There is no doubt that guest posting is the easiest way to get blog readers to your blog or onto your email list. In fact, it is the key to the success of almost all the popular bloggers on the web.
However, you need to do things right to make the most out of your efforts. If you haven't already, I recommend that you read this post about how to get people to read your blog post, which is really great. However, you need a lot more than a killer headline to keep people's attention.
You also have to have an Awesome Author's Bio to finish the deal!
After all, if your author's bio box sucks, you won't be seeing anyone come to visit, no matter how well your headline and article happens to be written. As I work with my coaching clients, read their guest posts, and try to help them improve their engagement, one consistent problem that I see is bio boxes that do them more harm than good.
This can easily be the most important thing that you write with your guest post, yet it is usually the part the has the least amount of thought or effort put into it. If you want to get blog readers to follow your links you have to keep their attention!
There are 3 Elements that you need to have in your resource box to really snag people's attention.
You need to tell them:
- who you are
- why they should listen to you
- include a call to action to check out your blog or website.
On top of that, to really make your bio stand out, and get the clicks, you need to spice it up a little, and make it something worth reading, and take action on.
Following these steps, you can get blog readers to click your links and check out what you have to offer on your own site.
Get Away from Bland and Boring Bios
Most of the time, the bio box is the most boring part of the guest post, but it should be your most interesting and engaging thing that you write. Here is an example of how most bio boxes read:
My name is John Doe. I blog about xyz at my blog XYZ BLOG. Thanks for reading my post.
Blah blah blah…
zzzzzz…zzzzzz….
That puts me to sleep. No wonder people don't see any traffic from their guest posts!
Now, don't take me wrong here, it will get you some clicks to your site. But, it will lose most of the potential traffic that you can get. If you want engaged blog readers, you need to be engaging, and jazz up the wording quite a bit.
Make it interesting, and grab people's attention. Slap them with something humorous, engaging, and helpful to them. Tell them why they should listen to you in the first place. Otherwise, people will ignore you and go elsewhere.
Get Blog Readers to Click! Tell Them What To Do
One of the biggest mistakes that most people make is simply not telling people what you want them to do. If you simply say “ I blog at XYZ Blog” you are going to get people to pass right over you. People online don't want to figure things out for themselves (most of the time anyway…).
You have to tell people what action you want them to take. Instead of saying “I blog at XYZ Blog” you want to tell them what you want them to do. Include a call to action like ” Get More Amazing FREE strategies at XYZ BLOG” and make sure you use that all important Anchor text with your keyword in place.
WOW Your Readers With an Amazing FREE Giveaway
One problem that I see a lot of people doing is that they link to a sales page for their products. Now, this is a great way to get a few one time sales, but if you really want to grab the most people, and build the relationship, Get them on your email list, or into your free stuff instead!
Offer something for free, and link to an opt in for your list. You can even put together something special that is JUST for the people who find you through that particular blog. Your free stuff should be awesome, amazing and worth paying for, not some rehashed PLR crap, like what most people give away.
Potential give away suggestions: Interview the blog owner that you are guest posting on, put together a special report targeted to the needs of that blog, or make a video showing something really cool. What ever you do, give something away that adds value to the community, and brands your business with your expertise. Also, it helps to use something that they can take action on and see immediate results. This way, they see that you can help them while you still have their attention.
Use Landing Pages To Get Blog Readers Attention
One thing that I learned through PPC is how to set up specific landing pages for specific keywords, rather than setting up one page and doing loads of ads to that one page. You can learn more about Landing pages that get blog readers to buy at Search Engine Journal. You don't have to pay for the traffic to get these results.
You can do the same thing with your Guest posts. Rather than just having a random page that you link to for all of your guest posts, set up a landing page with a special bonus just for people who find you through that page.
I use landing pages for my forum signature links, guest posts, profile links in social communities, and everywhere that I want to target specific people who come to my site. Check out this quick video where I show off one of my landing pages.
I did that one with a forum, but I do the same thing with my guest posts as well. I have done it for a long time with my forums, and started testing it with my guest posting over the last few weeks, and it has totally skyrocketed my list, engagement through guest posts, and helped brand my authority, bypassing a TON of competition.
Once you set this up, you can optimize the page for the people who come to you from that specific site, and you will be more engaged with those readers. If the blog you guest posted on has their own product, you can include an offer with a special bonus to buy their product through you, or use the landing page to get them on your free email list.
“But, I thought Guest Posting was About SEO Rankings”
I am glad you brought that up. That is a common mistake that people make. The fact is that guest posting is about engaging the community, and building relationships, although it can help you with your SEO as well. When you engage the community every step of the way, you will get blog readers to check out your site, and follow what you have to offer.
Most blogs will allow 2 links in your bio. If you do one link to your blog for SEO purposes, and one link to a landing page for that specific blog, you can get a TON of leads into your sales funnel and still get the SEO benefits.
As you do your guest posting bio, always keep in mind that guest posting is not about seo links, and more about branding yourself and the direct traffic that you can get. When you take this mindset, you will get a better direct connection with people, and you will be more interesting to potential leads.
Its time to get out there and start bending the web to your will. If you are still struggling to find sites that allow you to guest post on them, I recommend checking out this list of guest posting opportunites from IBlogZone, (an awesome blog that you should be reading anyway…)
Although these are IM related blogs, one thing that I have found is that if you just have a few guest posts that you can link to as a reference to a potential blog, it will help you get more guest posting opportunities, even in a different niche.
How do you get more traffic through your bio boxes? What kind of click throughs are you getting? share your experiences, questions, and comments below!