Reginald Chan

Tag: guest posting

  • Guest Posting Confession: Getting Started And Essential Checklists

    Guest Posting Confession: Getting Started And Essential Checklists

    By now, you should already know that guest blogging is probably one of the most powerful link building strategies on the planet.

    I bet it sounds good but there’s a problem; There are over 50 million bloggers competing for the top spot.

    So, what’s your chance of succeeding in terms of website ranking and guest posting possibilities? Rather low huh?

    A few years back, applying for guest posting is rather easy and you could easily land yourself with one without much effort. Nowadays, you definitely need to step up the game if you want to earn a spot in the guest posting segment.

    The requirements for publishing guest post has increased dramatically and do you know what it takes to stand out from the crowd?

    Guest blogging
    Are you ready for guest posting?

    Getting started for guest posting … the absolute basic

    Guest posting 101: Knowing your targeted website is important

    Choosing the right website is important for every guest post opportunity. There are hundreds and probably thousands of websites that you can apply for guest posting position.

    However, you need to know which websites will give you a better boost of both traffic and ranking.

    You can easily do so by asking yourself the following two questions:

    I have very weird thinking on this and therefore, feel free to discuss it using the comment form at the end of the article 🙂

    1. The hunt begins: Niche hunting

    One of the biggest misconceptions about guest posting is that bloggers want to build a fast backlink.

    Honestly, link building doesn’t work that way.

    Bloggers tend to signup for any type of topics with some crazy hopes … literally.

    Do you think this is a waste of time?

    Absolutely! Why don’t you just spend some time finding 5 or 10 niches that you really want to target instead?

    Deciding on the niche you are going to get your hands dirty with will actually opens more doors when it comes to guest posting.

    Let’s see it this way. There are many websites which offers general information but at the same time, there are also many who offers specific information.

    Now, which do you think will benefit you more?

    I would go for websites offering specific information as I am sure 75% of the traffic heading towards there are looking for that same type of information. This gives you a better chance to grow your authority.

    Does this make any sense to you?

    Fact: Choosing the right niche and website will give you the most benefits when it comes to guest posting.

    2. Please give me a chance – Try before you buy

    Do you feel better and safer when you are able to try out a dress before you buy? I bet it does and the same concept applies to guest posts.

    If you want others to give you a chance, you need to offer them something back in return. It can varies from making them feeling safe, helping them to accomplish certain tasks or 100 more ideas you can think of.

    The 70 words above might sound super easy but honestly, life doesn’t go that way. Nowadays, most editors are more picky and choosy when it comes to guest posting.

    Hey, they are not wrong! After all, guest posting is all about quality right?

    Here’s my confession: If you want to be given a chance for guest posting, then start building authority and make your presence counts. This means that spending time to build a certain level of ‘existence’ in that particular topic especially on social media.

    This would take time and probably months. I personally took a month plus to build my presence on 3 specific niche and at the end, I was offered several chance of guest post.

    Once that happens, the rest are rather … easy and straightforward from there on.

    My guest posting checklists

    Guest posting can help increase website ranking and web traffic
    Guest posting checklist is important to ensure that you are inline with the requirements

    If you want to be successful in guest posting industry, you need to have a strategy … a damn good one.

    I call it, “My guest posting checklists”. This checklist doesn’t only serve the purpose to write a good guest post but at the same time, making the whole process as smooth as possible.

    Here are some of my personal guidelines:

    1. Rules of engagement
    2. Quality control
    3. Mentally and physically prepared

    All in all, keeping in mind that guest posting is all about a win-win situation between both bloggers and editors.

    1. The rules of engagement

    You should only start thinking about guest posting topic after knowing where you are going to publish the article.

    Why is this important?

    Each website has their own rules and regulations. You wouldn’t want to your articles to rejected just because you might have overlooked on a certain rule.

    You are definitely facing a series of rejections if you are not applying on the right websites. For example, you might be writing about fashion niche and what will happen if you decide to write for CopyBlogger?

    Does this make any sense to you?

    The trick here is to write for websites that require your expertise or in line with your niche.

    I make it a habit to discuss on the guest posting rules and regulations over email with the respective party. Ask them 101 questions if you got to.

    It is never wrong to ask … but please, do ask logical questions only.

    The best questions you can probably ask are:

    • Topics that the editor has in mind
    • The length of the article
    • Number links (DoFollow and NoFollow) in a blog post
    • Size and number of images allowed
    • Time frame for submitting the guest posting

    2. Quality above everything in guest posting

    If you are putting 100% in your blog post, then you should put 120% or more in guest posting.

    Remember this: You are putting not only your brand and name on the line but as well as that editor’s one as well.

    Even though guest posting is apart of creating backlink, this doesn’t mean that you should do link stuffing into the article. Instead, provide useful links to support your writing and not just links from your website.

    Note: If your main goal for guest posting is to get backlink, then you are wrong. The correct goal is to provide relevant information, tips and tricks to boost not only your authority and credibility but as well as that particular website’s ranking.

    3. Sending in your first draft

    Waiting for the editor to reply could be the most nerve-wracking and nail-biting experience I ever had.

    This is probably the moment of truth. Usually, the editor will take about 24 to 72 hours to get back to you and trust me, it felt like forever.

    You got to be mentally prepared  as there is a high chance of failure especially when it comes to submitting the first draft.

    Once you received the review, do the appropriate amendments if needed and make sure you follow the guidelines given by the editor.

    You could take a week or so to redo the draft but don’t take forever!

    Go ahead and tell me. Did I miss out anything?

    I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I do. Remember to hit the Reply button and tell me if I overlooked anything.

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  • What Are The Best SEO Techniques After Google Penguin Update?

    What Are The Best SEO Techniques After Google Penguin Update?

    The latest Google Penguin Update has taken the SEO world by storm. This message from Google couldn’t be any more clearer especially when Google are searching for bad SEO techniques that websites and blogs are practicing. This made many SEO experts and even SEO enthusiast like me keep wondering what are the best search engine optimization techniques one should practice.

    Of course, for those who have no idea what Google Penguin Update was and or how will (and probably could had affected) your websites, this video from Matt Cutts explained them all.

    Movie time!

    Should you change your SEO techniques?

    It doesn’t matter if you are doing white hat SEO or black hat SEO. The bottom line is that you need to make sure you are doing it correctly.

    When I say correctly, it simply means that all your SEO techniques must not be spammy. Even if you are building backlinks from Web 2.0 or Wiki’s, you must make sure you need to pay extra attention to those small and petty things such as anchor text.

    If you are interested to understand how anchor text is going to change the face of search engine optimization techniques, then you can head over to this eBook on SEO link building or this one written by the famous Rand Fishkin from Moz.

    I even received some private message on Facebook asking if it is still worth using SEO tools in terms of website optimization. Of course, I am not talking about those free SEO tools but I am talking about those famous, search engine optimization tools such as link building tool and content optimization program.

    Now let me be very honest with you on this matter. I dare to say that premium SEO tools are still worthy and important in terms of search engine optimization.

    You see, there are probably tons of SEO tools out there to choose from regardless if they are free or paid. Either way, it depends back to the end user in terms of using them! I know many bloggers who fail to use Ultimate Demon link building tool to correctly and they were slapped pretty bad with the latest Google Update.

    What are the best SEO techniques right now?

    Disclaimer: These methods does not guarantee you 100% success in your search engine optimization strategies. However, use these methods as guidelines and modify them according to your website’s need.

    1. Understand the basic of search engine optimization (eBook version)
    2. Increase interaction and engagement on various blogs and websites of the same niche
    3. Creating deep links between websites and blogs (reading)
    4. The effect of guest posting (eBook version)
    5. Improve your website SEO ranking with this free SEO analysis and report

    The first part is rather clear. All these Google updates are done because (and I highly believe) Google wanted no one to misuse the SEO for their own advantage. This was what Adam from BloggingWizard said during one of our conversations:

    SEO techniques that uses bad link building will have negative impact on website
    This is just one part of our conversation but you get the point

    As you can see now, it seems pretty obvious that there are many SEO techniques which are (sadly) misused by many. I know I am going a little off topic here but just giving my opinion.

    Assuming that’s the case, it is best that we need to understand how this search engine optimization really works and you have two choices. You can either read this eBook which would cost you like less than $10 or follow this blog closesly for more SEO tips. Of course, you can also contact me if you have any issues as well!

    The reader’s engagement rule

    Readers engagement is one of the best SEO techniques for bloggers
    Welcome your readers and thank them for visiting your website

    In this article, I want to stress the importance of the reader’s engagement when it comes to SEO best practices. Now, ask your self a few quick questions first before we go in any deeper into the topic.

    • What do you know about reader’s engagement?
    • How can you practice SEO when you communicate with your readers?

    Reader’s engagement rule is huge. It consist not only other blogs and websites but it also involves social media. The rule of engagement for this types of SEO techniques are very simple indeed.

    You want to build good search engine ranking or quality backlinks. Now, the more people talk about your article, blog or website, the chances of you getting traffic is better. Don’t forget that big daddy, Google is more than happy to give higher SEO ranking to websites who are constantly and actively in the discussion.

    Have you noticed how websites such as ProBlogger, kikolani and probloggingsuccess are doing very well in search engine ranking page results? Have you ever why they always top the chart whenever you search for any related terms?

    The answer is easy. Look at the number of comments they have. We are not talking about 5 or 10. We are talking hundreds of comments, for Christ’s sake!

    Doesn’t this prove that reader’s engagement is one of the best SEO practices of all time? Yup, you got it right!

    Of course, there is a little bonus for those using WordPress platform. If you want to drive traffic to your website, I would highly recommend you to use CommentLuv Premium. This is the best comment plugin for WordPress when it comes to link building and search engine optimization methods.

    Hint: Some websites (including this website) are offering free follow backs or DoFollow link back when the reader had contributed a certain number of comments.

    The effect of guest posting in terms of search engine optimization

    Increase SEO ranking using guest post
    Guest post can easily create a healthy backlink to your website

    Are you interested to build quality backlinks for your website? I bet you are right and that’s why you are here right now. Guest posting was deem valuable in the past and now, it is worth more than gold.

    So, how does guest posting actually helps in terms of SEO?

    Every time a guest post is made, the writer is going to link the article back to his or her own website. Good for you since you are able to get 1 point for backlink right?

    Wait! There’s more!

    Whenever you are doing a guest post, you are not only selling your article but as well as selling your website and brand. Yes, you are telling people that you are alive and kickin’.

    The websites that you are going to publish your articles should be:

    • Well recognized
    • Having good traffic
    • A good Page Rank
    • And highly related to your niche

    When it comes to SEO techniques, Google and other search engines doesn’t really matter how you generate such backlinks (until certain extend of course). Let’s imagine this:

    One guest post consist of one links to root domain (author box), two deep links pointing to specific articles on your website. There goes three superb good link building points!

    Sounds good? Oh yes, it certainly does.

    If you want to venture into guest posting or simply making guest posting one of your SEO techniques, these are what you need to prepare:

    1. Quality articles of about 600 to 1,500 words (depending on websites and requirements)
    2. Do some bloody research. I mean…do some serious research before hand
    3. Write once but recheck it more than twice
    4. Find the best link building website to publish the article (okay I am joking about the link building website as any good page rank websites would do)

    Back to you

    What do you think of this article? With the latest Google Penguin update, are you going to change your SEO techniques? Do you have any other search engine optimization methods to share aloud? I am sure you have some under your sleeves and therefore, feel free to reply using the comment form below.

    Oh yes! Before I forget, I sincerely hope you will signup for my free SEO newsletter. If you have not, you could signup below and it would take less than 10 seconds of your time. I promise!

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