If you are dangling between questions about paid guest posts and unpaid guest posts, you are not alone.
Everyone who steps into the world of SEO and link building has to encounter this question because today, things have changed.
You can’t randomly start any practice because you don’t know what can turn into a bad practice overnight.
The same is the case with guest posting, and it all started when Matt Cutts called out guest blogging for SEO link building:
That news shook the SEO world because it seemed like the demise of link building and SEO.
Fast forward, we are living in 2021, and still, hundreds of companies are offering paid guest posting service and businesses are hiring them.
Why? Because it works for them.
Let’s find out what this whole game is about:
Its answer lies in this question:
What is Paid Guest Post?
In simple words:
Paid guest post is the guest post you write for another site and that site pays you in return for contributing content on their site.
So if you are mixing up paid guest blogging with link buying, you are wrong.
In paid guest posting, you get paid for writing a guest post, whereas when you buy links, you pay to the linking site.
In other words:
It has nothing to do with a clash with Google’s link building guidelines.
Paid guest blog post is NOT:
- Buying or selling links
- Excessive link exchange
- Keyword-rich article marketing
- Using automated link-building programs
It is just a paid guest post writing that you do because you want to:
- Drive qualified traffic to your site
- Establish yourself as an industry expert
- Develop authority and credibility among targeted audience
- Promote your brand and bring brand awareness
Simple!
How Does Paid Guest Posting Work?
A paid guest blogging service works on bringing the best results for any business through guest posting efforts. In other words, it handles all the hassle from outreaching, writing, and publishing a guest blog.
But that’s the story of those guest posting agencies that offer to handle your guest posting projects.
There is another type of paid guest posting that you do on other’s blogs and they give you money to do that.
But it is not as easy as it sounds. Obviously, people can’t let you guest post on their blogs and on top of that pay you for that.
Every step has its own detailed process that needs strict quality assurance – a lot of work goes in.
So if you are planning to write guest posts on your own, you should fasten your belt: you will have some serious head bang moments.
But don’t worry, in the end, everything will be worth it.
Here are some important tips to make your paid guest blogging journey a bit less bumpy.
STEP # 1: Find a Relevant Blog
You can find many blogs offering writers money to write blogs for them.
But you can’t pitch all of them because it is hard to handle content writing for all blogs.
So obviously you should only find blogs that qualify your niche.
Don’t worry; finding relevant blogs isn’t difficult. You can use Google for this purpose.
Here is what you should do:
- STEP 1: Type: paid guest post opportunities + your niche
- STEP 2: Make a list of the sites
Remember that the search result might not only give paid guest post opportunities, but you can still find a handsome number of sites.
STEP 2: Select the Best Blogging Opportunities
Next, after finding the list of paid guest posting sites, you should vet the list and find the best sites.
You shouldn’t write just to rake in a ton of money. Your main purpose should be to:
- Establish credibility
- Become an authority
- Build a good audience base
- Give a kick to your writing career
So instead of pitching every and any site, select the sites having these factors:
- A huge traffic flow
- Good audience engagement
- Quality content and posts
- Social media presence
- High authority and trust flow
Don’t settle for the quality just to earn money.
Quality of the content is what differentiates a Google-friendly guest post from a spammy guest post.
Google has no concern with what you tag your content as if it is of high-quality.
So always look for quality paid guest posting sites.
STEP # 3: Read Guidelines to Send a Proposal
Once you have gotten the vetted list of sites, next it is time to get down to send a proposal.
If you are writing for high quality sites (that you should!), it won’t be easy to become their paid guest blogger.
They will definitely have a strict criteria and guidelines to allow paid guest posting on their sites.
Here is an example of how a paid guest posting guidelines look like:
Make sure to follow the guidelines and fulfill the criteria.
Carefully see:
- How do they want you to send the proposal (just idea or full content)
- What would they pay you and for how many words
- What type of content they want you to write
- What are their special requirements
- How do they want you to contact them
Once you know the rules and guidelines of guest posting, it becomes easier to write a winning proposal
STEP # 4: Write the Guest Post
Now you know what are the blog posting requirements of the blogger site.
Next it is time to get down to writing the content.
It is always better to read a few posts of the guest posting sites to know:
- What types of articles they publish
- Which topics have already been covered
- What is their required writing style and tone
- Which types of topics you should choose
Once you have done the research and know your path, it is time to get down to write a fantastic post.
Here is what to focus to write good content:
- Make sure to write high quality content, not just filler content
- Do in-depth research of the subject matter to create well-informed content
- Create engaging title that ensures clicks
- Use relevant keywords to optimize content
In other words, leave no stone unturned to create the best content.
STEP # 5: Send the Proposal
Once you know you have created the ace content, next it is time to send the proposal.
Make sure to write something that:
- Delivers your message clearly
- Shows your professional attitude
- Convinces blogger to accept your work
If your work gets published, it is well and good, but it is okay if your paid guest post doesn’t get accepted.
This is not the end of the world and the internet is a playground where you can find your opportunity sooner or later if you are a player.
Conclusion
Guest posting is one of the best things that happened to the SEO world (forget about all the bad things you have heard about it!).
It is not only a link building technique but also a panacea for many other benefits, like brand awareness, credibility building, authority establishment, and driving qualified traffic.
So don’t associate ‘paid guest post’ with some fishy link building practice.
It is just the price you get for writing content on someone else blog.
But who you select matters a lot. So be careful while choosing the guest posting site.
