It’s natural for brands to want to publish content on their own website but it is relatively more effective to spread the brand message on other websites within the same category. Established domains have a strong authority and require less time and effort on the marketer’s part to rank on the first page of UAE’s search engine result pages (SERP).

Furthermore, spreading the brand message on recognized domains helps build brand reputation and adds credibility to the brand message.

Does it generate sales?

The Middle East market is intensely knowledge-based, which makes it easy to generate leads and boost sales through knowledge-based content and creative portfolios. Financial advisors, advisors, lawyers, architects and even SEO consultants are cracking leads by publishing their articles along with details about their work on top platforms relevant to their industry.

The optimal way to do so is through guest blogs and exclusive content for websites, which are well recognized and have a strong authority in your specific niche.

Where do you publish?

It is obviously important to pick the right websites to publish your content. How do you determine which website is right for you?

The first and most important parameter is a domain’s authority. A domain’s authority is basically a prediction of how a website will perform in search engine results. It isn’t the most accurate measure of your internal SEO efforts but it is an excellent way to compare between websites. You can find out a domain’s authority by searching for relevant keywords. For example, if you’re a fashion brand, search for the keyword “fashion tips” and pair it with other generic keywords, such as “guest post guidelines” or “guest post” or “write for us”. The websites, which turn up against the most number of keywords, are the ones with a strong authority. You can use Moz’s Open Site Explorer for a quick review on the domain authority of a website or Semrush.com for a general review of ranked keywords.

Make sure that the domains you select have a good track record of working with a wide network of top contributors from your industry and especially from the region.

How should you write an article?

Your article should be a combination of expertise and creativity. The title should be newsworthy and have a combination of important keywords. If you are writing about social media, opt for long phrases like ‘social media marketing strategy’ or ‘social media marketing plan’.

Well-researched, good quality articles also help get attention from social media platforms. The articles should cover viral elements in order to reach out to more people through social media, which helps with long-term consistent ranking of the article. At any given point of time, aim to have at least one such article on the first page of Google’s SERPs.

You can have more than one article in the top ten results of Google SERPs by focusing on combinations of the same keyword. Make sure that you cover the same topic or keyword from different perspectives as this improves your ranking and proves your knowledge and expertise in a specific area or keyword.

If the website or blogging platform on which you publish your content allows you to link the article to previous relevant articles – whether on the same website or a different one – make sure to do so as it will build the authority of your articles.

The bottom line is that guest posts work wonders in establishing your authority and improving ranking. Make sure to spread out your content across different websites for optimal results.