This is a massive - and I mean a really MASSIVE - guide to guest blogging. In fact, it’s the only guest blogging guide you’ll ever need to read. It’s the A-to-Z, the creme de la creme, the piece de resistance of this topic.

Whether you’re a business owner looking to do some DIY outreach or a discerning marketer looking to improve his or her craft, this one’s for you. But first, let me tell you a short story...

I have a confession to make. 

I started SEO the wrong way.

The buying-SEO-packages-on-BHW-and-hoping-for-the-best kind of wrong way.

And it took me a lot of courage - yes, courage - to sit down and finally run a real guest post campaign. I was scared of doing the absurd amount of work required THEN just failing at the end. Paying for PBNs was the easier (and more convenient way) for me.

I tried doing it anyway, because the bloating recurring PBN costs wasn't worth it, at least for me. And if I don't want to rely on an external service to succeed.

And so off I went. It took me another 3-4 months before I finally optimized my process to the point where I'm confident enough to scale.

So, yes - guest blogging isn't as easy as people make it out to be, but the payoff is oh so worth it.

Check out the quality of these blogs where a client got featured for FREE:

Each of these link could cost you $300 or more on one of the many link vendors!

Do you want to start earning links like these at no extra cost other than the time and effort you spend writing an article? Follow along!

Benefits of Guest Blogging

Some would look at guest blogging simply as a way to get backlinks.

They can never be farther from the truth.

Guest blogging, if done right, brings a lot more to the table than just increasing your site’s rankings.

While the advantages of guest blogging might seem self-explanatory, I’m adding this section in an effort to help you rethink the way you treat guest blogging. 

#1: Builds Your Brand

A proper guest post campaign can help your business get featured on well-known and reputable websites (think HuffPost or PCGamer).

As they say, birds of the same feather, flock together - and if your website is rubbing elbows with the bigwigs, people’s perception of your brand is bolstered as well.

If you get a guest post on a good blog, you can take their logo and put it in your “As Seen On” section. This should improve your perceived authority!

#2: Creates Industry Connections

If you want to build a business that people within your industry recognize, you better make sure you make connections and expand your network!

As they say, your network is your net worth.

Guest blogging is a very efficient way to create these connections, because you provide value that benefits their business in the form of great content.

Admittedly, guest blogging is a very overused tactic, but it makes a world of difference if you have a solid prospecting process and script in place.

With our current campaign, we’ve been offered payment for OUR guest posts:

Unfortunately, a $40 check sent from the US to the Philippines isn't worth the hassle for the both of us, so instead of paying me I just asked George if he can accept more articles on a regular basis from me.

We’ve even been offered contributor roles:

Some people simply treat guest post campaigns as a one-off thing. Once they get their backlink, it’s bye bye.

This defeats the purpose of a blogger outreach campaign, where you want to build real connections with these people. Think of ways to leverage these relationships to benefit your blog in the future.

#3: Improves Rankings & Increase Organic Traffic

Great backlinks means better rankings. Just take a look at this traffic growth for our client in the pet niche:

Traffic growth for our client in the pets niche

When you run your campaign, just make sure that you filtering sites based on a few key metrics like:

It’s Not Always A Monetary Transaction

I came from what you would call “gray-hat” SEO background. I’ve dabbled in PBNs and all that jazz. To put it simply, gray-hat SEO utilizes strategies that won’t exactly put Google in a good mood.

Additionally, it feels like paying your way to get rankings.

The bigger your budget, the more powerful PBNs you can purchase, the quicker your rankings will go up.

Is this a bad thing? No, not at all. You need money to make money. And if it works, then it works. I’m not here to discredit gray-hat (or even black-hat tactics).

But when I started guest blogging for real - it changed my outlook on link building.

I don’t need to pay them exorbitant amounts of money just so I can post a crappy 500-word article with my backlink on it and call it a day.

At times, it’s nice to know that link building isn’t always a monetary transaction.

How To Guest Post On Blogs?

I hope I gave you some new insights on the full potential of guest blogging. With that thing out of the way, let’s get to the good bits - how do you get guest posts?

For starters, you need a sound guest blogging strategy to make it work - simply carbon-copying a strategy from a blog you've read will not cut it for you. This post is meant to guide you on the process, but you have to customize and adjust it to fit your target industry.

As a quick overview, here is a guest blogging road map you can follow:

My guest blogging process. For some reason Google Slides are crappy JPEG images. Click to view full size.

Step 1: Prepare your guest blogging tools

I’m putting Step 1 as preparation so you don’t find yourself scrambling for a tool or software when you're already neck-deep in the campaign.

Generally, I prepare 5 things:

Ninja Outreach, Mailshake, Gmail, or Snov.io

Ninja Outreach is one of the best outreach tools in the market today. It takes off the tedious task of copy-pasting email scripts and sending emails one by one. 

A Branded Email Address (@yoursite.com)

Using an @website.com email address converts better than using an @gmail.com account.

Probably because having a branded email address feels more “official” or assures that you’re not just another spammer.

You can get a branded email address for free in most web hosts. For convenience, I just link it via SMPT/IMAP to a generic/dummy gmail account. Here’s how you do it:

Note: I'm using Hostgator as my host here.

1. Create a branded email Address On Your Cpanel and Forward all emails to a gmail address. I suggest creating a new "dummy" gmail address for this

On your cPanel account go to Forwarders.

Look for the "Add Forwarder" button.

2. Connect your branded email address to gmail

Add a New Forwarder.

Why? 

There are some things you simply have no control of, like emails being marked as junk or spam.

If you send emails from your main website and this happens multiple times, your other emails (note: important emails) might go straight to the dumpster too.

Google Spreadsheet

For every successful outreach campaign, behind it is a very organized spreadsheet.

If you want to get MY outreach campaign template that I use for my clients do this:

SEMRush or Ahrefs

Remember when I said you have to filter your prospects using key metrics? That’s where SEMRush or Ahrefs come in.

Ahrefs is the ultimate SEO tool, but it’s quite expensive especially if you’ll only use it for one campaign. That is why I use SEMRush’s basic plan ($99.99/month).

You only need to check Referring Domains and Organic Traffic anyway so SEMRush's cheapest plan will suffice.

Step 2: Find Guest Post Opportunities

There are many ways to find guest post opportunities. The method I will show you below is the simplest one. Our internal process is a mixture of different tactics that let us automate 80% of the work.

Identify What Type Of Websites Will Accept Guest Posts From You

The first step to finding great guest post opportunities is knowing how and where to find them.

Take note of your niche and what kind of websites will accept guest posts from you.

For example, if my website is about a CRM software for real estate professionals, I probably want to get a guest post on a real estate website whose majority of audience are real estate brokers or agents. I don’t want to land a guest post on a DIY site whose audience are just looking to redecorate their garage.

Use Search Operators

Okay, so now you know what type of websites you want to pitch your guest post articles, it’s time to look for them.

Google is your best bet for finding these websites, albeit with a little help from the proper search operators.

According to TechTarget.com, a search operator is:

“...a character or string of characters used in a search engine query to narrow the focus of the search.”

To help you with your search, here’s a spreadsheet that auto-magically spits out a list of search engine operators you can use together with your keywords:

Filter List Of Sites

Not every opportunity should be taken. Some websites that accepts guest posts can be glorified PBNs or crappy sites that do more harm that good.

With our campaigns we usually filter sites using a few key metrics:

Record the filtered sites on the spreadsheet

Make sure you jot down any sites that pass your criteria in the sheet.

A simple spreadsheet that shows an overview of the sites' metrics is useful for identifying good opportunities.

Step 3: Find their contact info

I thought about putting this under Step 2, but I figured this deserves it’s own step.

Finding the right contact info is a big part of a successful guest blogging campaign.

You can find a blog’s contact info on their About Page, Contact Us page or footer.

Just make sure you’re not looking for a generic email address. What do I mean by “generic”? These are emails that typically start with:

Basically any email address that doesn’t belong to a specific person is called a generic email address. Stay away from these because their response rates are low, and even if you get a response, it’s usually an automated one.

When you find the correct email address, record it on your spreadsheet!

Step 4: Write an email script and send the emails

The next step is teaching you how to write a guest post pitch. There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to writing a template, but there are some guidelines I follow:

Email Template Writing Tips

Tip 1: Stop copy-pasting templates from other marketing blogs. A million lazy people have already used them. Do you want to be another statistic?! It’s the surefire way to get reported for spam.

Tip 2: Be creative and engaging - Pretty vague, I know, but stop with the boring-ass emails. Before I write an email script I usually watch funny cat videos for that dopamine rush. If I’m happy, I’m more than likely to write a creative, fun, and engaging email.

Tip 3: Use the appropriate tone:

Brainstorming For Topics

If you need some inspiration on what topics to pitch, Google is your best friend. It’s just a matter of using a few broad keywords and seeing what’s ranking on the top 10.

Let’s say you want to write about dog health. The top search results will give you an idea on what Google wants for a particular topic.

With those 3 tips aside, here’s a sample email script. Again, don’t you dare steal this email template. Stealing is bad for you.

Guest Post Template Examples

Let’s say you have a dog blog. Here an email script that I would probably use:

First Email - The first email is the most important part. Based on my current campaigns it’s the most opened and replied to email so nail it perfectly! If a prospect doesn’t reply to the first email, chances are they aren’t interested. On our campaigns, reply rates for 1st emails go up to 38%.