Kalkan, Turkey
Most bloggers take a:
“Fire! Ready? Aim!”
approach to getting featured on popular blogs.
Perhaps the analogy sounds funny at first. But after burning through 10 email addresses like Spam432@ISpamEternal.Com the strategy hardly elicits a chuckle.
Highly popular blogs feature highly skilled, intelligent, confident bloggers.
Spamming your blog link to 100 popular bloggers daily – said link pointing to blog topics ranging from canine hemorrhoids, parrot depression, how to get your ex back and Italian food – does not work because firing before being ready or aiming never works out well.
Being seen on high level blogs requires an intelligent approach.
For whatever reason, new and struggling veteran bloggers skip the three steps below. Skipping each is not the smart way to go about gaining high quality backlinks.
Build your blog into an outstanding niche resource.
Follow these 2 steps to get mentioned on top blogs from your niche.
1: Cover Only One Niche
I know, I know.
You just want to blog about what’s on your mind.
But does your doctor also deliver pizza, clean toilets, transport pets and run an orange orchard?
If this sounds asinine imagine how silly it sounds to blog about 5 topics.
The world loves specialists. The world does not trust generalists.
A few bloggers have argued for generalizing but I had never heard of the seeming leaders who preached generalization. Meanwhile, the most powerful people on earth all specialize since where your attention and energy goes, grows.
Choose one niche. Stick to the single niche. Develop expertise in the niche by giving all blogging energy to the niche.
In time, with singular efforts, you can and will thrive as a credible blogging leader who lands features on high level blogs.
I took one big step up recently in this regard concerning my blogging course and blogging eBooks:
I decided to promote one blogging course and three blogging eBooks to specialize even more mindfully. I currently build all content around each eBook and the course, melded with reader questions, of course. Doing this gives each premium product the love it deserves through the concept of specializing versus going broad, dissipating energies and watering down my blog, brand and business through iffy-ness.
Do one thing. Blog about one niche. Do it damn well.
What About Blogging on Multiple Topics?
Blogging on multiple topics works if you have:
- substantial money to invest in an army of highly skilled freelancers who publish high quality content at a prolific clip
- leveraging experience to distribute this high volume of content through targeted channels
In laymen’s terms; if you have thousands of dollars to hire respected writers to publish content prolifically and experience blasting all posts to a highly targeted, huge audience, do not bother attempting to do what Mashable, CNN, Forbes or Entrepreneur does.
Be a specialist. Pick one niche.
Learn the niche inside-out. Study it. Solve its problems.
Position yourself as a trusted authority.
Bloggers who own popular blogs tend to only feature single niche bloggers because most covered a single niche in order to become a popular blogger.
Specialists feature specialists.
2: Extend Your Time Frames
14 years ago as a new blogger I seriously believed that Oprah reserved a place for me on her couch….sooner than later!
Yes; Oprah was still a TV thing back them.
As my delusion slowly subsided I gradually realized how 1000’s of blogging work hours spanning years position bloggers to gain significant exposure.
Stretch feature time frames from days and weeks to months and years. Being seen on popular blogs consumes a hefty chunk of time because practicing to develop blogging skills is no overnight deal.
Forbes and Entrepreneur featured me 7 years into my blogging career. I needed to practice blogging for those 7 years to be:
- seen
- credible
- clear
enough for iconic brands to link to my blog and Twitter handle.
Patience, Young Blogging Padawan.
Good things take time and plenty of practice.
As a rule, unrealistic expectations delude bloggers into thinking quick, easy ways exist for getting links dropped on popular blogs. Reality douses such delusions with ice cold water.
Relax. Slow down. Calm down.
Plan to be here for a while before being seen on respected blogs because….you will!
3: Establish Posture by Only Publishing Outstanding Content and Links
I spent the prior weeks:
- deleting all comments
- deleting all links
- deleting all blog posts
on Blogging From Paradise that did not qualify as outstanding.
Admittedly, this process felt as uncomfortable as playing naked Twister with a porcupine. Who enjoys deleting a heavy volume of blogging work completed even if the work took from more than added to your blogging success?
Anyway, purging lower quality comments, links and posts made me feel better about my blog. Feeling better about my blog influenced me to actively promote every single post; I resisted this practice for years.
Popular bloggers link to high quality blogs.
Publish a high quality blog by publishing only outstanding content. Write detailed, long form, targeted blog posts to solve reader needs. Resist the urge to publish anything else.
Practically speaking, this post meets a pressing problem because blogging specialists seem rare and rarer are posturing bloggers. Bloggers benefit from hearing my specific message trumpeted through the post.
Drilling down to publish detailed content offers readers practical advice to put into action immediately. Happy readers put you on the radar screen of high level bloggers through:
- backlinks (from fellow bloggers)
- retweets
- Facebook Shares
- LinkedIn Shares
- blog comments
- social media comments
When 5, 10 or 20 readers blast your high quality content across multiple online channels the top bloggers in your niche take notice. A few high level bloggers will eventually link to your blog because doing so bolsters their credibility and helps their readers.
Practical Tips
- publish 1500 word blog posts centered on a long tail keyword queried by your readers
- include practical tips for readers to use
- design posts to be scannable for easy reading
- cull low quality content and links every 3-6 months to keep your blog outstanding
Get crystal clear on creating a high level blog to lessen these cull sessions.
Do the mental planning now to avoid the physical grunt work later (Shared by a guy who spent weeks deleting lower quality content and links).
Conclusion
Being seen on high level blogs involves patiently developing particular skills.
Follow the smart steps above to adopt the proper mindset to be visible on highly popular blogs.
