Guest authorship is a great way to earn links, but getting featured can be challenging.
If you’re trying to improve your brand visibility, build links to your site, and increase the popularity of your blog all at the same time, one of the best strategies you can wield is getting featured as a guest author. The basic idea is to pitch a content idea to an external publisher that has established authority and a prominent readership; you can then contribute content and build a link pointing back to your site, promoting your personal and corporate brand in the process.
Most people understand this, but struggle to get accepted. Fortunately, these tips can help:
- Prioritize the publisher’s audience. Publishers want to bring as much value as possible to their audience. If you help them, they’ll feature you. if you don’t, they won’t care. Learn what their readers want and research what types of content they’ve published in the past, then pitch something in line with those needs.
- Keep an impressive portfolio. Most publishers will want to see examples of your work before they’re willing to accept a new post from you. Accordingly, it’s in your best interest to keep a diverse and impressive portfolio. Flesh out your blog if you haven’t already, and write some good sample pieces from different angles and in different formats.
- Write a short, but meaningful pitch. When you find the contact information of an editor or publisher, write them a short, but to-the-point pitch about the topic you’d like to write about. Make sure you explain why it would be valuable to their audience.
- Comply with requests (and make compromises). Your editor will likely make revision requests, so make sure you comply with them. Don’t be afraid to make compromises for the sake of the relationship.
- Start at the bottom, and work your way up. It’s much easier to get featured in low-visibility publishers than it is to get featured in high-visibility publishers. Start from the bottom, and slowly work your way up.
If you’re interested in building your content strategy from the ground up or finding more ways to get featured in external publications, contact Quez Media for a free analysis today!