Applying different SEO link-building strategies to your business, project, or website will result in better brand awareness, a stronger foundation of credibility, and higher online visibility.
The two most efficient and common strategies website owners use are guest posts and niche edits.
Both offer different solutions for the same problem, so knowing when to use each strategy and which will yield better results in varying situations is essential.
Thus, we must answer the question: “What wins in the battle between guest posting and niche editing? Which one is more effective?”
Find out the answer by reading through this article.
Understanding Guest Posting
Guest posting entails writing relevant articles and publishing them on other reputable websites. Your goal here is to attract relevant traffic to your website and your existing articles.
In our encounters with site editors and owners, we’ve observed that they put a premium on knowing the basics of this link-building strategy. It’s only in the process of knowing what it is that they get to curate and align their tactics better.
So, take advantage of the opportunity to learn more about guest posting’s definition, purpose, and advantages and disadvantages through this section!
Definition and Purpose of Guest Posting
We have established above that guest posting, guest post outreach, or guest blogging is a marketing tactic that involves writing your own articles and publishing them on other websites.
When understanding guest posting deeply, you need to know that guest posts serve as an avenue to attract organic traffic for your website and articles. It also helps build your site’s credibility, putting you on the map as a niche authority.
It’s vital to remember that these posts must be quality content featuring unique and insightful content ideas, as this is one of the most important ranking factors when creating guest posts.
REMEMBER: Make content that fits the host website by ensuring proper communication and understanding of guest post guidelines between the editor, owner, blog manager, and guest writer.
Apart from that, remember to send your guest posts to established sites. Make it part of the posting process to identify blogs of the same niche that are high-ranking and ever-willing to collaborate on guest posts.
You will only have to focus on making high-quality content since the page’s audience will gravitate toward the discussed topic. Your goal here is to intensify that interest and bring it to your existing content through embedded backlinks.
Advantages of Guest Posting
If utilized well, guest posting will give you a boost in the competitive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) arena. Learn more about the benefits of guest posting through this list:
- Guest posts can increase organic traffic from the target audience
- Doing a guest or blog post solidifies your credibility and reputation in the industry
- It increases the ranking of the site in search engines (i.e., Google search results)
- It also fosters connections with other website owners and bloggers
- A guest post can elevate your content ideas and make you think of more relevant keywords
- A blog post can generate leads and drive sales
- With guest posts, you can have free constructive feedback from an audience interested in your niche to further improve your content
Disadvantages of Guest Posting
Just like any other SEO strategy, it can have some pain points, too, such as the following:
- To guest post means to shell out money, which can get expensive. Although some owners may offer a free guest posting slot, most still accept guest posts at a high cost.
- Having your guest posts on low authority sites will waste your efforts because the links inserted will not serve their purpose. Instead, it will be downgraded because the hosting blog is low-quality.
- Google’s webmaster guidelines mention that having guest posts solely for link building is prohibited.
- From what we’ve experienced, you will be dealing with penalties like decreased rankings or removed content from search engines’ results if you use black-hat tactics.
Unraveling Niche Edits
Let’s say you have an existing article or saw one from a targeted page, and it’s considered an authority on that topic. What can you do to benefit from it? Simple! Add your contextual links to it.
Link insertion is a vital aspect that makes niche edits work for the betterment of your entire website. Yet, to get its full benefits, you must understand the basics – the definition, benefits, and potential downsides of niche edits.
Learn more about it in this section!
Defining Niche Edits
In a nutshell, niche editing is the link-building tactic of inserting authority links (i.e., high-quality backlinks) into an existing article with good traffic and authority. Its primary purpose is to enhance your content by building links.
When done right, You can have existing posts on authority sites edited to include backlinks to your site, boosting your own website or article’s rankings. It’s one link-building tactic that can put your website at the top of the SERP.
As you insert links from your own site or use another authority site’s high-ranking article (another person’s blog), you must ensure you link to the most appropriate websites for your niche and industry.
Also, find sites that have excellent content that top the general sites’ search ranking. They help better your backlink profile because search engines have an established system that will put a premium on the quality anchor texts they have ready for use.
PRO TIP: You can acquire the services of link-building specialists to enhance your rankings further.
Benefits of Niche Edits
Niche edits should be part and parcel of your long list of strategies because of the following benefits:
- Niche edit links help you quickly gain more traffic as the links are inserted on indexed pages that have existing traffic
- Niche edits can boost your site’s ranking
- It helps you build links (and strengthen them) in a faster, easier, and more cost-efficient way
- It can be done in conjunction with guest posting
- It helps you target a specific audience by partnering with industry-related sites that are already established and high-ranking pages that accept niche edits
Potential Downsides of Niche Edits
It goes without saying that niche edits are not perfect, as they can also cause you potential downsides, such as:
- If you are inserting links using another site’s article, you do not have control over the content and how it’s framed and presented to the target audience
- Researching the target site and pitching your niche edits take a lot of time
- Doing niche edits, from researching down to pitching and actual practice, demands collaborative effort from a group of people (your team and the website owner)
Guest Posting vs. Niche Edits
In most of our encounters, a website owner would typically ask about the differences between guest posting and niche edits to distinguish what strategy to use considering their needs and niches.
We don’t want you to have that same dilemma. With this, we’ve made a direct comparison and listed details you will need to help you determine your next link-building tactic.
Direct Comparison for Better Understanding
Going straight to the point, here are the characteristics that perfectly sum up the differences between these strategies to give you a better understanding of how guest posts differ from niche edits:
- Guest posts mainly include creating new content but publishing it on another’s website to secure relevant traffic. At the same time, niche edits utilize a website’s published article and insert niche links from other websites to elevate its SERP ranking.
- Guest posts require higher costs for ideating and creating new content, researching on many authority sites, using a professional guest post pitch process, and getting your post published on someone else’s site.
Meanwhile, niche edit links are more cost-efficient as they mainly involve researching, pitching, and inserting links intended for that post rather than writing a new article. - In guest posting or guest blogging, you will have complete control over how you want your content to flow. When doing a niche edit, you are stuck working on already published material on the website you’re adding your link to.
When to Choose Guest Posting
We have given you a detailed breakdown of guest posts vs. niche edits. The question now is: What should you choose to apply?
Here are the instances when it’s more beneficial for you to choose guest posting:
- Choose guest blogging if you want longevity and consistency in results and relevance. One guest post can create hundreds of new readers for your site while allowing you to write an informative article you wouldn’t usually publish on your own site.
- If you are a business owner who wants to make your services known to target audiences, guest posts will help you establish authority and rank higher, leading to more potential customers.
- If your industry relies on knowledge and expertise, doing guest posts on authority sites will benefit you as it will boost your credibility.
- Moreover, as a website owner, you can explore our guest posting service if you want to achieve higher reliability and authority or accept guest posts from high-quality content makers.
When to Opt for Niche Edits
Of course, a guest post can be used in sync with a niche edit. However, there are specific situations when you must opt for niche edits alone, such as:
- If you are a startup or an entry-level business that puts a premium on cost efficiency and faster results, it’s better to focus on niche edits as a tactic.
- If you want to build a strong backlink profile, start with a niche edit using reputable sites relevant to your industry.
- If you are in an industry where what is considered “current information” lasts for a long time (or forever), you can proceed with the niche edit link scheme.
Achieving Optimum SEO with Guest Posting and Niche Edits
Choosing the best strategies to achieve optimum SEO does not end with selecting only one winner in the struggle of guest posts vs. niche edits.
Achieving a remarkable feat in SEO involves pairing guest posts and niche edits, adapting to trends, and tracking the success of your efforts. To help you internalize this point, read through this section.
Pairing Both Strategies Effectively
Remember that you can use guest posts and niche edits simultaneously ONLY if you can pair them efficiently to produce the desired results. Here are some tips you can follow:
- If you are pitching to do a guest post on somebody’s site, you can also embed some links that can strengthen your article, establish your backlink profile, and, at the same time, be beneficial for the site owner’s causes.
- In your guest post, make sure that you incorporate relevant and descriptive anchor texts for your links to help boost your Google ranking.
Adapting to Changes in SEO Trends
Another thing that you must do is adapt to changes in SEO trends. It involves the following processes:
- Reading and understanding the Google guidelines
- Ascertain if your means of ranking is still appropriate by assessing other websites and how they frame and create their content
- Stay informed by following reputable sources and experts who will help you keep up with the trends, updates, and changes in SEO.
- Believe in the magic of trial and error. It is by doing this that you will be motivated to continuously search for the right mix of strategies that will work well for your website
- Do not limit yourself, and make sure that you do more by attending SEO events and enrolling in significant courses.
- SEO is ever-changing, so you need to be observant of how things are going in the industry and quickly adapt your strategies to the situation
Tracking the Success of Your SEO Efforts
Tracking the success of your SEO efforts is a must. By auditing what you have done and how search engines and audiences received it, you get a bigger picture of where you stand in the grand scheme of SEO.
You can track your SEO efforts by monitoring your website’s performance using tools like Google Analytics and SEMrush.
Moreover, in assessing the success (or failure) of your SEO strategies, you can look at the following aspects:
- Backlinks
- Search Engines Result Pages (SERP) visibility
- Keyword rankings
- Number of organic visits to your site
Frequently Asked Questions
We understand how much you want to learn, so we answered some of your frequently asked questions about guest posting and niche edits in this section.
What Are the Main Differences Between Guest Posting and Niche Edits?
The main differences between guest posting and niche edits are the following:
- Guest posts produce new content on someone else’s site, while niche edits make use of published articles you can add your own backlinks to
- In niche edits, you only have control over the links you provide. Meanwhile, in guest posts, you are in charge of how the entire article will be presented.
When Should I Use Guest Posting Over Niche Edits and Vice Versa?
On one hand, you should use guest posting if you value consistency and sustainability in results. On the other hand, utilize niche edits if you are a startup that wants faster results in the most cost-efficient manner possible.
How Can I Effectively Combine Both Strategies for Maximum SEO Benefit?
You can effectively combine both strategies for maximum SEO benefit by balancing what links to include, what articles to write about, and on whose site you will guest post and niche edit on.
Can Guest Posting and Niche Edits Harm My SEO Strategy?
Doing niche edits and aligning guest posting with SEO can harm your strategy if you pair up with low-ranking websites with low-quality articles.
Moreover, your SEO strategy will be wasted if you use black hat niche edit techniques because you will be penalized. You’ll surely be on the losing end if you try to cheat the system.
What Are the Costs Involved in Guest Posting and Niche Edits?
Guest posting entails a higher cost than niche edits. Usually, guest posts range from $20 to $40, while niche edits average around $21.
However, there are site owners who offer guest posting for free. You can also save more by niche editing your previous high-ranking articles instead of going to someone else.
Conclusion
Guest posting or blogging is a strategy employed by making new content and publishing it on a reputable site, and niche editing is the tactic that puts a premium on adding links to someone else’s existing post.
The choice of what SEO link-building strategy you will select is based on the situation of your business and on what outcomes you’d like to achieve.
If you are new to the business, have a tight budget, and are still forming your reputation, start using niche editing. Otherwise, do guest posts if you want to solidify your reliability in the industry, boost connections, and increase your ranking.
To find the answers to this guest posts vs. niche dilemma, you’ll need to balance and combine the strategies, adapt to the SEO trends, and continuously track your sites’ progress and development.
