As if link building and brand management werent tricky enough, experts are now adding the term reverse guest posting to the mix. However, unlike many annoying spinoffs of old ideas, this one is actually quite relevant for those hoping to improve their visibility online. Weve all heard about the benefits of guest blogging, but as Google develops and grows, guest blogging needs to change as well if it wants to keep up. If youre looking for a new strategy that better fits your business, reverse guest blogging might just be your answer.
How Reverse Guest Blogging Works and The Benefits
As you might imagine, it is the opposite of guest blogging (imagine that). So while guest blogging means offering your content to be posted onto other sites, reverse guest blogging means asking others to offer content on your site. There are several benefits to this type of strategy including:
- Stronger Partnerships. If youre reaching out to someone who is an experienced blogger, chances are they are not going to be a one-time writer. Youll get to know them better, theyll get to know you and your brand better, and the relationship is strong (which could help you with future partnership opportunities).
- The Owner is In Control. With reverse guest blogging, you dont deal with all of the bloggers that want to write for you only for a link. You get to choose who you want on your blog, which puts you in full control.
- Less Work for the Owner. This is probably the biggest benefit. The owner doesnt have to do as much work with reverse guest blogging because the blogger is doing the writing. That blogger will also promote the content, which is great because its surely to a new set of eyes.
- Readers Enjoy Guest Content. Your readers are going to like hearing from someone else outside of your blog. Its a new fresh perspective, and in many cases he/she can write about topics you maybe were never confident enough with.
- Backlinks Are Still Created. Chances are your guest or fans of the writer will want to link back to the piece that is on your blog, so backlinks are still being created.
While there are many benefits, you really have to get into a good rhythm when it comes to reverse blogging (more on this later). A big part of being successful is being able to find and recruit the right guest bloggers.
How to Find Great Guest Bloggers to Write for Your Blog
Chances are you have a few writers in mind already that youd love to have featured on your blog. There are certain faces you see everywhere, whether it be social media or just through your research, so this is a good place to start. Once youve hit a wall, there are a few different options to consider:
- Twitter search guest post[your topic] Try this type of search on all social media accounts if youre really having trouble.
- Google terms such as guest post by; guest blog by; guest post from and then the topic.
- Use Followerwonk. This is a good way to filter results by topic and experts (also probably one of the most popular tools for this sort of outreach).
Once youve found a few great bloggers, send them an email that explains why you want them to guest post on your site along with what you can offer (usually a link back to his/her website). I typically recommend keeping it short and sweet at first: Just tell them who you are and what you can offer. After you get a positive response, then its time to get specific and offer ideas and discuss a regular or irregular schedule.
In the end, reverse guest posting isnt asking a company to stop all guest posting efforts. Guest blogging the normal way is still beneficial and with a strategy in place can be very effective. Reverse guest blogging can serve as a supplement to your current approach, but if guest blogging isnt working for you, reverse guest blogging still can. In short, its something to try regardless what type of company you own and what your past feelings are about guest blogging.
Have you ever tried reverse guest blogging in the past? If so, how did you find good bloggers and do you think it helped your company? Let us know your story and your thoughts in the comments below.
Photo Credit: thewisdomjournal.com
Nice explained, and I use reverse blogging at the moment for my website and I am planing to write a guest post myself for some of my competitors 😀
Excellent! I have found it to be very beneficial. Good luck and let us know how it works for you!
Can I claim the great minds think alike? I work for a fashion house, and one of our boutiques is dressing Miss Slovak Republic for Miss Universe (11/9) in a gown we designed. It occurred to me that a post on why they selected her gown and their other styling choices would be interesting. I actually want to read the post myself. Thus, this post will have all the reverse guest blogging benefits you discuss. So my contribution to your post would be to suggest recruiting guest authors to post about things you are personally interested in learning more about, and you have a good chance of coming up with good content for your audience as an added benefit.