Key takeaways
- Email marketing shows high returns (averaging 44.25x), but it only works well with a large email list.
- Guest blogging grows your list by exposing your brand to relevant, larger audiences and by building social proof when featured on big publications.
- Use guest posts to boost SEO by adding 1–2 tightly integrated backlinks to the specific pages you want to rank.
- Write solid, audience‑relevant guest content for popular sites, these posts can drive immediate subscribers and continue collecting emails long term.
Introduction
It’s clear by now how effective email marketing is. This is widely regarded to be the most profitable marketing channel, averaging a 44.25x return (meaning that $4,425 is typically brought in for ever $100 of budget). That’s an extremely promising number, and it understandably gets marketers hungry to either jump on the email marketing train or step up their email game. However, it’s very important to note that email marketing only works well if a marketer has a large email list. There are several ways for marketers to get more readers, one of which is guest blogging. Here are a few reasons why.
Boosting SEO
Search engine optimization is crucial to a brand’s virtual growth, as we all know. “After all, there’s no better way to get a sustainable, steady stream of traffic to your website month over month than relying on search engines to send it to you,” offers Huffington Post contributor Sarah Peterson. “But to rank for any meaningful keyword in search engines requires backlinks. Backlinks from strong websites – and the more popular the website, the more effective the backlink for helping you climb up the ranks.” Marketers can take advantage of their guest post opportunity by including 1 or 2 backlinks leading to considerable pieces for which they’re interested in ranking. “Of course, make sure these links integrate with the content effortlessly and don’t break the flow of the reader, but if you keep it to a minimum and only link to highly valuable resources you’d like to rank for, this builds some great links to your site,” says Peterson.
Exposition to Target Audience
While it’s advised that marketers focus on elevating their own blog to its highest possible level, their efforts will be going largely unnoticed if their email list remains modest and their blog is only bringing in a few dozen visitors a month. By guest posting on a heavily-followed website relevant to their products or services, marketers are virtually guaranteeing that droves of new customers will have their eye on their brand, at least for a moment. Peterson writes: “With my very first guest post I was able to collect 800 new subscribers from my post on Fast Company (in just under 5 hours of work). And a guest post I published on the blog Smart Blogger is still collecting emails a year and a half later.”
Being Featured on Popular Publications
Meta-referentiality aside, here’s what Peterson has to say about being featured on heavily followed platforms: “Guest posting to be featured on large publications is not new to most content marketers. This is exactly what I’m doing right now. I’m guest posting on Huffington Post. When you’re published on large, popular media publications like Huff Post, not only are you able to get your content in front of audiences larger than yours that you wouldn’t otherwise have access to but you’re building social proof, too. And guest posting is the easiest way to get a feature, too.” The scarcity issue plagues all content marketers; meaningful content is difficult to create, and it’s hard to even find the time to attempt to create it. “So if you’re willing and able to write solid content for a large publication, it’s an easy way to reap the benefits of being published on it. Social proof increases conversions (yes, to your email list) by giving you authority and encouraging people to pay attention. There are 13 different social proof types you can use to build it, and these features are one of them.”
FAQ
Guest blogging puts your content in front of audiences larger than yours on relevant, heavily followed sites. That exposure can bring immediate subscribers and ongoing signups. Being featured on large publications also builds social proof, which increases conversions to your email list.
Include one or two backlinks to the specific, high‑value pages you want to rank. Make those links integrate seamlessly with the post so they don’t break the reader’s flow and keep them to a minimum to preserve quality.
Yes. For example, a single guest post on Fast Company produced 800 new subscribers in just under five hours. Another guest post on Smart Blogger continued collecting emails a year and a half later, showing both immediate and long‑term impact.
Large publications put your content before bigger audiences you wouldn’t otherwise reach and provide social proof, which increases attention and conversions to your email list. Guest posting is an accessible way to gain those features if you can write solid content.
Prioritize writing solid, audience‑relevant content for popular, relevant sites, include minimal, well‑integrated backlinks to the pages you want to rank and choose publications that provide the exposure and social proof your brand needs.
Yes. Backlinks from strong, popular websites help you climb search rankings for meaningful keywords. Using guest posts to build those links supports sustainable, steady organic traffic over time.
