You should be doing guest blogging for SEO of your website. It helps in building backlinks that affect a website’s SEO. This post is a guest blogging guide for beginner bloggers to help them get started with it. 

You can’t just ignore the fact that you need Google traffic and for that, you need to do guest blogging for backlinks. 

Yes, there are other ways of building backlinks. But these are not reliable. 

Last year I tried various ways to build backlinks to my blogs like blogger outreach, email outreach, broken link fixing, and more. 

I made two observations doing this. 

One, only a few of them got replies. And two, the links that I got by asking other bloggers were replaced or lost very soon. 

It is because the bloggers are updating their sites regularly and the links too. They would want either their content or a higher DA website linked to their sites. 

But I still own the backlinks I built by guest blogging. Because a guest post remains on a site for a long time. The blogger would only remove your link if he decides to take the guest blog post down. 

So guest blogging is a respectful way to build backlinks. This post will help you create a guest blogging strategy. 

SAVE THIS PIN PLEASE. 

Let’s start from the beginning. 

What Is Guest Blogging? 

Guest blogging is when you write a blog post to be published on another blog. 

This means that you write a blog post but you don’t publish it on your blog but send it to one of your blogger friends and then he would publish it on his blog. 

One example of guest blogging that I did recently for Anastasia Blogger is 

13 tips to write SEO friendly content

This way, you get a backlink. Which is good for your blog SEO. 

Is Guest Blogging Good For Bloggers? 

A better question is,

Is Guest blogging good for SEO? 

In short, yes. 

It is important for SEO and so it is important for bloggers too. 

Guest blogging in SEO holds a strong place. I’ve already told you that above but there are many more benefits of being a guest blogger. 

Why Guest Blogging Is Important? 

Now that you know what a guest blog is, it is time you find out the other benefits of guest blogging. 

1- Reach A Larger Audience 

When you write for other bloggers you are writing for their audience. 

And if you write well then you can turn that audience into yours by adding a few links leading to your blog. 

2- Gain Quality Backlinks

By adding links to your blog you will get a backlink. These backlinks are counted when ranking your site. 

The more links you have the higher your site will rank. 

3- Grow Blog Traffic 

The links that you will add can also lead them to your site. That’s how your blog traffic increases. 

When you are writing for a website that gets lots of traffic monthly then you can divert a good number of readers to your blog too. 

RELATED – 

• 21 WAYS TO GROW BLOG TRAFFIC
• 13 WAYS TO PROMOTE NEW BLOG POSTS FOR MORE TRAFFIC

4- Grow Blog DA (Domain Authority)

Blog DA increases with backlinks. It is not the only factor but an important one. 

You can check your blog DA for free here. 

5- Become An Expert

Writing for a lot of websites will not only give you confidence but also turn you into an expert. 

6- Build Relationships

You will discover more bloggers like you and build relationships with them. 

This will help you build a strong network and good things start with networking. 

I know you want to learn how to guest blog. So below is the exact step by step process I use. 

How To Do Guest Blogging? – The 7 Step Process

You can follow this process and make it yours if you want or create a different strategy for your blog. 

I aim to write 2 guest posts every month. If you can do more then that’s even better. 

1- Prepare A List Of Guest Blogging Sites

The first step is to find where to post blog posts. For that, you have to prepare a list of blogs that accept guest posts. 

Here are some points to consider while finding sites for guest blogging.

• Niche – Make sure that the blog is in your niche. If you haven’t figured out your blogging niche yet, read this post. 

• Domain Authority – Make sure that the website you are writing for has a higher DA than yours. For example, my DA is currently 14 so I aim to write 30 to 40 DA blogs. You can check DA using the free Moz tool.

• Target Audience – Learn about the target audience. Every blog has a different target reader and to impress him you have to write for them. 

Add at least 10 to 15 blogs. Yes, you need to add at least 10 to 15 sites. Only then 1 or 2 would reply. 

Most websites have a write for us page or you can do an advanced Google search like

1- “Keyword” + writer for us

2- “Keyword” + guest post

3- “Keyword” + submit an article

4- “Keyword” + accepting guest posts.

5- “Keyword” + write for us.

6- “Keyword” + guest blogger wanted

I have also found some great guest blogging opportunities in Facebook groups and Twitter. You should also give them a try. 

After you have your guests blogging websites list created it’s time to move to the next step. 

2- Brainstorm 3 to 5 Guest Blogging Ideas

The next step is to brainstorm an interesting blog post idea to write about. 

The thing is, these blogs are already established and if you send your request with any random idea it is going to get ignored. 

So, to get their attention you need a unique idea. 

You can find awesome ideas using Buzzsumo. 

It shows a list of top-performing content (based on social shares) in a niche. 

I find out the news section of the Google search bar interesting. 

It shows the latest industry trends. 

3- Compile A List Of Your Best Published Articles

After you have found an idea for your guest blog post it is time to prepare your pitch. 

You can write it the way you want but here’s one thing that has helped me get replies. 

It is to add links to your previously published blog posts. Either on your blog or in guest posts. 

You can add those links to your pitch and send them. 

4- Conduct A Guest Blog Outreach

This is time to send your pitch to every blogger on your list. 

You will have to find out their email addresses from their sites or they have a guest post page. 

You can send the same pitch to everyone but make sure that you personalize each email. By addressing them by their names. 

Nobody likes to read an email starting with

Hi there! 

I bet this email would be ignored. 

Here’s a template that you can try. 

{Hey Name, 

I’m [Your name]. I have been following your blog for a long time and I really like reading your posts. They have helped me so much. 

I would love to guest post on your blog. My topic would be [Your interesting topic] in which I will share 

[Some key points about your blog]

It will benefit readers to [something that the blog post will help readers].

Here are some of my published works if you want to have a look. 

{Links to your blog posts}

Let me know what you think!

Thanks,

[Your name]}

5- Read The Guest Blogging Guidelines

After you get accepted for guest blogging opportunities then you should read their guidelines before starting to write your guest post. 

If your article doesn’t follow these guidelines then it can be ignored. 

Also, if you don’t get replies to your pitches, repeat the 4th step. 

6- Write Your Guest Post

This is where things get real. You will have to write the best blog post. 

Some of the things your blog post should have

• Catchy headline
• Amazing content
• SEO friendly

Here are some articles that you will find useful for nailing down this part. 

• How to create a blog post outline? 
• 3 step formula to writing better headlines
• How to write a blog post? 
• 7 steps to write a viral blog post. 
• How to write evergreen content that stays fresh forever?
• 31 different types of blog posts you can try

7- Send Your Guest Blog

The last step would be to send your guest post. But is it the last step? 

No. It is an on repeat process. 

But you can manage time to celebrate. 

Free Guest Blogging Sites

To get you started here is a list of free guest posting websites which you can pitch your article request to. 

The free Guest Blogging Sites List

If you come across anyone who asks you to pay for it. DON’T!  

There are many free guest blogging sites for which you can write. So you should never pay for it. 

Also, Google penalizes sites that are involved in link exchange activities. 

Stay away from such sites at all costs! 

Conclusion: Guest Blogging For SEO

So this is how guest blogging works. Now you know what a guest blog is, and how to write one. 

Guest blogging in SEO is important but other parts of SEO can’t be ignored. 

But it isn’t that hard. Download these on-page and off-page SEO checklists and make sure your website is optimized for ranking higher in search results. 

So this was all about guest blogging. 

Prepare a strategy that works for you and start writing guest posts and slowly your efforts will pay off. 

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