Guest Blogging: The Definitive Guide
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Guest Blogging: The Definitive Guide

Brian Dean

Written by Brian Dean

Guest Blogging: The Definitive Guide

This guide contains everything you need to know about guest blogging.

How to start.

How to scale.

And how to get your guest post featured on HUGE authority sites in 2023.

With that, here are the steps:

About The Author

Hey, I’m Brian Dean.

Over the last few years I’ve published over 200 guest posts.

Some of these guest posts were on smaller niche sites like this:

niche site guest post

But I’ve also published guest posts on HUGE blogs in the marketing space, like the Buffer blog:

Brian's guest post on the Buffer blog

I’ve even had my content published on authority sites like Entrepreneur and Inc.

Inc. & Entrepreneur – Guest posts

Needless to say, these guest posts have generated thousands of targeted visitors to my site.

traffic increase referral traffic

(Not to mention powerful backlinks that have significantly improved my Google rankings.)

And in this guide, I’m going to reveal exactly how I did it.

Step #1: Find Guest Post Targets

Your first step is to find a site to guest post on.

Here are 7 proven ways to find sites that accept guest posts:

Technique #1: Google Search Strings

Looking for something besides the typical “keyword” + “write for us” search string?

I’ve got you covered.

Here’s a list of search strings that I personally use to find guest posting opportunities:

Your Keyword “guest post”

Your Keyword “write for us”

Your Keyword “guest article”

Your Keyword “guest post opportunities”

Your Keyword β€œthis is a guest post by”

Your Keyword β€œcontributing writer”

Your Keyword “want to write for”

Your Keyword β€œsubmit blog post”

Your Keyword “contribute to our site”

Your Keyword β€œguest column”

Your Keyword “submit content”

Your Keyword “submit your content”

Your Keyword “submit post”

Your Keyword “This post was written by”

Your Keyword “guest post courtesy of ”

Your Keyword “guest posting guidelines”

Your Keyword “suggest a post”

Your Keyword “submit an article”

Your Keyword “contributor guidelines”

Your Keyword β€œcontributing writer”

Your Keyword “submit news”

Your Keyword “become a guest blogger

“Your Keyword “guest blogger”

Your Keyword “guest posts wanted”

Your Keyword “looking for guest posts”

Your Keyword “guest posts wanted”

Your Keyword “guest poster wanted”

Your Keyword “accepting guest posts”

Your Keyword “writers wanted”

Your Keyword “articles wanted”

Your Keyword β€œbecome an author”

Your Keyword “become guest writer”

Your Keyword “become a contributor”

Your Keyword β€œsubmit guest post”

Your Keyword “submit an article”

Your Keyword β€œsubmit article”

Your Keyword “guest author”

Your Keyword “send a tip”

Your Keyword inurl: “guest blogger”

Your Keyword inurl: “guest post”

allintitle: Your Keyword + guest post

Technique #2: Google Reverse Image Search

This is cool:

First, find someone in your niche that writes a lot of guest posts.

For example, Noah Kagan tends to contribute to a lot of blogs in the marketing space.

HubSpot – Author – Noah Kagan

Second, grab the URL of the headshot they use in their author bio:

Copy image address

Finally, pop that into Google reverse image search:

Google – Search by image – Noah Kagan

Boom! You get a list of places they’ve guest posted… presented to you on a silver platter:

Search by image results – Noah Kagan

Technique #3: Twitter Search

Twitter search is an untapped goldmine.

In fact, I’ve found some AMAZING guest blogging opportunities on Twitter…

…opportunities that I would have never found in Google.

(Also, Twitter results are fresher than Google’s index. This means you can find sites that are actively on the hunt for guest posts.)

Here’s how to do it:

First, head over to Twitter search and enter a basic guest post search string like “[keyword]” guest post.

Twitter search – Paleo guest post

Then, look through the results to find guest posting targets:

Paleo guest post tweets

Bingo!

Within 5 seconds I found a handful of high-quality sites that accept guest posts, like this one:

Paleo guest post opportunity

Very cool.

Technique #4: Reverse Engineer Your Competitor’s Backlinks

Here’s where you reverse engineer the backlinks of a site in your niche.

When you do, you can uncover a GOLDMINE of guest posting opportunities.

For example, I noticed that this site was ranking for a lot of keywords in my niche:

Sujan Patel – Homepage

So I took the homepage URL and popped it into Semrush.

Semrush – Sujan Patel

And I got a list of all their backlinks.

Sujan Patel – Backlinks

Now:

Most of their backlinks didn’t come from guest posts.

But a good chunk did.

In fact, within about 5 minutes I found (literally) 10 high-quality sites that they’ve guested posted on:

Sujan Patel guest posts

The best part about this strategy is that you can find sites that aren’t openly advertising the fact that they accept guest posts.

(In other words, sites that DON’T have a “write for us” page.)

But thanks to reverse engineering, you can find these sites with ease.

Technique #5: AllTop.com

If only there was a place that listed the best blogs on the internet.

Oh, wait there is!

It’s called AllTop.com.

Just head over to AllTop, find your topic, and you’ll get a list of the best blogs in your niche:

alltop results

Of course, you won’t be able to submit a guest post to every single site listed in AllTop.

But with enough legwork, you can find a handful that do accept guest posts.

Technique #6: Blog Comment Bonanza

Warning: This is an advanced guest posting strategy.

So if you’ve never published a guest post before, skip this technique for now.

With that, here’s how it works:

You’ve probably noticed that other bloggers comment on your guest posts.

For example, here’s a guest post I published a while back:

Example guest post

As you can see, a handful of people commented on my guest post:

Comments on a guest post

And these weren’t just random people… these were folks that run blogs in my niche.

So after I replied to their comment, I sent each of them this script:

And that simple email script got me an awesome “insider” guest post opportunity from a site that didn’t have a “write for us” page.

Why does this work so well?

Well…

Someone that leaves a comment on your guest posts obviously liked your content.

(Otherwise, they wouldn’t have taken the time to leave a comment.)

So as long as you send them an amazing post, they’ll usually say “Yes!”.

#7: Lists of Sites That Accept Guest Posts

Why spend hours searching for guest posting opportunities when other people have already done the hard work for you?

For example, here’s a huge list of 300+ guest posting sites that someone made:

guest post list

This post even provides stats on each site on the list:

website stats

This is a good list to get you started.

But if you want even MORE sites that accept guest posts, here are 4 lists that I use whenever I’m looking for sites to guest post on:

List of 200+ Websites & Blogs That Accept Guest Posts

150+ Sites to Guest Post

List of 700+ Guest Posting Sites

List of Guest Blogging Sites (140+ best sites)

That should keep you busy for a while πŸ™‚

Now that you’ve found a site to guest post on, it’s time for step #2…

Step #2: Get Your Guest Post Ready

At this point, you have a list of sites that accept guest posts.

Now it’s time for the next step.

In this step, I’ll show you how to find sites that are a good fit for your guest post.

You’ll also learn how to “warm-up” blog owners.

Let’s get started…

Separate Winners and Losers

First, you need to separate the wheat from the chaff.

In other words, you need to find sites that are worth writing a guest post for.

To be clear:

This isn’t about being overly picky.

In fact, if you’re just starting out, you actually want to focus on blogs that aren’t that popular.

These smaller blogs will be MUCH more likely to accept your guest post.

Then, as you get more posts under your belt, you can level up to more popular sites.

Either way, you want to guest post on sites that:

  • Have an authoritative link profile
  • Are in your niche (or a related niche)
  • ONLY post high quality content
  • Can bring you targeted traffic
  • Won’t bury your link in a tiny author bio box
  • Have a significant amount of social media followers

For example, a while back I published this guest post on the Buffer blog:

my guest post

And when you look at that site, you realize that it checks all of these boxes…

Strong link profile? Check.

In my niche? Check.

Significant social following? Check.

Then it’s time to…

Warm Up Your Targets

If you want to guest post on an authority site, you want to get on that site’s radar screen… before you pitch.

That way, when you reach out, they’ll say:

“Oh yeah, that’s Jim, the guy who leaves all those awesome comments.”

Here’s how to do it:

1. Share on Social Media: Want to get your name etched on a blogger’s brain? Share their stuff on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest:

twitter share

2. Blog Comment: Take a few minutes to leave legitimately insightful and helpful comments on their site. Here’s a real-life example:

Awesome comment

3. Email Them: If you’re feeling frisky, email the site owner a week or two before your pitch just to tell them how a specific piece of content helped you:

Find The PERFECT Guest Post Topic

Here’s exactly how to find the perfect guest post topic:

1. Check out the site’s most popular posts.

These are sometimes listed in the blog’s sidebar:

Nerd Fitness – Sidebar with best content

Or you can use a tool (like Semrush) that lists any blog’s best-performing stuff:

Semrush – Top pages – Backlinko

No matter how you find them, these topics are proven to generate shares, traffic and comments.

So when you send someone a guest post on that topic, they’ll say: β€œContent on that topic always crushes it on our blog. Perfect.”

2. Next, head over to BuzzSumo.

This is an awesome tool for finding trending topics in your niche:

buzzsumo

Why is this important?

Well, bloggers want to publish posts that are on hot, trending topics.

(Because it means more traffic for them.)

So when you offer them content on a hot topic, they’re MUCH more likely to accept.

3. Check out their other guest posts.

What have other people posted already? This will give you an idea of what the site owner looks for when vetting posts.

For example, when I looked at the Buffer blog, I noticed that most of their guest posts were case studies.

Buffer blog case studies

So I decided to send them a case study for my guest post.

Simple.

4. Review The Site’s Guest Post Guidelines

I know you have better things to do with your life than to read a site’s list of guest post guidelines.

I get that.

But some bloggers have really, really specific guidelines.

Some are there to standardize their posts.

Others are there to make sure people actually read them.

Either way, it’s important that you take them to heart.

Because there’s nothing worse than writing up a 2000-word masterpiece… only to have it rejected because of a word count limit.

Step #3: Send Your Pitch

Imagine for a second that you’re the owner of a growing authority site.

You’ve got posts to write, tweets to tweet, and an overflowing inbox.

How are you going to react when you get a generic guest post pitch?

Yup! You’re gonna hit the delete button as fast as possible.

Here’s a battle-tested email template to use instead:

Here’s what makes this email template so effective:

  • Starts off with something specific about THEIR SITE
  • Short and sweet (<150 words)
  • Gives them 3 specific topics to choose from (less work for them)
  • Soft sell
  • Touches on your experience and published work

And now it’s time for…

Step #4: Write Your Guest Post

So a blogger is accepted your pitch.

Awesome.

Now you need to actually send them something.

Here’s how to do it…

My Patented “2 Tier System”

Look:

There are only so many hours in a day.

You can’t write a 3000-word ultimate guide for every site out there.

That’s why you should separate your targets into two tiers:

Tier 1: These are the top 10-20 undisputed authority sites in your niche. Sites that you can name off the top of your head. Sites you actually visit, read and follow.

Tier 2: Tier 2 sites that are blogs that are acceptable enough to warrant a high-quality guest post. But they’re not big enough to spend a week writing mind-blowing content for.

With that, let’s cover what to send Tier 1 and Tier 2 sites.

Tier 1 Content

Content for tier 1 sites should be as good or better than what you post on your own blog.

I’m talking mind-blowing pillar content that forces the hand of the site owner to hit “publish”.

Content that changes minds, sparks conversation, and spurs action.

Content that could appear on the homepage of Life Hacker or The Huffington Post.

Remember: Authority sites are authorities because they only post quality stuff. Period.

And they’re not going to drop their standards just because you commented on their site a few times.

You really need to bring it. Here’s how…

Here are 4 things you need to include in your Tier 1 guest post content:

1. Send a System: If you look at the best content on any site you’ll notice that they have one thing in common:

They lay out a complete step-by-step system for reaching an outcome.

Why? Systems have a MUCH higher perceived value than a set of random tips.

For example, with my Buffer guest post, I showed people the exact steps I used to increase my blog’s conversion rate by 134%:

Exact steps in guest post

That way, people could follow the steps from the post… and improve their conversion rate.

No theory. No BS. Just a step-by-step process that anyone could follow.

2. Length is Strength: Longer articles have a higher perceived value than short posts.

That’s why I shoot for AT LEAST 2500 words for tier 1 sites.

For example, my Buffer post is a staggering 2,993 words.

But as you can see, this isn’t a bunch of fluff. It’s 2,993 words of insanely actionable content:

actionable content

3. Custom Screenshots, Flowcharts and Images: Include lots of screenshots and other visuals. These help you stand out… and add lots of meaty value to the post.

As you can see, I made sure to include A TON of screenshots in my Buffer guest post.

Buffer guest posts screenshots

4. Internal Links: Internal links are GREAT for SEO. So make sure to link to some of the site’s other content in your guest post.

This shows that went the extra mile to make your guest post as valuable as possible.

For example, I linked to a handful of other posts on the Buffer blog:

internal links

Yes, it took some extra effort to find posts from their blog to link to. But in the end, it showed the Buffer team that I actually cared.

Tier 2 Content

Tier 2 sites deserve some love too.

If they’re on your list of targets, the blog must have something going for them.

While I don’t go crazy for these sites… I still send something of value.

It just isn’t quite as amazing as the stuff I send Tier 1 sites.

Step #5: Follow Up

Here are some things I do to get the most from every guest post:

1. Actively Respond to Comments: Don’t post and run. Take the time to respond to people’s comments as they roll in. In fact, I usually leave a comment right after my post goes live to show everyone that I’m hanging out to answer comments:

guest post blog comment

Then, I do my best to reply to all comments that come in within the first 48 hours:

comment reply

2. Promote Your Guest Post On Social Media:

Brian – Social media promoting tweet

This is a win-win-win: The site you guest posted on gets some traffic. And you share an awesome blog post with your community.

3. Send a Thank You Note: I usually send Tier 1 sites a quick follow-up email letting them know I appreciated the opportunity. Again: this is something that no one does. So this little thank you note really helps you stand out. It also keeps the line open for the next time you want to guest post on their site.

4. Blog Comment Bonanza: As I mentioned way back in Step #1, I’ll sometimes reach out to people that commented on my guest post… and ask to publish a guest post on their site.

Bonus Step #1: The Expanded Guest Post

Yes, traffic and links are great.

But building your email list is an underrated benefit of guest blogging.

And to build your email list with guest posting, you NEED to try the Expanded Guest Post.

It’s a 3-step process that I use to turn guest post traffic into leads (and sales).

Here’s how it works:

1. First, create a “bonus” resource.

This is something related to your guest post.

It could be an ebook.

It could be a video.

The specific format doesn’t matter.

What’s important is that it’s on the same topic as your guest post.

For example, here’s the bonus I made for my Buffer guest post:

bonus tips

As you can see, it’s a smattering of tips that I didn’t have room for in the guest post.

(And all of these tips are related to my guest post topic: building your email list.)

I also threw in a few PDF checklists about list building.

bonus checklists

2. Next, create a page specifically for people that read your guest post.

This page should offer your bonus section in exchange for an email.

Here’s mine:

squeeze page

(Feel free to copy it.)

3. Lastly, pitch your bonus section at the end of your guest post.

Here’s an example:

guest post conclusion

And this strategy worked out GREAT.

In fact, I build an extra 188 email subscribers using this simple strategy on my Buffer guest post:

email conversions

(And as you can see in that screenshot, the page I sent people to converted at 37.8%. Not bad!)

Bonus Step #2: Guest Blogging Pro Tips

Let’s cap things off with a handful of pro tips that I’ve picked up over the years.

1. Use Comments to Estimate Referral Traffic

How do you know how much traffic you’ll get from your guest post?

If you think “bigger site=more traffic”, you’re wrong.

I’ll explain…

A few years ago I published a guest post on Pat Flynn’s blog.

brian guest post

Around that time I also published a guest post on one of the biggest marketing sites online.

(I don’t want to throw shade on anyone. So I won’t name the site.)

Now:

Pat’s site is popular. But this marketing site is HUGE.

Which one do you think sent me the most traffic?

Pat’s blog… by a mile:

referral traffic

And when I look at how many comments each blog tends to get, it’s not even close.

(Pat’s blog gets 50+ comments per post. The marketing site? Around 10 comments per post.)

This isn’t an isolated example.

From publishing over 200 guest posts, I’ve noticed a consistent pattern:

More comments=more traffic.

The reason?

Big sites get lots of visitors. But they don’t have many readers.

And the best way to estimate readers? See how many comments their blog posts get.

Bottom line? The more comments a blog gets, the more traffic you can expect from your guest post.

2. Include a Contextual Backlink

As Google’s Matt Cutts famously proclaimed, Google probably ignores links in guest post author bio sections, like this:

author bio

That’s why you want to include at least one contextual backlink in your guest post.

To give you an idea of what I mean, here’s a contextual link from one of my guest posts:

contextual link

As you can see, my link fits naturally in the content. It’s not remotely spammy or forced.

3. Guest Post Using Infographics

This is a black belt strategy that’s helped me get featured on authority news sites and blogs.

This video will walk you through the entire process:

4. Use Author Bio Footprints

Here’s a great way to find “hidden” guest post opportunities.

First, find someone in your niche that’s a prolific guest poster.

popular blogger

Then, grab a snippet of text from their bio.

text snippet

And pop that text into Google (in quotes).

Google search – Neil Patel

And – bam! – you’ve just found dozens of sites to guest post on.

Google SERP – Neal Patel

4. Sell Yourself In Your Author Bio

Let’s face it:

Most author bios are BORING.

And that’s one of the main reasons that most guest posts generate so few visitors.

Average referral traffic from guest article

Instead, your author bio should make people WANT to click over and visit your site.

For example, here’s an author bio from one of my guest posts:

another author bio

See how I outline WHY my site is worth visiting?

That’s one of the main reasons that this guest post sent me a boatload of traffic:

traffic from a blog

Conclusion

So that’s my step-by-step guide to guest blogging.

Now I’d like to turn it over to you:

Which tactic from this guide are you going to use first?

Are you ready to write better author bios?

Or maybe you want to find guest posting opportunities with Google reverse image search.

Either way, let me know in the comments section below.

212 Comments

  1. Andrii Avatar Andriisays:

    Fantastic article! Newbies should remember that writing posts just for backlinks is a bad idea.
    On the Warrior Forum, article marketers like Bill Platt never write unique content for a blog unless it has massive amount of traffic. Also, when sending traffic, don’t forget to put an opt-in form.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks!
      You’re right: I didn’t emphasize traffic enough in the guide. But that’s super-important.
      The best links AREN’T on high PR pages…they’re links that also send you traffic.
      Good call Andrii.

  2. Great article….guest blogging is such a good way to grow a business and I am glad you are sharing with people. I really like the tips on warming up your prospects!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Jon! I tried to emphasize the relationship factor because lots of people overlook that and simply try to force their guest post onto other bloggers.

  3. Kingsley Agu Avatar Kingsley Agusays:

    wooow.. fantastic write up man!
    this is exactly what gurus call “epic stuff”
    nice write up!!!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks, Kingsley! That’s exactly what I set out to do.

  4. This is exactly what I was looking. Thanks for sharing this.Ii am going to apply what you suggested and let you know my experience with you.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Glad to hear you found it helpful. Let me know how it goes.

  5. Adrian S Avatar Adrian Ssays:

    Really good article Brian. I found a lot of great tips in this article (and especially in your 17 Untapped Backling Sources article). You are helping me stray away from the “easy” way of building links to the way that actually works. Thanks!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Adrian! Glad to hear I could help you out. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

  6. Jonathan Mitnick Avatar Jonathan Mitnicksays:

    Very definitive, however I’ve come to think of comment marketing as a sought of micro guest blogging opportunity in that the only benefit of guest blogging that you miss out on is reputation building…but even that you can achieve by a great comment. What are your thoughts on this?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Great point, Jonathan. You’re right: some of my blog comments on popular sites bring in MORE traffic than some of my guest posts. It makes me wonder why I waste my time guest blogging. Then I look at my analytics — see the difference in conversions — and start banging out another guest post.

      In my experience, blog comment traffic doesn’t convert nearly as well as guest post referral traffic. And from an SEO point of view, a guest post also gives you a dofollow link…something a blog comment usually can’t do. But I’m glad you brought up blog commenting, because you’re 100% right: blog commenting is an underrated traffic strategy. If you’re the first or second comment on a popular post you can usually get some decent traffic.

      1. Jonathan Mitnick Avatar Jonathan Mitnicksays:

        Very well said Brian, I’m thinking of writing a whole new blogpost on the subject.
        PS//I find your titles very captivating and hooking πŸ™‚

        1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

          My pleasure, Jonathon. Let me know when you publish that post. I’d love to check it out.

  7. Brian,
    I’ve seen some tutorials on guest blogging that were for sale and pretty good! The info you shared here ranks right up there with the guides being sold – THANKS for being so comprehensive!
    TJ

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks TJ! I tried to make it the best one on the web :-). Please let me know if you have any questions about the process.

      1. Brian – Do you recommend a particular Guest Post service that is reputable? For example, I provide the content and seller publishes the articles on a quality site with decent domain authority?

        btw… I always enjoy reading & watching your content.

        1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

          Hi Daniel, I haven’t personally tried any so I can’t really recommend a specific service there.

  8. unbelivable how deep you go into the theme – even im german part of europe / switzerland, i love to read stuff in english like this. bad, most of the ressources mentioned here are target for english content. you hardly find really good blogs in german πŸ™

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Mike! I’m moving to Berlin this week so maybe I’ll pick up some German and bang out a German post πŸ™‚

  9. A great guide to guest posting. I just signed up for MBG and used Backlinko as a referral. I am diving into the site now, it look great!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Adam πŸ™‚ MBG is great!

  10. Tweeted, Liked, +1ed. πŸ™‚

    Such an EPIC article on guest blogging. I have bookmarked this as I was not able to read it completely. So going to read it later.

    Thanks for this awesome guide.

    PS: I am reading “Advance Guide to Link Building” on Quick Sprout and found you. πŸ™‚

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks for sharing my guide, Kulwant! Send me an email if you have any questions about guest blogging.

      1. Great article Brian. I actually read this article and focused primarily on the pitch. I love the way you crafted the email and the brevity that you used. Keep up the good work.

        1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

          Thanks Praverb. You’re right on there: the pitch HUGE for sites that don’t have a “write for us” page. Let me know how it works out for you.

  11. Becky Avatar Beckysays:

    Brian,
    Some great tips and definitely some things I have overlooked!
    Becky

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks for reading, Becky. Let me know if you have any questions.

  12. one of my fav’s is “My Guest Posts” + keyword as a search operator to find awesome guest opportunities. nice list! swiping this for sure!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      That’s definitely an underrated search string, Miss Renfoe (and one of my favorites as well).

  13. McKenzie Avatar McKenziesays:

    Great information presented in a way that makes it extremely easy to scan for specific information when checking back. Many articles on this subject make it a real pain to search through for a specific step.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks McKenzie! I tried to make it easy to follow (and to skim!). Let me know if you have any questions about anything in the guide.

  14. Great Post. I have been trying to guest post for a while with limited success, but will have another go using some of your methods.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Tom! This should definitely help you land top quality guest post placements. Keep me posted πŸ™‚

  15. It’s definitely the best Guide I read for Guest Posting so far.

    You may also consider adding “send a tip” to your Search Strings above. I’ve seen many websites use it and quick Google search will prove that.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Really glad to hear that, Sameh. Thanks for the insights, I’ve added your search string to the guide πŸ™‚

  16. Brian, I am starting my guest blogging campaign from next months, and you have explained each crucial point in very detailed and smart way.

    I am going to use your tips to get quality blogs for doing guest blogging and going to pitch them as suggested by you.

    Can you please give me link of any scrapebox tutorial where I can do all these search in easy way?

    Thanks a lot for your valuable tips.

  17. Is it OK for people to send me money for putting up their words and links?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      That’s up to you, Jack. It’s obviously a risky thing to do though…

  18. Lee Avatar Leesays:

    What’s up Brian,
    What if you just sent a high quality, fully exclusive article to a high traffic blog owner? Surely if it was good enough they wouldn’t be able to refuse using it as a guest post… Wouldn’t that strategy work?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hey Lee. That can work depending on the blogger’s guest post policy. For example, I don’t accept any guest posts. So even if someone sent me the meaning of life I wouldn’t publish it. But you’re right: if you send someone an amazing post and they have a history of accepting guest contributions you should be good as gold πŸ™‚

      1. Lee Avatar Leesays:

        Haha thanks Brian, that actually made me laugh out loud πŸ˜‰ Is there a reason you don’t accept guest posts?

        1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

          πŸ™‚

          I don’t accept guest posts because I view Backlinko as my personal blog.

  19. Malik Khurram Avatar Malik Khurramsays:

    I am just new to this world of guest posting, but recently I have been reading that guest posting era has come to an end, can you give you thoughts about it.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      If you do it right you can still guest blog, Malik.

  20. Thanks for the read. Everyone thinks that guest blogging is looked down upon, however if done properly then it shouldn’t be a problem. SEO companies who employ people to submit x amount of guest post for their clients per week are failing and yes, those websites will get hit.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Deniz. That’s absolutely true: like anything in SEO (or in life), it’s all about how you do it.

  21. Hi Brian,
    Superb article! I read a lot of articles about linking building but none of them is so engaging as yours, thank you so much.

    I have a question. Does Link building using comments is work? There still a lot of people trying to post comments on websites. Does this strategy still works or it is considered as spam?

    Thank you so much for writing this article. I know that it takes time and effort.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Marcelo. No, blog comments don’t help with SEO.

  22. Jacko6933 Avatar Jacko6933says:

    A question about the guest posts…
    Would you build any backlinks, like high PR social bookmarks to your guest posts to increase their authority? Any other suggestions?
    Thanks!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      I actually wouldn’t do that. If you get a link from a nice authority site there’s really no need.

  23. Brian,
    Thanks for the information. As someone who is new to the SEO world trying to get my website to rank for many highly competitive keywords, being able to read your advice and get your help has made these very difficult tasks a little bit easier. Thank you.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Happy to help, Tracy πŸ™‚

  24. Hi Brian, i have read in many parts that the new algorithm updates tend to penalize all guest posts, if that were true, what should we do?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You want to focus on writing for quality, relevant sites Maurizio.

  25. Leo Avatar Leosays:

    I’ve always heard about guest blogging, but I never made time to figure out how to really do it. Thanks for sharing these tips, that are sure to come in handy. But my main concern is how do you get past the “gate-keepers” that would allow the content to be posted? And how do you keep up with writing so much original content?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Leo, you have to bring something awesome to the table πŸ™‚
      If you use the scripts in my post you’ll be ahead of 99% of the other people that pitch gatekeepers.

  26. I am new in SEO and looking for high authority guest blogging guide and found your guide. Keep rocking and thanks for sharing such a informative post.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Kritika. Happy to help πŸ™‚

  27. Sudip Avatar Sudipsays:

    I have been doing guest blogging but in most of the cases, I was far away from getting a published guest post. Even there were some problems to find good blogs to submit guest posts. But your article has solved almost all my problems. I have read this article and applied all the things you mentioned here. The result is really better and great for me. Thanks for sharing such great tips with us.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Sudip

  28. This is undoubted the biggest search string for guest post I have ever seen. Thank you so much for all this valuable information. I have bookmarked it!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Kieran.

  29. Pragya Avatar Pragyasays:

    Thanks a lot Brian, for being so enlightening. As a starter into guest blogging, I was looking for a DIY guide for the same, which I believe I have laid hands on.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Happy to help Pragya πŸ™‚

  30. Brian, seriously. You are a legend. the only site i actually feel legit reading about seo etc.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Quinn!

  31. Wonderful article! Thanks you Brian for such detailed guidance.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Edward.

  32. Jason Avatar Jasonsays:

    Very detailed guide, thanks for this Brian!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Jason. Let me know how the strategies work out for you.

  33. Brain. First off. Great post brother.
    Question: 80/20 the law of return. When dealing with most start-ups. Would you say this can apply to all businesses. regardless of the industry they are in?

    Thanks

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Ameer. Yes, it definitely can. As long as there are blogs that write about your industry, you’re good to go.

  34. Thanks For all the great info some of the methods are working out for me but having a very hard time in my industry. I have a new site in robotic pool cleaner parts that I am trying to rank cause my old site was destroyed by old black hat seo tatics.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      John, this should definitely get your new site on the right track.

  35. Timothy B. Miller Avatar Timothy B. Millersays:

    I found your post very interesting and educational, I took some notes and will using it for my next guest blogging. I am still learning this aspect of blogging. Thanks for sharing!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Sounds good, Timothy. Let me know how it goes.

  36. Paolo Avatar Paolosays:

    Thank you Brian!! Always very interesting your post.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Paolo.

  37. Excellent post brain. Although most of newbie bloggers think guest blogging is dead now but the reality is different. This guide is another proof of that.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Bilal.

  38. Hey buddy thanks for this awesome post. I will start a guest blogging campaign in few days and I want to know how to build the correct links. Which is better to insert a link inside the body of the guest post which links to one of my articles or to set the home page under the author bio.

  39. Charles Emmanuel.o Avatar Charles Emmanuel.osays:

    hi brian,

    This is one of the most exceptional post i have read about guest posting. you really cleared thw grounds and simplified the entire process.

    Please can you drop me a template of a perfect bio sentence? and secondly, is it wise to link back to a soon coming page? so as to generate list?

    thanks Brian

  40. Thanks for the info, a really good read – I agree, this content is comparable to programs you can buy. Just have to get out there and guest blog more now!

  41. Peter Avatar Petersays:

    Great stuff!
    a question, using that strategy to get backlinks, is it not to much work for just one backlink?
    or is it welcomed to use same articles on different websites? (maybe slightly rewritten?)

  42. I’ve have this page bookmarked and check in on it at least once a week. Just wanted to say thanks =)

  43. “…but I rather spend that time watching Shark Tank”

    I don’t think I’ve ever agreed with you more. πŸ˜›

    AWESOME post, btw! Those keyword strings are super-helpful, they’ll be run through my browser shortly.

    Cheers,
    Jonathan

  44. Levi Henrikson Avatar Levi Henriksonsays:

    Hey Brian,

    Great post! I’m going to apply this strategy right away. I’m curious though: you mentioned that you only recommend “warming up” the top tier clients due to the time commitment. This makes sense. But how would you position your pitch if you sent it cold? (i.e. if it’s for a lower-tier site that you would be happy to get a link on but don’t want to spend weeks tracking and commenting on their site.) Would the psychology be different?

    Thanks!
    Levi

  45. Great Article Brian.
    The information about building a list for guest post is very good and has made my task easy. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

  46. Amazing article, Brian! Full of relevant and timely advice. This is definitely going to come in handy. We’ve offered infographics and custom graphics for guest posts before, but it never occurred to me that we could provide videos and .PDFs to REALLY make an impact to the person receiving the article. Brilliant!!!

    Can’t wait to show this article to the whole team at SlideGenius πŸ™‚ Thanks again for so kindly sharing all this information, Brian!

    All the best,
    Mel

  47. Carly Rodriguez Avatar Carly Rodriguezsays:

    Hi! Brian, Superb and valuable information. I have a doubt regarding sending the post in a HTML format. Do you recomend simply going to wordpress and copying and pasting the HTML code or you use a diferente method. Second in regards including a opt in do you think this need to be talk first with the webmaster and do you have any tips in how to negotiate the opt – in. Thank you very much!

  48. If you send an article on β€œ10 Health Benefits of Beef” to a vegan blog… LMAO

    Not even finished with the article yet, but I’m enjoying your style of writing a lot. ‘use your noggin’, ‘feeling frisky’ etc… This is good stuff.

  49. Sorry for the spam, but I want to ask how you judge the quality of a blog. I’m assuming social shares and # of comments would be the biggest factors, assuming the blog is on topic and related to your audience. I was reading earlier somewhere that when starting out you want to pick a blog with around 5-10 comments so you can gain experience and have a “resume” for when you contact more successful blogs. Would you agree with this or just go straight for the big shots?

    I’m guessing it wouldn’t hurt to go after both, and if I get rejected I can always ask again once I got some stuff on their competitors blogs that they’d be jealous of. πŸ™‚

  50. You are literally the man Brian. Superb – have been a subscriber for long time but just re-reading everything. Keep hustling.

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