You have stayed up late and got up early writing for your blog until your brain hurts. You have decided to write at least one post a day and you’ve worked hard to stick to that schedule. You have shared your posts on social media and other platforms and even get a share now and then.
You have done all the things the “pros” tell you to do. But, you still don’t get any traffic; you get frustrated and even consider giving up.
Why?
No matter how much your write, people don’t know you even exist.
You try to justify your methods by telling yourself you are doing all the right things:
- I do my keyword research
- I write valuable content
- I know my audience
- I write with search engines in mind
- I post my articles to social media
But alas, you have been writing to empty seats.
What should you do?
In the past, you could build a blog, write great content and attract an audience. As you got bigger, influencers would notice and invite you to participate on their blog. This would give you a big boost in traffic to your own blog
Now, the process has turned upside down. To establish yourself in the blogging world, you need to get your message out to as many readers as possible.
You can’t do that by writing to empty seats.
You need to publish your valuable content on blogs that already have an established following. By doing so, you are laying the groundwork for future relationships that will ideally follow you wherever you go.
You are in essence creating your base that you can then lead to your blog.
Relationships
Relationships are the absolute most important reason for guest blogging, without them you risk failing at the drop of a hat.
Building relationships with fellow bloggers and your audience garners trust and turns one-time visitors into return visitors or better yet, subscribers.
To build meaningful relationships that will last, you need to be yourself. Stop writing for the search engines and start writing for you audience in a way they can connect. If they don’t get emotionally involved in what you are saying, you run the risk of losing them.
Boosts your reputation
Your reputation is a combination of authority and authenticity, which makes you convincing and respected. This is a fundamental part of your branding process.
Building a reputation as an expert in your field is a great thing, but it also means you have to provide readers with valuable content that makes you unforgettable.
Getting a guest blogging spot on the reputable blogs isn’t as easy as it used to be. Most authority blogs have severely cracked down on whom they allow to post articles and some have pulled the plug on guest posts all together.
So, if you get a chance to guest post on trustworthy blogs, you are gaining credibility, as they don’t let just anybody post.
Builds traffic
I will admit that guest blogging hasn’t got a good wrap over that last year or so, mostly due increasingly spammy posts and comments by Matt Cutts of Google:
“Okay, I’m calling it: if you’re using guest blogging as a way to gain links in 2014, you should probably stop. Why? Because over time it’s become a more and more spammy practice, and if you’re doing a lot of guest blogging then you’re hanging out with really bad company.”
I believe that this comment was taken out of context by a lot of folks. I take it to mean, don’t post on low quality sites with spammy intentions.
What is Google’s View on Guest Blogging for Links?
I have an allergic reaction when I mention SEO. So, I am not going to use that term here.
Instead, I will tell you that guest posting will introduce you to a new audience. When you create great content and have the opportunity to post it on a well-established blog you are putting yourself in front of thousands of new readers.
Final Thoughts
Guest blogging is still a viable way of getting your message across as long as you choose your platforms wisely. Be sure to contribute original and quality content that makes you unforgettable. In other words, don’t go into guest blogging with the intention of being a commercial for your own products or services.
If you are not guest blogging, now is the time to start. Don’t listen to the naysayers, when done right it can be magic.
Do you guest blog? Has it helped with your own blogs traffic? Let me know in the form below.