Blogging for SEO: The Role of Guest Blogging in Generating Traffic for eCommerce and SaaS Websites

Reading Time: 11 minutes

Have you been struggling to boost traffic on your eCommerce or SaaS website?

Data from HubSpot reveals that blogging is so important to inbound link generation that companies that blog have 97 percent more inbound links than companies that don’t.

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A team manager had a team of 40 hardworking people who were excelling individually but refusing to share information aid the team’s growth. To solve this problem, he invited them to a room and asked them to blow a balloon each and write their names on it. After they did this, he asked them to leave the room.

The manager then added balloons without names written on them, mixed them with the other balloons, and invited the team members back in. He then gave them 15 minutes to find their balloons without popping any balloon. After 15 minutes, no one could find their balloon.

He then instructed that any team member that found a balloon with another person’s name on it should give it to the rightful owner. They did this, and in a couple of minutes, everyone had their balloon. The manager went ahead to explain how that’s the power of teamwork.

This story is pretty much how SEO and blogging work. They are great when used individually, but are more valuable when used together.

To unveil ways that blogging helps SEO for eCommerce and SaaS websites, we’ll be looking at the following areas:

  • Blogging and SEO
  • How does blogging help SEO?
  • Blogging vs. Guest Blogging
  • How to Write A Guest Blog Post
  • Extra Tip: Things To Avoid When Guest Blogging

Read on to learn more.

Blogging and SEO

The value of SEO in inbound marketing strategy cannot be overemphasized. Optimizing your web pages and blog posts increases the visibility of your website to people searching for your products or services through Google or other search engines.

Blogging boosts the quality of your SEO by placing your site right where customers need them. Blog posts that use on-page SEO factors will increase opportunities for your site to rank higher in search engines, thereby attracting more customers to your site.

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Your inbound marketing strategy could use these SEO and blogging tips:

  • Use 1 to 2 relevant long-tail keywords
  • Add up to 2 keywords to particular aspects of your blog post
  • Update your content
  • Make the blog post responsive
  • Optimize the meta description
  • Use image alt text to optimize your images
  • Make use of Google’s Search Console
  • Use internal links

How Does Blogging Help SEO

Many eCommerce and SaaS companies are beginning to see the need to have blog posts on their sites. However, not all of them are getting the most out of their blogs so they are not getting noticed in search engines.

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Is there any way to remedy this situation?

Yes! Perhaps blogging can help with search engine optimization (SEO). Since SEO enhancement has a lot to do with connecting with your audience for engagement and interaction, you will find blogging very advantageous.

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Here are 6 good reasons that are worth considering:

  • You’ll get visitors to stay longer on your website: Google is looking for new ways to improve user experience. So, Google recognizes when users search for stuff, visit your website, and then immediately go to SERP (Search Engine Results Page). Google will assume your page may not be so relevant after all.

If, however, someone visits your website from a search engine suggestion, it is very likely that they will spend some time reading your blog post.

  • Brand mentions: This off-page SEO strategy is a great way to get your brand noticed online. Through blogging, you can create many ways for your brand to be mentioned both online and offline in places you have never visited. You will get a lot of social media engagements and site traffic as well.
  • More opportunities for link building: Are you looking for a way to increase your site authority? You can do that by maintaining high-quality content on your blog. Most bloggers are likely to notice the quality of your content and create direct links to it.
  • Your site will stay updated: We all like sites we visit to be updated from time to time, otherwise, we move on. Leaving your site out of date gives the impression that you either have no business maintaining it or you’re no longer in business.

Blogging regularly will keep your site updated and show your audience that you are still in the business of providing them with relevant, quality information.

  • You’ll get to target more keywords: Another benefit of blogging for SEO is that you will be better equipped to target more keywords.  You would also be able to target keywords that would not sound quite natural on your landing pages. Although you may have some optimized landing pages, blogging allows you to add long-tail keywords that rank easier, will draw more attention from new users, and include new search terms continually.
  • Create your internal links: SEO has a lot to do with link building. One of the easiest ways to add links to your site is by creating internal links. Since you can create links internally, blogging can increase opportunities for growing more internal links to related topics.

Then with your anchor text, you can build a stronger connection by letting Google know details about the linked page.

Blogging vs. Guest Posting

Do you feel like your eCommerce or SaaS website is not getting the rate of traffic you need?

You should give blogging a try. You would be assured of an increase in traffic to your website.

But what can guest blogging SEO achieve for you?

Guest blogging is one of the best tools for growing your business. In addition to the SEO benefits, it boosts your brand profile and attracts direct traffic.

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When blogging, you may be caught in between needing to write for your website and writing a guest blog for another site. However, these essential online marketing strategies are highly recommended.

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Which would you go for and why?

How do you create a perfect balance?

a. Consider what your audience wants

How do you decide which content to publish on your site or another site?

It all depends on what your audience wants.

On your site, you can focus on the particular audience that is more likely to patronize your products or services. However, as a guest blogger, you have no control over the audience so you have to work with the audience of those other websites.

b. The brainstorming process

How do you figure out what you should write about?

Well, if you are dealing with your blog, it is easier to just contact your customers directly through call or email, especially if you have 10 or 30. If, however, you have over 1,000 customers, you can find out what they need through a survey.

With guest posting, you can go through the website’s archives, check the popular posts, and read the comments on them. You can also ask the owner of the blog or the editor with access to the analytics for information on what the readers want.