Most online store owners want to get links to their website for the sake of SEO. In this article, we’ll show you how to build links for your online store with guest posting.
There are many ways to get links such as through social media shares and directory listings. Social media is a powerful tool. Directory listings though might have a negative impact in your SEO efforts. For the past few years, Google has been penalizing many web directories. The single most promising way of earning free and quality links to your website is through guest posting in other blogs related to your industry.
How Does Guest Posting Work
Guest posting is creating content to post in another person’s blog or website with a link back to your own website. The more the links pointing to your website you have, the better it is for your SEO. Search engines such as Google look at your link network. The more popular the website that links to you, the better it is for your link profile. To learn more about the importance of links, check out this post.
How to Get Guest Posting Opportunities
Website Owners that You Know
To get guest posting opportunities, you can start with the people you know. You may have some friends who have a blog on a niche related to your website. You can ask them if they would let you guest post on their website or blog.
Social Networks
If you have a LinkedIn account, you can use that to reach out to other people that own websites within your niche. You can then ask for guest posting opportunities. You can also use Facebook, Twitter or any other social network. LinkedIn better serves this purpose though since it is all about building a professional network.
Blog Search
Perhaps the most popular means of searching for guest posting opportunities is by searching for blogs on Google. You can do this by entering “your niche + blogs” in the search bar. When looking at the search results, analyse the website more closely. Ask yourself; is this a real fit for my niche? Do they accept guest posts? Try to see if they have accepted guest posts in the past or if they explicitly say that they don’t accept guest posts. If they haven’t had any guest posts in the past, don’t let that discourage you, there’s always a first time for everything. Also, make sure that the website is not a competitor.
If you want to search specifically for blogs or websites that accepts guest posts, you can try these keywords on Google.
“your niche + guest post”
“your niche + submit guest post”
“your niche + write for us”
Once you’ve found a good website or blog, you should search for the owner’s email or a contact page. It will allow you to reach out to them about your concern.
Guest Posting Communities
Another means of getting guest post opportunities is by joining guest posting communities. One of the most popular is MyBlogGuest. MyBlogGuest is owned by Ann Smarty. It is a community for people looking for guest posting opportunities. People looking for bloggers to get free quality content also go to it. If you think about it, it’s a win-win situation. You get a link and the other person gets free quality content. You just need to sign up and confirm your website. You should point out if you are searching for guest posting opportunities or accepting guest posts on your blog, or both.
How to Request a Guest Post
When you request for a guest post, the golden rule is to not sound like spam. Before emailing someone, check out the website first and read the blog. If they have a dedicated page for guest posting, they’ll have guidelines posted there. Read it and follow the guidelines strictly. If they ask you to email them a certain subject or to have a certain sentence as the first sentence in your email, then do so. By doing what they ask, you’ll come by as someone genuinely interested in a partnership and won’t be writing crappy content. This kind of practice separates the spammers from the real quality guest posters.
If they don’t have specific guidelines, just email them in a normal manner. It helps a lot if you address the recipient with using his/her first name. This is usually written in the ‘contact us’ page. If you can’t find it, that’s not a problem. Just be courteous. You can also write something about how you loved a specific post on their website. This shows that you’re not just interested in the guest post for a link. You’ll also show that you’re interested in the content that they publish. An important bit: Try not to come off as someone trying too hard to please them just so they would allow you to guest post.
In your email, you should also include one or two topics that you’re interested in writing about. Including a short summary of what your post will look like will go a long way. Make sure that what you’re proposing is relevant to their audience otherwise it will just get rejected.
Many blogs don’t accept links within the content of the posts unless it’s integrated well into the content. Usually, in cases like these, they will allow a link to your website in the author bio. Now here’s a pro-tip. When writing the author bio, include your email and ask the readers to contact you if they would like you to guest post on their website. You’ll need to write some really good content for this to work though.
Getting Seconds
In getting guest posts, it is more helpful if you guest post in a lot of different websites. But if you get offered another chance to guest post in the same website, always grab the opportunity. It will help you build your reputation as a guest blogger. Your second post can still contain a link back to your site. And while it will not be as valuable as your first post, it will still show on your link profile. It can also get you some organic traffic. This is true when your guest post is being posted in a popular website with a large following.
What Makes a Good Guest Post
A “good” guest post is subjective, but ideally, a good guest post should provide new information and is insightful. Reading the guidelines of the website where you are guest posting will help you write a post which is “good” by their standards.
How-To posts that teach the readers how to do something are always a good idea. Try to target a specific topic. If you write an article entitled “How to Write an Essay” that’s not good at all. Just think of the thousands, maybe millions, of articles with the same title all over the internet. Something more specific is “How to Write an Essay Optimized for SEO” or “How to Write a Good Expository Essay”.
Always try to use subheadings on your guest post especially when it is long. If you write a 1000-word guest post without any subheadings, it’s not enticing to read. It will look like a big wall of text. While images can help make it more attractive, it’s not as helpful as subheadings.
Also, whenever possible, you should reference any claims on your post unless that is your expert opinion. You should establish that your opinion is credible. Claiming something without backing it up is akin to spouting gibberish and readers will take notice of that. If a claim links to some example or some study that proves your point, then it gets better.
Another important bit to remember is not to hard sell your products or services when guest posting. The blog or website you are guest posting on trusts that you will create good readable content and not a marketing gimmick. Don’t spam your article with links to different product pages, rather if you should add a link, make it a useful link. Maybe link to a related blog post on your own website’s blog. This is all the more reason, among the many other reasons, why you should have a blog on your online store with a bunch of useful and good posts.
Adding Your Links
This is the most important part of your guest post. You can post a link anywhere on the body of your post going to your website unless otherwise specified. The link can be on your home page or any other relevant page. Your link should integrate well into the content. To be integrated well into the content, the reader should know what to expect when they click a link. Are they going to get more information on the subject of your blog post or maybe an important resource? Just because you used a keyword that you are targeting doesn’t mean you should add a link there.
As I’ve mentioned earlier, some website owners refuse to add links in the body of the content. This is because many guest posters don’t integrate it well into the content. In these cases, they allow links in author bios.
So, that’s it. You got your crash course on guest posting. If you have any questions, feel free to hit the comments.
this post is very helpful for me thanks for sharing such a great post. keep it up