Guest Post Writing Handbook

Question 1

Here’s how Guest Posts differ from regular HOTH Blogger posts:

Answer 1

1. You have to make them make sense for the Publisher’s site (found in the Publisher URL).
2. They still have to be contextual for the anchor text and target URL.

Question 2

What do we not do in guest posts?

Answer 2

We also do not use internal links in guest posts, as it’s not definite the post will go on the site provided.

There is no leeway here - we cannot edit the anchor text and link.

There are two exceptions to this rule: making an anchor text grammatically correct (adding a conjunction) and fixing spelling errors are the ONLY time you are allowed to edit the anchor text.

If the anchor text is longer than 5 words or if you notice a list of keywords (Ex: “sell a house, sell a house fast, how to sell a house”) send it to Blogger Support! Leave a note telling us what the issue is and the in-house team will look into it and change it if necessary.

Sometimes you have to be a little creative when incorporating it into the post in a way that makes sense and does not look spammy.

Question 3

What must be in the body of the article not in the intro or conclusion?

Answer 3

The anchor text/target URL

Question 4

is the text we hyperlink to the target url. As mentioned above, the ______ _______ (the text the link is connecting to) makes a difference to Google. You’ll be given yours for all posts.

Answer 4

Anchor Text

Question 5

Benign Anchor Text

Answer 5

“Benign” or General anchor texts are anchor texts that do not mention the product, a keyword, or the URL. Here are some examples:

Click here

Check it out here

Learn more

Etc.

These should be the easiest to incorporate naturally into your text.

Question 6

Branded Anchor Text

Answer 6

“Branded” anchor texts are anchor texts that are the company’s brand or website domain name. Here are some examples:

The HOTH

Reynold’s Pest Management

The Cupcake Spot

Question 7

Here are some ways you can naturally incorporate Branded Anchor Text into your work:

Answer 7

A quote from the website.

The folks at The HOTH say that Guest Posts are the easiest ways to build white hat links to your site.

Reynold’s Pest Management points out that Florida is well-known for bugs.

The Cupcake Spot says cupcakes are as adorable as they are delicious. We’re inclined to agree.

This way, you’re promoting the site as a resource - looks natural, right?

As an example of a logo, good web practice, or place of employment.

The Cupcake Spot uses the adorable “Cuppy,” a happy cupcake (with a cherry on top, natch) for its logo.

Reynold’s Pest Management, for example, has a direct link to their Angie’s List reviews on their webpage.

The HOTH has a career page on its site - digital-marketers-in-training may want to read up for more.

Question 8

What not to do for branded anchor text?

Answer 8

Anything similar to “check out The HOTH for more!” is super obvious.

Question 9

Naked Anchor Text

Answer 9

It’s not a euphemism. “Naked” anchor text is text that’s a link itself. Here are some examples:

www.thehoth.com

http://reynoldspest.com/

http://www.thecupcakespotinc.com/

Question 10

Here are some ways you can naturally incorporate Naked Anchor Text into your work:

Answer 10

• In a list with other resources where you’re using naked URLs for them as well. I actually think this works really well a lot of the time. Do your list, but use naked anchor text for all the examples.
  
  • Check out www.thehoth.com, moz.com, and hubspot.com for more digital marketing news.
    
    • Be careful not to link to competitors of the target URL when doing this method!
• You can also treat this as you treat branded anchor texts (example of a logo, good web practice, place of employment). It looks a little less natural, but still works okay.