Forget guest blogging – niche edits are my secret weapon for SEO. Sure, guest posting still has its place, but when it comes to efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and results, niche edits have consistently outperformed.
Over the years, I’ve acquired, grown, and flipped more than 200 websites. Fortunately, that gave me the opportunity to try every link building strategy out there, but niche edits often come out on top for one reason: they just work.
Let me walk you through why I lean on niche edits more than guest posts for our portfolio of websites and the clients we manage.
I’ll share what they are, why they work, and how they compare to guest posting so you can decide what’s best for your own strategy.
What Are Niche Edits (or Link Insertions)?
Niche edits or link insertions are exactly what they sound like: adding a relevant link to an existing piece of content on someone else’s website.
Unlike guest posts, which require creating new articles from scratch, in niche edits, we can edit already published content that is indexed and (hopefully) performing well.
Here’s why this strategy works.
You’re Using the Existing Article Authority
You’re tapping into the trust and authority of the existing article.
Instead of starting from zero, you’re piggybacking on content that is indexed and already has some links pointed to the articles.
Efficiency and Speed
By nature, the niche edit is more efficient than guest posts.
You’re not starting from scratch with content creation, eliminating the time and effort required to write a full-fledged guest post.
So, the TAT for niche edit campaigns is very quick.
Most of the time, I get almost immediate results and guarantee a high ROI because we’re working with existing content.
Contextual Relevance in a High-Quality Article
TBVH, when you do guest post campaigns, most of the time, we don’t focus much on the actual value addition to the articles, but rather, we think more about the linking part.
So, the GP articles often perform poorly, even sometimes not indexed by search engines like Google. However, in the case of niche edits, you’ve the flexibility to choose high-quality, relevant articles for your niche.
Eliminate the Risk of Not Indexed By Google
As I mentioned above, in some cases, I’ve experienced Google not picking up my GP article for indexing.
It’s not always related to the article quality, but it could also be related to the website quality where we do guest posts. There is no guarantee that your post will be indexed. Niche edits eliminate this risk.
Cost-Effectiveness
Budget is always a factor in SEO campaigns, and niche edits are a smart way to stretch your dollars. Because there’s no need for new content creation, the costs associated with placement are significantly lower.
For those managing large-scale campaigns or working with limited budgets, this can translate into substantial savings without compromising link quality.
Easier Acceptance
Niche edits are often more easily accepted by website owners than guest posts.
For example, if someone wants to guest post on my website, The Website Flip, I would be very picky about the quality of the content, even the person’s reputation, the product or services they want to promote, etc., as I don’t want my readers to get wrong or misleading information. The same applies to other quality websites.
More Natural Link Profile
Search engines like Google favor backlinks that look natural, and niche edits have a plus point in this area.
As you can seamlessly add links to the existing content, you can create diverse and authentic backlink profiles.
For guest posts, based on my experience, you either need to add your details or publish a guest post from an author who publishes random guest post articles on different topics.
The first one still has benefits, but you can’t scale it as it can clearly be flagged by Google if you’re doing too many just for the sake of links, and the second one is the most dangerous one you should mostly avoid.
Now, Let’s Talk About Guest Posts
As the name suggests, it is like contributing a valuable piece to someone else’s blog in exchange for exposure and a link back to your site.
Now, I’m not saying guest posting is dead. It’s still a solid strategy in certain situations, especially for brand-building purposes, but not really for scaling your link building campaigns.
Brand Building and Establishing E-E-A-T
Guest posting is a great way to establish your brand within your industry. It also helps with a person’s E-E-A-T.
When your brand name and your name are featured in a highly valuable user-centric article on reputed websites, that definitely helps build credibility and increase recognition, especially when you’re targeting a specific niche.
In the post-HCU era, Google focuses more on brand signals and experience, so guest post campaigns can be used for that, but with careful consideration, as there has been news around the SEO industry that legit guest posts can also give you a manual penalty.
Reaching a Broader Audience
You can reach a broader audience by publishing guest posts.
What I meant by this is: you can write articles for websites that may not directly align with your market but whose readers might be interested in your brand or services. By doing so, you can attract new readers who may not have discovered your brand otherwise.
For example, a few years ago, I wrote a guest post for The Savvy Couple (you can see it here). While the primary focus of their website is to provide readers with a roadmap to financial freedom, my niche – buying, selling, and operating websites – also fits within their broader theme.
As a result, when they published my guest post, I got a good amount of referral traffic and interest from individuals wanting to learn more about my services.
Strengthening Industry Connections
Guest posting often requires collaboration, and this can open doors to business relationships.
When you contribute to a platform, you’re not just sharing content but also connecting with the business owner, their audience, and potentially other influencers in your field.
These relationships can lead to future partnerships, co-marketing opportunities, or even backlinks from other authoritative sites.
My Actionable Takeaways
After years of experimenting, here’s my battles-tested advice if you’re planning your link building campaign:
- Make niche edits a core part of your strategy: They’re cost-effective, efficient, and deliver results quickly.
- Focus on quality over quantity: A few high-quality links will do more for your rankings than dozens of low-quality ones. I’ll soon write a detailed blog to show exactly how my team and I do niche edits for our portfolio and clients’ businesses.Â
- Keep guest posting in your toolkit: Use it selectively for brand-building, E-E-A-T, and expanding your audience.
- Add different other types of link building campaigns: While niche edits and guest posts are great, don’t just stick to them only. Try to do integrated link building campaigns that can improve brand signals overall and give you the authority to rank. Some other types of link building campaigns I prefer are digital PR (in other words, quote links), press release links, and Quora and Reddit mentions for social signals.Â
At the end of the day, link building is all about results. For me, niche edits deliver results and are easier to scale.
Just a side note: You can now hire my team to strategize and execute your link building campaigns for you. We’ve delivered over 10,000 links across our different link building services. If you’re interested in getting niche edits backlinks you can check out our niche edit service here and also feel free to check out our guest post service here.
