The post How To Use Guest Posting To Increase Your Traffic And Rankings appeared first on HostGator Blog . Guest posting is an incredibly powerful tool to generate traffic and subscribers. In fact, guest blogging is one of the most effective free traffic strategies. However, a lot of people approach the guest blogging process in the wrong way. In order to get the most out of guest blogging you need to be posting on websites that have overlap with your ideal audience. Below you’ll find an exact strategy you can utilize time and time again to send new traffic and leads to your website. What Is Guest Blogging? Guest blogging is the process of writing for high profile blogs and websites in your niche. Most often you guest blog for free. But, in return you can associate yourself with a high authority website to borrow authority, and can illustrate your value to your market. Guest blogging is an incredible way to build your authority and send qualified traffic your way through dropping backlinks throughout your post, or within your author byline. What Are Your Guest Blogging Goals Before you start actively guest posting it’s important to define your goals. The last thing you want is to start guest posting on a regular basis only to see no result for your business. Are you looking to generate more traffic for your website? Are you trying to build authority and a name for yourself in your niche? Or, are you trying to build high-quality backlinks to grow your search engine rankings? Define what results you want to achieve for your business, and track every post you write, so you can refine your strategy over time. Developing A Guest Blogging Strategy Your guest blogging efforts won’t succeed unless you have an actionable and trackable plan to follow. Below you’ll find a five–step process you can implement time and time again. 1. Build Up Your Online Persona or Platform Before you start guest blogging it’s important you take the time to build a solid online presence. You’ll need a solid foundation in the online space that you’re going to be sending qualified traffic to. 2. Identify Guest Blogging Opportunities When you’re identifying blogs to contribute to make sure they have a sizable audience and have at least some overlap with your niche. Obviously, the blogs you end up choosing will depend your niche and goals. The two processes below will help you build a targeted list of blogs to contribute to. Search Google for “[your niche] + guest blogging”, or “[your niche] write for us” Visit Alltop and select your niche for a list of high-quality blogs. These will help you build a solid list you can pitch over time. 3. Start The Outreach Process Every blog you contribute to will have different writing guidelines. Some blogs will require you to submit a full post, while others will prefer you pitching a group of ideas. Your pitches will be rejected every time if you don’t adhere to the writer’s guidelines. When finding the right person to email always try to email the editor or the content manager if it’s a larger website, as they’re in charge of the content for the site. If it’s a single author blog then reach out to the blogger directly. When pitching the blog make sure to build rapport with the author or editor first, as this will increase your chances of your post being accepted. 4. Create Epic Blog Posts When writing in front of another audience you want to bring your best writing to the table. Don’t hold back, and don’t send off your secondary content. You want to make a good impression on these websites, and build a connection with their audiences. By providing extreme value you’ll have readers flocking to your website to learn more about what you have to offer. 5. Continue The Process Luckily, there are so many blogs and websites looking for high-quality content that you can replicate this process time and time again. Over time, after you’ve exhausted all of the blogs in your niche you can move on to related blogs and websites. Guest blogging is an incredible strategy that doesn’t require any upfront investment besides your time. The steps above will help you build a strategy that works for you and your business for the long-term. web hosting