Why Guest Blogging Should be Part of Your Digital Strategy 

You already know that blogging is an important part of your digital marketing strategy. What you may not know is that guest blogging is just as important. For a few extra blog posts a month, you can position your brand in front of the right audience and establish yourself as an industry leader. You will also form mutually beneficial partnerships along the way with related businesses, suppliers, vendors and more.
Let’s explore the reasons why guest blogging should be included in your strategy and the small but important benefits that you may not even be aware of.

What is Guest Blogging?

Before we discuss the advantages of guest blogging, let’s back up and review what this type of blogging is. Guest blogging is a method used by blog owners to generate more traffic to their sites. In exchange for a link to their own blog, guest bloggers write content for related blogs.
For example, a carpet company may ask to write content for a home improvement blog. People who follow the blog are interested in improving their homes, so the audience is relevant. When followers see the company’s name, they may consider calling for a quote when they are in need of new flooring.
The reason why guest blogging is so effective is because it allows you to share your expertise with a new audience. With access to qualified prospects, you can develop relationships, establish yourself as a thought leader and expose your website to new people. Guest blogging is beneficial for the blog owner as well. They get fresh content and a new perspective added to their column.

Why is Guest Blogging Important?

It can be difficult enough to keep up with content for your own blog, so is blogging for someone else’s site really worth the effort? Absolutely! In fact, it can be even more important because you can continually position your brand in front of new, highly engaged audiences.
Here are the reasons why guest blogging should be a key part of your content marketing strategy.
1. Pull traffic to your website.
The main purpose of guest blogging is to bring more traffic to your website. A link to your site is included in the content that you write and posted on the blog owner’s site. If a reader clicks on the link, they will be brought to your page where they can explore further. This results in more traffic and the potential for leads.
2. Grow your email subscriber list.
Not everyone will be ready to buy your product or service right away. However, they may be happy to sign up for your newsletter to receive special offers. To encourage this action, include a pop-up on your website or a call to action in your bio.
3. Generate new customers.
Even better than a subscriber is a paying customer. In some cases, customers are ready and willing to buy. If a homeowner is in the middle of a renovation and you have the best deal on flooring, they may choose you right away. Without your guest post, the customer would not have known about your brand or the special offers you have. These quick conversions are worth a blog post, don’t you agree?
4. Earn valuable links.
Links have a lot of value. In fact, Google relies heavily on links because they indicate a quality, relevant site that is liked by users. When a link is posted to your guest blog, you’re getting some value from that site to yours. (This is why it’s important to choose established blogs to contribute to.) Google sees this value and may increase your ranking. Having one link may not make a big difference but many can. Imagine going from Page 5 to Page 1 of the search results!
5. Get name recognition.
When consumers make purchase decisions, they are largely based on mental associations and emotions. If no one knows your brand, they are going to be less likely to buy from you, even if you carry the same products and prices. In other words, people want to trust who they are buying from. Luckily, guest blogging gets your name out there so that people can begin associating your brand with quality.
6. Build relationships with other bloggers.
Guest blogging should be part of your strategy, which means you should be writing more than one blog every now and then. Establish relationships with other bloggers so that you can contribute to target sites on a semi-regular basis. A post every 1-3 months is a great place to start, and you can add other sites over time.
7. Reach new audiences.
Over time, you will need to expand your reach to grow your business and earn more sales. You can spend a lot of money on advertising trying to reach new audiences, however, with no guarantee that they will be engaged. With guest blogging, you are positioning your brand in front of an established audience. They already feel strongly about the blog they follow, so they trust the content.
8. Earn trust from Google.
Google likes when blog owners reach out of their comfort zone and guest blog. This raises the quality of websites and prevents a cycle of irrelevant and poorly written content being published for the sake of it. Google also likes links, networking and posting on other websites. By working on your guest blogging skills, you can also improve your relationship with Google.
Are you ready to dive into guest blogging? Contact WSI Net Advantage for guest blog opportunities or for tips on finding sites to write for. We can be reached at 510-687-9737 or fill out our contact form and we’ll get back to you.