How to Get More Traffic with Guest Blogging

Guest blogging or posting is the practice of writing content for someone else's more popular blog. It's a tactic that can help you drive more traffic to your website since you can reach a larger audience that might not know you yet. Today, about 60 percent of blogs worldwide make between one to five guest blog posts every month to reap such benefits. Here are some ways that your guest posting can generate traffic to your site.

7 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website with Guest Posting

1. Choose the Blog Carefully

Firstly, you'll want to submit your guest posts to blogs that share the same industry or niches. It would also be preferable they're active online and have engaged followers. An active blog will promote your posts for you, and their readers will likely show more interest in your brand and visit your website because you're in the same niche. 

For instance, high-profile architecture firms can have their projects featured in architecture and interior design sites like Dezeen. The magazine has a worldwide social media following and shares guest posts on their channels, making it ideal if the architect or designer wants to generate global reach and traffic. 

Guest blog sites have different rules on submitting content. Some may only need you to give an idea and outline, while others require you to write everything yourself. In Dezeen, for example, you only need to submit high-quality images, text descriptions, and any relevant links -- such as your company website. If they like your project, they will write an article based on the given details.  

2. Learn from Existing Guest Posts 

Before submitting anything, you could first study the kind of content that works best with the blog's readership. What topics or formatting styles get the most clicks, likes, or shares? Do the posts use plenty of images? Are the bloggers writing for B2B or B2C audiences? Knowing these can give you ideas on what and how to write your guest posts to make the readers interested in what you've got to offer. 

3. Focus on Content, Not Self-Promotion

Driving website traffic may be your goal, but be careful with overpromoting your brand. It would be better to prioritize providing valuable content with your guest posts. A Moz study reveals that data-driven content is one of the two types that perform the best when considering backlinks and shares generated. It makes you more trustworthy to the blog's followers and gives you a reputation for giving useful advice or information. Eventually, the readers will also start going to your website for more blog posts and learn more about your products or services. 

But you can still place a call-to-action directing the reader to your site. For example, if you are promoting an ebook or case study related to your guest post topic, you could write something such as, "For more data on XX, you can check out my research on XX here." 

4. Write Longer Posts if You Can

Generally speaking, longer articles get 77 percent more backlinks than short posts. Content that has over 2,000 words tends to rank higher in Google searches too. These all suggest that writing longer guest posts will help it perform better, thus driving more traffic to your website. But don't force yourself to increase the word count by adding too much unrelated content. Instead, stick to the given topic and only go into detail when needed. 

However, you still might want to check if the guest blog owner has any word count rules. While they probably won't accept articles that don't meet the limit, they might not like posts that are too long for their tastes. 

5. Start Commenting 

Although blog commenting isn't considered an effective link building strategy anymore, it can still help generate website traffic in other ways. Interesting guest posts are bound to get comments from readers and other guest bloggers. You can keep people engaged with your post by taking their feedback seriously and responding. It leaves a good impression on readers. They'll recommend you to others, which can bring more people to your site. 

You can also participate in other guest posts by answering polls or surveys and giving your insights on the topic. The guest blogger and their audience will grow more aware of you since you've become a regular in the comments section. If you plan on building relationships with other bloggers, initially interacting with them this way can help warm the ice. 

6. Invite Influencers to Collaborate with You

You can also invite known niche experts or other guest bloggers to work with you. For instance, they could write a guest post on your website blog, or you could write an article together. Doing so improves your website's credibility and lets you reach out to that expert's audience. The expert's influence can also increase your post views since many readers might come because they know the other writer. Now that they've discovered you, they'll want to know more and thus visit your website. 

7. Promote on Your Social Media Channels

With half the world using social media today, your audience likely follows you on these platforms too. Some might have never even been to your website before. Promoting your guest posts on your Facebook, LinkedIn, or other pages lets even more followers read your articles and get directed to your site. Of course, it's also important that you're already regularly engaging with them on social media. You'll garner more attention from them whenever you post. You may also share your guest posts on industry or niche social media groups to increase your reach and engagements. 

Writing guest posts can be challenging, especially since guest blogs can have strict quality standards regarding content. But if you play by their rules, provide engaging content, and build relationships with other bloggers, you can help grow your website's traffic. If you're struggling to create guest posts or even picking a guest blog, you can consult with a content marketing professional anytime. They can help plan, write, and approach the appropriate guest blog for your brand's needs.