If you’re reading this blog post, you’ve probably already experienced or at least heard about some of the many ways blogging can positively impact your business. However, for some businesses, only publishing posts on their company’s blog is not enough to generate the kind of traffic they’re looking for. One of the best and most underutilized ways to expand your reach and lead more people to your blog (and your business) is through guest blogging.Check out these 6 ways guest blogging can give your business blog a boost.
1. It Helps Establish You as an Expert in Your Field.
Your goal, when you publish a guest blog post, isn’t just to turn out the same kind of content that anyone could write with a few minutes of research and a vague understanding of your field. Your guest posts should, instead, be even more clearly written than the pieces you’d write for your own blog. You want to establish your authority and prove that you know your stuff. Where better to do that than on someone else’s blog, where your information will be viewed by people you wouldn’t ordinarily be able to reach?
2. It Helps Build Your Network.
Connections with other experts in your industry and in other related fields are just as important as connections with potential customers. However, don’t expect this to happen overnight or with a single blog post. Instead, work on building relationships over time. Interact with readers in the comments section. Have discussions through email and on social media accounts. Over time, you’ll discover that you’ve built a much larger network than you would have on your own.
3. It Builds Backlinks to Your Blog.
A small business blog might not show up in Google’s search rankings until several pages in, especially if it’s a relatively young company. This means that even if you are regularly posting content, it may not be that visible when people are browsing the web. Guest blogging gives you access to a whole new audience, potentially, a much larger one. If they like what you have to say, they’ll come check out your blog, which will put your business on their radar.
Building backlinks, like the ones created from guest blogging, is also a great way to improve your SEO ranking over time.
4. It Establishes Your Name and Enhances Your Resume.
This is particularly true if you’re able to post regular guest blogs in several different locations. It’s not just about the bragging rights associated with having a post published somewhere amazing; it’s about adding that extra layer of authority and experience to your reputation. Guest blogging helps to establish you as a leader in your industry and makes you and your company more visible to consumers. Many writers even find that the more blogs they write for, the more blogs want them to write. Exposure can lead to even greater exposure, establishing your name and beefing up your resume.
5. It Opens the Door for New Opportunities.
People can’t know that they need your services if they don’t know that your business exists. Every time you write a guest blog post, you share your business capabilities with a fresh new audience. Ideally, those guest blogging opportunities will generate new leads for your business—which is, after all, the reason you’re doing this in the first place. Other times, guest blogging opportunities will spur future guest post opportunities, which will, in turn, bring in more new business.
6. It Increases Your Actual Experience.
Guest blogging isn’t just about the perception of your experience. Guest blogging also offers opportunities for you to increase your actual experience and knowledge base. Every time you do research for a new article, you’re learning something new. When you try something out for the purpose of a guest post, you’re increasing your experience in your field. That experience is never wasted, especially if you’re still growing your business.
Guest blogging can boost your business blog in a variety of ways, when done correctly. Getting your feet wet in the guest blogging game may seem daunting at first, but once you start building the right connections and establishing your credibility, you’ll discover that the benefits are incredible.