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.
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.
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.
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”.
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:
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.
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.
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.
Let’s unlock the list of benefits that effective guest blogging can bring to your brand and decide if it’s worth a try.
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.
Interesting Fact: The Use of Guest Post for B2B
Comparing the 2020 and 2021 B2B Content Marketing Reports of Content Marketing Institute, we have discovered an interesting fact:
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:
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.
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.
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!
