The modern link builder relies heavily on blogger outreach, but whether you work in-house or on behalf of a client, the biggest challenge is to keep finding new guest blogging opportunities.
Once you find them, writing all your own unique, engaging content is equally difficult and rarely scalable. And the single biggest disappointment in the process is finding a great blog to post on, only to realize you’ve already published your content there.
Here’s a guide to 8 amazing tools that will help you navigate the perilous waters of blogger outreach.
Step 1 – Finding guest blogging opportunities
There are a number of tools, techniques, and resources available to source guest blog opportunities and there’s a lot to be said for mixing up your research methods. However in our experience, the best way to find genuine blogs is Technorati.
Essentially a directory of blogs, many site owners don’t use the service for the purpose of finding contributors but the fact that they’re genuine bloggers usually means they’re open to receiving great content for the blog they love so much – rather than being motivated by the opportunity to sell links.
Other great ways of connecting with bloggers include BlogDash and MyBlogGuest – both of which are aimed at bringing writers together with publishers. However simply searching Google or Twitter can bring up some fantastic results:
Google’s inurl/intitle searches are a goldmine for pages containing phrases like “write for us” and “guest post”, while Twitter’s search function can also help you find users actively looking for contributors or writers advertising their own guest posts – allowing you to contact the site and offer your own article.
Step 2 – Writing amazing content
After you’ve found your publisher, you’ll need content ideas – and writer’s block is a killer. Instead of chewing your pen or rehashing old ideas, use Flipboard to inspire your creative juices.
The cross-platform app describes itself as “a social-network aggregation, magazine-format application software for Android and iOS” and constantly provides our writers with fresh ideas for engaging valuable content.
Alternatively, why not get someone else to do the hard work? Article Teller is a new service that allows users to order content which writers fulfill for an extremely reasonable rate. Concerned about quality? You only pay for articles you accept and you can leave feedback on those you reject. You can even request your favorite user to write your post.
Step 3 – Avoid repetition
Of course, after months of repeating the process, you’re going to come across the same sites. This is another area where Excel er, excels. Conditional formatting can be used to highlight duplicates so keep a log of every site you’ve contacted:
Blogger outreach is an extremely ‘white-hat’ way of building links because you are essentially contributing to the online conversation and giving something back to the internet. Hopefully, these tools and techniques will help make your link building life easier.
