The Undeniable Importance of Guest Posting for Inbound Marketing

If you're reading this, you're bound to have one goal in common. Whether you call it inbound marketing, content marketing or any other marketing under the sun, the ultimate goal is to attract the attention of an audience.

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How this happens can take many shapes and forms, with some being successful and others not. Content creation is a funny business, in the way that there isn't a set formula that works every single time. This is the reason we must vary our content, try out new things, learn from our mistakes and understand that it may take time to see the results we want.

Guest posting should be part of this toolbox for content creation. It's an invaluable weapon in a content marketer's armoury, useful in the quest for successful marketing.

How guest posting and inbound marketing intertwine

A blog is the foundation of a good inbound marketing strategy. It's a place where we can provide content to earn the attention of our viewers and has been proved to increase traffic immensely.

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We all know that by supplying something of value, such as a guide, we can attract the right traffic to our site and potentially turn these into leads. However, sometimes we are limited to whoever our current audience is and those that are searching or stumble on our blog.

But what if we want to increase awareness?

Guest posting on blogs other than your own acts as a new platform for your content. Think of it as somewhere where the audience is already looking for what you're going to provide them and where they're ready to soak up your content.

Why guest posting works

Guest posting is not just a fantastic opportunity to reach a new audience, there are many more benefits and positives to it too. And they're not just SEO.

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Increases the reach of your brand and thought leadership

• Write an amazing guest post and you will cement yourself and brand as someone who knows what they're on about, someone to be trusted and somewhere that could take their business.

It is a vouch from the blog owner

• Guest posters are usually approved by the blog owner, effectively telling their audience that "This person can be trusted and you should listen to what they have to say." It is a validation of the writer's status and worth to the community.

Increases links, traffic, subscribers and followers

• It's a given really, getting a link to your site from a guest post is a good way to publicise your Twitter account and increase your subscribers. Just make sure you can keep it up and give them something that makes it worth following you!

5 bonus tips on guest posting

Guest Posts are a bit different to writing on your own blog and have to be treated with a bit more respect and thought. Here are 5 tips to get you on your way.

1. Research and understand the audience

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There are a lot of topics and themes that cross over, but some blogs will be focussed on one aspect and have an audience that comes to them for it.

• Tailor your content for an audience that will understand and more likely share what you have to offer.
• Don't be worried about fitting everything in, if all goes to plan you'll get another chance to write a guest post and you can cover it there. You also might want to save talking about something for another blog with a completely different sort of reader.

2. Outreach to the owner

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Guest posting requires a certain amount of trust and you'll have to get the blog owner on your side for them to consider having you write for them.

• Network with the owner or blog and make sure you contact them directly with your proposition.
• Nothing speaks more than a well written and formatted email. Things to mention include: any recent blog posting success, a few different ideas that you think their audience will love and a plan that tells them when and how you will complete the post. Be prepared and make it as easy for the owner as possible.

3. Give value

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Some of the best guest posts give an overwhelming amount of value and something no one else could talk about, meaning you're perfect for the job.

• Anecdotes and personal stories can work to explain something in a unique way and captivate the reader. What lessons have you learnt that you can share?
• This is your chance to validate why you're guest posting and by providing something useful, you're sure to get more shares and traffic to your site.

4. Format and edit

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You might have written a brilliant post but it needs to be readable and interesting to look at, as to attract and hold the attention of the viewer.

• Layout your post in a document as you would like it to look on the page and make sure everything is correct. It might be harder to adjust anything once it's live.
• Make it visual and add some images, charts or links to make it more interesting than just a paragraph of text.

5. Remember to link social accounts

Photograph by Paul Lewin via Flickr

A guest post is all well and good, but you need to have a way of linking to who you are or what you do. This is also a good way of increasing your followers and reach.

• Social accounts like Twitter and G+ mean you can be found easily and followed for future posts and updates, increasing your audience.
• A call to action at the end of your post to follow, subscribe or visit can also leverage your blog post.

I hope this proves useful to anyone thinking of guest posting and please get in touch if you have any more questions.