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Why Accept Guest Blogging As a Content Creation Strategy?

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Why Accept Guest Blogging As a Content Creation Strategy?

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As the digital age promotes a dynamic lifestyle and globalization trends, the need to digest more and more information leaps without limit. But as time is limited, so is our attention.
To produce more captivating content and seize this finite resource, many businesses have turned to guest blogging for more qualified traffic, leads and sales.
Let’s learn how to utilize guest blogging – a proven technique of content marketing strategy – to your advantage as a sustainable business.
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Guest blogging is a content marketing strategy in which “a writer creates content for another brand’s blog, website, or social media channel” with mutual benefits.
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As the digital age promotes a dynamic lifestyle and globalization trends, the need to digest more and more information leaps without limit. But as time is limited, so is our attention.
To produce more captivating content and seize this finite resource, many businesses have turned to guest blogging for more qualified traffic, leads and sales.
Let’s learn how to utilize guest blogging – a proven technique of content marketing strategy – to your advantage as a sustainable business.
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Guest blogging is a content marketing strategy in which “a writer creates content for another brand’s blog, website, or social media channel” with mutual benefits.
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Review the Fundamentals of Guest Blogging

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A quick search on Google about “guest blogging” will bring you many guidelines for bloggers, teaching them how to leverage guest blogging to build their personal online profile as experts and earn backlinks to their own sites, among many other benefits.

Well, this is not our objective today because we will take the side of businesses and talk about why and how brands can apply guest blogging as a part of their content strategy plan to achieve their defined marketing goals.
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What is Guest Blogging?

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As the name suggests, “guest blogging” means a person posts on a blog which is not theirs. But as marketing evolves, let’s put together a more precise definition.
For writers or bloggers, guest blogging or guest post/posting is an opportunity to increase their exposure to new readers whom otherwise they don’t have a chance to meet. For the host brand, it is a content creation strategy to increase traffic, content diversity and credibility.
Bonus: A quick dive in historyUnbeknownst to many, guest blogging used to be marked as a black hat SEO technique.Back in 2014, a rumor was circulating, making marketers scorn at the idea of accepting guest posts on their site: search engines, or Google, was penalizing sites using guest blogging for SEO.It was resulted from a misinterpretation of the former Google spokesperson Matt Cutts’ comment on guest blogging, stating “Guest blogging is done”. What he meant was that guest blogging had been abused for far too long, making it too spammy and littering the Internet with so much poor-quality content.Google quickly cleared this misunderstanding and guest blogging slowly returned to be an effective content marketing strategy for ethical marketers and brands.
As content marketing transforms, bloggers can plan for their content to be presented in different formats, depending on their expertise and the host site’s target audience.
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While written articles remain the most common format, we start to see more visuals (e.g. infographics, slides, etc.), audio (e.g. podcasts, etc.) and video under the tag “guest post”.
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How does Guest Blogging work?

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It’s a straightforward process for both bloggers and the host site, and should be included in the overall content marketing plan. In general, there are 3 basic steps:

Step 1: Blogger sends a request (e.g. pitch) to the host site, submitting a demo or full content, depending on the guidelines.
Step 2: The host site reviews the work based on certain criteria and informs the blogger their final decision.
Step 3: If the post is accepted, the blogger will follow up with actions to promote the content further.If the post is declined, both sides may work together to edit the content for a better fit, or stop the process here.

Of course it doesn’t always happen exactly like this in reality. Dealings between bloggers and the host site may take much longer due to differences in interests and changes of requirements. It may drag out even more if the brand decides to change their content strategy plan along the way.
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What is NOT true about Guest Blogging?

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Things that exist for a long time certainly have myths. But unlike harmless myths in old tales, marketing myths can do real harm to brands. Let’s debunk some common myths about guest blogging before considering the next step.

Guest blogging is deadAs SEO is NOT dead, explained in our recent post about SEO Expectations vs Reality, guest blogging is far from its downfall. Take a quick look at “A quick dive in history” above to understand the root of this rumor.
Guest blogging only benefits the bloggerDo you know that less famous bloggers actually pay the host site to have their content posted? And it doesn’t necessarily mean their content is of low quality.But monetary benefit is just a nice side-effect for the host brand. Guest blogging can help boost the site’s reputation and expand their readership. See the next part for more detail.
Guest blogging only works if we can get thought leaders and gurus to write for usIt’s already great to have those famous people agree to join an interview with your brand. It’s another matter (and a much harder one) to get them write a piece of content solely for your site.Knowledge comes from every nook and corner, and most of the time from the places you least expect it. Don’t hastily turn down guest post pitches just because you have never heard of them before. Some experts just don’t have their names posted everywhere. Do a quick research and give them a chance as long as they meet your standards. This may be a beginning of a great and mutually beneficial partnership.

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Explore the Benefits of Guest Blogging for Businesses

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No brand is born with a mature funnel on their website or blog, and none can disregard its importance. As the common belief “content is king” (and it is true to some certain extent), businesses want to feed their audience more and more content in shorter time, and one way to do it is to outsource, e.g. accept guest posts.

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Let’s unlock the list of benefits that effective guest blogging can bring to your brand and decide if it’s worth a try.


Increase credibility and authorityA book written by several recognized authors or a research conducted by several distinguished scientists undoubtedly sound more reliable than a solo work. Similarly, if your blog features several prominent figures or professionals in relevant fields, it’s a great change for the readers.Also, having quality guest posts is a tactful way to prove your credibility as a blog as other reliable experts are willing to voice their opinions on your page.
Increase reach and trafficBy publishing content more often, you have a chance to increase site traffic. Moreover, your guest bloggers can bring their followers with them, hence expand your audience. And as long as readers find your posts useful and relevant, you have increased your chance of moving them smoothly through the funnel.
More diverse content with less effortIf your blog has only one voice, no matter how great it is, users may grow bored of it over time. But we all know how hard it is to produce a great number of quality content in a short time. Guest blogging helps you have more content to feed the always-hungry-for-information crowd and keep their experience fresh.


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Let’s unlock the list of benefits that effective guest blogging can bring to your brand and decide if it’s worth a try.


Increase credibility and authorityA book written by several recognized authors or a research conducted by several distinguished scientists undoubtedly sound more reliable than a solo work. Similarly, if your blog features several prominent figures or professionals in relevant fields, it’s a great change for the readers.Also, having quality guest posts is a tactful way to prove your credibility as a blog as other reliable experts are willing to voice their opinions on your page.
Increase reach and trafficBy publishing content more often, you have a chance to increase site traffic. Moreover, your guest bloggers can bring their followers with them, hence expand your audience. And as long as readers find your posts useful and relevant, you have increased your chance of moving them smoothly through the funnel.
More diverse content with less effortIf your blog has only one voice, no matter how great it is, users may grow bored of it over time. But we all know how hard it is to produce a great number of quality content in a short time. Guest blogging helps you have more content to feed the always-hungry-for-information crowd and keep their experience fresh.

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Better SEOGuest posts with verified data and authorized links will help boost your rankings on Google’s SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). Therefore, guest blogging should also be a part of your SEO strategy, together with your content creation strategy.

Though this article doesn’t focus on how to do guest blogging for another site, it’s useful for businesses to know that guest bloggers can be very effective in promoting their companies, and it doesn’t necessarily mean their own. Therefore, if someone in your company is an industry expert and good at writing, it may be worth a try to develop them as a guest blogger.
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Better SEOGuest posts with verified data and authorized links will help boost your rankings on Google’s SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). Therefore, guest blogging should also be a part of your SEO strategy, together with your content creation strategy.

Though this article doesn’t focus on how to do guest blogging for another site, it’s useful for businesses to know that guest bloggers can be very effective in promoting their companies, and it doesn’t necessarily mean their own. Therefore, if someone in your company is an industry expert and good at writing, it may be worth a try to develop them as a guest blogger.
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Interesting Fact: The Use of Guest Post for B2BComparing the 2020 and 2021 B2B Content Marketing Reports of Content Marketing Institute, we have discovered an interesting fact:

In 2020, there was a notable gap between top performers (respondents who rate their organization’s overall content marketing plan as very successful) and all respondents in the use of guest posts: 63% vs. only 48%, respectively.
In 2021, the use of guest posts decreased from 48% to 38%.
Top 3 organic distribution channels for B2B stay the same through 2020 to 2021: social media platforms, their own website/blog and email.

It seems the heavy impact of Covid-19 has caused businesses to shift their focus to certain marketing moves which produce quicker results in shorter time. The decline in the use of guest posts for B2B doesn’t mean guest blogging is losing its charm. It can actually mean the opportunity for businesses and professionals aiming at sustainable development.

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Prepare to Welcome Guest Blogging to Your Site

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Despite all benefits mentioned above, guest blogging is far from magic. It is not a shortcut for you to increase traffic, “complete” your content strategy plan, or boost SEO over-the-night. SEO, even when done properly, takes time to grow.

To ensure high quality guest posts, you need to make your guidelines very clear and post it on your site for every potential guest writer to follow. Don’t settle for less. Only accept guest posts that meet your standards.
To build thorough guest blogging guidelines, you can start by having a look at other sites’ guidelines, such as Hubspot or Medium. However, every blog is unique, or at least you want yours to be. It’s better to start with your marketing goals or content marketing plan to know what kind of guest posts you need, and how you will measure success.
Let’s have a quick look at some of the important rules we have compiled to help you build your own standards:

Content must be unique.Guest bloggers are not allowed to duplicate or re-post even their previous work. Also, repeating (or “paraphrasing”) an already-done-to-death topic is also not helpful. They must do their homework to know what your page has talked about and avoid producing the same piece.In the case that the guest post talks about a popular topic in a new light, especially with their own research and data, give it serious consideration.
Content must be relevant.First, this is about the readers – the target audience. Guest bloggers can’t just write about what they want or excel at, they must know what your audiences crave to know.Second, always keep your content marketing plan in mind. You must know which stage of the buyer journey is lacking high quality content. If you want to increase your audience’s awareness of a problem or a detailed comparison among alternatives, be clear.
Authors must follow up with their published posts.This includes sharing the post and answering comments or questions from readers, but it may not allow re-posting to their own site. Also, as some topics may change very quickly (such as technology), frequent updates are required. Authors must be responsible for keeping their content relevant to the changes of their topics.


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Limited backlinks.Some sites allow backlinks to the writer’s bio, but not their own site. No matter how you decide this, make sure it’s consistent to all guest bloggers.


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Limited backlinks.Some sites allow backlinks to the writer’s bio, but not their own site. No matter how you decide this, make sure it’s consistent to all guest bloggers.


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Food for Thought: What’s in it for the guest writers?You can’t expect to receive quality content for free, at least not all the time. Make it clear to your potential partners what benefits you’re willing to offer if they meet your requirements. The package may include monetary benefits or others, such as a free trial of your product/service to better understand your brand, or a free ticket to a networking event you host.Another way to attract promising guest writers is to publish your own site data: monthly visits, subscriptions, audience demographics, and so on.
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After accepting guest posts, it’s recommended to regularly review your metrics to see how it’s working. Common metrics for guest blogging are page views, time on site, and social shares, among others. Don’t get impatient if you don’t see an improvement right away (if there is, you may need to beware). As long as your overall content strategy plan is comprehensive and you have weighed the costs/benefits of embedding guest blogging into your content creation strategy, results will slowly yet sustainably come into fruition.

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After accepting guest posts, it’s recommended to regularly review your metrics to see how it’s working. Common metrics for guest blogging are page views, time on site, and social shares, among others. Don’t get impatient if you don’t see an improvement right away (if there is, you may need to beware). As long as your overall content strategy plan is comprehensive and you have weighed the costs/benefits of embedding guest blogging into your content creation strategy, results will slowly yet sustainably come into fruition.
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Last Note

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Guest blogging is a great technique of a well-defined content strategy plan, but it is by no means a silver bullet. Managed well, guest posts will increase qualified traffic to your site and also credibility, hence SEO on Google’s SERPs. Misused, and you may lose current motivated leads and even damage your well-planned content creation strategy.
As online users favor diversity, it’s time to consider transforming your site into a credible information hub or an “informal virtual think tank” where visitors can digest valuable insights from different experts on industry trends and hot topics. To make it happen with guest blogging, the first step is to create a thorough guideline to ensure high quality and relevance of any guest post you agree to put on your site. Remember to be choosy as this decision can bring you more than you wish.
If you’re still not sure how to embed guest blogging into your current content creation strategy, let On Digitals stand by your side. If you want to expand your influence to the Vietnam market, we know how to help you promote the local’s interests in your brand, products and services by a highly customized content marketing strategy. Start today! To be one step closer to your success, earlier!


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