We can certainly vouch for the fact that blogging, in general, is undoubtedly one of the most successful ways to grow a business.
However, many businesses are still somewhat confused as to whether they should start guest blogging or not because they don’t have a clear enough idea of what it can do for their company.
We’re here today to explain how guest blogging works, and the benefits your company could get from doing it in order to take your business to the next level, regardless of its size or sector.
So, without any further ado.
What is a Guest Blog?
A guest blog is a method which is used by the owners of blogs in order to increase traffic for their website.
Typically speaking a guest blog will be written by a company, for one which is in a similar industry or sector. In exchange, that company will receive links to their own blogs and a way of promoting their own name.
You’ll Increase Your Exposure and Brand Awareness
Guest blogging is a way of increasing your exposure, while at the same time, helping you to build your brand.
If you wrote a guest post on a blog which typically speaking, has around 20,000 visitors each day, and your guest post was viewed 5,000 times — even if you don’t get any more than 200 visitors to your blog from that guest post, your name has just been exposed to 5,000 more people than it would have been.
As you continue to do more of these, you’ll start to see more people visiting your website because they will have seen your name online enough times to make them stop and think: ‘Hm, what’s so great about them, then?’
Quality Traffic
This is probably one of the more common reasons why companies become interested in guest blogging.
When it comes to getting a lot more visitors from guest posts on the blogs you’re working with, it isn’t just about the number of traffic you’re receiving, but it’s also the quality of traffic you’re getting as well.
Generally speaking, you’ll be able to assess the quality of your traffic by looking at your analytics. Say for example the average person spends five seconds on a blog on your website with an 85% bounce rate, but then on this other website, people are spending up to 6 minutes on your blog, with a bounce rate of 45%, then you know the quality of traffic has increased.
Build Domain and Search Engine Authority
One major advantage of guest blogging is the fact that it helps you to build your domain name and search engine authority.
What we mean by this is if you were to take this blog, for example, without us investing our time in any Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) tactics, and this blog gets over 3,000 visitors from search engines each month, and even some of the posts are ranking on page one without us doing anything fancy for our SEO.
Seems easy, right? Guest blogging is one of the best ways to build authoritative backlinks to your blog and improve your blogs search engine authority.
Networking
Guest blogs often have a way of driving conversations on social media, so make sure you’re on it and ready to engage.
Typically speaking, people want to work with businesses that they feel connected to, especially if they recognise a face to go along with a brand. When you put yourself out there, meet new people and have in-depth conversations, then you’re going to gain their confidence in your ability to blog for them.
Being more visible in your online community and getting noticed by others in your industry (and potential customers or clients) will be extremely beneficial to your brand and one of the great perks of guest blogging.
Here at Strawberry Forge, we don’t focus too much on guest blogging, simply because our approach to networking is purely face-to-face and we’re in a position where we don’t need to ‘trial’ with a guest blog.
Nevertheless, if you’re quite a new business who is trying a variety of methods to get your name out there, guest blogging in your industry can be a great way to get yourself heard.
Generating Qualified Leads
One of the most important considerations of guest blogging is to ensure you’re picking the right websites for your brand.
As well as making sure the website is actually relevant to you, you’ll also need to look for sites that already have a regular flow of traffic. This is going to help you to connect with people who are already interested in what your business has to offer.
You should always bring attention to an actionable step when you’re creating the page you want to bring traffic to. Make it relevant to the guest post that you’ve submitted to the other blog. If you don’t, your link is just going to be an annoyance in your audience’s journey and more importantly, it’ll be an easy lead lost.
It’s a Two Way Street
Remember, guest blogging can be a two-way street if you want it to be.
Maintaining your own blog content while guesting blogging on many other blogs can be quite tricky to cram it all in. So, maybe consider inviting guest bloggers to write on your blog.
By doing this, you’ll be able to keep fresh content on your own website while adding a new perspective for your audience which might mean you get new readers from your guest blogger’s community — win-win!
Overall, guest blogging can be something you could start thinking about once you feel as though you’ve made a dent in your sector enough for it to be worth it.
As long as you choose who you’re writing guest blogs for and the relevance of that, you should certainly see the rewards.
If you have any further questions about blogging in general, please get in contact with Strawberry Forge today.
