Guestposting: What it is and how to do it correctly

by Moises Hamui September 23, 2023

Guest posting or guest blogging is one of the most effective and popular content marketing strategies today.

It consists of writing as a guest author on an external blog that addresses topics similar to yours, in order to provide value to your audience, generate traffic to your website and improve your SEO positioning .

Guest posting can bring you many benefits, as long as you do it correctly and ethically. In this article, we will explain what guest posting is, how to do it correctly and how to receive guest posts on your website.

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What is guest posting or guest blogging?

Guest posting or guest blogging is a content marketing strategy that consists of writing as a guest author on an external blog that addresses topics similar to yours. This practice can bring many benefits to your brand, your audience, and your SEO positioning, as long as it is done correctly and ethically.

Some of the benefits of guest posting are the following:

Increase your visibility and authority . By writing on a quality, recognized blog, you can reach a wider audience and demonstrate your knowledge and experience on the topic . Thus, you can generate trust and credibility among readers and position yourself as a reference in your niche.
Generate traffic to your website . When writing a guest post, you can include a link to your website or your blog, where you offer more valuable content or your products or services. This way, you can attract readers interested in what you offer and increase the number of visits and potential clients.
Improve your SEO positioning . By writing a guest post, you can obtain a quality backlink to your website, that is, a link from a website with a good reputation and authority. This can improve your SEO positioning, since search engines like Google value backlinks as a sign of trust and relevance.
Expand your network of contacts . By writing a guest post, you can establish a relationship with the blog owner and other guest authors. Thus, you can create a network of professional contacts that can help you find new opportunities for collaboration, dissemination or business.

What are the best practices for guest posting?

Some best practices for guest posting are as follows:

Define your objectives and your target audience . Before writing a guest post, you must be clear about what you want to achieve with it and who you want to reach. This way you can choose the most suitable themes, tone and style for your content.
Look for relevant and quality blogs to collaborate with . It's not about writing on just any blog, but on those that have a good reputation, a loyal audience and a niche related to yours. To find them, you can use tools like Google, Moz or Ahrefs, or platforms like Coobis or SE Ranking.
Contact the blog owners and propose your idea . Once you have selected the blogs that interest you, you should send them a personalized and professional email, introducing yourself, explaining why you want to collaborate with them and proposing an article idea that is original, useful and in line with their editorial line.
Write original, useful and SEO-optimized content . If your proposal is accepted, it's time to start writing. You must create unique content that provides value to the blog's audience, respects its style and format standards, and includes the appropriate keywords to improve its positioning.
Include a link to your website and a short biography . One of the benefits of guest posting is that you can generate quality backlinks to your website, as long as they are natural and relevant to the context. Additionally, you must include a brief biography at the end of the article, where you introduce yourself as the author and mention your website or your social networks.
Promote your guest post and respond to comments . Once your guest post is published, don't forget to spread it on your own channels, such as your website, your social networks or yournewsletter . This way you can increase the traffic and reach of the article. It is also important that you are attentive to the comments that your guest post may receive and that you respond to them in a cordial and grateful manner.
How to receive guest posts on your website . If you have your own blog, you can also benefit from receiving guest posts from other authors. To do this, you must establish clear and demanding requirements for collaborators, such as originality, quality and relevance of the content. You must also manage the guest posts you receive, reviewing them before publishing them and giving feedback to the authors.

When is it advisable to apply the Guest blogging strategy?

The guest blogging strategy is advisable to apply when you want to achieve any of the following objectives:

Get more traffic and leads to a website . By guest writing on a blog related to your topic, you can attract readers interested in what you offer and direct them to your website through a link or bio.
Increase the visibility, authority, relevance and quality of content . By guest writing on a quality, reputable blog, you can reach a wider audience and demonstrate your knowledge and experience on the topic.
Create professional relationships . By guest blogging, you can build a relationship with the blog owner and other guest authors.
Obtain incoming links (Linkbuilding) . By writing as a guest on a blog, you can get a quality backlink to your website , that is, a link from a website with a good reputation and authority.

How to make a good guest post

To make a good guest post, it is not enough to write anything and send it to any blog. You must follow a series of steps to ensure that your content is original, useful and optimized for SEO. These are the steps we recommend you follow:

Step 1: Define your objectives and your target audience

Before writing a guest post, you must be clear about what you want to achieve with it and who you want to reach. This way you can choose the most suitable themes, tone and style for your content.

Some examples of objectives you can have when making a guest post are:

Make your brand or your project known
Generate traffic to your website or blog
Get subscribers for your newsletter
Promote a product or service
Improve your SEO positioning
Establish a relationship with the blog owner

Your target audience is the group of people you want to target with your content. To define it, you must take into account aspects such as:

Your demographic characteristics (age, gender, location, etc.)
Your interests, needs and problems
Your content consumption habits (formats, channels, frequency, etc.)
Your level of knowledge on the topic

Step 2: Find relevant and quality blogs to collaborate with

It's not about writing on just any blog, but on those that have a good reputation, a loyal audience and a niche related to yours. To find them, you can use tools like Google, Moz or Ahrefs, or platforms like Coobis or SE Ranking.

Some criteria that you should take into account when choosing the blogs where you want to collaborate are:

The theme of the blog . It must be similar or complementary to yours, so that your content is relevant and provides value to the audience.
The authority of the blog . It must have a good online reputation, measurable by indicators such as Domain Authority (DA), Page Authority (PA) or Trust Flow (TF).
The quality of the blog. It must offer original, useful and well-written content, with an attractive design and good usability.
The blog audience . It must have a sufficient number of visits, comments and followers, which demonstrate the interest and loyalty of the readers.
The blog's guest posting policy . You must accept external collaborations and establish clear and reasonable rules for guest authors.

Step 3: Contact the blog owners and propose your idea

Once you have selected the blogs that interest you, you should send them a personalized and professional email, introducing yourself, explaining why you want to collaborate with them and proposing an article idea that is original, useful and in line with their editorial line.

Some tips for writing a good contact email are:

Use a clear and attractive subject that captures the recipient's attention and summarizes the purpose of your message.
Address the blog owner by name, if you know him or her, or by the name of the blog, if you don't. Avoid using generic formulas such as “Dear” or “Hello”.
Briefly introduce yourself, explaining who you are, what you do and why you want to collaborate with the blog.
Propose an article idea that is original, useful and in line with the theme and style of the blog. Include the title, summary, and main points of the content.
Show your interest in the blog, commenting on an article that you liked or any suggestions you have to improve the content or design.
Be polite and cordial, thanking the recipient for their attention and waiting for their response.

Guest post email example

An example of a contact email could be the following:

Subject: Guest post proposal for your blog

Hello John.

My name is Ana and I am the founder of [TuWeb], a digital marketing agency specialized in SEO, SEM and social networks.

I discovered your blog [TuBlog] recently and I loved it. It seems to me that you offer very interesting and practical content on online marketing, with a friendly and fun tone.

I would like to collaborate with you by writing a guest post for your blog. I think I can add value to your audience with an article on how to do an SEO audit step by step. I'll tell you a little more about my idea:

Title: How to do an SEO audit step by step

Summary: An SEO audit is an exhaustive analysis of the factors that influence the positioning of a website in search engines. In this article, we explain how to do an SEO audit step by step, what tools to use and what aspects to review.

Main points:

What is an SEO audit and why is it important to do it?
How to do a technical SEO audit (loading speed, indexing, crawling, etc.)
How to do an SEO content audit (keywords, structure, quality, etc.)
How to do an SEO audit of links (backlinks, anchor text, authority, etc.)
How to make an SEO audit report with conclusions and recommendations

I think this topic can be very useful for your readers, as it will help them improve the performance of their websites and optimize their SEO strategy.

What do you think of my proposal? Are you interested in publishing it on your blog?

I wait your answer. Thank you very much for your attention.

All the best,

Ana

Step 4: Write original, useful and SEO-optimized content

If your proposal is accepted, it's time to start writing. You must create unique content that provides value to the blog's audience, respects its style and format standards, and includes the appropriate keywords to improve its positioning.

Some tips for writing good content are:

Research the topic and look for reliable and up-to-date sources . Don't copy or plagiarize others' content, but create your own with your own voice and personality.
Structure the content with an introduction, a development and a conclusion . Use subheadings, lists, images, and other visual elements to make text easier to read and scan.
Include primary and secondary keywords in the title, subheadings, first paragraph, last paragraph, and throughout the text . Do not abuse keywords or repeat them unnecessarily, but use them in a natural way that is consistent with the context.
Provides value to the reader with useful, practical and relevant information . Resolve their doubts, problems or needs, offer advice, examples or success stories, and invite them to take action or continue learning more about the topic.
Review the content before sending it . Correct any spelling, grammatical or style errors, and make sure that it complies with the rules and requirements of the blog where you are going to publish.

Step 5: Include a link to your website and a short biography

One of the benefits of guest posting is that you can generate quality backlinks to your website, as long as they are natural and relevant to the context. Additionally, you must include a brief biography at the end of the article, where you introduce yourself as the author and mention your website or your social networks.

Some tips for including a link and bio are:

Choose the appropriate place to insert the link . It can be in the body of the text, if it is related to the topic, or in the biography, if you want to direct the reader to your website or your blog. Don't put more than one link per article, so as not to look like spam.
Use descriptive and attractive anchor text . Anchor text is the text that appears as a link and that tells the reader what they will find when they click. It must be descriptive and attractive, to encourage the reader to visit your website. Avoid using generic formulas such as “click here” or “visit my website”.
Write a short, personal biography . The biography is the space where you introduce yourself as an author and where you can mention your website or your social networks. It should be brief (about 3 or 4 lines) and personal (use the first person and a close tone). Explain who you are, what you do and why you are interested in the topic of the article.

An example of a link and biography could be the following:

If you want to know more about how to do an SEO audit, I invite you to visit my website [TuWeb], where you will find more tips and resources on digital marketing.

About the author: My name is Ana and I am the founder of [TuWeb], a digital marketing agency specialized in SEO, SEM and social networks. I am passionate about helping companies improve their online presence and get more customers. You can follow me on [Twitter] or [LinkedIn].

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Step 6: Promote your guest post and respond to comments

Once your guest post is published, don't forget to spread it on your own channels, such as your website, your social networks or your newsletter. This way you can increase the traffic and reach of the article. It is also important that you are attentive to the comments that your guest post may receive and that you respond to them in a cordial and grateful manner.

Some tips to promote your guest post and respond to comments are:

Share your guest post on your social networks, tagging the blog owner and using hashtags related to the topic.
Send your guest post to your list of subscribers, explaining why they may be interested and encouraging them to read and comment on it.
Thank the blog owner for the opportunity to collaborate and for publishing your guest post.
Respond to the comments your guest post receives, both on the blog and on social networks.

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How to receive guest posts on your website

If you have your own blog, you can also benefit from receiving guest posts from other authors. To do this, you must establish clear and demanding requirements for collaborators, such as originality, quality and relevance of the content.

You must also manage the guest posts you receive, reviewing them before publishing them and giving feedback to the authors.

Why accept guest posts on your website?

Receiving guest posts on your website can bring you many benefits, such as the following:

Enrich your content with new perspectives, experiences and knowledge. By receiving guest posts from other authors, you can offer your audience more varied and complete content that complements or expands what you offer.
Increase your visibility and authority. By receiving guest posts from recognized and quality authors, you can improve the reputation of your website and attract new readers to follow those authors.
Generate traffic to your website. By receiving guest posts from authors with a good audience or a good presence on social networks, you can take advantage of their diffusion to increase the number of visits and potential clients on your website.
Expand your network of contacts. By receiving guest posts from other authors, you can establish a relationship with them and with other blogs in the same niche.

What requirements should you ask of guest authors?

To receive guest posts on your website, you must establish clear and demanding requirements for collaborators, to ensure that the content you receive is original, useful and in line with your editorial line.

Some examples of requirements you can ask for are:

The topic of the article must be related to the theme of your website and be of interest to your audience.
The content must be original, that is, not have been previously published on another website or medium.
The content must be useful, practical and relevant to the reader. It should resolve your doubts, problems or needs, offer advice, examples or success stories, and invite you to take action or continue learning more about the topic.
The content must be well written, without spelling, grammatical or stylistic errors. It must follow the format and extension rules that you establish for your website.
The content should be optimized for SEO, including primary and secondary keywords in the title, subtitles, first paragraph, last paragraph, and throughout the text.
The author must include a brief biography at the end of the article, where they introduce themselves as the author and mention their website or social networks. The author can include a link to his website or blog, as long as it is natural and relevant to the context.

How to manage the guest posts you receive?

To receive guest posts on your website, you must manage the guest posts you receive, reviewing them before publishing them and giving feedback to the authors.

Some tips for managing the guest posts you receive are:

Create a page on your website where you explain what guest posting is, why you accept external collaborations and what requirements and standards guest authors must meet.
Review the proposals you receive and select the ones that interest you the most. Respond to the authors by accepting or rejecting their proposals, and explaining the reasons for your decision. Be polite and cordial, and thank them for their interest in collaborating with your website.
Review the content you receive and verify that it meets the requirements and standards you established. If necessary, make any corrections or suggestions you consider appropriate. Do not modify the content without the author's consent, except for reasons of style or format.
Publish the contents on your website, respecting the author's authorship and mentioning it at the beginning or end of the article. Notify the author of the publication of their guest post and thank them for their collaboration.
Promote the content on your social networks, tagging the author and using hashtags related to the topic.
Respond to the comments that the guest post receives, both on your website and on social networks.

Written by Moises Hamui Abadi : I am an entrepreneur, founding partner of Viceversa and SoyMacho. After leading several digital businesses and advising several other businesses; I decided to form MHA Consulting, a digital marketing consultancy dedicated to growing and enhancing digital businesses in more than 7 countries and generating more than 1,500 million pesos.

If you want more information on this topic or are looking for other options to profile your ideal client, at MHA you will find the solution you need. Schedule a call.