Content is the backbone of any marketing strategy.
We can easily get bogged down by staying active on social media, on our blog, creating videos, going live, the list goes on.
But content marketing is a long game.
It takes patience and commitment.
And even with all that effort, sometimes it can feel like your audience is growing at a snail’s pace.
But what if you could hijack someone else’s engaged audience for your own pet business? So you get in front of more relevant people, allowing you to attract more qualified traffic, leads and sales…
Because that’s what’s possible when you start using guest posting strategically in your business.
So today, let’s explore what guest posting is, how it can support your business, and the best practices for implementing your own strategy.
This blog post was inspired by the ‘Guest Appearances’ module inside the Pet Biz Thrive Online Club. Where members learn exactly how they can leverage other people’s audiences to supercharge their own.
Not a member yet? Check out the Club here.
What can guest posting do for your business
A great guest blogging strategy can benefit your business in a number of ways.
- It drives more targeted traffic to your website.
- It gives you big authority points in the pet industry.
- It tells Google your website is credible and worth linking to, meaning you’ll improve your search engine rankings.
- It can give your leads and sales a healthy boost.
- It gets your brand out there and widens your net for new fans and followers.
What is guest posting?
If you’ve never come across this concept before, guest posting is where you publish a blog post you’ve written on other well-established sites on the web.
These could be other pet blogs, online publications or other niche pet industry sites.
Heaps of websites accept guest articles from contributors. And many of them attract thousands upon thousands of visitors every month.
That’s potentially thousands more eyeballs you can turn into fans!
But you don’t want to guest post for any old website, there’s a whole lot of preparation to consider first.
Guest posting best practices
Before you dive into guest posting, you need to get your ducks in a row. Because that’s the difference between having a strategy that delivers big wins, and seeing a measly handful of clicks. So here are those best practices you need to keep in mind.
Set a target goal
Firstly, think about what you want your guest posting strategy to achieve. For example:
- Do you want to boost your website traffic by 20%?
- Do you want to attract 300 new subscribers to your list?
- Do you want to increase your Facebook page likes to 1000?
- Do you want to build 50 quality, authority links to your website?
This is not just about guest posting for the sake of it, because you think it’s something you should be doing.
You need to have a bigger picture goal in mind so you can measure the success of your strategy. You need to consistently analyse your results to understand if it’s actually serving you and helping your business grow.
Target relevant guest posting opportunities
We don’t want to be writing articles for just any website.
The blog or online publication you choose needs to be relevant to your business and attract the same target audience as yours.
That’s how you get qualified, targeted traffic, which is far more likely to convert into leads and sales.
If your business is dog relevant, you could start by doing a Google search for ‘Dog publication.’ The search results will churn out a great list of publications that may attract your perfect audience.
Then go one step further. Do a little poking around the website to get an idea of the kinds of articles they publish. If the articles sit on the same grain as your own, there’s a good chance their audience is a great fit for you.
If you serve customers in a particular location, bear that in mind too. A national publication will have the audience numbers, but not all readers will be a good fit for your business. Whereas a smaller, local publication might be better suited with more ideal readers.
Target high authority sites
Be aware that not all websites are equal. You don’t want to waste time writing for a website that’s new and doesn’t already have a loyal readership.
Guest posting can take a lot of time and effort.
So try to stick to high authority sites with a large readership that have upwards of tens of thousands of visitors each month. Or if you’re targeting local publications, go for the best in your area.
To uncover traffic stats for different websites, you can use a tool like SiteChecker. But again, start with a Google search. The top search results are already ranked and trusted by Google, so this is a great indicator of quality.
The perfect email pitch
Many publications and blogs have a page on their website with an email you can use. Start there first. If there aren’t any instructions outlined, do a little research online to track down the editor. With a little digging you should be able to find a relevant email address.
When writing your email, ensure it’s personalised. No ‘Dear madam’ here please! Take the time to address the person by name and add a personal note. Complimenting them on a recent article or achievement always goes down well. It shows them their time really matters to you and that you’ve taken the time to research.
But keep it short and sweet. Be concise and get to the point quickly. Editors are very busy people and a long winded email may well end up in the trash folder.
In your email, suggest the topic of the article you’d like to write with a few bullet points of what you’ll include.
Always scour their articles first to ensure your topic is a good fit and it hasn’t been done before.
Editors are always looking for fresh ideas or a new spin on a popular topic. And if your article makes a bold claim, ensure you can back this up with proof through a credible study or research paper.
What to include in your article
Within your article you want to make sure the publication allows your own byline. This means you have an area at the bottom of the article to include more about you and your business. There’s often a link back to your blog or website, and sometimes you’ll get a headshot too.
But sometimes this isn’t enough. Readers today often become blind to bylines and skip away after reading the article. So to hook people into learning more about you, ask the reader a question at the end so you can continue the conversation in the comments.
Then ensure you place a call to action in a relevant section within your blog post. This could be a link to a relevant lead magnet you’ve created. You could use both in a couple of bullet points at the end of your post. For example:
- Leave a comment below and tell me what you thought about XYZ.
- If you want more top tips to help you strengthen the bond with your dog, check out my free ‘Ultimate guide to scent work for dogs.’
The guide would then include a link to a page where they can enter their details to download the freebie.
If you’d like to beat the overwhelm, say goodbye to your marketing woes and attract consistent leads and sales, come and join us inside the Pet Biz Thrive Online Club. Together we’ll build your marketing roadmap and get your business moving forwards in the right direction.