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What is Guest Blogging in 2021?
Guest blogging refers to the act of writing blogs for other websites to promote your own brand. The main goal of Guest Blogging in 2021 is to boost Google SERP rankings by acquiring backlinks on authoritative websites. Guest posting is also done to build brand image and drive more traffic.
Guest blogging is a proven SEO tactic, and many brands turn towards guest posting services to execute high-quality guest blogging campaigns. The process for guest blogging might seem quite simple, but it takes a lot of effort to find the right placement blogs and create high-quality content. A well-planned guest blogging campaign is guaranteed to yield results.
Once you have acquired contextual links on authoritative websites, Google’s rank crawler starts monitoring link activity. If you are driving high referral traffic with your contextual link, you are likely to climb up in the Google SERP rankings.
Guest Blogging in 2021
Guest Blogging in 2021 has been around for quite a while now and has evolved completely in the past few years. Most guest bloggers are not even aware of the factors that affect their guest posts and are following the same old rules to acquire backlinks for their website.
To run successful guest blogging campaigns, one needs to understand how search engines and content marketing is working currently. In this article, I have shared some insights that can help you understand how guest blogging has changed in 2021.
Traditional Guest Blogging vs. Modern Guest Blogging, What Has Changed?
If you are still holding on to the traditional guest blogging approach, then it is time you start thinking differently. In the past, guest blogging was done with the aim of:
- Improving SERP Rankings
- Personal Branding
- Getting More Exposure
- Acquire Backlinks
When we look at the modern digital landscape, all these things have become quite complicated. If these are your goals, there are a few things you need to understand about them:
SERP Rankings
With increased competition and ever-changing search engine rules, attaining a high rank on Google SERP rankings has become extremely hard.
Building Brand Image
Establishing or improving brand image with guest blogging is possible only if you are willing to go the extra mile. Many experts now believe that the hassle might not even be worth it for some websites.
Backlinking
Google has changed the way it viewed link building. Now websites can be penalized for using links lacking contextual content. The NoFollow practice is recommended for low-quality backlinks now.
These changes are the main reason why brands should focus more on providing quality rather than just focusing on link placement.
Google’s Guest Blogging Guidelines
I am not going to bore you with a long explanation of how Google’s algorithm works. Instead, I am simply going to lay out a few important points that you need to keep in the back of your head while planning a guest blogging strategy.
What is Google’s Goal?
To understand what kind of guest posts you need to produce, you simply need to understand what Google wants.
Google aims to provide quick, relevant, and high-quality content to its users. It focuses on the credibility of the source and ensures that the results they are showing matches perfectly with the user query.
If you are writing guest posts that offer no value at all, then you can forget about improving your SERP rankings. Google emphasizes highly on the quality of the content, and if you are missing that element, you won’t achieve any of your guest posting goals.
What Makes a Good Guest Post?
Keeping Google’s guidelines in mind, a good guest post is that:
- Targeted towards a defined audience
- Offers value to its readers
- Benefits both publisher and your website
- Contains new and unique information
- Doesn’t have a generic topic
Google wants its visitors to read content that is written by experts. They don’t want their audience to read generic articles with misinformation. If your guest post has all the above-mentioned elements, Google will be happy to rank it.
Building Brand Identity with Guest Blogging
It is true that guest blogging can help you establish a healthy brand image but to achieve that, you will have to do it the right way.
You will have to create high-quality content that speaks for itself and provides value to both the industry and the target audience. You will have to identify the kind of content your audience is looking for and deliver it timely.
Meeting the demand is not the only thing you need to worry about. You also need to find about the gaps in the industry and produce content that your readers don’t even know they need. Putting this much effort will make you the authority in the industry, and you will be seen as a credible source.
Also, you need to promote your brand subtly and with respect to the publisher. Some of the things that you need to avoid includes:
Mentioning Company Name
It is strictly advised that you avoid using your company name and the services it offers. This gives the impression that your only goal is to promote your brand.
Adding Irrelevant Links
Adding links that have nothing to do with the content not only comes off as unprofessional but can also get you a penalty from Google.
Showing-off Product or Services
If you are bragging about what your products or services can do, you are not offering any value to the reader. They are more likely to trust a third party rather than taking your word for it.
Quality and Authority Is What Matters
To conclude things, if you want your Guest post campaigns to succeed, then you need to write to impress.
Create content that has an impeccable flow and easy to understand. You need to indicate the reader that what they are about to read is highly credible within the first few lines. That can be done by using the right sentences and structuring your blog the right way.
As long as you are writing to educate people and build trust with your audience, you will always come out on top. None of your guest blogging efforts will go in vain with this approach.
