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How to Attract Guest Post Invitations from Authority Publications

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By Ankit Singla

We already know that publishing high-quality content on your website can do wonders. But did you know that writing for other websites can help your business, too?

I’m talking about guest posting. Otherwise called guest blogging, guest posting can help bolster your brand and grow your audience. 

But in order to maximize its potential, your guest posts should be seen in authority publications. So, how can you do just that?

In this guide, I will show you how you can attract guest post invitations from credible and recognized websites as a way to grow your business.

Why is Guest Posting Important?

In the competitive landscape of online marketing, you have to maximize all your digital channels to stay ahead. According to the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), guest posting or offsite thought leadership plays an important role in your marketing funnel.

Guest-contributed content allows you to reach a new audience, strengthen brand awareness, and bolster your ties with niche influencers. In fact, if guest posting is done right, it could even generate quality leads and increase your revenues. 

content marketing funnel

How to Entice Guest Post Invitations from Authority Sites

It’s pretty clear why you should add guest posting as part of your online marketing strategy. So, without further ado, here’s a list of the things you need to do to gain guest post invitations:

Optimize Your Social Media Accounts

First things first: You have to optimize all your social media accounts. 

Consider listing all your social media profiles – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and LinkedIn. Then, set them up accordingly.

You can follow these steps to make your profile optimization much easier:

  1. Pick a stand-out profile picture and/or cover photo.
  2. Clearly explain what your brand is about.
  3. Avoid too many buzzwords in the description section. 
  4. Include crucial bits of information such as location and business hours.
  5. Create a timeline for your social media sharing.

Your social media accounts are a crucial part of your online marketing efforts. So, make sure that people can search you on the social platforms I’ve mentioned, and optimize them well.

In addition, make sure to put your social media buttons on your website smartly. They should be clearly visible and accessible for your site visitors.

Position Yourself as an Authority in Your Niche

If you want authority publications to seek your content, it is essential to position yourself as an expert in your niche. You can begin by writing and publishing ten in-depth, relevant, and high-quality posts related to your industry.

To do this, you have to think of real value. Keep in mind that people are always thinking what’s in it for them. If they don’t find your content useful, it’s more likely they leave your page and find another source. 

Simply put, before writing, think from your readers’ perspective.

Writing high-quality content is one thing. Knowing what to write about is another. If you’re running out of ideas for content to write, it helps to visit Q&A websites such as Quora. 

In the search box, type your keyword, and see what people are curious to know. Read related articles about hot topics and find a new angle. 

Tip: You can provide additional depth for your readers by combining concepts and ideas. 

screenshot from Quora

Make sure to include statistics, and only link to credible sources. Remember, you want to position yourself as an expert, so your content needs to be truthful, informative, and useful for the readers.

Also, keep in mind that your efforts should not stop with publishing insightful articles. To cement your position as an authority, you have to engage with your community as well. 

While it helps to answer questions and respond to comments, don’t forget to stay transparent. Admit if you’re uncertain, but offer to look into a query, and actually return to your readers with answers. 

Authority publications wouldn’t only appreciate your honesty and effort but will also more likely think highly of you.

Publish High-Quality Content

Crafting high-quality content is non-negotiable when it comes to online marketing. It’s one of the most effective ways to build credibility for your brand. Additionally, it is important if you want to position yourself as an expert in your niche.

Essentially, valuable content has the following characteristics:

  • It has insightful and interesting information about a particular subject
  • It follows proper grammar and spelling
  • It is easy to read and understand
  • It has quality images or video embeds on it

Again, the users should be on top of your mind when crafting a piece. Monitor social media so you can pick up the hottest topics and trends people are raving about. Then, research thoroughly about it and write an engaging, informative article that discusses it further.

And of course, don’t forget about the other essentials: keyword research and a “can’t-miss-it” title. Ideally, your headline should contain your keyword and spark interest to get users hooked. In short, you need a high-quality title, too.

Even if you have a top-notch blog, it would be pointless if it doesn’t have readers. So, make sure that your titles are engaging enough to trigger readership.

I find the Headline Analyzer by CoSchedule very useful in gaining actionable insights about my titles. It scores my headlines based on several factors such as word balance and user sentiment. 

headline analyzer from CoSchedule

Share Your Articles on Your Social Media Profiles

Every time you publish an article on your website, share it on your social media channels, too. Make sure that it comes with an engaging copy that follows your brand’s voice as well. 

If you’ve already contributed articles for other websites, be sure to thank the editor. This will allow your target publications to know that you’ve already contributed content for others.

It also helps to know what’s the best time to post on social media. You can use Sprout Social’s key data points about social media posting as reference:

  • Best day and time to post on Facebook: Wednesday at 11 am and 1 pm
  • Safest times to post: Weekdays from 9 am to 3 pm
  • Times with least engagement: Early mornings and evenings before 7 am and after 5 pm

Facebook global engagement from Sprout Social

To reach more audience, try repackaging your posts for different networks. Remember that each social media platform is unique, and you’d want to make the most out of them.

One great example is turning your old post into a slideshow, voice over or a video tutorial that would go on YouTube. Otherwise, you can create infographics, which are perfect for direct uploads on Pinterest and Twitter.

In a nutshell, create something new from your previous posts. It’s a great way to maximize your content and expand your reach.

Track Your Progress

Many marketers and entrepreneurs tend to overlook this step, which is very crucial in your marketing strategy. Tracking your work and progress is just as important as the other strategies mentioned above.

Having a spreadsheet where you can record the URL of your published articles is important for your digital marketing efforts. Whenever you contribute to other sites, you can refer to the spreadsheet. 

It would serve as a reference for your previous works, which you can include in your contributed content. Not only will your articles get more visibility, but it would also help bolster brand awareness.

As you strengthen your ties with certain publishers, you may offer to contribute regularly for them – say, one article per week. Update your spreadsheet every time you contribute a guest post, and monitor your progress. This way, you will be able to gauge how far you’ve come, and how else you can improve.

Conclusion

While guest blogging isn’t something all entrepreneurs are used to doing, it’s definitely worth it to give it a try. It’s a great way to expand your network and reach more potential customers for your brand.

To gain advantageous results, remember to optimize your social media accounts and publish high-quality content. This way, you can also position yourself as an authority in your niche. Then, share your work and track your progress.

With consistent effort, your marketing strategy will surely bear fruit, leading to more traffic, leads, and even revenues.

 

Author Bio:  Ankit is a professional blogger, affiliate marketer, consultant, trainer, public speaker and founder of MasterBlogging, where he is passionate about helping people generate a full-time income with blogging. You can follow him on twitter at @iAnkitSingla

Building Your Brand By Building Guest Post Relationships

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By Diana Gomez

The internet is a great place to build a community. Take an aspiring musician, for example. If she performs for only 15 people at Open Mic Night at The Lazy Dog Café, that doesn’t mean she’s not being heard. Music fans get the latest news and tips on “what’s hot” by reading popular digital magazine sites and blogs. If she sends her latest mp3 to a few popular sites, and one posts a favorable review, her fan base increases. They “like” her Facebook page, and are now subscribers. It’s that simple.

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When it comes to building an audience for your brand, you’ve got to be proactive. While posting regularly on your own company’s blog and social media accounts is great for your established client base, how can you reach the broader audience of folks who are interested in what you have to say, but are not hearing you say it?

Guest blogging — simply put, posting on other sites’ blogs — is a great way to increase your brand’s visibility, readership, and client base. If you can establish yourself as a high quality guest poster, your relationships with blogs will flourish and you will see the results in your readership. Here’s how:

1. Create a pitch cache.

It’s always better to go to the grocery store on a full stomach. Otherwise, you might feel (and look) desperate. Before you start soliciting blogs, have a stock of several guest post pitches of a wide (but relevant) variety. Don’t feel constrained by the specificity of your brand; your reach is broader than you might think. If you are a florist, for example, you can generate pitches on a variety of subjects:

• How to keep your floral arrangement fresher, longer

• 5 underrated occasions to surprise her

• How to have a smooth hospital visit

• How to make a greeting card feel personal

2. Find blogs that fit like a glove.

If you build it, they won’t necessarily come. When it comes to guest blogging, actively seeking out an existing audience — say, vegan moms — is much better than convincing some general group of people to buy your organic baby toys.

To find relevant blogs, search for “[your specialty] blog” or, better yet, “[your specialty] guest post.” The latter will lead you to sites that have accepted guest posts in the past, which bodes well for your pitch.

If you use your imagination, the possibilities for blog searches may be endless. Beyond searching “organic baby toy guest post,” think about expanding to “eco-friendly guest post,” “day care guest post,” “aunt blog,” and on and on!

3. Choose blogs that have a posse.

Use a discerning eye when perusing blogs you are thinking about approaching. The big two to look closely at are:

a) Number of subscribers b) Number of commenters

If a blog has a low number of both, you may not get a lot of attention. If it has a high number of subscribers but few commenters, it’s hard to tell whether people are truly reading the posts or just have nothing to add to the conversation. If the blog has a high number of comments but few subscribers, this is an intimate but engaged audience.

Depending on what you’re going for, either of these scenarios could benefit you. Of course, a high number of both is ideal.

4. Approach with personality.

When you’ve found a blog that seems like a good fit, choose and specialize a few pitches to send over. Be sure that you’ve researched the site enough to know that they haven’t already written a post on your proposed topics.

When e-mailing or approaching the blogger through social media, writing in the tone of the blog is a great way to show your synchronicity. It is key that you make the approach feel personal and not a boilerplate that you are sending out en masse — guest blogging has been spam-tastic in the past, and bloggers are over it.

And remember, flattery will get you everywhere.

5. Post with quality and dignity.

So you’ve been invited to guest post! As you write the full (600 word+) article, continuously whisper this word out loud: quality. Never plagiarize yourself for multiple blogs. Remember, you are representing your company to a brand new audience: do it with style.

Don’t be tempted to hop on the Hyperlink Highway. Including links to your own site in the body of your post is too tacky for any blogs with credibility to consider. That being said, including a short bio at the end of your post is totally acceptable, and an ideal spotlight to reference your company, website, and expertise. This is how you increase your own traffic, so don’t forget it!

6. Foster your new relationship.

After you’ve had a guest post published on a blog, keep in close touch with the site.

Swapping guest posts, becoming a regular and reliable contributor, and collaborating with sites that aren’t in direct competition to your business will expand your visibility and credibility. Integrate your brand into a community of like-minded people, and growth is inevitable.

Author’s Bio: Diana Gomez is the Marketing Coordinator at Lyoness America, where she is instrumental in the implementation of internet marketing and social media strategies for USA and Canada. Lyoness is an international shopping community and loyalty rewards program, where businesses and consumers benefit with free membership and money back with every purchase.

Guest Blogging Tips for Attracting More Traffic to Your Site

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by
Subodh

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Guest blogging is a great way to attract people to your website. By guest blogging, you can link your products, services or ideas to new audiences via other websites. Those links also provide more credibility for your own website, which makes it easier for you to improve your chances of getting a better ranking on a search engine.

Effective Guest Blogging Tips to Attract More Traffic

Whether you guest blog for yourself or use a service to help, here are some effective guest blogging tips you might pursue. Use them sensibly to get the best possible results.

Work with Blogs on Your Niche

You need to make sure that your links are of the best possible quality. This includes finding links that are relevant to your site. You must make sure that any guest blog posts you write are on blogs that relate in some way to the site that you run.

This is needed for the best search engine results. You can get better SEO results if the links to your site are relevant to it.

Express Your Knowledge

Another of the guest blogging tips to use is to demonstrate your knowledge of something. You need to express your knowledge so you can show people that you have an interest in whatever it is you are writing about. People are more likely to take your site seriously if they see that you know about your topic.

Avoid Going Big

Start small when trying to get your work onto more blogs. A good tip would be to start off with smaller blogs instead of using the larger ones when you start out. This might help you out because you will have an easier chance of potentially getting more traffic onto your site.

In fact, you are more likely to get exposure on a smaller blog than if you were on a larger one. A smaller blog will be easier to communicate to people in because you’ll have more of a focus on your own post. A larger blog might be cluttered with too many people who are trying to get their ideas out all at the same time.

Keep Links Under Control

You need to make sure all links on your guest posts are controlled well. A good idea is to use them in your resource box or author information box. This is often found at the end of a post.

Of course, you could use links within the body of what you are writing. This works provided that the links are not blatant advertisements and that they directly relate to what you are writing about.

Use these guest blogging tips if you want to get your website more power on search engines. These should not only make it easier for you to get more links on your site but to also express your knowledge of items to a greater audience. It makes it easier for you to get the most out of your site.

Author’s Bio:

Subodh is a SEO expert with over 6 years of experience under her belt. He provide guest posting service at www.seocreations.com

Why Guest Blogging is Fun and Extends the Value of What You Do

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A Guest Post by Jessica Cortez

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Many articles here on Successful-Blog have addressed the importance of guest blogging. Some have pointed out the advantages of getting your work and your name out there when you’re just starting out. Writing about topics you find interesting is a great writing motivator, too. And the instant feedback a guest blogger receives in comments is central to blogging and general writing improvement. These are all great reasons to go out there and knock on blog doors, asking for a place to stay and sit awhile.

But perhaps we can take a step back and ask ourselves a bigger question — What is the greatest motivator in any of life’s endeavors?

  • Is it the promise of future career success?
  • Praise from others or external assurance that what we are doing is in some way worthwhile?
  • Money?

To be sure, these are all valid sources of inspiration. But what I’ve found is that the most successful people I know are those who are simply enjoying what they’re doing. In short, the greatest human motivator is an intrinsic sense of fun.

The logical next question, then, is how is guest blogging fun?

For one, writing a guest post is an inimitable opportunity to explore the mindset of a particular type of reader. Every blog has a specific audience, and by writing a guest post, you have to do some digging into each blog audience’s psyche. Read through the blog’s previous articles, especially the more popular ones, and imagine what kind of person reads the blog and finds value in it. This process in itself cultivates human empathy, a quality that can be beneficial to anyone’s life overall.

If you’re a blogger, you probably take an interest in the act of writing, too. And good guest bloggers not only take into account people, but they also take into account tone. Just as every audience has a particular mindset, every audience member also has a specific style of writing to which she responds best. Catering to this style enhances your flexibility as a writer.

Employing several different stylistic tones makes you more adept at the use of words. The exploration of writing voices is like a little puzzle in that you have to figure out which grouping of suitable, carefully selected words goes where. And the challenge inherent in solving any puzzle is what makes it fun.

Seen in this light, guest blogging may be more than just a chance to “spread the word,” as it were. It’s a dynamic form of communication that stretches and strengthens your social understanding and technical skill. While developing your personal blog is rewarding on so many of its own levels, guest writing presents unique challenges that even the most accomplished blogger should indulge in on occasion.

How might a go at guest blogging expand and extend the value of what you do?

——–
Jessica knows a think or two about understanding her audience. Why not comment on what she said?

Jessica Cortez writes on the topics of online degree programs. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: cortez dot jessi23 @ gmail.com.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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