Turning Your Blog Into An Article Directory Through Guest Blogging

Building connections with other bloggers is a great way of establishing your place in your chosen niche.

The exposure that you’ll get from being affiliated with each other can certainly boost blog traffic for both of you. Done the right way, it’s a win-win situation for your blogging business.

Now, how exactly can you take advantage of your newfound connections? One of the most effective ways to do that is through writing guest posts.

Depending on your blog goals, your website can easily be a mix of guest posts and your own posts.

You could also ditch writing personal posts altogether and turn your blog into a topic-driven repository of guest posts, similar to an article directory.

What is an Article Directory?

An article directory is a website that features a variety of articles that are categorized according to their closest umbrella topic.

People typically submit article directories with the hope of getting blog traffic through backlinks. Examples of article directories that you might be familiar with are:

• EzineArticles.com
• Buzzle.com
• ArticlesBase.com
• VeryWell.com
• HubPages.com

You can find content for free on an article directory. Many article directories let you republish different content on your blog as long as you give the author proper credit.

Feel free to submit blog posts with your keyword to an article directory and get backlinks to your site.

For a long time, the use of article directory was considered to be effective when it came to getting high rankings and backlinks.

Bloggers find it easy to use because you can spin content and share it on different article directories to generate free backlinks.

Over time, Google has started degrading the effectiveness of article directory and upholding the value of guest blogging.

What is guest blogging?

This is when you submit your blog post to a niche blog. It helps you create useful backlinks to your site and generate high traffic.

Most bloggers today use guest blogging as a strategy to boost their traffic. It allows you to work with other bloggers in your field to expand exposure.

Some Similarities of Guest Blogs and Article Directories

Guest blogs and article directories both feature content from various writers.

Depending on the website guidelines, the topics that you’ll find in both these sites can be anything under the sun or something very specific (e.g. SelfGrowth.com, an article directory for self-help topics).

The posts mostly have backlinks that would take the reader to the author’s personal page.

You can say that submitting articles to either of these sites is rooted in the author’s desire to establish their name and gain exposure as well as website traffic.

While writing for article directories can be a good way to get your content out there, submitting guest posts on other blogs (or featuring posts from others) can be the better route for both you and your peers.

That is because there is no guarantee that your article will generate significant traffic from an article directory unless it is a featured article.

The sheer number of articles in them can make it so easy for your piece to get lost.

How guest blogs differ from article directories

The reason why article directories are rated lower compared to guest blogs is because of the type of content they accept.

Article directories contain a lot of duplicate content since they receive all kinds of articles regardless of the topic. They don’t set rules on what type of content to submit on these sites.

The owner of the blog, on the other hand, moderates guest blogs.

Since you are posting content on a site that is not yours, the blog owner will only allow you to post high-quality content on their site.

Since the blogs are related to a particular industry, they contain relevant content on topics that add value to readers.

For this reason, most people prefer guest blogs over article directories.

It takes time before you can convince a blog owner to post some content on their site. They have to check if you are a good writer before permitting you to use their website to reach a broader audience.

You can obtain relevant and good quality links from guest blogging.

Since article directories do not involve any form of persuasion, the backlinks you obtain from here may not be very useful.

The Benefits of Writing Guest Posts for Blogs

• Get longer exposure time on homepages.

Getting featured on another blog generally gives you more exposure time on the homepage. This is especially true for blogs that only publish one post per day.

For such blogs, your blog could be on the owner’s homepage for a week or so.

• Bloggers typically already have a subscriber base.

People who are already subscribed to particular bloggers will typically view newly published posts as they come.

In effect, guest posts have a higher chance of being seen by their target audience and earn new subscribers along the way.

• Guidelines are stricter and standards are higher for guest posts.

In terms of content quality, blogs can generally be considered “more trustworthy” because owners have higher and stricter standards.

Bloggers usually have more time to review submitted posts because they don’t have to sift through hundreds of them.

• Gain opportunities for connections.

The higher standards of guest posts will not only lead you to high quality website traffic, but also to other bloggers who are bound to notice your work.

Trust among bloggers can be slowly established when blogs are focused on great content. This gives you more opportunities to market your knowledge and do the same for others.

The opportunity allows you to build a long lasting relationship with other bloggers. Blog owners can also appreciate your participation in their site since it can also help them generate more traffic for their website.

If they are happy with your work, they may be able to refer you to some of their colleagues and help you establish connections.

• Stimulating social media shares

Guest blogging makes it easy for you to develop your online presence. If you write good content on someone else’s blog, you can get a large audience using social media platforms.

When you submit a good post to a blog that has a lot of social media activity, you can get shares naturally.

For this to work, you should include highly shareable content in the guest posts such as infographics. This type of content can give you more engagement than the rest.

The opportunity can also improve your follower count and generate leads. Make sure you engage in an authoritative blog to leave a good impression in the eyes of the broad audience.

Article directories and guest blogs are great ways to make your work known. If you want to reach the right audience, however, it might be better to go the guest post route.

With a few elements of article directories incorporated into your blog, allowing guest posts can greatly help you generate website traffic and publish content without having to write it yourself.