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Guest Blogging for SEO Strategy: Part 2

Planning, Promoting and Closing Your Guests’ Posts

You Have Your Contributor, Now What?

Co-marketing efforts take many shapes and forms. As discussed in part I, contributor posts are pieces where external insight is woven into an article produced in-house, while its outside writers who author guest blog posts.

Let’s dive a little deeper into these two.

Creating Contributor Pieces

To create a contributor blog post, brainstorm how your selected contributor can add value to a piece of content. Conduct an interview with your expert and weave their insight into an article is a great way to start.

Recently, Infuse Marketing helped Bay Area client The Bridge Group develop a contributor blog post on finding office space in San Francisco. The Bridge Group partnered with a local commercial real estate brokerage firm to provide insight on the best ways to penetrate SF’s crunched office space market. The conclusion? Both parties positioned themselves as thought leaders in the space, built valuable backlinks, and continually grow their exposure and traffic.

Questions to ask when brainstorming contributor blogging opportunities:

• Is the content mutually beneficial?
  Ensuring blog post also benefits the contributor is key to getting an influencer or industry insider to agree to work with you.
• What keyword are we targeting?
  Make keywords work for your business. Once you have the idea for your blog posts, use a keyword planning tool like Google Keyword Planner, SEM Rush, or Moz. You have to pay for some of these tools, but usually get a few free searches per month.
• How will you organize your contributor post?
  Traditional blog posts are the most popular way to present information on the web, and a great way to incorporate a blog contributor. But there are other options like listicles and infographics. Listicles are an excellent choice for “tips and tricks”, and infographics are a natural way to illustrate a process.

Guest Blog Posts

Guest blog posts are powerful content marketing tools as well. Inviting a guest blogger is a great way to lend your platform to a fellow thought leader or industry influencer. Your company benefits from having a subject matter expert featured on its blog, while the guest poster expands their audience and increases traffic to their site.

Bay Area architect Lilian Asperin of WRNS Studio recently authored a blog post for The Bridge Group’s blog on Toyota’s revolutionary LEAN project management process. Lilian discusses Toyota’s excellence in project management as the key to its meteoric rise and historic profits. Lilian’s post works because it’s relevant, educational, and mutually beneficial.

Why this guest post works:

• Relevant
  Both WRNS Studio, an architecture firm, and The Bridge Group, a construction project management firm, are businesses that require tight adherence to project timeline and budget. The exactness required to successfully complete construction projects from an architectural vantage and a project perspective required dynamic project management—just like Toyota’s LEAN process.
• Educational
  Lilian’s guest authored piece is educational. Prospective clients of The Bridge Group or WRNS Studio gain a better understanding of the two companies’ expertise, while colleagues and business-adjacent vendors learn about a world-class approach to project management.
• Mutually beneficial
  Lilian’s blog post positions both companies as thought leaders in the project management space, build backlinks to both sites, and provides the opportunity for increased traffic.

Promoting Contributor and Guest Posts Via Social Media

Once you have your contributor or guest post, it’s time to promote it. Because the various social media channels have different uses, etiquette, and styles, you don’t want to simply post the same message on every channel. Rather, for best results, customize each message accordingly.

Facebook is for sharing with friends, and you can promote your article in a more casual way. LinkedIn is a professional network and your marketing efforts should reflect that. Instagram is primarily about images, while Twitter curbs your message at 280 characters. Making slight adjustments to your messaging is the best way to succeed in promoting your guest or contributor post on social media.

Lastly, be sure to tag your contributor or guest poster, their company, and add relevant hashtags, like #guestpost and your keyword.

Best Practices for Promoting on Social Media:

• Tailor your message for each social media channel
• Tag your guest or contributor and their company
• Add relevant hashtags

Three Steps to Closing a Guest Post

1. Finish Strong: Conclusions are easy to forget because they come last. Don’t make this mistake. The conclusion is your last chance to make an impression on your reader. Capitalize on it by reiterating the value-add and unique insight of your post.
2. Link to Your Contributor’s Site: Be sure to give credit where credit is due by including your contributor’s name, guest author’s bio, and a link to their company’s site.
3. Include a Call to Action: Creating content—be it articles, Instagram posts, or a tweet—is all about engagement. You want people talking about what you’ve created, and you want them to share it. Be sure to include a call to action inviting readers to comment on your post and share.

Developing a guest posting strategy is a powerful way to position yourself as a thought leader, gain more organic traffic, and build powerful backlinks to your website. Don’t let terms like co-marketing, SEO, and backlinks intimidate you. If they do, we’re here to help. With my background in content strategy, I guide my team of writers versed in SEO to create thoughtful guest blog posts that result in increased online visibility and warm leads for our clients.

Get started on your guest posting strategy. Contact us today.

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