Your on-site blog isn’t the only place that you should be posting for your marketing strategy. Many websites welcome contributions from outside writers. This is called guest posting.
Guest posts are a great way to reach new audiences and increase your authority. At least, when you do it right. If you find your guest posting game falling flat, use these tips to put together an effective strategy for building brand awareness.
Quality Over Quantity
Are you sending submissions to every blog that offers guest posting? You don’t have unlimited resources for putting together posts. Focus on the websites that your target audience likes to spend their time at. You can slowly expand from your core audience over time, but maintain a narrow focus when you start out.
Take a look at these sites offering guest posting opportunities:
Forbes
Social Media Examiner
Tech Crunch
Lifehack
The Kitchn
Tailor Guest Posts to Each Website
Don’t take a one-size-fits-all approach with the posts you submit. Read through each blog and get a sense of their style. When you closely match their writing voice, you have a better chance at catching their readers’ attention.
Engage With Commenters
Spend time participating in the website’s community. While you might have to deal with a few trolls here and there, the benefits of standing out as a business that does more than drive-by guest posting are substantial. Keep your responses professional, but don’t be afraid to get somewhat informal. Commenters want to interact with you as a person, not a nameless, faceless business.
Use Visually Enticing Post Formats
When was the last time you read through a giant wall of text online? Use subheaders, bulleted lists and short paragraphs to increase the readability of your text. Add videos and photo content to support your points. For example, an infographic that summarizes the guest post’s information drives more engagement than a text-only post.
Maximize Your Author Bio
Many blogs place an author bio before or after your post. You might not have the opportunity to put a call to action directly in the post, but you usually can in your bio area. Let the readers know where they can find more information about your particular topic and invite them to take a look at your writing elsewhere.
Guest posting has the potential to drive a lot of business your way, but you need to do it correctly. Give your current strategy a once over and start getting the results you expect out of your blogging.