Whether you are just starting out with SEO or have been using optimization tactics for a while, you may be in the quest for new strategies to “up your game”. However, these strategies need not be revolutionary to garner the best results. In fact, publishing over 300 Guest posts has taught our team that traditional SEO is often the most effective. However, you will need either thorough expertise or the right professionals at hand to make old strategies work new wonders. This is where, as trailblazers of effective SEO in the UAE, our 7 lessons recap may come in handy.
So, shall we begin?
1. Maintaining Content Consistency
Guest posts need to relate to yours in more ways than one. First, their content must relate to yours. Secondly, the structure of their content must be similar to yours. And lastly, the language employed must be practically the same as yours. Remember that visitors of your page are accustomed to your mode of expression. Therefore, it could put visitors off if some of the posts published on your page used a format entirely different from yours. If your posts are relatively informal, for example, you will want to ensure your guest posts feature “casual” writing throughout. Otherwise, visitors of your site may find your guest post(s) inaccessible and your site will appear inconsistent. Content inconsistency often leads to a high bounce rate, which effective SEO should combat relentlessly. A high bounce rate is likely to lower your ranking in Google search results.
Our Tip: Provide your guest blogger or writer with a detailed content structure. This guidance will enable them to provide their content and personal expertise in a tone and format similar to yours.
2. Providing Background On Your Guests
Guest posts do not just have to come from bloggers or industry experts. They can also come from users of your product or services. Testimonials, for example, are particularly popular guest posts. However, for a testimonial to be relatable and reliable, basic information should be provided on its author. Avatar pictures are excellent, because they allow your visitors to relate to the author of each post on a personal, human level.
When working with a guest blogger, you will want to provide more thorough background on their field expertise. Their level of experience and career specs should be mentioned, because they increase the authority of the post.
Our Tip: Incorporate high-ranking keywords relative to your site as a whole in detailed post author backgrounds. For instance, if your business is in SEO in Dubai, you may want experts in the field to provide you with content. If you have invited a Digital Marketer to post on your site, you may want to use “social media marketing expert” as a phrase in their small description box. As this keyword relates to your industry, it may earn the guest post more clicks.
3. Doing Your Research
Even when working with an industry expert, you will need to double-check the information provided in their post before you publish it on your site. Should they be using controversial studies or non-proven information in the content they post, your site will be penalized. The less accurate the data your site provides, the lower it will rank on Google. Therefore, it is your responsibility to go through research and editing process before you publish guest content.
Our Tip: Establish a proposed post content with your guest writer. Ensure you do basic research on this content in advance. This way, you will quickly be able to suss out potential inaccuracies in their writing.
4. Expanding Your Audience Scope
Different expertise is likely to bring you visitors from a different audience pool. Rather than saturate your current industry – particularly if it is niche – you will want to gain a presence in other industries using a guest blogger.
For further illustration of this point, consider the following example. Ali owns an ice cream shop. He runs a site about his shop, featuring new ice cream recipes, flavours and combinations. Through networking and research, Ali meets Matthew, who is a chocolatier. Matthew has expertise in chocolates, which relates to Ali’s ice cream flavouring. To increase the traffic to his site, Ali decides to invite Matthew to make an informative post about chocolate ice cream flavouring. Ali posts this article on his blog. As a result, Ali can expect visits from Matthew’s audience and vice-versa. Thus, Ali has added chocolate-enthusiasts and connoisseurs to his audience of ice-cream lovers. This will effectively lead to increased traffic to Ali’s page and possibly an improved Google ranking.
Our Tip: Look for experts in fields close in proximity to yours to guarantee a consistent audience growth. You may be tempted to immediately reach for the audience pool of larger industries. However, using a guest blogger will only be effective if their industry has a lot in common with yours.
5. Budgeting: Quality Content Does Not Cost More
Quality guest posts do not necessitate breaking the bank on a content writer. Instead, look for people with an experience-based story to tell about your product or services. They may also provide advice on how to use certain products or services, which should always remain public-accessible. This means that rather than sourcing out the most qualified experts, look for the ones with simple language and a relatable story. Our team has found that such posts are both more enjoyable to the audience and much cheaper.
Our Tip: Vet your guest posters thoroughly. With extensive research, you may find freelancers willing to provide you with good content at a fraction of the price of experts you may find first.
6. Demanding Backlinks
It’s all good and well to provide your site with content. However, your guest writer must also be willing to steer their audience towards it. This means that they must post about the article on their page, and incorporate this link in more of their content. You must motivate the authors of your guest posts to do so, as this will greatly improve your SEO rating. Backlinking is the key to high SEO ranking, therefore your guest writer must be versed in using this SEO tool. Without proper backlinking, you cannot expect your respective audiences to cross over.
Our Tip: Do not be afraid to “push” for it. Remind your guest author that should the article attract a lot of traffic, it will be beneficial for both your respective sites.
7. Promotion, Promotion, Promotion!
SEO experts will tell you that effective content promotion is about placement. Our team found that to make guest posts appealing, you must advertise them visibly on both your site’s homepage and your social media platforms. This is effective in two ways:
- it leads to in-depth navigation on your site (thus lowering your bounce rate).
- It suggests to an audience that a number of people are trying to get “involved” with your site. This perceived popularity does marketing wonders; the more “trendy” your site appears, the more frequent visits you may expect.
Our Tip: Do not be afraid of your guest posts competing with your host posts. In the end, all posts, being on your platform, will be considered yours. Prioritizing guest post by providing their links great placement and anchor tests will, however, widen your audience base.
To Conclude:
Guest posts will improve the quality of your site’s content. It will also effectively earn you more clicks. To maximize the effectiveness of this tactic, however, you will need to work with the best of the best. As one of the top SEO companies in Dubai, our team is the partner you need. Our SEO agency in Dubai had extensive experience using guest posting to propel you up the Google rankings. Ready to reach the top? Contact us today for the best digital marketing services in Dubai.