How to look up guest post opportunities on ahrefs

Guest posting remains a powerful strategy for building authority, expanding reach, and improving search engine rankings. However, finding high-quality opportunities can be challenging. Ahrefs, a comprehensive SEO toolset, offers several features that can streamline your guest post prospecting process. This guide will explore how to leverage Ahrefs effectively to uncover valuable guest posting opportunities.

Navigating ahrefs’ content explorer for guest post prospects

Content Explorer is one of Ahrefs’ most versatile tools for content research and link building. When it comes to finding guest post opportunities, it can be an invaluable resource. Here’s how to make the most of it:

Start by entering relevant keywords or phrases related to your niche into the Content Explorer search bar. For example, if you’re in the digital marketing industry, you might use terms like “digital marketing tips” or “SEO strategies”. This will generate a list of content pieces that are performing well in your industry.

Once you have your initial results, it’s time to refine your search. Use the filters on the left-hand side to narrow down your prospects. Some key filters to consider include:

• Language: Ensure you’re targeting sites in your preferred language
• Organic traffic: Focus on sites with substantial organic reach
• Domain Rating (DR): Target sites with a DR that aligns with your goals
• Referring domains: Look for content with a good number of backlinks

By adjusting these filters, you can quickly identify high-performing content in your niche, which often indicates websites that might be open to guest contributions.

Leveraging domain comparison for competitor guest post analysis

Another effective strategy for finding guest post opportunities is to analyze where your competitors are guest posting. Ahrefs’ Domain Comparison tool can be incredibly useful for this purpose.

Identifying High-Authority domains with referring domains feature

Start by entering your domain and a few of your top competitors into the Domain Comparison tool. This will give you an overview of each site’s backlink profile. Pay particular attention to the “Referring domains” metric, as this can indicate which competitors have been most successful in their link-building efforts.

Once you’ve identified competitors with strong referring domain profiles, you can dig deeper into their backlink sources. These sources often include guest post opportunities that you might not have discovered otherwise.

Analyzing backlink profiles for guest post patterns

After identifying competitors with strong backlink profiles, use Ahrefs’ Site Explorer to analyze their backlinks in detail. Look for patterns in the types of sites linking to your competitors. Are there industry publications, niche blogs, or news sites that frequently feature guest posts from your competitors?

Pay attention to the anchor text used in these backlinks. Guest post links often use author bios or contextual links within the content. By identifying these patterns, you can create a list of potential guest post targets.

Utilising the “link intersect” tool for common guest post sites

Ahrefs’ Link Intersect tool is another powerful feature for uncovering guest post opportunities. This tool allows you to find websites that link to multiple competitors but not to you. These sites are often prime targets for guest posting, as they’ve already shown a willingness to link to content in your niche.

To use this tool effectively, input your domain and those of 2-3 competitors. The resulting list will show you websites that link to your competitors but not to you, providing a treasure trove of potential guest post opportunities.

Crafting advanced search operators in ahrefs’ content explorer

While basic keyword searches in Content Explorer can yield good results, using advanced search operators can significantly enhance your guest post prospecting efforts. These operators allow you to refine your search and find more specific opportunities.

Implementing “inurl:” and “intitle:” for guest post page detection

The inurl: and intitle: operators are particularly useful for finding pages specifically dedicated to guest posting. Here’s how to use them:

• inurl:write-for-us OR inurl:guest-post : This will find pages with these phrases in the URL
• intitle:"guest post guidelines" OR intitle:"write for us" : This targets pages with these phrases in the title

Combining these operators with your niche keywords can help you find highly relevant guest posting opportunities. For example: inurl:write-for-us AND "digital marketing"

Combining footprints with industry keywords for precision

To further refine your search, combine these operators with industry-specific keywords. This technique, often referred to as using “footprints”, can help you uncover niche-specific guest posting opportunities that might be missed by broader searches.

For instance, if you’re in the fitness industry, you might use a search string like this:

(inurl:write-for-us OR intitle:"guest post") AND (fitness OR "weight loss" OR nutrition)

This combination will help you find guest post opportunities specifically within the fitness and nutrition niche.

Filtering results by domain rating and organic traffic

After running your advanced searches, it’s crucial to filter the results to ensure you’re targeting high-quality opportunities. Use Ahrefs’ built-in filters to narrow down your results based on:

• Domain Rating: Focus on sites with a DR that aligns with your goals
• Organic traffic: Prioritize sites with substantial organic reach
• Referring domains: Look for sites with a healthy backlink profile

By applying these filters, you can quickly identify the most promising guest post opportunities that are likely to provide the most value for your efforts.

Exploiting ahrefs’ site explorer for Reverse-Engineering guest posts

Site Explorer is another powerful Ahrefs tool that can be used to reverse-engineer successful guest posting strategies. By analyzing the backlink profiles of industry leaders or successful competitors, you can uncover valuable insights and opportunities.

Start by entering a competitor’s domain into Site Explorer. Navigate to the “Backlinks” report and look for patterns in their backlink acquisition. Pay attention to:

• Domains that frequently link to your competitor
• The types of content that attract the most backlinks
• The anchor text used in these backlinks

Often, you’ll find that many of these backlinks come from guest posts. By identifying these sources, you can create a list of potential sites to target for your own guest posting efforts.

Additionally, use the “Best by links” report in Site Explorer to identify your competitor’s most linked-to content. This can give you ideas for guest post topics that are likely to attract backlinks and engagement.

Automating guest post discovery with ahrefs alerts

Once you’ve mastered the art of finding guest post opportunities manually, it’s time to set up systems for ongoing discovery. Ahrefs Alerts can help automate this process, ensuring you never miss a new opportunity.

Setting up content explorer alerts for new opportunities

Content Explorer Alerts allow you to monitor the web for new content that matches your specified criteria. To set up an alert for guest post opportunities:

1. Go to Alerts > Content Explorer
2. Enter your search query (e.g., inurl:write-for-us AND "digital marketing" )
3. Set your preferred filters (language, organic traffic, etc.)
4. Choose your alert frequency (daily, weekly, or monthly)

With these alerts in place, you’ll receive regular notifications about new guest post opportunities in your niche.

Configuring backlink alerts for competitor guest post monitoring

Backlink Alerts can help you stay informed about your competitors’ guest posting activities. To set this up:

1. Go to Alerts > Backlinks
2. Enter your competitor’s domain
3. Set filters to focus on high-quality, relevant backlinks
4. Choose your alert frequency

These alerts will notify you when your competitors gain new backlinks, potentially revealing new guest posting opportunities for you to explore.

Utilising batch analysis for bulk domain evaluation

When you’ve compiled a list of potential guest post targets, Ahrefs’ Batch Analysis tool can help you evaluate them efficiently. This tool allows you to analyze multiple domains at once, providing key metrics like Domain Rating, organic traffic, and referring domains.

To use Batch Analysis:

1. Go to More > Batch Analysis
2. Enter your list of domains
3. Review the results and prioritize your outreach based on the metrics that matter most to you

This approach can save you significant time in evaluating potential guest post opportunities, allowing you to focus your efforts on the most promising prospects.

Exporting and managing guest post prospects from ahrefs

After identifying a wealth of guest post opportunities using Ahrefs’ various tools, it’s crucial to organize and manage this information effectively. Ahrefs allows you to export data from most of its reports, which can be incredibly useful for managing your guest post prospecting efforts.

When exporting data, consider including the following key metrics:

• Domain Rating (DR)
• Organic traffic
• Referring domains
• URL of the guest post guidelines (if available)
• Contact information (if available)

Once you’ve exported this data, you can import it into a spreadsheet or a customer relationship management (CRM) tool to track your outreach efforts. This organized approach will help you prioritize your targets, manage your communications, and track the success of your guest posting campaign.

Remember, successful guest posting is not just about finding opportunities—it’s about building relationships. Use the insights gained from Ahrefs to craft personalized, value-driven pitches that resonate with your target sites. By combining Ahrefs’ powerful data with a strategic, relationship-focused approach, you can maximize the effectiveness of your guest posting efforts and achieve significant gains in your SEO and brand authority.