These are two very common questions we often hear from our B2B marketing clients.
What Is Guest Blogging?
Guest blogging is outreach to relevant, industry websites or publications to pitch them original, educational articles the websites will publish and share with their audiences. It’s an essential component of a strategic B2B marketing plan. It’s also a strategic effort and requires quite a bit of elbow grease and research. There are no shortcuts for a great guest blogging strategy.
Check out a recent guest blog written by Jeremy Durant for Online Marketing Institute.
It is NOT a random, rapid-fire pitch to high domain authority websites in the hopes they and 10 other sites will publish re-hashed, tired, or promotional articles. Check out a recent guest blog talking about what NOT to do in your guest blogging strategy on the Moz blog.
Why Do Guest Blogs?
When done properly, getting your guest blog posts featured on a relevant, industry website is a great way to expand your audience reach, build up your authority on the topic, and connect with other industry professionals.
It also happens to be a good way to build high-quality back-links to your website, which is good for SEO. In addition to adding a relevant back-link to your website, it’s a useful B2B marketing strategy for driving new visitors to your website and gaining new followers in your industry.
What Are Great Ideas for Guest Blogs?
When pitching out a guest blog topic to your chosen industry sources, always consider what makes that particular topic valuable and interesting for that audience. The topic should always be compelling and tailored for that particular audience. Guest blog pitches are not one-size-fits-all.
Great ideas for guest blog topics include:
- Current Industry Trends
- Product Review or Evaluations
- How-to Article or Demonstrations
- Listicles – A Quick List that Hits the Highlights
- A Detailed Case Study
- Pros/Cons of Particular Processes
- Topics that Take a Stand
This is not a complete list of great guest blog topics, but it’s a start.
What Are Bad Guest Blog Ideas?
On the other side of the fence is the bad guest blog ideas. If you haven’t checked out the Moz article mentioned before, it’s a good idea to review it. Unfortunately, many folks out there don’t have the time or knowledge to execute a proper guest blogging strategy and take shortcuts. One of the most common shortcuts results in blog topics that get rejected.
Bad ideas for guest blog pitches include:
- Product/service Promotion Pieces
- Advertorials (there is a reason people pay to have these published)
- Vague Subject Matter
- No Clear Opinion
- No New Information
- Irrelevant Topics
- Old, Tired Topics (so last year)
- Articles That Have Already Been Published Online
- Needlessly Inflammatory Topics
This is not an exhaustive list but is should give you a good idea of what to steer clear of in your B2B marketing efforts.
How Do I Get Started?
We recommend starting with a strategy that includes a list of potential topics, a list of potential blog opportunities and contacts, and a calendar of pitches. It’s also ideal to write a custom pitch for each source you approach.
Start slowly and learn as you go. It’s unlikely that you’ll get a response right away or an accepted post right away. Always keep in mind that the people you are pitching get a ton of pitches a day and be respectful of their time.
Have other questions about guest blogging? Let us know in the comments.
