationships. The nature of blogging is conversational, and from a position of goodwill—blog posts allow good exploration of a topic with the sole purpose of educating the audience, sharing knowledge, and being helpful. That’s as good a conversation starter as any as the new kid walking into a blog.
- Guest blogging taps you into a whole new network. You can only reach so many people on your own site and blog—people who have known you, people who have been interested in your services over time—no matter how good your content is. But how many adjacent subject areas/blogs are there that you can guest post on to expand your circle of influence? Think about it.
- Guest blogging is superb for SEO. The only way this happens is if you link back to your website from the post (what is called a backlink)—at the beginning or end of the post, typically. Without getting too technical, this ties you and the other site together for search engines (which causes a little uptick for your domain authority if the other site’s is higher than yours), to bolster you into the more reputable sites in the search engines’ eyes. Because of this, linking is one of the most powerful ways to improve SEO.
- Just one post matters. It’s all about that backlink. So if you can only get one guest blog post out the door a year, that will do SO much more for you than not doing it at all, and certainly more for you than a single blog post on your own blog. Some SEO experts say that a good guest blog post is 5x as valuable as a blog post published on your own site. Let that sink in.
So yeah. Guest blogging is important. That’s why we’re right back here. We knew this was coming because guest blogging trips people up and gets in their heads. So let’s bite the bullet and get it done this month to start paying off for you!
1. If you’ve already got a good guest post process going, keep doing it. But if you haven’t secured a spot yet, get on it.
Some of you may have secured a spot since we spoke last month and got a good guest post process cranking already. Way to go, you! Keep at it. Go get yourself another guest blogging oppotunity. 🙂
The rest of you, I suggest revisiting the KISSMetrics Ultimate Guide to Guest Blogging to get your engine revved. Start identifying blogs and pitch ideas to them. Blog editors appreciate when you present your own potential topic ideas.
2. Keep writing those blog posts and putting them up on your blog (the usual 8).
That SEO isn’t going to build itself. Keep on keepin’ on building your domain authority bit by bit. Regular blogging is about the long game, not quick wins.
3. Critically review your blog post topic list.
Prune, add, subtract, pivot… Revisit your list with a critical hat on. Which can you write for your own blog? Which might be repurpose-able as a guest blog post? Which ideas just need to be retired or are unfeasible to complete? Edit away.
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You’re embarking on your penultimate month of your how to start a blog challenge! And while it doesn’t stop at the end of next month, you’ll be well armed with all the tools you need to make your blog a consistent, valuable part of your business. The gift that keeps on giving, one might say… 🙂
(Want a preview of the rest of the months? Or just a printable checklist to keep you honest? Download or print the full guide here.)
