Want to increase your website traffic? Increase your reputation or authority in your niche? Make a bit of extra money?

Guest posting can be an incredibly valuable opportunity for bloggers looking to expand their audience and garner some pretty powerful backlinks in the process.

With that said, it can be somewhat of a treasure hunt to find the right blogs that accept guest posts, especially when you feel like you need to cull through thousands of Google searches.

Let’s get into what you need to know!

Identify Your Objectives

Guest blogging embodies its own marketing strategy, and you need to identify your goals for engaging in this tactic before you even get started.

What are you aiming to achieve by guest posting? Do you want to drive more traffic to a specific landing page? Are you hoping to improve your SEO with inbound links? Are you looking to simply gain exposure for your own products or services?

Even if you want all of these things (and who doesn’t), it’s imperative that you define your objectives. This will help you orient your pitch to various websites, and it will help you narrow and solidify your postings.

Use the Right Search Methods

The manual method of Google searching for various guest blog opportunities still has its merit. You just have to practice creativity in your search.

The Google Method

To start your search, identify your keyword (such as: Health and fitness) and pair it with a variety of different search strings:

• Keyword “write for us”
• Keyword “guest post”
• Keyword “submit blog post”
• Keyword “submit an article”
• Keyword “this post was written by”

In utilizing this method, you should be able to generate a working list of websites accepting guest posts. Creating this inventory is typically the first step in starting your guest post process.

Furthermore, a simple Google search of ‘blogs accepting guest posts,’ generates millions of Google searches listing various sites currently taking pitches.

Just keep in mind that you are also competing with the masses of other bloggers aiming to achieve the very same goal.

The Connection Method

Here’s the truth: You can spend hours researching potential leads on Google, or you can spend hours building a quality relationship with another blogger.

Which one is likely to garner the most success? You can count on human connection beating algorithms and blind applications time and time again.

If you decide to form a connection with a specific site owner, you need to stand out from the hoards of people looking to get a quick, no-effort guest post. Your biggest hurdle is avoiding coming off as scammy. That’s an instant turn-off for any established and professional site owner.

Get to know the person’s site! Interact with their content. Subscribe to their feed, and read the content consistently.

Finally, if they regularly post different guest posts, you want to scrutinize the kind of content shared. What style do the bloggers take? How long are the pieces? Can you write in a way that’s both similar and better?

Before you even pitch an article idea, connect with the owners on social media, comment on their blogs, and respond to their emails. You want them to know the personality behind the pitch- otherwise, you’re just another (potentially scammy) cold-caller.

Review Competitor Backlinks

Check out where your competition is posting by pulling up a backlink analysis of their guest posts.

Today, there are many different online tools, such as Open Site Explorer, that allow you to analyze competitor backlinks and locate any blogs they have guest-posted on.

Don’t have access to these tools? A Google search can also get the job done. Simply type in the domain name with the term, guest post, and you should be able to pull up any sites that the competitor has written for.

Finally, you should note that many guest posters and bloggers share their recent posts on social networks for the exposure. You can run a Twitter, Pinterest, or even a Facebook search with the keyword guest post to look at what’s trending in your industry.

From there, just click and follow the links to determine which blogs are accepting guest posts in your niche.

Assess Guest Blogging Opportunities

Just because you’ve landed on a site that accepts guest blog opportunities doesn’t mean that it’s worth your time. In fact, if you choose to write on a poor site, Google may actually penalize you for it!

After finding a site, it’s essential to check out their domain authority. This number represents a ranking for the site’s professional regard and establishment- according to Google’s standards. It’s basically a report card grade. The higher the number, the better!

You should also check out their social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) and see the engagement the site owner has with his or her audience.

Essentially, guest posting represents a take-and-give opportunity, and both of you should benefit from your offering. If you’re not getting much out of it, you’ll be wasting your time.

Final Thoughts on Finding Blogs That Accept Guest Posts

Guest posting can be an excellent way to attract new visitors to your site, build your SEO, and improve your overall credibility within your niche.  If you do a simple Google search, you’ll find hundreds of guest post services, like this site, but in the end it all depends on how much time you as a business owner can devote to manual outreach and link building.

Even though it may be challenging to find the best blogs that accept guest posts, this strategy remains very much alive in 2018- and it’s a trend that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

Interested in more tips on link building and guest posting? Be sure to check out our blog today.