If your company has a website, you likely have a blog. If you don’t… get one.
A blog is a great way to share company news, industry updates, tips, and other content pieces that will be valuable to your audience. However, this content doesn’t always need to be written internally; it can be beneficial to invite guests to contribute to your blog.
What is a guest blog post?
A guest blog post is exactly as it sounds: a blog post written by someone other than yourselves (a guest).
Is guest posting worth it?
The beauty of guest blogging is that it can be beneficial for both parties.
For the company hosting the blog
For starters, inviting a guest blogger to contribute to your company blog is a good way to keep content creation constant when you have reduced internal resources. Perhaps a few of your usual writers are on annual leave, or other workloads are taking precedence. Whatever the reason, welcoming content from others can help fill a gap while your resources are used elsewhere.
Featuring guest posts from reputable brands in your industry enhances your blog’s credibility and positions your company as a thought leader. It provides an opportunity to share a new way of thinking, looking at similar topics you may already cover on your blog, but from a different perspective. There may be an untapped area of your industry that you haven’t covered, simply because it isn’t the specialism of your company, but a guest blogger may be well versed in this topic and able to share their expertise.
Once the blog post is written, it makes sense to promote it. Sharing the article on social media and tagging the contributor and their company is a great way to increase exposure, and the writer may even share it with their own audience. This can drive new traffic and potential conversions to your site.
Once the deal is done, you’ve not only gained the benefits above, but you’ve also forged a new relationship with the guest blogger and their company. You may have interacted previously, but actively asking them for their expertise is a great way to strengthen an existing bond, or spark a new one!
For the company writing the blog post
Being approached to contribute to a company blog can be quite exciting, especially if you choose to approach a business that has a smaller presence in your industry. It shows that you’ve noticed their work, and think highly enough of them to want to include their expertise on your website. This ticks a huge box in the aforementioned relationship-building point and will help the contributing company build credibility in your industry.
It can be a nice touch to offer a dofollow link to your contributor, allowing them to link back to their own site at a relevant point of the article. The SEO benefits will make the opportunity much more attractive to them. If you’re after a completely non-promotional article, add a short header or footer that simply thanks the contributor and link to them there, rather than within the body of the post.
Who should contribute to your blog?
There are no rules to this, and you can approach any company you wish, but it’s important to remember that this content needs to resonate with your audience, so you shouldn’t stray too far from your industry or niche. That being said, if the topic is creative enough, unlikely brands can complement your own quite nicely.
For example, if your company is a conservation organisation but you’d really like to work with a soft drink company, while the collaboration may seem too random at first, approach them with an idea that can work for both of your audiences, such as ‘How to repurpose your drink can pull tabs’. This is relevant to the soft drink company’s audience, while it also taps into the eco-friendly hearts of your own.
That’s an extreme example – most guest post collaborations will seem much more organic. On a simpler level, if your company designs shoes, you may reach out to a handbag company. If your company builds websites, you may approach a digital marketing agency. If your company manufactures home extensions, you may invite content from a landscaping company. The examples here are endless, but you catch my drift.
When choosing to approach a complementary company, it’s important to make sure your audiences are somewhat aligned. Using one of the above examples, if your company designs shoes that retail at a high value, your audience will be very different from a budget handbag manufacturer. Find an organisation that shares similar values to your own and is truly comparable in terms of quality and value.
A final tip is to steer clear of direct competitors. While these companies may actually be the best in terms of providing relevant content for your audience, you don’t want to turn a positive guest blogging experience into a potential loss of customers and revenue.
How to get guest posts for your blog
After deciding on the types of companies you want to approach, start searching for the right ones. You may already have a few in mind, but you might need to spend some time scouring Google and social media to identify the best contenders.
The best people to approach at your chosen companies will be marketers – ideally in more senior positions. Take a look on LinkedIn and try to find the Head of Marketing, Marketing Directors, or Marketing Managers. If you need help finding the correct email address for these contacts there are plenty of useful Chrome extensions to assist with this.
In your email, introduce your company and what you do. Explain why you feel their company is a good fit for a guest blog post: ‘we feel our audience would be interested in your products’, ‘the values of our businesses align perfectly’, or ‘we’d love to incorporate your expertise on our blog’, showing that you’ve put thought into your selection and aren’t just sending out random emails on a whim.
Provide a link to your blog so the contributor can get a feel for your brand and content. Outline the opportunity, and be clear about the sort of content you’re looking for. State whether the piece needs to be non-promotional, and give guidance on topics. It’s nice to allow the contributor to pick their own topic idea, but giving a few examples of the types of content you’d like to receive can be a good starting point.
As I mentioned before, if you’re planning to allow a dofollow link, mention that here! It can be a great incentive for the company to agree to your proposition. You should also mention whether you’ll be sharing the completed guest post on your social media, as this will not only act as an incentive but may also plant the seed for the contributor to share on their own.
From there, send the email and await a response. Not every pitch is going to result in a successful guest blog post, but there’s definitely no harm in trying! You may even get the opportunity to write one for their site in return, hopefully with a nice little backlink for an SEO boost!
If this process sounds daunting, why not enlist the help of a friendly agency to support your outreach efforts?
