Build your brand: The dos and don’ts of guest blogging for construction teams

When it comes to winning the internet, content is king.

The more you produce, the greater the chance you have to rank higher on Google. But what does that really mean – and why is it so important if you’re looking to grow your business? It’s simple. When people search terms like “home builder” or “construction teams near me,” you want to be among the first few results listed on the page.

Think about the last time you searched something … did you make the effort to scroll to the bottom or click through multiple pages of results? Yeah, we didn’t think so.

There’s a ton of construction marketing strategies you could employ to bump your business up a few notches, but one of the best ways is through blogging. This isn’t news to most savvy business owners – many in construction already have an entire section of their website dedicated to thoughtful, original articles spun up by their team.

To really outwit the competition, it’s time to take your content marketing strategy up a few notches. It’s time for guest blogging.

What is guest blogging?

The answer is just as it sounds: Guest blogging is when you write and publish content for someone else’s website. This is a digital marketing strategy that, when done right, acts as powerful fuel for business growth.

One of the biggest challenges for any construction company is getting your name in front of potential clients. Social media helps. Your website plays a big role. Think of guest blogging, or guest posting as it’s sometimes called, as the next natural step to evolving your marketing efforts.

What are the benefits of guest blogging?

By this point, you might be thinking …

“Wait. Are you serious? You really expect us to spend time writing articles for others when I could use those hours to create content for my own site?”

We get it – this all might seem counterproductive. However, the benefits of guest posting can make a significant impact to your sales goals.

Here’s how:

• You’ll position yourself as an authority in the construction industry. You’re such an expert at what you do that other sites want to share what you have to say! These are the type of home builders clients want to work with.

• Your business gets introduced to an audience who might have otherwise never been exposed. Consider your brand awareness officially boosted – as well as the number of visitors to your site.

• The major advantage of guest blogging as a construction company is earning backlinks to your site. You can easily add these to the content you write, which in turn boosts your positioning for search results. The more backlinks a website has, the higher Google ranks it.

The dos and don’ts of guest blogging

If you’re going to use guest blogging as part of your construction marketing strategy, you want to ensure your efforts aren’t wasted. Here are five quick rules to keep in mind:

Do read the site’s submission rules

When you’re a guest in someone’s home, they might ask you to take off your shoes at the door – rules apply as a guest blogger, too. You might have a specific word count to reach, be limited to the number of backlinks you can include or asked to write in a similar style to what’s already on their website.

Folliwing a publisher’s rules is the quickest way to win their trust and ultimately get your article published.

Don’t send the same content to multiple sites

Sites want content that’s original to them – not something that’s copied and pasted from an article that already exists on your site. Duplicate content living in multiple places online hurts both sites’ ranking. Google is smart and essentially considers that content a wash.

Do provide readers with valuable insights

Hopefully this is the easy part. It’s important to pick topics you’re both knowledgeable in and enjoy writing about. Just make the time and start typing.

You’ll also want to choose a topic that people are already searching for – but you can provide some unique insights not found anywhere else. One way to do this is to talk about your construction business and its building specialties. Prove what makes you an expert in your selected topic.

Don’t just write for any and every site

It doesn’t make sense for a construction business owner to contribute to a food blog, or vice versa.

Finding the perfect topic is just the start – now you have to find the right place to share your knowledge. Your main goal is to find sites relevant to the residential construction industry.

You want to find publishers or sites where …

• Construction, home building or remodeling remains the focus
• Readership is active and engaged – one way to determine this to see if posts are shared or commented on
• The publishing site is active on social media and willing to cross-promote the article, which brings us to our last point …

Do promote your content – and encourage them to do the same

Your work isn’t over once you submit a guest post. This content may not live on your construction website, but you should promote it all the same.

Share the guest post on your own social media, respond to any comments on the article and consider linking to it other content on your website. All this will help build a good relationship with publishers (they’ll want to work with you again!) while expanding your post’s readership.

Start guest blogging now – write for Buildertrend

If writing a construction guest post sounds like the right fit for your marketing strategy, we know the perfect place to start – right here!

Buildertrend is the No. 1 software for home builders, remodelers and specialty contractors. We’re also home to one of the leading blogs in the industry. Weekly, we publish several new articles filled with tips and tricks to take construction teams to the next level of building excellency.

So, where do you fit in? We’re now accepting contributors.

Check out our guest blogger benefits, requirements and make your pitch here. Your voice will reach thousands, and we’ll promote the content across our marketing channels.

The next big Buildertrend blog could come from you!