Guest posts are a great way of gaining quality links, as many blogs and newsletters are constantly on the look out for good content. When used appropriately, they not only provide link juice, but also give an opportunity to connect with new people in your field. Here are some tips on guest posting the right way.
Have the right objective
Creating quality content should be your primary objective for guest posting. Avoid submitting poor quality content or same article at multiple places. Such practices will prove harmful in the long run. Also, the blogs that accept poor quality content will not provide much benefit either in the form of increased readership or link juice. Guest posting should be viewed as a practice in reputation building.
Identify potential platforms and get an idea about the audience size
Conducting searches is the easiest way to identify potential platforms. For instance, if you are a SEO company, you can conduct a search like “guest post” SEO, this will provide many options. Find some sites that publish great quality content.
It is always useful to evaluate the audience size at a particular site. Tools like Google Reader or Bloglines tell you the number of subscribers, although this indicates only a part of the blog’s readership, as people subscribe using different tools.
Develop quality guest posts
Now that your target is clear, try to understand the type of content that would interest them. Plan a post based on your area of expertise that will interest the blog’s audience. Find a way to contact blog owners. If they show interest, there is a good chance of your post getting accepted. If accepted, you can request a link back to your site and widen your readership.