With a quick online search, you can immediately notice the importance of niche edits and guest posts for SEO growth. SEO companies use these strategies to help build links and improve their client’s rankings in the SERPs. But how to choose between niche edits and guest posts, and which link-building strategy is better?
To answer this question, we must analyze several aspects, like:
- The importance of a solid link-building strategy
- The characteristics of each strategy
- The effects of niche edits and guest posts on SEO Rankings
By covering these aspects, you will learn about the two link-building strategies, how they work, and which one to choose.
How to Choose Between Niche Edits and Guest Posts
To choose between niche edits and guest posts, you must first define your marketing goals. Characteristics like short-term or long-term results, instant link juice, showcasing expertise, etc., play a significant role in this process.
Here is a table outlining the characteristics of both link-building strategies side by side:
Based on the table above, you can clearly see the differences between the two strategies.
As an SEO agency, we offer packages for niche edits and guest posts. Consider your goals, budget, and website authority when choosing between them. Try our services for optimal results.
Considering their features and characteristics, we will discuss which strategy is better suited for you in the following section.
Guest Posts vs. Niche Edits: Which to Choose?
The truth is that both strategies are good and effective, and which one you choose depends on factors like your:
- Goals
- Resources
- Marketing plans
Based on these factors, you may choose niche edits if you want faster results and quickly improve the search engine optimization of your site.
On the other hand, if your goal is to build solid relationships, showcase expertise and steadily advance your rankings in the SERPs, then using guest post placement is the right long-term backlink strategy for you.
In any case, both strategies offer quality backlinks if they are implemented correctly.
It’s also important to mention that many SEO experts and link builders combine these strategies to get outstanding results. They know that link building is essential for SEO, and we will discuss it further in the article.
The Importance of Link Building
If you want to rank higher in the SERPs, you have to consider multiple factors.
One of those factors is link building.
When Google ranks a site, it looks at backlinks as critical metrics for increased domain authority. Backlinks are the pathways by which traffic and link juice is transferred between pages with different authority scores.
Is link building an easy process?
As simple as it may sound, establishing solid backlinks is complex. That’s because Google rates backlinks differently, giving an advantage to those from authority and reputable sites.
Google’s algorithm also prefers backlinks that connect sites within the same niche/industry.
Looking at the link spam section of Google Search Central, we can see how Google establishes rules to prevent backlink malpractices. They state, “Any links intended to manipulate rankings in Google Search results may be considered link spam.”
This means that buying or selling backlinks and forcing artificial rankings in the SERPs is penalized by Google.
Acquiring organic or “natural” links is the best way to acquire backlinks. But link building and SEO experts have found other strategies to acquire backlinks “legally” without going against Google policies.
Those link-building strategies are called guest posts and niche edits.
Let’s look at each strategy, how it works, and how to choose between niche edits and guest posts.
Link Building With Niche Edits
What are niche edits, and how do they work?
Niche edit backlinks (also called curated or contextual links) are links inserted into an aged/indexed piece of relevant content related to your niche. They differ from guest posts because the latter are placed in new pieces of content.
When implemented correctly, niche edits can significantly improve a site’s rankings.
They provide quick results because of their ability to transfer traffic from already established pieces of content on authoritative sites.
In other words, you basically “go along for the ride” and benefit from the success and traffic of the linking domain.
How to acquire niche edits
The process of acquiring niche edits is complex and requires a lot of research.
In short, here are the four general steps to acquiring niche edits for a site:
- You need to research and find websites with the same or similar niche and have adequate traffic.
- Choose an article from the website with content related to the one that is already published on your site.
- Source the webmaster’s contact information and write a message requesting a niche edit.
- Once your request is accepted, you can negotiate the anchor text on which the link will be placed.
Link Building With Guest Posts
What are guest posts, and how do they work?
Guest post link building, unlike niche editing, is the process of posting new article content on another website or blog, for which you get the credit as a contributing author. This is an entirely different strategy to niche edits, even though the result is the same, to acquire backlinks.
Source: forbes.com
You can identify an SEO guest post from the example image when the contributing author is named as the article’s creator.
Unlike niche edits, guest post articles take time to produce results regarding important ranking factors and SEO improvement. The new content needs time to be indexed by Google, which is why this is more of a long-term strategy.
On the other hand, guest posts allow you to showcase your expertise, increase your authority and get exposure. They offer you the chance to broaden your target audience more naturally by letting them know who you are and what you do.
How to acquire guest posts
Acquiring a guest post deal with an authoritative site is similar to the one used for niche edits.
The guest post outreach process includes four general steps:
- Research and find a high domain authority site within your niche.
- Decide the topic of your guest post article.
- Pitch to the website’s webmaster, asking them for a contributing blog post.
- Publish the article on their website with a backlink to your domain.
Conclusion
Niche edits and guest posts are two excellent strategies to help build quality backlinks from authoritative websites.
There is no right or wrong answer when choosing between them; the goal is to use them properly and effectively.
Now that you know how to choose between niche edits and guest posts, what is your opinion on these link-building strategies? Is one better than the other? Do they work best when used separately or combined together?
Let us know in the comments below.