Guest Posting on Blogs for SEO

• Tweet
• Sharebar

• Tweet

There are several tools that seem to pop up in the average SEO’s arsenal: article marketing; on-site optimization and content creation; and off-site links and awareness building. One tool that is massively underrepresented and underutilized is the guest post. One of blogging’s most common attention boosters, the guest post, is one of the most powerful and effective SEO strategies, especially when it is used as part of a well planned SEO blueprint. By using other blogs’ authority to build your own rank, guest posts can boost you from back-page Google drone to high-ranking Google champ.

Just how powerful is a guest post? Think about it this way — the top online blogs and community websites all work with a relatively high page rank. From 5 on upwards, it is difficult to find any online authority website that is not a huge resource for you in your SEO efforts. Instead of slaving all day to generate 10 links on relatively low-influence websites, a single post on an influential blog can have huge effects on your SEO campaign, and even boost your website on its own.

Influence does not come without quality and respect, and the mega-influential blogs are built on quality posts. Whether it is a technology blog or a sports and lifestyle e-zine, you need to keep your quality level high in order to make guest posting a reality. The easiest way to move into the radar of a major blogger is to have a blog of your own. Build an online influence the hard way — by creating post after post for yourself — and establish yourself as a name that is not afraid to put your word out there.

Then, approach a major blogger or e-zine writer. If you have built a relatively large readership already, do not hesitate to mention it to build influence and authority in your email. Let them know that you have a large crossover of interests, that you are skilled in their field, and that you would be happy to lend your skills and knowledge for a guest post. Give them time to reply, be accommodating and understanding if they say no, and be prepared for a quality post if they say yes.

Remember, quality is the name of the game here. A low quality post will do nothing but poison the well for future SEO efforts, and you may end up with your post being trashed altogether. Focus on something that will really appeal to their core audience, and do not ever submit your work until you have created something that is truly valuable and interesting. Go out of your way to provide maximum quality on your first go because one great post can lead to hundreds more down the line.

Market yourself to one blogger and you have a guest post that will continue to attract attention and SEO juice. Market yourself to five and you are one step closer towards building your empire. Mix and expand this strategy, but be sure your quality does not drop in doing so. Guest posts are immensely valuable, but one poor post can easily poison an otherwise effective campaign.