How to Use Guest Blogging to Improve Your Organic Rating

Even though every now and again someone will come out and say that guest blogging is dead, that couldn't be any further from the truth.

In fact, it is very much alive and well.

It is still one of the three most important factors Google takes into account when deciding on your website’s or blog's organic ranking, which means it's right up there with keyword research and original and informative content.

Not only is guest blogging effective when it comes to boosting your organic ranking, but it's also completely free.

The problem is that a lot of marketers, blog runners, and content creators go about it the wrong way, and never make use of the full potential that guest blogging has to offer.

We have put together a short guide on how you can make the most of it. Keep on reading.

1. Find Relevant Guest Blogging Opportunities

Even if you are able to secure a guest post on an authority website, it won't matter much if that particular website or blog is aimed at an audience that is different than your target audience.

While that is fairly obvious, many bloggers make a mistake of reaching out to authority website, while taking only their authority and popularity into account.

The easiest way you can find guest blogging opportunities that are relevant is by simply using Google. Just type in “write for us + [your keyword niche]”, or “guest blogging + [your keyword or niche]”. You get the idea.

That way, you will expose your content to the right audience right from the very start.

Not only will you secure a quality backlink to your blog, but you will also benefit from an increase in traffic, both of which will boost your organic ranking.

2. Create Fresh and Useful Content

Google loves content that is both unique and original. As professional writers from freelancing websites note while it's still a mystery how it determines that your content has those qualities, you should make sure to write guest posts that present new ideas, or that present old one from a new perspective.

Think about what you would find useful as a reader because even though you are writing to achieve your own goals, your content needs to address the issues and pain points of your target audience.

This is yet another instance where you can use Google as a tool to discover long-tail keywords which are very specific, and which are searched by thousands, or even millions of people.

Consider WaitButWhy.com as an example. It’s a blog where its creator, Tim Urban, writes insightful posts about topics that are pretty much ordinary, such as dating, procrastination, the environment, science, and so on.

But, what makes it so unique is the author’s approach, which is both clever and hilarious. But most of all, his posts are not only original and entertaining, but they are also insightful and applicable.

3. Reach out to Influencers in Your Niche

These days, people are more inclined to trust regular people than some faceless corporate entity, which is why securing a guest post with an influencer in your niche can do wonders for your brand’s reputation and spread awareness about it.

In order to strike up a collaboration with them, you can offer them a discount or a free purchase of your service or product in exchange for a guest post.

Once their audience members check out your content and like it, they will surely look up your own blog, and you will be exposed to a much wider audience.

But, even if they aren’t doing guest posts, you still have a chance to get more exposure by having them mention your brand or by sharing your content with their followers.

Rubbing shoulders with the influencers will boost your traffic and Google will subsequently rank your blog higher within the search results.

4. Try to Establish Yourself as an Authority

While you should definitely do all of the things we have discussed in the paragraphs above, your goal should be more than just building links or driving more traffic your way.

Your goal should be to establish yourself as an authority in your field. Apart from producing killer guest posts, you should try and maintain a professional image.

Every time you write a guest post, make sure to include your bio, which should be short, but effective, with a link back to your blog, social media, and/or your business.

As an extension of that, you should also make sure that the content you produce for your own blog or website is just as good as the stuff you create for others.

Better yet, you can include some examples of collaborations with other big names in the niche.

All of this combined together, as well as getting on the influencers’ good side, will help build your image as a person of knowledge and authority.

Again, Google won’t be able to ignore it, and it will rank your blog higher in organic searches.
Guest blogging is still a viable strategy if you are looking to place your blog higher in the organic search results.

The only difference is that you need to put in more effort into it than before.

But, as a result of that, the rewards are much bigger, as well, which is why you should start applying the methods we have laid out in this article today.

Guest contribution by: Catrin Cooper a blogger with economic background who writes researches on marketing and education topics for myessaywriting.co.uk. You can always follow her on Google Plus