How I Write Guest Posts That Rank and Add Value

Note: This is a two-part series. Please make sure to read issue one How to Find the Perfect Websites to Guest Post On if you haven’t already.

As I said last week, guest posting is one of the most effective ways to build links to your website.

However, 97% of people are doing it the wrong way.

• 500 words of trash content: This type of content not only annoys editors but is also a poor representation of your brand.
  

• Not targeting a keyword: Without proper keyword research, your guest posts won't rank or drive any traffic. Hell, half of them don’t even get indexed unless you throw tier-two links at them.
  

• One link within the article (back to your site): A single link buried in the content is spammy and doesn't carry weight in terms of SEO.

These mistakes result in guest posts that don't rank, don't pass any link juice, and ultimately waste your time and resources.

Let’s carry on from where we stopped last week.

Step 3: Reach out to websites

I won’t go too in-depth here because I’ve written about email outreach multiple times now, but here’s my legit favorite way to score guest posts. 

When reaching out, don’t say you want to write a guest post for them. This is seriously the biggest red flag. 

Just think, how many times do you get guest post emails? And what do you do? You immediately delete them. So don’t put that shit in your emails. 

Here is my best-performing template (edit everything highlighted in green):

Hey [first name],

First and foremost, it’s a pleasure to e-meet you.

My name is [Alex Horsman] and I'm writing to you today because I want to contribute some great content to [their website].

And let me be clear here; I'm not looking for a one-time "guest article," but rather to become a regular contributor to your site.

I've been an avid SEO and affiliate marketer for years and I also happen to be a pretty decent writer.  

Some sites I’ve written for are [site one], [site two], and [site three].

That said, if you have content that needs writing, please send it my way and I'll be happy to do one pro bono article to see if we're a good fit.

If this isn’t a good time, no worries! 

I appreciate you hearing me out, [their first name].

P.S. Feel free to check out the links in my signature to see my YouTube channel and personal website. 

Cheers,

–

This template crushes. Trust me. Notice how I say, “I'm not looking for a one-time ‘guest article’ but rather to become a regular contributor to your site.” 

There are multiple reasons for this. One, it makes you look less spammy. Two, if you can become a regular contributor, you can continually post content on their site.

If you can continually post content on their site, then you can start doing three-way link exchanges with other brands. Thus driving your link building costs down dramatically. 

But how do you create content that’s good enough for them to give you a contributor slot on their site?

Welp, treat it as if it were going up on your site. Editors are happy with you, you build a relationship with them, their content ranks, and more link juice is passed to your site. 

Step 4: Write and rank content

To help with some on-page content optimization tips, I pinged the Founder of Clearscope, a content optimization software, Bernard Huang. 

Note: If you’re on a budget, you can do all of this without a content optimization tool. Clearscope just significantly speeds up the process. 

1. Enter your keyword and run a report.
   

2. Click the “Competitors” tab and review the word count of the top-ranking article(s). For what is the best color of polarized sunglasses for fishing I would hit between 2,500 and 3,000 words. Don’t get too obsessed with word count though. 

3. Open up your competitor pages and note down their H2s and H3s.
   

4. Open up the “Research” tab in Clearscope and see what common questions people are asking.

5. Research answers and feedback on Reddit, Quora, Wikipedia, and YouTube.

6. Once you have this general outline, write content within Clearscope. Get as high of a grade as possible (A++) but don’t force terms into the copy. Write naturally.
   
   An A- is fine if that’s all you can naturally fit.
   

7. Put a lot of effort and personal experience into the above-the-fold section, i.e., your intro.
   
   Good: “I’ve been helping startups find product-market-fit for 10+ years. Here are my tried-and-true ways to help you do market research for your business ideas.”
   
   Bad: “Looking for more ideas for your business? Check out our complete guide below.”
   

8. Open up the “Research” tab and review common citations.
   
   

   

   
   External citations (links) boost your content’s “trustworthiness.” Don’t just add one external link pointing to your website.
   

9. Add a backlink to your website within the post and try to make it the first one on the page. The first backlink on a page passes the most link juice because it has the highest likelihood of being clicked.
   

10. Submit to the editor and watch your guest post climb in the SERPs.

Yes, this process takes more time than writing 500 words of bland content, but this sort of guest post will rank. It will get traffic. 

And your website rankings and backlink profile will thank me later. 

I would also ask the editor to add an internal link or two from other pages on their website to your guest post. This will help it get crawled quicker and rank higher. 

Your Next Steps

Reading articles and theory is cool, but you know what will actually move the needle for your business?

Action. Don’t just read this. 

Implement it or send it to a team member.

Here’s what to do next:

1. Start sending outreach emails and don’t include the word “guest post” in them.
   

2. Once you land a “yes” create a content brief for the topic you’re writing about.
   

3. Write content that targets a keyword, has a high score in Clearscope, includes personal experience, has multiple citations, and links back to your website, first.
   

4. Once published, ask the editor of the website to add one or two internal links to your guest post.
   

5. If they like your work, ask to write for them again. Then reach out to other websites and offer link-exchanges to drive down your link building costs.

That’s it! 

See you next week and, as always, hit me with any questions you may have.

Much love ✌️