How to place good content

There is writing good content and then there is placing good content on the right website. A great way to build relevant and authoritive links to your site and create a balanced back link profile that will have Google jumping for joy is to place great content on other sites. Something we call outreach.

Content doesn’t have to be an article; it can come in many forms. An infographic, a study, an image, press release or case study can all count as good content so long as it's done properly. The trick is placing it where it will be noticed, read and shared.

When finding the right website I search in Google, narrowing down my search to blogs, news or web and then add my relevant key words, depending on what I’m looking for. Once, I have found a couple of sites that have caught my eye I begin to analyse it. (In another article I will delve into the ways you can narrow down your search to find the websites you want quickly).

I use Moz tool bar to discover what the page rank and domain authority is on each site; basically it is telling me how well Google ranks the website. I also have a look at the amount of linking root domains, not the amount of links. The higher the page rank and domain authority the better, and once I have interest in the site statistics I copy and paste the URL into Opensite Explorer. This will then show me who is linking to them. If they're good links, I begin to formulate a contact list.

So all in all the basic tools you need to place good content are:

•  Google
• Moz
• Opensite Explorer
• Excel

However, there are other things you need to look for. Does the site accept suggestions from third parties, and if so how many titles can you see on the first couple of pages that state “Guest post” or “sponsored post”? Google is becoming increasingly aware of paid advertising coming in the forms of guest posts and so it is best not to go to the sites that are riddled with them – after time, and a couple of updates I’m sure they will be penalised.

I would also consider vetting any sites from your contact list that make it known that they accept advertising. Although banner advertising is okay, if they state they accept sponsor posts and ask for money in exchange for placement, this could be sending the wrong signals to Google.