We all want our business to be seen as the top-ranking results on the first search engine page. It means you’re the most relevant, and users should trust you to fill their needs.

Yet, trying to make your site visible in a global industry can be tricky. The algorithms Google uses are always evolving, so it can be hard to keep up.

One thing that has worked for over a decade is guest posting. This valuable targeted marketing technique can land you over five times more traffic than you’d get posting on your website alone.

Guest posting, simply summarized, is when you write content as yourself and share it with another website or blog. They post it on their sites, and you gain traffic from their followers.

It’s a winning combination for both of you. It helps your site connect and interact with new audiences, and the content increases the posting site’s relevance on searches.

Keep in mind, though, that there are some rules when it comes to guest posting. If you follow these Golden Rules, you’ll be, well, “golden.”

Rule 1 – Include Your Website

The intent of guest posting is to bring followers back to your site. To do that, you must include a naturally placed link for them to get there. Hyperlink to a keyword or topic that connects to your product or service. Without it, you’re posting content to the guest site, and you won’t see the results.

Rule 2- Use Targeted Promotion Techniques

You might be posting on another site, but that doesn’t mean you can’t market for them! At the same time, you are cross-promoting your own content and website. It makes sense to let them market on their social media and other platforms while you do the same thing on yours. Posting that you created a guest post on “link to the site” increases the potential visibility you’ll get. If you can, share the info on multiple outlets, and find ways to do this a few times without repeating yourself. Use a guest post marketplace to link to the top sites for your industry.

Rule 3 – Make Yourself Known

It’s a fact of human nature that people develop trust with those who engage with them. Interact with your audience, so they see you as a real person behind the business. This can be as simple as sending a thank you reply after a positive review. Negative feedback isn’t the end of the world if you show viewers that you responded and took action. Make yourself known, and you’ll see a much higher level of engagement.

Rule 4 – Don’t Neglect the Host’s Role

Although it benefits them as much as you publish your guest post, they don’t have to do it. Acknowledge the fact that their reputable website was willing to accommodate your work. Share their link, not just your own article on it. Developing this relationship with the host increases the potential of you both working together in the future or them recommending your site to their followers through backlinks.

Follow these four golden rules, and you’ll be able to capitalize on the technique that works no matter what the algorithm is: guest posting.

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