Guest Post, Collab Post, and Link Building: What They Are and Why They Matter When You Start Blogging

It's been a while since the last time I wrote a post on blogging. It's not exactly my favorite topic to write about, but I think the benefits of me writing about it is that I could somewhat explain it in words that a 5-year-old would understand.

You know, the benefits of having English as the third language. You can write in it, but you know that there are still some flaws in-between that a bilingual or a trilingual like you could relate. And that's the kind of information that I wish I could get the first time I started blogging in English. 😛

Anyway, after several attempts to write posts on the blogosphere topic, now it's time for me to write about something essential when you just start blogging. When you want to take blogging seriously, apparently just write is not enough. You also need networking to get more exposure to what you do.

You might be not a fan of networking ideas. I mean, I know I am not. But when it comes to blogging, networking is somewhat easier than I thought it was. Some networking activities that I'm glad I've learned so far are these three things that I'm going to write today: guest post, collab post, and link building.

So, what are they and why do they even matter?

Table of Content

Guest Post, Collab Post, and Link Building

These three activities are the things that I regularly do since I started developing this blog in 2017. These help me understand more about the dos and the don'ts in blogging industry. Bonus point, as they also help me build my blog in a way that I previously never thought it would.

So, what are the difference between the three and how each matter when you start developing a blog?

Guest Post

Basically, guest posting is the activity when you write a blog post to be published elsewhere. The host could be either fellow bloggers who welcome guest posts in their blog or even a big website in your relevant niche that accepts submissions.

For example, as a blogger on The BeauTraveler, I accept guest posts for What You Could Get In The City for $10 series. I also occasionally write for some other fellow blogger when I have spare time in terms of blogging. These days, I rarely do it due to my current workloads.

However, when the opportunity to earn money comes up from any guest post activities… More often than not, I'd accept that. Why? Because ~~money~~ guest post matters. 😛

Given an example, as I mentioned on Travelista Club post, I was required to write a post on their website first in order to get paid. That's the kind of guest post that I did for a website within my niche.

Other times, I also wrote some posts for fellow bloggers as they were too busy to update their blogs as they traveled or even when they got into labor. Some I did for free, while there were also some bloggers who paid me to write a post on their blog.

Why Guest Post Matters

Guest post matters because it allows you to get some exposure to your blog. This would help a lot, especially when you just start your blog. Those who accept guest post normally have higher page views per month, which could eventually get you more traffic to your blog from that particular post.

Once you start blogging, you may also want to start familiarizing yourself with the term DA (stands for “domain authority). You can check your DA on Moz.com, and one of the ways to improve it will be through guest posts. Speaking of DA, some bloggers see it as the ‘reputation' for your blog. The higher, the better.

In the long run, this could also benefit you if you're foreseeing to monetize your blog.

Some Tips Before You Submit or Receive a Guest Post

Remember, you're a blog owner and it's your decision to whether give or receive a guest post for your blog. In the meantime, you are also responsible for any law and regulation that might be applied to you as a blogger.

1. Make sure that the content of the guest post is relevant to the general topic(s) in your entire blog.

The first time I got an offer for a paid guest post, I brought up the issue in some bloggers' group on Facebook. And to my surprise, a lot of people actually discouraged me from accepting the opportunity to write for a post. Starting from how low they offered for a sponsored post to the idea of Google penalty existence to receive payment for a dofollow link.

By then, I didn't even notice the existence of such thing like nofollow link. So, while I really appreciate the knowledge I've gained, I ended up still accepting the offer for a few reasons.

First of all, the topic in the post is relevant to some other contents within my blog. I personally think that it's great to have a wide range of content that could be helpful for some people. So, yes… I figure, publishing the guest post in my blog will be beneficial for both parties.

2. How to set the price for the guest post to be published in your blog.

When it comes to the payment, while some who discouraged me from the beginning thought it was so little… I can't blame them either. I mean, most people that I consulted with were the bloggers from the developed country where everything is expensive. Or should I say… First world problem.

But as for me, I come from a third world and the price offered could mean quite something in where I live. It's enough for a decent life for a week in some places. So of course, I highly considered accepting the paid guest post.

3. It's beneficial for you to at least know who will be beneficial for the guest post posted in your blog.

As of now, I'm trying to be more vigilant about from where I accept the guest post. The only free guest post that I receive is through my $10 series, and I strictly only accept it from fellow bloggers.

I got some miscellaneous individual who wanted to write a guest post for the series, and as it turned out… The link that they were trying to add was actually directing to some commercial website.

Well, I'm not the most expensive blogger in the world… I mean, I accept a paid guest post in what many consider a ‘low price', but I know there are also some culprits out there who get paid as an SEO expert only to publish the post somewhere for free.

While it's okay if want to accept such practice, I personally wouldn't dig for it. I'm a big supporter of other fellow bloggers, as I too know the struggle. And that's the main reason why I accept guest post on my $10 series.

But so far, I will most likely reject the idea of a free guest post for a commercial purpose. I don't think it's fair for me or my blog in general.

4. Where you can connect with other fellow bloggers for a guest post.

Facebook groups are my go-to whenever I feel the need to network with other bloggers. And I have several credible groups that I always use whenever I am in the mood to write for someone or open to receive some new guest post.

There's a group like Guest Post Request Group (Travel) where I usually post a thread whenever needed.

The admin, Paula, just passed away. The admin position in the group has been vacuum ever since she departed. But by far, this group and the late Paula as the admin have become the reason why I could always rely on the group for a guest post. 🙂

Collab Post

Collab post or collaboration post is something that I'm particularly interested in to either participate or host in my blog. It's not as time-consuming as the guest post where you have to write a whole post dedicated to the host. Rather, you just need to write a few relevant paragraphs for the host to talk about their requested topic. It's quite easy, as I usually could finish it in one sitting. 🙂

As for me, I also regularly host a collab post since it's an easy way to connect with fellow bloggers. That, especially when I got some fresh ideas about the topic that is quite difficult to write on my own. To name a few, some collab posts that I've posted so far are like the Valentine's Day and International Worker's Day collab that got some fellow bloggers involved.

Why Collab Post Matters

Now that you're familiar with the term DA and how much guest post could affect to increase your blog's, then collab post somewhat matters for the same thing.

Well, technically collab post only matters a little but there's one benefit that you could gain more in a collab post. One thing for sure is to see what others have to say about the same topic. The other reason is the topic itself, with some extensive details from several resources… Google could identify it as a high-quality post which leads it to one of the top pages.

This will be beneficial for you as a collaborator, as the more people see the post then the higher chances for them to see what you had to say. If they're interested in your exposure, it could also get you more traffic to your blog. Win, win! 😀

One of the recent collabs that I've done is about the homesick food where I could also read some other local food around the world, according to the locals. It's great! 🙂

Some Tips Before You Join or Host a Collab Post

This collab post activity would be particularly great if you have a specific niche blog. However, just some heads up that even though I have travel, beauty, and dating as the main topic in my blog, so far the easiest topic that I can get for any kind of collaboration is travel.

It's rather a bit challenging to find fellow bloggers to collaborate within the lifestyle niche. One time I posted a collaboration for Around The World With The Beauties in some group, and they straight asked me whether I'd pay them. 🙁

1. Choose the topic that you want to write about and where you can find people who could contribute to it.

I regularly check the calendar to see if there's any specific date that is related within my niche. For example, I decided to host a collab post on Read A Road Map Day that is apparently celebrated on the 5th of April. If you run out of ideas, you can always use the same thing to keep your blog active. 🙂

There are times when I also suddenly got an idea to create a collab series. That happened to me when I first started Around The World With The Beauties. For this, I use the traditional way where I write all the ideas I get on the notebook.

That's also how I keep on track about the collab post that I have or contribute.

2. Don't hesitate to reach out to get into details about the collab post.

One thing that I've learned the hard way is that not all bloggers would notify you when the collab post is live on their website. If anything, I also encountered some bloggers who did “hit and run” method when it comes to collaboration post.

They posted the requirement for collab, I reached out and then wrote something for them only to hear nothing about it. There were some cases when they didn't even publish anything even after I wrote something for them. And as much as it sucks, it was back when I just started blogging. That's why I told you that I learned the hard way.

What happened then made me more vigilant about collaborating. That's why I started to keep on track about to whom I write, and I wouldn't hesitate to reach out if I didn't hear anything from them after some time.

3. If you host a collab post, it's also appreciated to notify all the collaborators once the post is published.

I personally would help share it through all my social media handles, because this is one of the benefits you could get from a collaboration. That way, I could help to promote their page to my audience through my social media while I could get some exposure through their blog post. Win, win! 😀

4. Where you could connect with other bloggers for a collab post.

Another group that was created by the late Paula is Travel Collab Post Opportunities. I can't thank her enough to create so many informative groups that helped me learn a lot through my blogging journey.

For any lifestyle collaboration ideas, I also love to connect with fellow bloggers on another Facebook group run by Ell Duclos, Boss Girl Bloggers. Like, I don't know how she's managed to do it but she's done a great job to maintain such a lively group!

Link Building

This activity in particular not only helps you to connect with other bloggers within your niche or topic, but it also helps you and your blog to stay relevant in some particular topic that you write about on your blog post.

Why Link Building Matters

Link building is somehow an essential thing, especially when you start learning about SEO and why it's important for your blog. This is basically to ensure that your post is relevant within your niche, so it could improve the quality of your post not only to your audience… But also the lord Google! 😐

In fact, this is basically the same thing all those SEO experts do for a living. They reach out to bloggers to build their clients' link to other websites. That helps their clients from SEO perspectives, and that's exactly the reason why I refuse to give a free guest post for anything involved commercial sites.

As a freeloader myself, I usually do link building for my blog through link swap with other fellow bloggers. I periodically post a thread to swap links about the blog posts that I've got, so I could get some boost for that particular post both from the blog within the industry and the SEO.

Some Tips Before You Start Building Links for Your Site

Remember when I mentioned about the “hit and run” situation for a collab post? Well, the same thing might also happen when you start link building for your start. It's important to keep on track the links you build so it remains fair for everyone.

1. DIY: Spreadsheet that contains the links you build.

I wish I could have done this way earlier, so it'd be easier to manage and track the link(s) that I've built. As for me, I created one on my Google Drive so that whenever it's time for me to start building links, I could easily check the link and the posts that I'm trying to boost there.

I also created two other sheets which include the link that I've given, as well as the link that I've gotten from this practice. I check these sheets from time to time, so when I found a fellow blogger removing my link from their post, I wouldn't think twice to remove them from mine.

I'm sorry, fair is fair… And you'll be surprised at how many bloggers cheat in this practice.

2. Always update your spreadsheet and do link building regularly.

To be honest, I often get lazy when it comes to link building. There are times when I start posting threads to build the links only because my DA dropped a few points. However, I always make sure to do the link building at least once in two months.

My target is to create at least 3 new posts in a week, so it would be harder to keep on track if I do it longer than two months. That could differ if you have your own target when it comes to publishing a new post on your blog.

3. Expect some kind of discrimination when you just started.

I remember when I first started, I have no idea how to start building the link to my posts simply because I have a low DA. I'm the kind of person who holds grudges, so I remember those bloggers who refused to swap link with me when I first started just because I have a few points lower than the DA they expected. Sorry, I'm not sorry.

If that's the case, guest posting is the only way you could do to get more link juice to your post. However, just know that not all bloggers are as snobby as those I mentioned in the previous paragraph. 😛

I personally wouldn't mind swapping link with any DA, as long as the post is relevant to mine. But then again, the spreadsheet that I suggested on the first point would become vital here.

The problem about blogs with low DA is that they're not seen as ‘relevant'. In fact, there were also some bloggers who just tried their luck in blogosphere only to give up later on.

That's why, while it's okay to link to blogs with lower DA, it's also important to keep on track about their performance. Is their blog growing? Or did they end giving up?

4. Where you could connect with other bloggers for link building.

I usually network with fellow travel bloggers on Travel Blogger Link Swap Group on Facebook. For any other topic outside travel, I also find Blogger Link Swaps quite handy as I got some link for beauty and dating posts there as well.

Are You Ready to Take Blogging Seriously?

Well, I didn't realize that I end up writing such a long post about this topic, until I noticed that it's over 3000 words for this post only. It's a goddamn essay! 😛

But hey, I hope this could help everyone who has just started. Moreover, hopefully this could motivate you to work a little harder for your blog's well-being. But the question is, are you ready?!