Having links to your website from other sites is referred to as “inbound linking.”  Having inbound links from other sites is a TOP 3 ranking factor according to Google which means it’s very important for your SEO.   While inbound linking is extremely important to your SEO, it is also one on the most difficult things to acquire.

So while there are many ways to attract inbound links, it all starts with content creation.  And one of the more effective forms of content creation is guest blogging on other people’s websites that relate to your topic area.  By having your content on other sites, it often includes an “About the author” section which will include a link back to your site.  But how do you find sites willing to provide guest blogging opportunities?

Finding guest blogging opportunities is well-outlined on this KISSMETRICS blog post, “The Ultimate Guide to Guest Blogging”:

Google is a great place to start in the search for guest posting opportunities. You can use any of the following keyword searches to find blogs that accept guest posts. Just replace keyword with keywords from your industry.

• keyword “submit a guest post”
• keyword “guest post”
• keyword “guest post by”
• keyword “accepting guest posts”
• keyword “guest post guidelines”

These searches should lead you to a blog’s guest post guidelines page, guest post submission page, or actual guest posts by other writers.

FINDING INFLUENCERS FOR GUEST BLOGGING

Another great way to identify high-impact blog opportunities is by using BUZZSUMO.  Buzzsumo is a paid service but they offer a free level that will provide you with 10 free results compared with the more extensive results of the paid service, with the lowest cost being $99 a month.

But the free version is very robust and totally worth a look.  The first thing you want to do is select the INFLUENCER Tab at the top and make sure you select the right filters that include bloggers, influencers, companies, journalists and regular people. 

Here we did a search for the keyword “Business class travel” for one of our clients, and you see the list of 10 influencers who are ranked, in this case, by relevancy, which is what you want;

NEXT STEPS:

Based on this list :

• Visit each result’s Twitter page
• Have they posted within the week?  If no, remove from your list. If yes
• If their Twitter account is active, follow them
• Visit their website and see if they have a blog
• See if they blog about the same topics as you
• See if they offer guest blogging opportunities

Even if they don’t list that they offer guest blogging opportunities they might still accept well-written guest blog posts  if you approach them correctly.  Again, follow the steps on the Ultimate Guide to Guest Blogging which details how to contact the blog owner via email with your pitch in a way that’s respectful of their time and let’s them know immediately the value that you provide with your content.  It’s OK to craft an overall pitch but make sure each pitch is customized to the blogger you are contacting so they understand that you are familiar with their work and aren’t just blasting out a generic pitch to everyone and anyone.

ADDITIONAL POINTS

In addition to possible guest blogging, even if the influencers you are considering do not offer guest blogging opportunities, use this exercise to connect with these influencers on social media.  Maybe they won’t allow you to guest blog but they will more than likely share your content on Twitter and other social media.  We’ve outlined how to build Twitter lists and engage with these influencers HERE.

OVER 300 GUEST BLOGGING OPPORTUNITIES BY CATEGORY

List of 300+ Websites/Blogs That Accept Guest Posts & Contributions

Any other guest blogging tips you have, please leave a comment below.