Since the Penguin update, affiliate marketers have been forced to look for new methods to build links, increase their site’s page rank, and attract traffic to their affiliate websites. One increasingly popular “new” link building technique is guest blogging.
Guest blogging isn’t actually a new technique. It is something that has been used by successful bloggers, authors, and content creators for a long time. However, it hasn’t been a popular topic of discussion on the average affiliate forum because it’s a time-consuming way to build links. Now that the quality of the links you’re getting is more important than the quantity of links you have, however, guest blogging is most definitely the king of link building techniques.
Putting a Human Face on Your Site
Guest blogging is awesome because it has two effects. Not only does it earn you links on high quality sites, and on keyword-rich pages, it also gets that link noticed by the readers of that blog. If you can place a guest blog post on a highly respected website with a solid, loyal reader base, then you have a good chance of turning those readers into your customers. When those readers see your link, they’ll associate it with that blog, at least subconsciously, and that’s a solid endorsement for you.
Writing a Good Guest Post
Writing a good guest post requires a skill set that’s a little different to writing a good sales page. Guest posts are not sales pitches, they’re blog posts. A guest post should be interesting, informative, and conversational. Your guest post doesn’t have to be about the product or service you’re promoting. For example, if you have a travel affiliate website, you could write a blog post reminding European travellers to check that their EHIC card (for free state-provided health care) is up to date before they take their next holiday. That sort of post is interesting and informative, and establishes you as an expert in the niche of travel. When someone wants to book a holiday, they’ll remember that you provide good information, and be more willing to book through your site.
Pitching Guest Posts
Ideally, you should try to put your guest blog posts on high quality sites. Good blog owners don’t just accept any old posts or link to every website that asks. If you want the owners of the best blogs in your niche to accept your guest posts, you will need to prove that you actually read their blogs.
Spend some time looking at the content of the blogs that you want to put posts on, and then email the owners of those blogs saying that you would like to guest post for them. Reference your favourite posts on their site, and give them an idea of the sort of post you’d like to write for them.
If you’re struggling to find blogs to write for, check out the webmaster section of an affiliate forum your fellow internet marketers will most likely be happy to trade guest posts. Once you’re more established as a blogger you can start targeting bigger, more well-known bloggers.
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- Guest Blogging for Affiliate Marketers - 09/18/2012
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