Negosentro.com | By Rover Jones | How to Get Your Guest Posts for Small Business Published and Where to Post Them | One of the time-tested SEO best practices is to create and publish guest posts on various targeted blogs. For this article, let us focus on a specific target market, that of small business enterprises.
Why target small business enterprises?
These days, more and more people get laid-off due the bad economic standing of pandemic-hit countries. Question is, where do they go next when the economy has turned bad? They create a small business enterprise.
With social distancing as part the new normal, many startup businesses prefer to transact online. This apparent trend signals a move towards a more digital marketing approach.
According to digital transformation expert Homer Nievera, who is based in the Philippines, as the Covid 19 has no particular preferences on people it infects, the outcome is that of creating a new era of digital entrepreneurs. Probably not by choice, these new entrepreneurs are igniting the business landscape to move faster in implementing digital transformation across operations, sales, marketing, and human capital.
Content Marketing and The Power of Guest Posts
For many years, content marketing has centered on the importance of having guest posts as part of SEO strategy. This is said to have been triggered by the Bill Gates digital marketing mantra that “Content is King.”
As blogs enable brands to talk directly to their customers, guest posts (or guest blogging) amplifies that communication by sharing your content with other audiences. In fact, research shows that “94% of people who share posts do so because they think it might be helpful to others.” This creates a certain degree of credibility to your content in a way that is recognized by search engines such as Google.
Guest posting on certain blogs allows placement and recognition of multiple authors. Studies show that 62.96% of people perceive blogs with multiple authors to be more credible. This of course rubs off on your brand.
Therefore, guest posting creates brand awareness and showcases your credibility and professional bearing as a business. This eventually contributes to better online presence and funnels traffic to your website, where those visitors can be converted to leads, sales, and an ever-improving bottom-line.
Thus, blogging enables brands to talk directly to their customers while guest posting amplifies that communication by sharing your content with other audiences.
How to Get Your Guest Posts Noticed and Placed
Words of caution: In general, the higher the domain authority, the more rigorous the editorial screening process. Just the same, you need to do these things to get you guest posts noticed by the editor, and eventually have them posted –
1) Research blogs or sites that are popular among contributors
This may seem hard to do if you’re just beginning to do guest posting. You just need to start somewhere like going by topic and search on Google. Sometimes, by typing in the right keywords, you’d get a list. Otherwise, go to Reddit or Quora and other forums to get suggestions.
2) Make a list of topics you want to write about and search the top blogs for such topics
This seems like a logical approach. Listing all the possible topics allows you some flexibility in going around your target blogs and see if they fit.
3) Check the blogs’ guidelines in guest post submission
There are indeed guidelines posted especially in the top sites with high domain authority (or DA) that guest posters can follow. Others have a way for guest posters to register and just submit their articles.
4) Pitch your topics
Pitching your topics would be easy if you already made a list. Usually, emailing the editor or the designated contact will do the trick. There are many ways used to convince them to take you in. But the best thing to do is a straight-forward email with the topics you have listed. Others go as far as pitching a finished written material. This is also good as it cuts approval time.
Where to Place Guest Posts
Many marketers will say that the more guest posts you place, the better for your brand. This may be true in some way but the real strategy there is WHERE to place them!
A lot of metrics will surface as the basis for guest post placement, depending on who says it, other than that of Google.
The default principle of placing your guest posts is through high traffic sites. This, however, no longer holds as the naked truth as more and more search engines highlight relevancy of content to the site, blog and audience.
In the context of small business enterprises, guest posts should particularly target the same kind of audience. They may be similarly small business owners or customers of small enterprises. Thus, to eliminate guesswork, many experts suggest placing your guest posts in sites that rank high in DA – or domain authority – or on sites with respectable PA (or page authority).
The magic number is actually a Domain Authority of 20 and above. Posts will be more searchable if the blog or website wherein the guest post is placed ranks at least 20 points on the MOZ domain authority scale. Google recognizes a bigger searchable score for those that rank higher than 70 DA, but it’s not that easy to get your content placed there due to competition, and yes, the cost of placement.
Google states that it penalizes a website that does paid guest posting. But enforcing this one is a challenge. In fact, this “rule” has been in effect for several years now and still, proof of paid posts are hard to come by. On a practical note, Google makes money from advertising that is placed on top-ranking sites. If content strategies make sites rank high, do you think Google will interfere? That’s a question that appeals to business common sense.
Top 10 High DA Sites for Guest Posts for Small Business
1) Forbes
DA: 96
Topics: Business, Investing, Technology
2) Business Insider
DA: 95
Topics: Business, Media, Technology
3) Survey Monkey Blog
DA: 94
Topics: Market Research, Public Opinion, Small Business
4) Entrepreneur
DA: 93
Topics: Business, Entrepreneurship
5) Harvard Business Review
DA: 93
Topics: Business Managment, Innovation, Leadership
6) Fast Company
DA: 92
Topics: Business, Technology, Innovation
7) Hubspot
DA: 90
Topics: Marketing, Sales
8) VentureBeat
DA: 90
Topics: Business, Technology, Entrepreneurship
9) Seeking Alpha
DA: 87
Topics: Markets, Investment
10) Kissmetrics
DA: 85
Topics: Customer Service, Marketing, Analytics
Top 10 Mid-Range DA Sites for Guest Posts for Small Business Enterprises
1) E Secret
DA: 40
Topics: Business, Business Ideas, Entrepreneurship
2) A Better Lemonade Stand
DA: 38
Topics: E-Commerce
3) Negosentro
DA: 36
Topics: Small Business, Technology, Entrepreneurship
4)SmartHustle
DA: 35
Topics: Small Business, Entrepreneurship
5) Opportunities Planet
DA: 29
Topics: Online Business
6) Foodfinds Asia
DA: 28
Topics: Food Business, Technology, Entrepreneurship
7) Gogagah
DA: 27
Topics: Business, Technology, Innovation
8) World Executives Digest
DA: 26
Topics: Business, Technology, Entrepreneurship
9) Bravo Filipino
DA: 22
Topics: Asian Small Business, Technology, Entrepreneurship
10) Executive Chronicles
DA: 21
Topics: Business, Technology, Innovation
Now that you’ve seen the list we shared plus have been guided on how to submit your guest posts, hopefully, you start writing those topics so you’d be ready. Remember that having a good SEO position means being searchable to draw traffic and leads. Guest posting for your small business enterprise can help you a great deal!
