Launching a Guest-Blogging Link-Building Campaign

Objective: Build a system to find guest blogging opportunities, reach out to website owners, and efficiently create content to acquire backlinks.

Desired Outcome: Consistently build high-quality, relevant, and legitimate backlinks to your website.

Prerequisites: Be familiar with keyword research and potentially have a keyword strategy in place.

Tools and Timeline:

• Chrome web browser
• BuzzStream (free 14-day trial recommended)
• TextBroker (optional)
• This process can be done whenever you want to build links to your site.
• Performed by: SEO/link building specialist. You can also outsource tasks to a virtual assistant or freelancer.

Steps:

1. Install Chrome Extensions:

• SimilarWeb
• Mail Hunter

2. Create a BuzzStream Account:

If your company doesn’t already have one, you’ll need to create a BuzzStream account (the Group plan is recommended for bulk email campaigns).

3. Content Creation (Optional):

If you won’t be writing the guest posts yourself, set up a TextBroker account to outsource content creation.

4. Identify Guest Posting Opportunities (Prospecting):

• Prospecting Spreadsheet: Make a copy of the provided spreadsheet and update the file name with the chosen topic (searcher intent).
• Keyword List: Add your list of keywords related to your chosen topic to the designated column.
• Finding Websites: Use Google to find potential websites for guest blogging.
• Here are the criteria to qualify an opportunity:
• Finding Contact Information: If a website meets the criteria above, look for the email address of the site owner or editor (not the author). Here are 3 ways to find it:
• Look for a “Contact Us,” “Contribute to Our Blog,” or similar link.
• If you find the website owner/editor’s name, try searching for their Twitter profile to see if their email is listed.
• Use the Mail Hunter Chrome extension (use sparingly due to limited free requests). Important: Don’t spend more than 3-4 minutes searching for contact information. If unsuccessful, move on to the next website.
• Unique root domain (not already included in your campaign).
• Not a competitor’s website.
• A blog post (not a sales page, homepage, directory, contact page, social media post, etc.).
• Content relevant to your chosen topic.
• The website has published new content within the last 3 months.
• Receives at least 5,000 monthly visits according to SimilarWeb.

5. Record Website Data: If a website meets the criteria and you find contact information, record the following details in the spreadsheet: * Page URL * Blog post title (proper capitalization) * Blog post author (full name, proper capitalization) * Website name (proper capitalization) * Editor/owner first name (optional) * Editor/owner email address

6. Launch Your Outreach Campaign in BuzzStream:

• Create a New Project: Use the following naming convention: “Guest Blogging Campaign – [Searcher Intent]”
• Project Setup:
  • Team members (optional)
  • URL you’re building links to
  • Track links only to the specified URL
  • Receive backlink report (optional)
• Import Website Data:
  • Download a .csv file of your prospecting spreadsheet data.
  • Upload the .csv file to BuzzStream and match the corresponding spreadsheet columns to the appropriate BuzzStream fields.
  • Ignore the last three columns in your spreadsheet during import.
• Create an Email Outreach Sequence:
  • Name your sequence according to the searcher intent.
  • Use BuzzStream’s dynamic fields to personalize your email templates with data imported from your spreadsheet.

7. Sending Outreach Emails:

There are two options for sending emails:

• Individually: This is recommended for first-time users.
  • Select the sites you want to contact.
  • Click on “Outreach” -> “Send Individually” -> “Start Outreach”.
  • Review details and text, then click “Start sequence now”.
  • Repeat for all websites on your list.
• Bulk Send: This is faster but recommended for experienced users.
  • Click on “Outreach” -> “Bulk Send”.
  • Choose a sequence or template.
  • Review details and click through confirmation steps.
  • Click “Send Now”.

8. Replying to Emails:

• Respond promptly to emails to show genuine interest.
• Replies will typically fall into these categories:
  • Positive: The recipient