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How to do guest blogging for natural looking link building

Guest blogging is still huge.

And I have every reason to believe that it’s going to make even more of my mystical creature dreams come true.

Larry Kim is what happens when you blend a with high-quality content and an authoritative publication. Kim, the founder of WordStream, is a winning example of how to swirl content into a distribution funnel.

Just look at his post on Inc. 40 Amazing Places To Learn Something New Every Day, which received 40 backlinks.

Guest blogging can, as you’ve seen before, look scary.

But, enhancing your online visibility or backlink profile doesn’t have to be frightening — or require the writing skills of Shakespeare. You just need the proper arsenal to get that natural-looking link building.

Think Beyond the Links

It’s time we think beyond the links.

There’s been an onslaught of guest blogging for links on the market.

To make sense of it all, Moz surveyed agencies and freelancers to see if they still use guest posting, and 90 percent of respondents said yes, they still use a form of guest posting.

There are a lot of winning entrepreneurs using guest blogging in their link building toolkit: Even the aspiring Julie Joyces will find something to fall in love with.

Just take a look at how other entrepreneurs have used this strategy in the past.

  • Neil Patel publishes an average of 100 guest posts per year.
  • Mark Traphagen shared his thoughts on how Eric Enge built his reputation by writing guest posts.
  • Leo Widrich wrote 150 guest blog posts in 2 months to help build Buffer.
  • Julia McCoy at Express Writers gained $5,000 from one guest blog post on SitePro.

Your Guest Blogging Strategy

Here’s a quick snapshot of my guest blogging strategy:

1. Set Qualifying Factors Needed to Work with a Blog

Here’s a look at my qualifying factors I review for every guest blogging opportunity.

Guest blog qualifying factors

2. Check the Bio Section

Researching the bio section is key because it leaves opportunity for you to not only add a link, but add a link for users to sign-up to your newsletter.

3. Engage Before You Pitch

Before I send my pitch email, I connect with the website on every social platform by engaging in replies to tweets and signing up for their newsletter.

Summary

Timeframe: Ongoing starting Month 3

Results detected: 4-12 months

Average blogs posted per month: 4

Tools:

  • BuzzStream
  • BuzzSumo
  • Alexa

Benefits of guest blogging:

  • Guest blogging improves your brand awareness and SEO authority. If you have a solid strategy of posting to multiple websites within a similar timeframe, it gives the illusion that you’re everywhere.
  • Guest blogging increases your website traffic and leads. By adding a link in your bio to a landing page to sign-up for your newsletter, you’re increasing traffic and gaining leads.

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by Anna Crowe
source: SEJ