Before we get into WHY, let’s discuss WHAT exactly is Guest Posting…
Contents
So, What is Guest Posting?
Well, to start with, it is a facility available to blog viewers, to add their articles to the post as “guest” writers. The permission to write articles on the blog as a guest depends on the blog owner. There are several bloggers who prefer not letting others post articles to their weblogs (only commenting and following up is allowed). But on the other side, there is a large section of bloggers who allow others to add content to their blogs in exchange of recognition (we’ll get to it down the line).
How is it preferable over posting as a host?
Now, there are bloggers who have blogs of their own and prefer adding value to it instead of posting on other’s blogs. This isn’t a wrong practice; owned blogs should be given more priority over others, but this isn’t entirely the best way to promote your blog.
WHY?
It has a very simple reason.
Your blog as a beginner isn’t a famous one, and it lacks the traffic required to take it to the top. It isn’t physically possible to spread the word about your blog alone (or even as a group), some external traffic sources would definitely be needed. Other blogs are the best place to pull the traffic to your blog. When you post as a guest, the host is bound (morally) to promote you as a writer, to get the traffic flowing. Your blog will also get backlinked from your posts on the host blog (that is if you have a blog) and this will draw traffic towards your blogs.
What are the other reasons behind the success of Guest Posting?
Drawing the traffic to your blog is a major advantage you’ll get by posting on other blogs as guests, but this isn’t enough to keep the guest posting TREND alive. It has quite some advantages which result in its working so well. Some of them include setting up yourself as a budding tech (as well as, non-tech) writer, building new connections, making it easier for others to look you up on the Web and of course improving your writing (and presenting) skills.
Building a socio-professional profile
Guest posting has this one very major impact on your socio-professional profile. People tend to recognize you from your posts. This is catalyzed by the high viewership of blogs you’ve posted on (as a guest). This means, if you post articles for some very famous bloggers, you are more likely to attract heavier traffic than the not-so-popular ones. Apart from the blog, it also helps you get other clients who allow guest posting and this cycle would go on and on!
Set Up an Identity for yourself
This heavily impacts your profile as a Content Writing Freelancer.
Getting other contacts of work
This is yet another perk of Guest Posting. Let’s suppose, you post an article on a leading blogging site, under an ace blogger. The heavy traffic flow of the blog would lead to many people going through your post. If the article is impressive enough, they are going to read other articles written by you, thus developing a “fan-base” for your skills. This might be the boost which you need, to take your blog forward (or even your career as a freelancer). Another relationship which would develop is with the blog host. This will surely boost your profile further!
Search Engine Optimisation
Ever wondered why certain websites/articles appear above others while looking something up on the Web? Search Engine Optimisation is the reason.
SEO is a set of algorithms which search engines (such as Google and Bing) use to rank websites and articles. It’s this ranking which helps certain links to push up to the top. Apart from the contents of the articles, an SEO algorithm takes into consideration factors like the title of the article, links to the article and also the reputation.
This is thoroughly utilized by guests on a blog which receives uniform heavy traffic. The back links from such a source will improve the SEO rank of your blog to a very beneficial level. The more back links your blog gets, the higher it goes on the search list. So, what should you be doing? Post more and more on other blogs and obtain the links to yours from them! Isn’t that GREAT!?
This has a catch though… There are users who misuse this feature by spam linking their blogs on multiple articles thus getting a higher rank. The algorithm makers are a step ahead of such spammers. They have developed (and are still developing) ingenious methods like giving proportionate weight to reputed blogs, to curtail this problem.
So, don’t just add your articles to other’s blogs, add them to the reputed ones to gain more popularity.
Search Engine Optimisation is a fairly lengthy topic; you might want to google it for better references.
If you are a blogger who has allowed others to post articles as guests, there are high chances of it being a beneficial decision for you. It’s not possible for you to post articles regularly and on a wide range of topics. You will need external aid for that. This is where your guests will help you. They would not only review your blogs, but they can also put up their write-ups on your blog (of course, you’ll have the control). Good articles will lead to a hike in viewer interest graph thus helping your blog’s reputation.
As a conclusion, I would like to say that its not just about adding information to a certain resource, its about building an image for yourself, an advantageous network for your products and also about honing your skills from public reviews. Anything which results in such a plethora of opportunities is bound to work well.