Over the last month I have been doing a lot of guest blogging after the release of my first eBook, Link Building Mastery. And I have discovered one major thing…
My guest blogging strategy needed some adjusting.
I understand the guest blogging credentials, it ticks all the boxes. You get highly relevant links from major sites in your niche that have a cult following and a lot of traffic.
Not only that but you get a whole article to sell yourself to these followers and your choice of anchor text in the multiple links that you are allowed in your author bio at the end of the page.
What could possibly go wrong?
How could a full-length article on the homepage of a blog getting 10,000 visitors per day not result in enough direct traffic to warrant writing the post? Well, let me share my guest blogging story:
I spent a lot of time, research and effort writing 5 guest posts for large blogs in my niche. I followed the same method and writing style that I learned from reading the numerous articles about guest blogging and the initial reaction was great.
All 5 posts were accepted and published relatively quickly with the exception of just one which was published 3 weeks after submitting.
The 5 posts were highly informative and relevant to the blog’s audiences otherwise they wouldn’t have been accepted. All the posts were viewed thousands of times by users and I received a lot of comments in the comments section, commending my efforts. So what’s the problem you ask?
Well of those thousands of views, hundreds of comments and many well wishers, only 18 people visited my website.
Let me make that even more unbelievable. With 10 links that used descriptive anchor text in an action oriented part of the page (as seen from this Adsense hotspot map) from 5 highly relevant websites, with an average Alexa ranking of 19,068 and each post receiving on average 20 comments, I only got 18 visitors to my website.
That is an incredibly low click through rate from the thousands of people who viewed my articles.
What did I do then?
Did I sulk around and whine that guest blogging doesn’t work and write angry guest posts about how guest blogging doesn’t work? No.
Did I give up on guest blogging and mark the advice of hundreds of experienced marketers as false? No.
Did I ask, why the CTR was so low and solve the problem? Yes.
And the conclusion I came up with reveals one of the most powerful pieces of information you will hear about guest blogging.
You need to talk about yourself, your company, your product more in the body of guest posts. Obvious right?
The Proof:
I wrote a guest post for Ileane Smith of BasicBlogTips.com about my new eBook Link Building Mastery, it was effectively a large advertisement for the eBook although I did include some valuable free information.
As Ileane is one of my affiliates she allowed my guest post to be rather promotional, as I allowed her to use her affiliate links in the guest post.
What happened was incredible. The post got 77 comments and the Alexa traffic ranking of the site is just over 50,000 — that’s twice the average of the other sites I guest blogged on (remember the lower the ranking the more traffic the site gets).
And the number of people who have come to my site in the 20 days since I wrote this article is at 31.
And not only that but those 31 leads have generated 2 sales at $47 each, 50% going to me and 50% to Ileane. From a site with far less traffic and a less relevant audience, I generated more leads and sales compared to the other 5 posts.
What was the difference?
In the other 5 I talked solely about the topic in hand and didn’t talk about myself much. The only selling I did was in the author bio.
Start Bragging More
The more you can talk about yourself without being too promotional in guest posts the better. In fact it’s not about being promotional at all, just share your personal story. This gets the user hooked on you and leaves them with a feeling of wanting to hear more from you.
For all those Site Build It users out there, and I know lots of Lisa’s followers are (I am both a Lisa follower and an SBIer), you will be familiar with the term PreSelling.
PreSelling basically means getting the user interested in you or your product without actually selling to them. For example I have mentioned my eBook’s name a couple of times already in this post without promoting it at all.
These mentions leave a bedrock of trust and knowledge about a product so that when the sales pitch comes the user is more responsive, more likely to click and then go onto buy.
What happened with my guest post on basicblogtips.com was that I was allowed to PreSell my eBook all I want and then when I gave the sales pitch at the end of the post, people were more responsive.
Take Action!
For those of you out there who have not tried guest blogging, get out there and use it now. In fact head over to myblogguest.com to find some great blogs looking for writers like you.
And for all you failed or frustrated guest bloggers like I was, go and write another guest post, that shares your personal story and gives you personal experience. Users will hook onto your demonstrated knowledge and be more open to buying from you.
The major learning is: share your personal story, experience and PreSell your audience when guest blogging and you will be rewarded with streams of traffic and sales.
Lisa’s Note: I couldn’t agree more. Guest posts that illustrate examples from a personal experience make for more interesting posts. They spark ideas, build interest, offer new perspectives and people are more likely to visit your site. Also, when you provide useful information in the post, people don’t mind you plugging your product occasionally. Bravo, Mark!
Thanks for the great article, Mark. I never would have imagined that promoting yourself in a guest blog would work. I’ve always seen it as bragging too. But after reading your article, I guess you could look at it from a different POV. You, as the expert, have already learned through mistakes you’ve made and have found ways to make it work. You’re actually saving people the time and heart-break of going through those same mistakes yourself and offering solutions. So, it’s not really bragging, but offering valuable solutions.
And that same feeling should be applied to writing blog posta and guest posts too. But I am 100% sure the number is correct. And the bloggers I think of most often and whom I read most are those who include their personal lives, their families, their conflicts. Guest blogging may eventually lead to paying work.
I’ve just started to write some guest blogging articles. I have an insurance website which is a really dry subject to write about. Guest blogging gives me a chance to write about another niche subject.
I know many taleted people that haven’t seen the success they deserve because they don’t self-promote. My recomendation, if its hard for you to brag, ask a friend. Have them read over your post and ask them if you’re pitching yourself enough. Cheers Lisa!
A guest posting is very useful trick of SEO but problem main many bloger dont accept guest posting
Great post Mark. I have to be honest guest blogging is something I know could be great for me and my site but I still struggle with a) finding sites to guest blog on and b) what to write about. I guess these things come with experience.
Thanks again
Great post Mark.You have influenced me to guest blog so I will do so.
Thanks For Sharing,
Bradley Nordstrom
I think it is probably because you and most people feel like the comments section is an invitation to share their experience and story, which it is. How has the icon gone, have people submitted?
Guest blogging gets people talking about you. Guest blogging helps you establish connections with other business professionals. Guest blogging may eventually lead to paying work.
Sudha,
Upon awakening this morning after morning prayer, I was laying in bed fantasizing about writing an article and a blog post about “guest blogging”. [Guest blogging] , as you said, not only gets people talking about you, but is also indexed by major search engines and can potentially bring you traffic for years to come. Nowadays, although I rank pretty well in search engines and have a good page rank, am considering doing more guest posting on other people’s sites, in efforts of potentially raising my online authority and reputation. Thank you for placing positive emphasis on this 🙂
Hi Lisa,
I really enjoy the information that you share on your blog, and have been trying to apply it on my blog as well. I was wondering if you might do me the honor of a guest post on my blog?
Stephen
OFf page SEO needs guest posting.. Guest posting helps you make more and more backlinks for your website which in turn will some day help you for page rank.!!
It’s great to hear about how well guest blogging works in the long run and yes, changing up the strategy a bit by writing a bit more about yourself and your business to get a connection with the visitors is important. Just as long as it is also a useful article and not just a big ad. I know it is a bit tough to merge the two
Hey Lisa,
Did you know that you can share your e-Book on file sharing sites, and that your e book should have affiliate links in them too, so that when ppl do decide after reading your free [e-Book] to take advantage of what you’ve recommeded in it, you can not only get affiliate credit, but, you can also get free backlinks, as well as a boost in search engine results pages [SERP’s], all on the strength of sharing your “e-Book” on multiple file sharing sites. Try Googling “file sharing e-Book sites” and see what fruit you can come up with. Hope it works out for you! =)
http://www.DrewryNewsNetwork.com
I do agree that guest blogging bring to us a lot of traffic.
great and timely post. i actually have a guest post up right now on Yaro Starak’s Entrepreneur’s Journey blog. this is one of the most popular internet marketing blogs of our time. despite the numerous references to my own blog and experiences, Yaro allowed me to keep my links because 1) they genuinely add value to the discussion 2) are done with no mal-intent and 3) cover areas which his blog does not. i definitely agree about balancing bragging rights and value delivered
I was under the assumption that bragging is not good to do online, because it can possibly hurt the reputation of your presence. Maybe I am wrong? I don’t brag, because in my Transformation process, I’ve truly learned to humble myself =)
@DNN When Mark refers to bragging in this post, he doesn’t necessarily mean that literally. He means more along the lines of appropriate self promotion. But using “brag” in the title creates interest in the post so I liked the title.
yeah! its true that we get many other explosure from guest blogging , We must do guest blogging . It will be very help fl for newbies also
The main purpose of writing guest posts is not to get an instant avalanche of visitors to your site (although that wouldn’t be bad). Very small percentage of the people who are reading that blog will visit your blog.
The main point is that, if you wrote an excellent article, it would be linked, shared, re-posted etc. Having said that, the guest post will quickly gain PR juice. Even if it’s not linked, shared at all, the very fact that it’s residing on a well established blog, it will boost its PR.
You left your signature (link) on the guest post, right. Expect the results after 3-6 months.
Your article cemented my believe about guest posts regarding link building and I am contacting some bloggers for a start. I am also signing at myblogguest. Thanks Mark
Hi Amith
No problem, glad you enjoyed the post and good look guest blogging. MyBlogGuest is great!
Thanks
Mark
Are you absolutely sure that the measurements are correct? Only 18? It seems very strange but very probably there is some wrong in this measurement!
Hi Criacao
Yes I know the number seems very low and that’s really what lead me onto this post and finding a better and more successful way to guest post.
But I am 100% sure the number is correct.
Thanks
Mark
As long as you keep it personal and not overly promotional.. i completely agree. I would much rather read a blog where the author talks about past experience, than someone who simply states the facts.
Cheers.
Hi Nick
Yes I agree its about keeping a balance but also becoming a more personal writer and in a way pushing the boundaries in that manner.
Thanks
Mark
hey,
Nice idea, but some bloggers won’t accept if you talk more about your product or company.
Hi Praveen
Yes I agree, its not about promoting though, its about sharing your unique and personal experience and promoting yourself that way.
Then when you get the chance to promote yourself in the author bio box the reader will be presold on you and be more likely to click and visit your site.
In fact as Lisa will tell you she prefers and all bloggers like guest posts that share personal experiences and aren’t just generic posts that have been written 20 times before.
Thanks
Mark
i guess it’s what you are looking for. if your site is real sticky, then the one post thing can work.
Hi Mark & Lisa
Great that you learned that valuable lesson to share more about yourself in a GP. I like to write conversationally so when I have done GPs have let the readers know a bit about myself and relate personal stories in the actual post.
The result has been I have now got some new readers to my blog and some signups for my newsletter. However, I hasten to add I don’t have huge numbers but it all helps with getting my small niche blog out there in the blogosphere for people to know about.
Patricia Perth Australia
Hi Patricia
That’s great, its brilliant to hear people are writing conversationally and its working.
Keep at it and I’m sure your traffic and newsletter signups will continue to grow.
Keep up the great work!
Mark
Hi Mark–
Love the fact that you didn’t sulk, nor give up. If blogging isn’t about checking your ego at the social media door, I don’t know what is…;).
TY for this useful tip. I’m about to publish a colleague’s guest post, and when the author submitted the bio (at the end, w no mention of her services in the body), I suggested she beef it up. “No, that’s okay. I don’t want to look like I’m bragging,” was her response.
Think I need to forward this article:).
Linda, you are so right on. Getting a bunch of traffic from one post somewhere would be short lived.
Those of us working online to make money must see the long-term benifits of what we are doing.
If we get too focused on trying to get instant gratification, we will get discouraged and give up.
Hi Jordy and Linda
Thanks for your support and tips.
I agree completely, guest blogging provides that instant gratification in that people visit and hopefully buy your product straight away.
But it also has the long term benefits in that it builds your online brand, there is a constant trickle of traffic from old guest posts and people come to your site/blog and subscribe via email/RSS and become long term followers.
Thanks
Mark
I have been reading a lot of articles on the virtues of guest blogging, but have so far not tried it. One of the reasons of course is that I am new to the blogging scene and also the fact that my blog does not really fit into any niche. In any case I am going to join MY Blog Guest and explore possibilities of guest blogging as well and finding if there would be others who would be interested in writing a post for my blog.
I have one question here which is not related to guest blogging but definitely related to the post and the way the links are structured here – some of the links on this page open in a new tab while others open in the same tab, that is take you away from the site – any specific reason for that or is it oversight?
Hi Sanjeev
Great to hear your thinking of starting guest blogging, and even if your blog doesn’t fit into a category/niche you can always guest blog in a related niche where people will still be interested in your topic.
For example:
My new blog/project that will be launched soon is about algorithms, maths, programming, etc. as I will be attempting to reverse engineer a search engine algorithm.
The target audience is all types of webmasters.
So I will guest blog on topics like this one on related blogs but not necesarily in my “niche”, once it has teh same target market.
Learning: Go to where your target markert is guest blog there.
With regards to your question about pop up and non pop up links:
Well I’m not the owner of this blog, Lisa is but I imagine the reason the majority of external links are pop up is because Lisa would like to send people to other sites that she carefully chooses and recommends while still retaining the user in the other browser window.
For internal links they are still on teh site so there is no need for a pop up because in general users prefer if it is not a pop up link.
Thanks
Mark
Thanks Mark for the nudge to include more personal and relevant illustrations in my blog posts–and probably might site pages. As a fellow SBI’er I am aware of preselling but do not do that as well as I should. I am just getting my keywords straight so that traffic is flowing but I will certainly add the presell tactic back into the mix.
Hi Ann
That’s great to hear and another Lisa referred SBIer no doubt.
Its had to get out of the teaching mode when writing, I struggle myself 🙂
But if you need a refresh, then read the SBI PreSelling eBook downloadable in your Site Centeral.
Good luck PreSelling and real selling!
Thanks
Mark
Hi Mark,
This is a good story about perseverance. I agree to a certain extent that you want to be self promotional, but only so much as it doesn’t take away value from the post itself. It’s a fine balance to strike. If you make it too promotional, you may turn off people from visiting you, but if it’s too generic, then you may not get visitors at all.
Hi Richard
Oh of course, a balance has to be struck.
Thanks
Mark
Hey Mark (and Lisa),
first let me say that I had no idea Mark was a SBIer as well. Then double hello to Mark 🙂
I posted several guest posts on good blogs and got almost no traffic. I get more traffic from this one comment I make here once a week than all those posts together (exception being the contest post I am heavily promoting).
Basically, I have not (tried) to sell myself. I gave all that info away and I guess people learned something (hopefully), commented and left. I will definitely try this approach, it makes way more sense and I hope I can make it work for me.
Hi Brankica,
Another SBIer wohooooo!
Great it sounds like you have had very similar experience to me.
For example I once wrote a comment on a TechCrunch post that was about a great computers teacher in England who really got his students involved and they began programming and creating websites.
And then I commented on the fact that my computer teachers in Ireland were very different.
Anyway that’s not the point, the point is that even in that comment which took 2 mins to write, I shared my personal experience. And that one comment sent me nearly 50 visitors.
Whereas the guest posts I was spending 2 hours writing and answering comments were only sending me 1-5 visitors.
Its no wonder you are experiencing more traffic from comments here on 2createawebsite than your guest posts, even though there is no doubt that they are very informative.
If you look at your comment here today, it shares your personal experience even though that might not have been your intention, you are already applying the techniques i have talked about in this post.
I think it is probably because you and most people feel like the comments section is an invitation to share their experience and story, which it is. In fact blogs that say things like “how do you feel about this post” or “share your thoughts”. What they do is create a feeling that the comments section is a place to be casual a bit like a social network.
And that same feeling should be applied to writing blog posta and guest posts too.
So good luck applying your already well tuned skills to another area, your guest posts.
Thanks
Mark Collier
I have to assume that being self-promotional would work if you’re looking for direct traffic from that guest post. What about if you are looking simply for those quality links back to your site?
How much do you value the traffic vs. the link? With some good links, that will also create traffic due to better SEO.
I’ve done two guest posts so far, so nothing big, but assumed that having posts that were too self-promotional wouldn’t get picked up. I also assumed that the greatest value from that guest post was in the link more than the traffic.
That being said, I did a video interview with another blogger and he did a post about the interview (but sent his readers to my site to see the video) and that resulted in quite a lot of traffic. A semi-guest post I suppose.
Hi Greg
In fact its quite the opposite, bloggers with huge blogs get tons of generic “advice” every day. What they are looking for is somebody to share their experience with the post.
Just look at Lisa’s guest blogging section and “rules” page and you will see that is true. So not only will more posts be accepted and you will get more direct traffic there is also a boost in the SEO benefit from extra links.
If you are giving a generic advice post then you will struggle to find ways to link to yourself in the body of the post without looking like you were doing it just for the link.
Whereas when you write a terrific post with your personal story attached you will have too many reasons to link to yourself. People and the blog owners want proof that everything you are saying is the truth, screenshots are one way to do it but links to relevant pages ON YOUR WEBSITE are even better.
So more traffic, more posts accepted, more comments and more link juice.
Share your personal story.
Thanks
Mark
Thanks for the reply Mark.
I think you take “self-promotional” to mean the same thing as “sharing your personal story”.
I totally agree that sharing your personal story helps people relate and connect. Kind of like how examples help bring something that is theoretical into reality.
I don’t mind reading personal stories but do not enjoy reading thinly disguised sales pitches. I suppose that’s a fine line between the two and is also subject to the reader’s perspective.
What about the value of traffic vs. the link and its juice?
What do you value more from a guest post?
Hi Greg
Yes I do see bragging and self promotion as sharing your personal story because people are so aware of self promotion and ignore it on the web these days, that’s why without self promotion nobody clicks on your bio box at the end of guest posts.
The traffic vs link juice issue is interesting and I don’t really think there is a right answer.
The main reason I do guest blogging is for the direct traffic but that’s just because I was trying to sell mt book.
Search engine benefit is so hard to judge and measure so I don’t really worry. It turns out if you get a lot of direct traffic from a guest posts, you are probably blogging on a successful and high PageRank blog so that benefit will follow.
So i guess I look at traffic as opposed to PageRank in fact I don’t even look at PR.
Thanks
Mark
This is great information. I’m glad I read this before attempting a guest post. It’s nice to get pointers from experienced people. From what I read on this site, Lisa is picky about guest posts so when she does have one, I know it will be good. Thanks for sharing.
Lisa, this is the first I have heard about your ebook. I will most certainly look it up.
I have not tried guest blogging. However, I recently placed an icon on one of my sites so others could submit.
I think aside from a few people visiting your site, you did get a relevant backlink or two.
Whatever our goals are in doing things like this determine our level of success.
In life, it’s important to focus on the good in things and not too much on the disappointments.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.
Jordy, this is not my book. It’s Mark’s (the author of this post). 🙂
Hi Jordy
Thanks, please do look up the book. It’s a 270 page guide to link building so it is very extensive.
How has the icon gone, have people submitted?
I think from a webmaster’s point of view turning to the power of people is the best way to truly become independent to your website or blog.
Thanks
Mark
Awesome Mark!
Share your personal story…
I agree. I love reading personal stories. They help me connect with the reader, help me stick with an article until the very end, and encourage me to revisit that website if I find useful information the first time.
Making that personal connection is the most important part of selling. In my niche, which is just humor writing, we are selling our brand, I guess, for lack of a better word. And the bloggers I think of most often and whom I read most are those who include their personal lives, their families, their conflicts. All that. So many bloggers call their spouses “hubby” or something in order to maintain anonymity. And they all sound the same. None of them stands out. The ones who use real names, whether fictional or not, are the ones I can remember. And I know some really raunchy bloggers whose day jobs require anonymity, but they still make a personal connection by fictionalizing their names and personal details.
Absolutely, Lisa the great person in charge of this blog has kept her sense of privacy intact while still making that personal connection.
For example in many of her blog posts and videos she talks about her friends (and how she recommended they start affiliate marketing) and her voice and how she lost it early this year.
By sharing her story Lisa has built a huge following, including me!
I have gone from avid reader to writer both on this blog and by answering questions on Lisa’s forum http://www.websitebabble.com, and I have bought SBI and Marko Saric’s Twitter Marketing eBook from Lisa’s affiliate links.
And I am not the only one, Lisa has thousands of these great and very valuable followers.
So great tip Fred, thanks for sharing.
Mark
The one thing I like about this post is that you didn’t give up and sulk about the lack of success you received in the beginning. You look at the reasons why you didn’t succeed.
Once you find the answer to the “why” you can then go about and figure out the “how”, which you clearly did.
To many people would have given up and thought that guest posting was useless to help in accomplishing their goals, and they don’t realize that the only thing holding them back is themselves.
I was never good at bragging about anything I have done – I always though of it as a shameless self-promotion. If you share a personal story and experience, then it won’t com across as bragging – more of a “lessons learned” moment.
Hi Paul
Thanks for the kind words. Certainly guest blogging is an excellent way to build links.
I don’t really mind if you call it bragging or sharing your personal experience. The point and the learning that you have clearly grasped is that there is a need through sharing your story to hook readers onto you in the body of every guest post and not leave it till the bio box.
Thanks
Mark