How do you outreach a guest post?

 

Through guest blogging outreach, you can tap into existing, relevant audiences and introduce your brand to big batch of new readers.

That’s why this tactic is a powerful and useful way to grow your digital visibility.

However, in order to succeed, you need to know how to find a qualify the best guest posting sites, write content that fits the target site, and reach out to editors in a way that gets you noticed.

Here is a guest blogging plan that will help you get it done.

·        Step 1: Find The Best Sites For Guest Posting

The first step in effective guest blogging outreach is finding the right websites to pitch. You need to create a list of sites that will help you connect with your target audience.

To find gust blogging sites, you can use the Alexa Audience Overlap Tool.

 

With the Audience Overlap Tool, first enter a target website. The target website may be your site, or the site of a competitor you know has an audience you would like to reach. The tool then produces a list of sites that have an audience similar to the target site.

This is one of the most useful blogger outreach tools because it gives you a list of sites that have the audience you want to connect with. It also includes a overlap score that (On a scale from 1 to 100) shows you how similar the audiences are. The higher the overlap score, the more similar the audiences of the two sites are.

 

·        Step 2: Research the Site and Editor

Qualify a potential guest posting site by asking yourself the following questions:

o   Are guest posts published on the site? Look at the bylines on their posts. If all of the posts are written by the brand’s team members, they may not accept guest posts.

o   Does the site have guest post guidelines? Sites that regularly accept submissions usually have a link to their guidelines, often on the footer of the site.

o   Can you find the contact information for the managing editor? Successfully securing a guest post spot often relies on contacting the right person. Research the website’s team, masthead, or business profile on LinkedIn to find the person responsible for managing guest posts.

Once you identify a few sites that are great opportunities for your guest blogging outreach plans, come up with a few potential topic ideas for your posts.

·        Step 3: Develop Topic Ideas

To develop a list of potential topics to blog about, go back to Alexa’s competitive analysis Tools.

Refer to the report of similar websites you created with the audience Overlap Tool. Select the sites you qualified as good opportunities, and run the Competitor Keyword Matrix.

 

When you run the Competitor Keyword Matrix, you are presented with a list of top keywords that appear on the sites you selected. Each keyword includes a popularity ranking (which indicates how difficult it is to rank for term).

The report also shows how the keyword relates to each site. There is a traffic score for each site, which indicates how much traffic they receive from each keyword.

·        Step 4: Craft a Compelling Pitch for Your Guest Blogging Outreach

Now that you have qualified potential sites and topics that match the need of those sites, reach out to the publishers.

o   Create a Compelling Subject Line. Your subject line is what gets you email noticed. Don’t rush through this part of the process. Spend time writing a subject line that catches attention by sharing something new, using ego bait or humor, and/or specially mentioning an interesting note about the publisher’s vertical.

o   Make a personal connection to the person you’re pitching. Don’t use the same blogger outreach template in each of your emails. Instead, add a personalized touch – such as addressing the publisher by name, mentioning one of their recen posts, and/or sharing what you like about their website.

o   Explain The Benefit. Once you pitch your idea, include a sentence or two about why the topic would be a good fit for the site and its readers. Let the publisher know what is in it for them.

o   Share examples and show off your authority. Include a few samples of content you have published on your site or through other guest posts. This allows the publisher to gauge the quality of your work and see that you are the right fit for their blog.

Guest blogging outreach is a strategic way to connect with your target audience on other websites they use. It expands your reach and promotes your brand. But you can only effectively use blogger outreach if you get noticed by editors and get published on the right platforms.