Introduction

What is guest blogging? It is a form of blogging where you invite another prominent person from your industry to write a blog that will be published on your website. The major reason why people partake in guest blogging is that it helps improve brand awareness and helps generate leads. High quality guest posts can do a lot more than boost traffic to your website.

Considering that 77% of the internet users read blogs, it makes complete sense for a company to create and maintain one earnestly and optimize all posts for SEO friendliness. Social Media Today reports that any average company that creates and maintains a blog experiences 55% higher website visitors. All these statistics point to one conclusion –  guest blogging services can help siphon in good traffic to your website, which you can then nurture into conversions.

To begin participating in guest blogging, however, you need to do a bit of legwork. There are certain ways to identify guest blogging opportunities on the internet; let’s take a look at what they are.

7 Ways to Identify Guest Blogging Opportunities

Guest blogging does need some searching and collaborative efforts before it can begin; however, it pays off in the long run. By using the methods mentioned below, you can easily identify guest blogging opportunities across the world.

Looking for Opportunities on Search Engines

Quite often, there will be websites accepting guest posts from people of prominence – and when they are, they would usually let the world know by creating a dedicated page on their websites. This means that you can search for these webpages with a simple Google search. Leverage keywords like “submit blog post”, or “guest poster needed”, or “become a contributor”, and you will see countless results spring up where you have the opportunity to post.

Finding Guest Bloggers

This one should be hard, because Orbit Media establishes that about half of the bloggers on the internet publish posts weekly, or at least a few posts each month. Researching for websites that accept guest posts will also deliver results on authors that contribute posts frequently. You can then begin to search for the websites these authors have published on, and include these websites in your guest blogging opportunities list.

Analyze Backlinks of Your Competitors

According to research conducted by GrowthBadger, bloggers with high earnings from their blogs emphasize good SEO practices. Backlinks form a huge part of search result rankings; to search for guest blogging opportunities, check the backlinks of your competitors – these are likely to be the websites that have accepted guest posts from your competitor. That being the case, it is highly likely that they will accept posts from you as well.

Search on Social Media

Searching for guest posting opportunities on social media is pretty similar to doing it on a web browser. Using keywords like “guest posts” or “guest posters in xyz industry” will give you results that can further connect you to the opportunity that you are searching for. On the way, you may even stumble upon other prolific guest posters to see what they have been up to, and study their target websites as well.

Targeting Specific Websites

There are specific websites on the internet that enlist all the resources that are actively seeking guest posters for their contributions. A simple search on your web browser can help you access these websites and download the lists (sign-ups may be required in some cases, but that’s okay). It is important to check, however, that these lists are updated and accurate. You can randomly pick a few target websites from the list and check them out.

Purchasing Backlinks

There is a misconception about paying for a backlink; Google does penalize websites for buying backlinks, however, only in cases that involve poor quality content, bulk purchases and abuse. If you offer to pay for a guest post to a good website that publishes high-quality information only, Google would look at it that way and you can avoid penalties while gaining a guest post. However, it would have to be paid for.

Joining Online Communities

The best way so far to build a network that gets you guest posting opportunities is to emulate a physical-social setup online. Join forums or communities in places like Reddit, where you can foster a few good contacts online that would help you get your guest post. You may even be able to share the post on the community page itself, where others can see and share it further.

Conclusion

Guest posting is a great way to be proactive and take your SEO into your own hands. It helps you ensure that your brand image is what you want it to be, and is being shared on pages you want your brand to be seen. Utilize the guide above to search for genuine guest posting opportunities that yield results.