Hi, I am Digital Rajat and I am going to share with you the 5 best practices for Guest Posting.
Even after all these years, many people are perplexed by the practice of guest posting.
If you ask ten different digital marketing agencies about it, you will most likely get ten different answers.
Some people go full throttle when it comes to guest posting, while others slow down.
Too often, those who fail to recognize the value of guest posts do so solely for the purpose of building their brand, rather than for link building.
In this column, you'll learn how to use guest posting to not only improve the SEO of your site but also to help build your brand.
1. Concentrate on Your Niche and Capitalize on Your Expertise
Write about content if you're a digital marketer who focuses on it in your business.
Is it only for video marketing? Provide guest content on video marketing.
True experts have a narrow focus and usually stick to their niche.
The key to expertise is simple: you should be an expert in the subject matter of your writing.
If you write professionally on a variety of topics, you risk muddying your brand and confusing search engine evaluation of your content.
For example, my primary goals for guest posting include content creation (as in this post), productivity, and time management.
I also work as an editor for a popular motorcycle publication, but I don't guest post in that space.
That's a different story because it's similar to working as a staff writer for Search Engine Journal. Full-time employees are unlikely to guest post on other digital marketing publications.
There may be times when you write about something that isn't your primary focus.
The odd exception is acceptable.
But, in general, when guest posting, stick to your area of expertise.
2. Produce as much evergreen content as possible.
You want your work to last as long as possible, so concentrate on creating evergreen content.
Experts are frequently consulted for their thoughts on breaking news.
Don't turn down those opportunities, but keep in mind that guest posting is different.
You're not looking for a big splash, but rather for long-term success.
Create content that will be as relevant in ten years as it is today.
This may be difficult in rapidly changing industries like technology, but try to create as much evergreen content as possible.
Because I primarily write about content creation and productivity, much of my content can be considered evergreen.
My personal rule of thumb is to aim for 90 percent evergreen content and 10 percent newsworthy or trending content for guest posts.
3. Look for Websites That Are Relevant and Powerful.
Many SEO professionals are concerned with a website's domain authority (DA).
However, that single factor does not tell the entire story of a website's strength.
There are still a lot of websites with high DAs but poor copy. These may be crammed with external links that are unrelated to the website's main focus.
If you mistake a high DA for a good, relevant website, your guest posting efforts will be derailed.
Don't just look for a high DA.
Look for high-quality websites that are jam-packed with credible content written by experts.
Two questions to ask right away are whether the site buys links (or "exchanges" them for money, as the case may be).
Before pitching to a publication, you should check their link profile or have an SEO professional do it for you.
Save your energy and move on to the next target website if the website links to irrelevant domains with unworthy content.
Remember, once again, to prioritize brand building over link acquisition.
Keep moving if it isn't good for your brand.
This will save you a lot of time as you search the web for the best online outlet to amplify your content.
If you suspect anything fishy, especially with link building, let your fingers do the walking and find another potential website.
4. Establish Relationships with Reputable Publications
When you come across a strong website and your guest posts resonate with its audience, do everything you can to help that website.
Some SEO professionals are opposed to this concept due to the diminishing value of more links.
Most guest posts only include a link to the contributor's home page in the bio (make sure it's followed!).
This usually means that the first link is the strongest, and each subsequent link has a decreasing return on value.
However, if the publication is strong and you have a strong influence on its audience, disregard the link value.
Instead, concentrate on developing your brand here.
Many people have this backwards, and they end up providing valuable content that does not resonate well with the audience in order to obtain a link.
5. Keep SEO in mind at all times
When writing a guest post, some guest contributors overlook SEO (even those within the digital marketing space).
If you want to delve deeper, I've written several articles about SEO writing on this site, but the absolute basics are as follows:
Each guest blog should focus on one or two keywords.
Use target keywords in a title of about 55 characters.
Use numbers; according to Conductor research, headlines with numbers are the most preferred by readers.
The use of brackets or parentheses in the title; according to the same study, they increase click-through by 38%.
Use target keywords in meta descriptions of approximately 150 characters, along with a marketing message and a clear call to action.
Use related keywords that are naturally woven into the content.
Use header tags with keywords correctly (related keywords work nicely here).
To make reading easier, use bold, italics, and bullet points sparingly, increasing UX and on-page reading time.
Make internal/external linking suggestions.
Don't forget about SEO once more.
You don't want to jeopardize the chances of that guest post being discovered.
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