Even if you do keyword research and write useful and engaging articles, you won’t get the results for which you had hoped unless you build high-quality backlinks. Some people overlook the importance of this step, and doing so hurts their bottom line more than they think. With guest posting, everyone can grow their business and earn links of which any marketer would be proud. When you follow each step properly, the amount of organic traffic you enjoy will slowly rise.

When your business plan includes SEO, offering guest posts to bloggers in your industry is one of the best ways to reach your desired outcome. You will want to make a list of five to six bloggers to whom you intend to reach out. Before pitching your offer, invest some time to build trust by answering questions and interacting with the community. Once you get a feel for the type of content the subscribers prefer and have built some credibility, you can move forward.

Approaching bloggers does not need to be a difficult or challenging process, but you need to keep a few things in mind. People approach bloggers all the time, so you will need to keep your message short and to the point. Also, commenting on a past blog post that you found useful or inspiring is a good idea, showing the blogger that you took the time to learn about the blog. When you end your message by stating why the blogger’s audience will benefit from your content, you will be moving in the right direction.

Business owners and marketers often believe that their job is done once they successfully submit a guest post and earn a backlink, but it’s not. Remember that not everyone you contact will accept your offer to guest post. Since connecting with bloggers who want to work with you can take time, you want to get the most from your effort. Once a blogger agrees to use your content, focus on building lasting relationships so that you can continue to be a guest author in the future. You will be glad you did.

Each guest blog you submit will improve your position in the search engines, but it’s a long-term process that won’t provide you with noticeable improvements overnight. No matter how tempting, don’t allow yourself to get discouraged. As long as you keep offering value to bloggers in your industry, you will enjoy the rewards for years to come.