Be Our Guest! How to Write A Guest Post That Converts
Guest blogging is a powerful tool to grow online presence but the bar to getting a blog posted is very high which is why it is so important to know how to write a guest post. According to a 2022 Aira study, guest posting is the third most popular link-building technique among SEO experts.
What’s the quickest way to expand your reach? Utilize someone else’s platform and use their domain rating, organic traffic, and keyword rankings to your benefit. When you write a guest post, you not only have the blogger’s implicit endorsement, but also the chance to grow your own following by leveraging theirs. However, influencers don’t freely share their platforms with anyone, in return for you benefiting from their hard-earned platform, they are going to want high-quality content that benefits them just as much as you. As a result, guest blogging is hard but totally worth it – one or two good guest blogs on sites with good domain authority are worth their weight in gold.
To help you, in this blog, we talk about what is needed to create really great blog posts that get posted on third-party websites. Here at Embryo, we are aware that in order to secure guest blogging opportunities and deliver successful posts, it’s important to understand the blogger’s motivations. We understand this because we have a track record of creating fantastic guest posts on behalf of our clients for high-authority third-party websites and, having seen the benefits that it brings to a brand’s online visibility, are passionate about helping more businesses.
If you’d like to learn more about how we write guest posts that get accepted then get in touch with our team at 0161 327 2635 or email info@embryo.com.
What Actually is a Guest Post?
A guest post is when an author writes an article for someone else’s blog, using their own name. Marketers frequently use guest blogging as an SEO strategy to increase brand recognition and referral traffic—traffic that comes from other websites—to their own. Although it is a fast way to obtain awareness, it requires effort and careful consideration. The guest post should establish the author as an authority in their field, but it should not be too self-promoting. The content should be written with both the target audience of the guest blog and the author’s own target audience in mind, with a focus on what the blogger needs. Successful blogs need to provide constant, high-quality content to their readers, and bloggers are always looking for new content to share. When a guest post is well-received, it benefits both the blogger and the author. However, top bloggers have many guest post offers to choose from, so the author must show how their needs align with the blogger and the audience to be selected.
How to Write a Guest Post in Six Easy Steps (Featuring a Bonus Tip!)
1. Write for the Blog’s Target Audience in Mind
Make sure you recognise the target audience of the blog you’re writing for and write to them specifically. When your content adds value to the blog owner’s readers, they will pay attention to you, and your content will have a far stronger impact. Remember, you write an article for a specific audience and try to stand out from the many other distractions that are vying for their attention and schedule.
2. Make Sure You Follow the Tonality and Style of the Blog You’re Writing For
Every blog has a particular demographic, message, and area of expertise. It approaches ideas with a particular tone, perspective, and attitude.
The finest guest posts will therefore be those that complement the blogger’s brand. Avoid entering the discourse with a thick academic post on a site where the writing is lighthearted and amusing.
Try to be consistent and respectful with the blog’s typical format. Have a look at the previous posts and try to follow the same rules. For example, try to stick to the similar length of the articles, or include a comparable amount of external links and images.
3. Carry Out Keyword Research
To have your proposal accepted by the website owner, your article must enhance the SEO value of the site. Conduct keyword research, utilizing any one of the free tools out there, to achieve this. Choose a subject that is sought after by individuals or even better, answer specific queries by utilising sites such as Answer the Public. If your content does not have a foundation in keyword research, it lacks a crucial aspect of a successful marketing campaign – organic search visibility.
4. Avoid Basic Editing Issues in Your Guest Posts
Nothing is more frustrating than having to spend time fixing basic editing issues in a guest post submission. Some basic editing and proofing will help avoid you from submitting a poorly written piece with grammatical and spelling errors. Aside from basic proofreading, ensure the writing is strong. Utilize active verbs and steer clear of passive voice. Avoid lengthy and confusing sentences. Read your blog out loud to yourself too, vocalising a blog is one of the most effective ways of picking up on those little mistakes that your brain would correct for you if you were reading it silently.
It’s important to take writing seriously if it’s a part of your job. Writing well is a necessity when it comes to writing a guest post.
5. Focus on Information, Not Promotion
When writing a guest post, it’s important to keep in mind that the main focus should not be on promoting your business, products, or services. Instead, the post should aim to provide valuable information to the readers.
Mentioning your business or related items can be included in the author bio, but the majority of the content should be centred on a different topic, only including occasional references to support a point.
6. Create a Great Guest Post Bio
The guest post bio is crucial for you in guest blogging as it is usually the only section where you can include links for self-promotion such as to your website, blog, product, service, book, etc. The content of the bio should align with your goals for guest blogging. Here are some tips about what you should look at:
- Write a brief, descriptive bio: Highlight your background and qualifications for writing a guest post, and mention your current job or projects that might interest the readers.
- Add a link to your website: If you aim to get backlinks, make sure to include a link to your website with the target anchor text in the bio.
- Include social profiles: To increase followers on your social accounts, add a line in the bio saying something like “Follow me on [insert your top social network and link here].”
- Customize the landing page: If your goal is to drive traffic to your website, consider directing the traffic to a custom landing page or page related to a specific product/service that is relevant to the subject of your guest post and the target audience.
How to Write a Guest Post Bonus Tip: Start Small and Work Your Way Up
Once you make sure you followed all of the rules mentioned above, here’s one extra tip on reaching your article to the bloggers. If you have a strong portfolio of published content on slightly lesser blogs, it will be much simpler to get the attention of the top bloggers in your industry. Make sure you have an article published on a site that has a domain rating of at least 50 before approaching the owner of a website that has a 60+ domain rating about writing a guest post, and so on. When deciding which submissions to choose from, a guest blogger will always pick the one that has previous experience.
Write Great Guest Posts and Watch the Traffic Come Rolling In
Guest posting on established and well-respected websites can help you tap into the popularity of blogs within your industry. If you want to be accepted, it is important to send compelling proposals that demonstrate your value. At Embryo, we know how to write a guest post, as well as other types of content for businesses across numerous sectors and we know exactly what is needed to get them submitted and rank well.
So if you want to work with a team that already has guest post connections and is very experienced in writing content then get in touch with us here at Embryo today! Our content marketing initiatives have been proven to work time and again, so call us on 0161 327 2635 or email info@embryo.com.