The following post reveals my simple three-step process I use to find authoritative blogs, produce quality content and promote them across the web (without spending too much time and/or money).
Let’s take a look at each step…
How to Find Authoritative Blogs
There are two things guest posting should provide you with: traffic and links. Therefore, it’s important to find blogs which have plenty of traffic and offer high-quality links.
To do this, you’ll need two toolbars:
SEO Book Toolbar
SEO Moz Toolbar
Both can be downloaded – and used – for free using Firefox.
Below is a screenshot of the SEO Book toolbar:
This toolbar pulls data from a number of sources, though monthly uniques is what we’re mostly interested in. This is an estimate on how many unique visitors this site receives each month. Please keep in mind this is an estimate only; on my own sites (where I can compare this number against my analytics) my traffic levels are actually three to four times greater. So if the toolbar states 5K monthly uniques, that site may have 15 – 20K uniques.
Generally, if the toolbar reports 5K then I know this blog has some decent traffic, and will (hopefully) move some eyeballs to my own blog.
Of course, placement matters too. Some blogs may place your post immediately into a category page (in which case look for higher traffic to offset this).
Once you’ve established a blog’s traffic levels, it’s time to measure the value of its links for SEO purposes. High quality links will move your site up in the search engines for various search terms. While there are innumerable ways to measure authority, the SEO Moz toolbar makes this super-simple.
Here’s a screenshot:
Notice how this toolbar measure page and domain authority. Both have their place, but for guest posts we’re interested in domain authority.
Based on a scale of 1 – 100 (with 100 being highest), the SEOMoz toolbar measures a blog’s overall authority. It’s a logarithmic scale, so going from 30 to 40 is much easier than going from 80 to 90.
Try to post on blogs with a minimum domain authority of 40. Obviously, the higher the better, but you do have to start somewhere. Most top blogs like to see proof of your work before accepting any official pitches.
Once you’ve selected (and landed) a guest post opportunity, it’s time to…
Plan (and Write) Your Post
The first thing I write is the headline. I’ve never seen this mentioned anywhere, but it does me a world of good.
Why? Because the headline forces you to target your audience. Consider the following two headlines:
- How to Get More Visitors to Your Blog
- 5 Free Ways to Get More Traffic Using Social Media
Which would be easier to write? Both headlines provide a goal (“get more traffic”) but the second also provides the method (“using social media”), a specific number (“5”), and an added benefit (“free”). With such a targeted headline, you know exactly what will work in this post. It’s also more likely to catch a reader’s eye.
When it’s time to write, implement the (10 + 2) *5 technique from 43folders. Basically, you divide an hour into five 12 minute sections. In each section you write non-stop for ten minutes, then rest for two (I usually stare off into space, but that’s me). Then, BURST into another ten minute typing tirade followed by two more minutes space-time.
Try it out; you’ll be amazed by the results.
Promote Your Post
The whole purpose of a guest post is to build traffic and links, right? So why not lend a helping hand and promote your own post?
The following are easy ways to help spread the word:
- Tweet the post (and re-tweet the blog’s tweet)
- Like it on Facebook
- Bookmark it
- Link to it in other guest posts (but only if it’s relevant!)
- Comment on other related blog posts
- Mention it in forums
- Record yourself reading the post, publish on video and audio sites
Now this may seem like a lot of work, but Pixelpipe lets you submit to over 100 sharing sites from one simple interface. It’s time-consuming to set up, so consider hiring someone from Fiverr or eLance to create the accounts for you.
Conclusion
Guest posting works. But it works so much better when you follow this system. It helps you find higher quality blogs, write quality content faster and promote it across dozens of channels with ease.
What are your ideas for improvement? Let me know in the comments section below!
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