Link-building is the #1 driving force of search engine optimization (SEO).

The reason why is pretty simple.

If your website receives a backlink (a link back to your website) from an authoritative website like Mayo Clinic, CNN, or another news outlet, search engines will say:

“Hey, that website is pretty popular!”

“Let’s increase its rank!”

As you can see, the more links you have, the better.

To build links effectively, you’ll need to create content for other publications with a high domain authority (DA).

This is called guest posting, and thousands of business owners, entrepreneurs, and high-ranking executives contribute to well-known blogs.

If you want to join these ranks, continue reading below to learn all about guest posting and how you can get started.
 

What is Guest Posting?

Guest posting is the process of writing for another blog or publication.

Back in the day, freelance writers and journalists were the main ones guest posting on other websites.

This was simply a way to earn money and gain more exposure online.

Think about it - if you’re a political commentator, wouldn’t it be great to have your work featured in the Washington Post or the New York Times?

Nowadays, all kinds of business leaders are contributing articles to other blogs.

Particularly in the business sector, Forbes and Entrepreneur are shining examples of how important business leaders contribute content on their expertise.

Guest posting isn’t just a luxury some people have the time to do.

If you can, you should definitely start guest posting for the following reasons.
 

Why is Guest Posting Important?

If you asked a marketer why guest posting was important, they’d likely give you these reasons.

  • Guest posting increases the exposure of your website.
  • Guest posting establishes yourself as an industry leader.
  • Guest posting can present you and your business to a new audience.

Sure, all of these are great reasons for why you should guest post.

Still, none of them exactly jump off the page or stop you in your tracks.

With that said, the best reason to guest post is to receive a free backlink and make MORE money online.

That’s why other people and brands contribute to other blogs.

Content marketer, Gregory Ciotti, generated approximately 36,733 email subscribers for HelpScout by guest blogging.

In addition, an SEO expert by the name of Jon Cooper really advanced his business by posting a single blog on Moz that garnered nearly 400 hits.

Lastly, Bryan Harris successfully built a six-figure business by contributing just one guest post at Okdork.

Do you see the pattern here?

Guest blogging does lead to exposure.

But, with the right factors in place, this exposure can generate revenue for your business.

Are you convinced and ready to get started?

Let’s break down how you can find high DA publications to contribute to.
 

How to Find High DA Publications?

Finding a blog to submit or pitch a guest blog is surprisingly simple.

All you have to do is open a search engine (preferably Google) and type in the following algorithm:

“Industry” + “write for us”

Let’s say we wanted to contribute an article on an email marketing topic.

By typing in the algorithm, “email marketing” + “write for us”, you can find a lot of well-known publications.

If you want to refine your search results a bit, you can type in this algorithm:

“Industry” + “blogs” + “accepting pitches”.

If we wanted to find digital marketing blogs to contribute to, this algorithm would look like:

“Digital marketing blogs accepting pitches”

By searching this algorithm, here is what we find.

The first search result you see is a compilation post of 35 marketing blogs accepting guest posts.

It’s never been easier to submit a guest post.

Though, there is a caveat.

Some publications will allow you to submit a full guest blog, but most won’t.
A lot of publications will require you to submit a pitch or an idea for a guest blog.

It takes a lot of time and effort to create pitches, and it’s best to create them manually to avoid having yours rejected.

After all, editors receive thousands of pitches every month.

They can tell when your pitch has been copied and pasted.

Let’s go over the basics of crafting the right pitch.
 

How to Create a Pitch?

If you’ve heard online that there is a specific format for creating a pitch, then please disregard it.

Doing so will make this process a whole lot painless and convenient.

A pitch should be concise, personal, and clear.

A great pitch isn’t more than 200 words, and it’s not a basic “I want to write for your blog” either.

If you want to see an example of a great pitch, Greggory Ciotti provides wonderful insight.


There isn’t any rule for creating a pitch.

Simply get to the point about the idea you’d like to pitch, explain why it’d be a great fit, and include past examples of your writing.

Once you’re approved, you can go ahead and begin writing.

Writing a guest post is almost like writing an ordinary blog for your website.

Still, you should make sure that your guest blog shines.

If that means you spending a week to create it to impress your editor, then so be it.
 

Bonus Section:

Successfully writing one guest blog is definitely a means for celebration.

But, the real hard work is being consistent.

Again, the more links you receive, the better.

If you really want to boost the performance of your link-building campaign, then you should include the links of previous guest posts in new ones.

For example, if you’re writing a new post on SEO tips for 2020, then you should link to a previous guest post that mentions something about link-building.

This is called second-tier link-building.

A second-tier link is essentially a backlink to another article you wrote.

Building second-tier links will ultimately result in more exposure to your prior guest blogs.

In unison, the traffic from the new blog you’re writing and the previous one will be funneled back to your site.

This is like acquiring a backlink on steroids.
 

Start Guest Posting Today!

Guest posting is a great alternative to creating high-quality on your own site and waiting for other sites to link back to it.

Fortunately, Optuno provides a Guest Post and Blogger Outreach service to help you stay on top of this process.

To speak to a member of our dedicated sales team, give us a call today at 1-888-678-8662 or click here to schedule a free consultation.