Guest Posting: Definition, Types, How it Works, Benefits, and Challenges

Guest posting is the practice of creating and publishing content on someone else’s website with the intention of boosting brand reputation, gaining referral traffic, and obtaining backlinks. 

Guest blogging for SEO offers some fantastic benefits. It improves domain authority by acquiring relevant inbound links, boosts brand visibility, creates networking opportunities, increases website traffic, and generates qualified leads. 

There are several types of guest posting, such as reciprocal, niche-relevant, local, expert roundups, visual-based, and reverse guest blogging. A combination of these strategies offers the best benefits.

You can use various Google search operators to find relevant guest blogging opportunities. Thereafter, you can approach the shortlisted sites with your well-written content depending on their content guidelines. 

You should be careful while publishing guest posts for link building, as unnatural and large-scale guest blogging might lead to search engine penalties.

Let’s discuss what guest posting is and how you can earn SEO-boosting backlinks by publishing quality guest blogs. We will also share the major benefits and challenges of guest blogging. 

What is Guest Posting?

Guest posting is a content marketing and SEO tactic where you write and publish a blog post on a person or a company blog to expand your networking and improve your search engine rankings by boosting your link equity.

Here is an example of a guest post published on the Ladder:

Almost 65% of link builders use guest posting as their primary link acquisition strategy. Publishing relevant content on high-authority domains gives you a chance to acquire dofollow backlinks. A high number of dofollow editorial links using generic and branded anchors helps to boost your link equity.

You should always focus on quality over quantity when it comes to guest posting. Acquire links from trusted domains having high organic traffic. Stay away from PBNs and other spammy websites that publish low-quality content or link out to bad neighborhoods like casinos using keyword-rich anchors. 

Also, it is important to note that Google advises against using guest posting solely for links. Hence, participating in large-scale guest post campaigns primarily for link acquisition is problematic. Google says that paid links from guest posts should be nofollow, UGC, or sponsored. Having these link attributes avoids the passing of link equity from the guest posting site to the author’s site. 

Hence, you should do guest blogging in moderation. Also, it is best to use a mix of dofollow, nofollow, and sponsored link attributes to maintain a balance of links in your backlink profile. A well-balanced link profile is good for SEO and keeps your site safe from any penalties. 

What are the Types of Guest Posting?

The primary types of guest postings are reciprocal, niche-relevant, local, expert roundups, visual-based, and reverse. 

Here are the top kinds of guest posting explained in detail: 

• Reciprocal Guest Posting: It is a link building strategy in which two content creators agree to write and publish each other's content on their respective websites. You can find sites for reciprocal hyperlinks using Google search queries, Slack communities, and social media sites. You should do reciprocal guest posting to network with other industry bloggers and to improve the overall branding of your products or services. Large-scale reciprocal links acquired via guest posting are against Google guidelines and should be done with caution. 
• Niche-Relevant Guest Posting: In niche-driven guest blogging, you publish content on sites in your niche. You can find thematic sites in industry-specific directories, using relevant Google search queries, and specialized niche-based guest posting groups on social channels like Facebook. Publishing niche guest posts helps solidify your authority within a niche, attracting an audience that is highly interested in your area of expertise. While this approach helps in building high-quality, relevant backlinks, it's crucial to maintain a balance and ensure content diversity to avoid over-optimization penalties from search engines.
• Local Guest Posting: Local guest blogging is useful for geo-targeted search engine optimization. You find relevant local websites looking for guest contributors to publish location-specific content. You submit your application, become a contributor, and publish content created to target users in a specific geographic location. Local guest posting is effective for businesses looking to strengthen their local presence by acquiring local links and building a brand reputation in specific geographic areas. When acquiring links using local guest posting, use a mix of long-tail, branded, and naked URL anchor text. 
• Expert Roundups: Expert roundups are content pieces where insights from various industry leaders are compiled into a single article. Find participants by reaching out through professional networks like LinkedIn or directly contacting recognized experts via their websites. Participating in or hosting expert roundups broadens your content’s exposure and leverages the authority of the included experts to promote your business. People often link to expert roundups, which increases the chances of users linking back to your primary website. Also, experts are also willing to link to the content they contributed to. Hence, expert roundups are a great way to build a domain reputation and acquire link juice. When publishing expert roundups, avoid asking only one broad question to a large group of experts or simply copy-pasting answers without adding context or curation. You should publish expert roundups for brand exposure, backlinks, and to build relationships. Joshua Hardwick, head of content at Ahrefs, polled his Twitter followers to find that 70% of content marketers contribute to or publish an expert roundup with the primary aim of acquiring backlinks.

• Visuals-Based Guest Posting: Graphics based on stats and having relevant information are loved by people. Over 50% of marketers use visuals in more than 90% of their content. Publishing guestographics is an ideal method of gaining contextual backlinks. In guestographics publishing, you post an awesome infographic on your site and find sites that publish content about your infographic’s topic. Next, you reach out to those selected website owners and show them your infographic. Now, you offer to write a mini guest post along with your infographic. While guestographics can be a useful link building strategy, it has the risk of being seen as a tactic to manipulate search results. Hyperlinks from infographics can appear as an attempt to gain backlinks, and hence, the link attribute should be nofollow to keep your site safe from Google penalties. 

How Does Guest Posting Work?

Guest posting works by allowing writers to contribute articles to other websites or blogs in their industry or related fields.

To begin guest blogging, research relevant sites on Google that are looking for guest bloggers. Here are some search queries to find suitable guest posting websites in your industry:

• “Guest article” + “your niche/topic”
• “Become a contributor” + “your niche/topic”
• “Guest blogging sites” + “your niche/topic”
• “Submit content” + “your niche/topic”
• “Contribute to our site” + “your niche/topic”
• “Guest blogger” + “your niche/topic”
• “Accepting guest posts” + “your niche/topic”
• “Write for us” + “guest article” + “your niche/topic”
• “Submit your post” + “your niche/topic”
• “Submit an article” + “your niche/topic”

Remember that not every site is useful. You should analyze each website by reviewing different metrics like Domain Authority (DA), Domain Rating (DR), organic traffic, and content quality. 

You can check DA using the MozBar, DR using the Ahrefs backlink checker, and organic traffic using the Ahrefs traffic checker. High DA, DR, and organic traffic indicate the website is high authority.

Metrics like DA and DR can be manipulated. However, it is hard to manipulate organic traffic. Also, maintaining content quality is time-consuming and requires topic-level expertise. Hence, you should not just look at DA and DR but also analyze the content quality and organic traffic of each website.

Pick websites that are related to your industry and allow editorially-reviewed content posting. There are different website types to choose from. You can select industry blogs, professional blogs, corporate websites, educational sites, news and media sites, and others. Some will offer dofollow links, while others might offer nofollow links. 

Some high-traffic websites also offer paid guest posting, which you can leverage to attract referral traffic to your site. Just remember, paid guest posting should have links with the sponsored or nofollow attribute.

After you have prepared a list of sites to approach, read their content submission guidelines. 

Based on the guidelines, email the website owners with topic suggestions. Once your topic is approved, write a high-quality article containing contextual hyperlinks to your target landing pages. 

After a review and a few rounds of edits (if required), your content will get published on the guest posting website. Here is an example of a guest blog with a hyperlink back to the author’s website:

What Are the Benefits of Guest Posting?

The top benefits of guest posting are enhanced brand visibility, higher traffic levels, improved search engine optimization, best networking opportunities with like-minded individuals, and credibility in your industry. 

Here are the major advantages of guest blogging for search engine optimization: 

• Boosts Brand Awareness: Guest posting lets you tap into an audience that is not aware of your business. By sharing your domain-level expertise with niche audiences on relevant websites, you build your brand’s authority. Wide exposure through strategic guest posting lets you acquire a new group of potential customers.
• Strengthens Website SEO: Guest blogging helps you earn high-quality editorial backlinks from authoritative domains. 83% of marketers believe links are important to rank websites in organic search results. Inbound backlinks via guest blogs using proper sponsored attributes for paid guest blogs and dofollow attributes for natural link placements improve your site’s ranking in search results. Over time, this leads to sustained organic traffic and better visibility in your target markets.
• Enhances Networking Opportunities: Publishing your expertly written content on relevant websites helps you network with people relevant to your industry. Networking helps people build professional connections and generate qualified inbound leads. By associating your business with other reputed brands in your industry, you can increase your business credibility and expand your reach.
• Increases Website Traffic: When you publish a guest post on high-traffic sites, you gain exposure to their visitors and direct their audience back to your site. Guest blogging as an SEO strategy not only increases the immediate traffic to your website but also improves your long-term visitor engagement and conversion rates. More traffic often translates into more leads and, ultimately, increased sales.

What Are the Drawbacks of Guest Posting?

The primary drawbacks of guest postings include the potential inclusion of unnatural links and association with private blog networks (PBNs), which can severely damage your website’s reputation. 

Utilizing keyword-rich anchors excessively can alert search engines to potential spam or manipulative tactics, negatively impacting your SEO. 

Additionally, finding quality guest blogs that send quality referral traffic consumes significant time and resources. 

Also, preparing well-written content that meets the editorial standards of reputable sites can be expensive and labor-intensive. Moreover, the risks associated with link schemes and paying for guest posts can lead to a Google penalty, designed to prevent page rank manipulation. 

What are the Challenges of Guest Posting?

The challenges of guest posting are finding high-quality sites for guest blogging, preparing well-written content that matches the content style of the publishing site, the high chances of rejection, and the risk of penalties from search engines.

Finding, reviewing, and reaching out to relevant websites is challenging. Once suitable sites are identified, the next hurdle is crafting content that adheres to these sites' strict editorial standards while still fulfilling your marketing objectives, which demands significant effort and creativity. 

Additionally, managing the backlink profile is crucial; it’s important to ensure that links appear natural and diversified to avoid penalties from search engines for suspicious SEO practices. 

Another challenge is the risk associated with potentially acquiring low-quality links from sites that do not contribute positively to your SEO or may even damage your reputation. 

Furthermore, the costs involved in guest posting, from potential fees for post placements to the resources required for creating high-quality content can accumulate, making it an expensive strategy. 

How to Find High-Quality Blogs for Guest Posting?

To find high-quality blogs for guest blogging, research sites in your niche that are accepting external contributions. You should also use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to identify competitor backlinks and explore potential guest posting opportunities.

Here are the top tips for finding high-authority blogs for guest posting: 

• Use Advanced Search Queries: Utilize specific Google search operators to locate blogs accepting guest posts in your niche. Example queries include "[your topic] + guest post," "[your topic] + write for us," or "[your topic] + contribute," which can help identify sites looking for contributors.
• Leverage Competitor Backlinks: Examine the backlink profiles of competitors using SEO tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz. This technique helps find domains where your competitors have placed their guest posts, providing you with potential high-quality blog targets.
• Social Media Searches: Popular social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are great for finding timely and relevant guest post opportunities. You can use the same search terms that you are using to find guest blogs on search engines. Join guest post exchange groups to network with potential guest bloggers looking for guest blogs. 
• Network in Industry Forums and Q&A Sites: Look for blog contribution opportunities in industry-relevant forums and Q&A websites. You can search for content publishing threads in Reddit, Quora, WarriorForum, Digital Point, Wicked Fire, Black Hat World, and other websites.
• Explore Blog Directories and Aggregators: Research niche-specific websites on blog directories and content aggregators like AllTop, Blogarama, or Technorati. Spam-free blog directories categorize blogs based on their content, niche, and popularity. You can pick quality blogs from such directories to submit your guest post.
• Attend Industry Conferences and Events: Networking at conferences can provide direct contacts with blog owners who are open to guest posts. Directly engaging with website owners, discussing your expertise, and pitching your ideas in person helps you get access to more immediate opportunities compared to online outreach alone.
• Subscribe to Blogger Outreach Services: Guest posting and blogger outreach services from OutreachLabs can help find and manage outreach to potential blogs. Our high-quality link building services help you identify the best blogs for guest posting and prepare high-quality content. With our experienced outreach team, you can acquire relevant inbound links from high-authority guest blogs.

How to do Guest Posting?

To do guest posting, first pick some websites that are suitable for publishing your content. For example, if I wish to find sites related to travel, I will search with queries like:

“Guest posting travel”

Or “submit a guest post” “travel”

You can include location names in the above queries to find geographically relevant sites. For instance, if you wish to find French travel sites accepting guest posts, you can use “submit guest post” “travel” “france.”

Once you shortlist some websites, check their metrics like DA, DR, organic traffic, and content quality. For example, I shortlisted this website: https://thegoodlifefrance.com/ 

I used the Moz DA checker, the Ahrefs backlink checker, and the Ahrefs traffic checker to check the required metrics.

The site has an organic traffic of 28K, which is high. It has a DR of 60 and a DA, which are again impressive.

The content quality of the site is also good, and it has a separate category of guest blogs.

Next, I looked at the Write for Us page to find out about their content submission guidelines.

Based on the guidelines, I can propose some great topics related to French travel that have not yet been covered on the site. 

When reaching out, I will personalize my email to the blog owner or editor, highlighting my familiarity with their blog and suggesting content ideas that would add value to their audience. 

I will provide examples of my previous work to demonstrate credibility and writing quality. Once approved, I will create a well-researched and unique post, ensuring it includes useful information for the readers and naturally integrates my backlinks. 

I will follow up with the blog host after publication to thank them and share the post across your social media channels to drive additional traffic. That’s it! This is how a guest posting should be done professionally. 

How to Find Websites for Guest Posting?

You can find potential guest blogging opportunities by directly researching on Google, analyzing your competitors, and using social media sites or Slack communities. 

To find guest posts on Google, craft creative search queries like:

• "write for us" + [your topic/industry] 
• "guest post guidelines" + [your topic/industry] 
• "submit a guest post" + [your topic/industry] 
• "contributing writer" + [your topic/industry]

Alternatively, you can directly search for a list of guest posting websites in your niche by using search queries like “[Niche] + guest posting sites list.” 

You can also reverse engineer your competitor’s guest blogging strategy. The SEMrush link building tool is an excellent software for finding out the sites where your competitors publish their blogs. Enter your domain in the tool.

Add your competitors.

Go to “Prospects” -> “Advanced filters,” then “URL Type” and select “Blog.”

Check the Authority Score column to pick domains having a high score. The SEMrush authority score is a score that grades the overall quality of a website. Higher scores relate to better site quality.

You can also use social media platforms like Quora, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others to find great guest blog opportunities.

Directly search with your search queries on Quora. For example, I searched for “best technology blogs for guest post”:

I searched for “guest post” on Facebook to find groups dedicated to guest posting.

I searched with the query “looking for guest bloggers” on LinkedIn and checked the Posts section to find sites accepting guest contributors. 

You can also search for guest post communities on Slack, join them, and network with other bloggers looking for guest posts. I searched for “guest posting communities Slack” on Google:

I was able to find some suitable Slack communities dedicated to link building via guest posting. One of the communities was Marketing Lad.

How to Find Free Guest Posting Websites?

Finding free guest posting opportunities typically involves searching for blogs that openly welcome or promote guest contributions without a fee. You can start with a Google search using specific phrases like “free guest posting sites in [industry]” or check out blogging directories that categorize blogs that accept guest posts. Many industry forums and social media groups also share such opportunities.

How to Write the Perfect Guest Post?

You can write a perfect guest post by first understanding the audience of your target website. Based on the audience’s interests, you should pick a relevant and audience-centric topic that is still not covered on the website. Once your topic is approved by the website owner, you should write a well-researched, original, and stats-backed article consisting of high-quality visuals. Don’t forget to use a professional tone and include relevant internal and external links using natural anchor text.

How to Pitch a Guest Post?

When pitching a guest post, personalize your email to show that you're familiar with the host blog. Briefly introduce yourself and explain why your topic would benefit their readership. Include a summary of your proposed article and highlight your credentials that establish your expertise on the topic. Be concise and professional, and provide links to previous works.

How to Submit a Guest Post​?

To submit a guest post, find sites in your niche that are accepting guest contributors. Read their content submission guidelines and pitch them some content ideas. Once they approve your ideas, prepare original, well-written, stats-backed, and information-rich content containing lots of visuals. Don’t forget to include a backlink to your website using a natural anchor text. Also include any additional information requested, such as your bio or social media links, and submit the content for approval. Follow up if you don’t hear back within the specified time frame. 

What is Link Insertion for Guest Posting?

Link insertion for guest posting is a strategy where you include links to your website from existing articles on the website. The hyperlink is acquired from contextually relevant articles using natural anchors to avoid algorithmic or manual penalties.  

What is the Difference Between a Guest Post and a Niche Edit?

The primary difference between a guest post and a niche edit is that in a guest post, you prepare a new article to get a link, while in a niche edit, there is no need to create new content to acquire a backlink. 

Can I Enhance My Brand's Visibility Through Guest Posting?

Yes, you can enhance your brand's visibility through guest posting by contributing quality content on relevant and authoritative blogs. This strategy helps reach a wider audience, establishes credibility in your industry, and improves your SEO through backlinks, leading to increased online presence and brand recognition.

Does Guest Posting Still Work​?

Yes, guest posting remains an effective SEO and marketing strategy, especially when executed with a focus on quality and relevance. It helps build backlinks, enhances brand credibility, and drives targeted traffic, contributing to improved search engine rankings.

Are Guest Post Backlinks Better than Press Release Backlinks?

Yes, guest post links are safer and better than press release backlinks because they come from relevant, content-rich articles on reputable sites as opposed to promotional content pieces. Press releases tend to provide more temporary visibility and lack the contextual link strength that guest posts can offer.

Is Guest Posting Safe in SEO?

Yes, guest posting is safe for SEO as long as it adheres to ethical practices, including producing high-quality content and avoiding spammy tactics like publishing on PBN sites using keyword-rich anchors. You should ensure that your guest post content is written for the users, offers exceptional value, and is placed on trusted domains known to publish high-quality content. Also, you should avoid using keyword-rich anchors and use a mix of dofollow, nofollow, and sponsored attributes to avoid penalties from search engines.

What are Other Strategies for Link Building?

Other effective link building strategies include creating linkable assets, publishing digital PR, converting brand mentions into links, and doing broken link building. You can also host unique giveaways, host podcasts, and craft guestographics to earn quality backlinks.