Guest blogging is a great way to build relevant links to your website from authoritative websites within your niche. Bloggers are always in need of content, and many will jump on an opportunity to add great content to their blog that their readers will enjoy. The most difficult part of using guest blogging as a link development strategy is the very first step - identifying guest post opportunities. From the head-smackingly simple to some lesser-known gems, below is a breakdown of the best strategies to find these opportunities.

THE BASICS

Leverage Your Personal Connections
This is a natural starting point. Most people have industry connections or just friends with blogs. Shoot them an e-mail, a text message, an IM, a tweet, an owl, or whatever it takes. Be courteous - the last thing you want to do is burn a bridge with an overly aggressive approach. By the same token, don't be afraid to ask. Website owners are always in need of content, and you already have an established trust factor with these people. If you're smooth, setting up a guest post arrangement should be cake.

Use Your Blog as a Billboard
This is one of those head-slappers that surprisingly few people remember to take advantage of. You have a blog. You have readers. Presumably, some of those readers have blogs or websites in need of content. If they're on your website, you already know that they trust your opinion. Put up a blog post letting your readers know that you're available for guest posts, and list your topics of expertise, or some topics you might be interested in writing about. You'd be surprised at the response you can get, especially if your blog is popular.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

Ask For Them
Be it on Facebook or Twitter, don't forget to straight up ask for guest post opportunities. Not only can you reach out to your friends with blogs or websites, but you can get the conversation going with your friends that have friends who own blogs or websites. That second tier connection is key. You might be hesitant to shoot an e-mail out to all of your connections to ask them if they know anybody with a blog in your niche, but a Facebook or Twitter message is much less direct, and if phrased right, seems much less opportunistic.

Search For Them
Another head-slapper. Most people remember to use Twitter to find guest post opportunities from people they are connected to, but very few remember that Twitter has a search feature, and in this case it can come in very handy. Most established blogs nowadays tweet about every new post. This is especially true if they have put out a guest post, because bloggers love to tag the guest poster in their Tweet to reach out to their followers in addition to their own. Search Twitter for phrases like:

• "guest post"
• "guest blogger"
• "writers needed"
• "blog for us"
• "write for us"

This can help you easily find blogs that are already accepting guest posts, or are actively looking for writers. Chances are, if the blog you approach is already well-accustomed to the guest posting process, they will be receptive to your offer.

Network For Them
I've always said that Facebook is for people you're friends with, Twitter is for people you wish you were friends with, and LinkedIn is for people you wish you didn't have to be friends with. Nevertheless, LinkedIn is a heavily underutilized tool when it comes to finding guest post opportunities. LinkedIn is very much so a professional network, so the chances are that you're mostly connected to people in your industry, and them likewise. This makes for much less noise on LinkedIn, and a much greater chance for your request to be heard.

SEARCH ENGINES

Google It!
Searching for "your niche + blogs" is the quickest and most intuitive way to find relevant blogs for your industry. Once you find blogs you'd be interested in, first check to see if they have an established guest post system, or if they've accepted guest posts in the past. If not, don't fret - this doesn't instantly rule out their blog as an opportunity for a guest post, it just means you might have to sell them on the concept. If you're approaching a blog for a guest post and they don't have a history of accepting guest posts, bring your A game when you make your initial contact. It might also help to hang out in their comments section or interact with them via social media for a few weeks to establish a relationship with them, in order to make your guest post request seem less opportunistic.

Get Smart(-y)
For this topic, I defer to the queen of guest posting, Ann Smarty. She basically wrote the Bible on using Google to find guest post opportunities, and to try to summarize it here would indeed be blasphemy. Her post has a very comprehensive list of phrases to use when searching Google for guest post opportunities, and a great summary of advanced search operators that you can use to find opportunities that you never would have otherwise stumbled across. I would love if someone in this community turned Ann's list into a tool to help easily generate Google queries to find guest posts. Better yet, how about working this into your Link Acquisition Assistant tool, SEOmoz? I think it is way more relevant to link building nowadays than directory submissions.

Google Blog Search
Once you've exhausted the traditional Google search bar, check out Google Blog Search. Whereas searching on Google can be a great way to find niche blogs, Google Blog Search can help you locate blogs in closely related niches, or larger blogs who have a category for your niche but are not entirely focused on it. This has time and time again turned up some hidden gems for me, and helped me find blogs that I wasn't aware of, even after extensively searching Google for niche blogs.

COMMUNITIES

Guest Blog Post Communities
Oh, NOW you tell me? Yep, there are communities built expressly for the purpose of helping bloggers connect with guest writers. While you won't necessarily find the biggest and best blogs in your niche on these networks, they can be a great place to get your feet wet with guest posting. Some of the bigger networks include My Blog Guest (owned by Ann Smarty!) and BlogSynergy. Linknami also has an area of their website dedicated to this exact feature, although they are not quite as well known as the other two networks when it comes to guest blogging.

Forum Communities
Be it in a forum tailored for your niche where you're likely to encounter other bloggers and web masters, or in a forum like DigitalPoint where everyone already knows the deal and people are actively looking for guest posters, forums can be a great way to find opportunities. Don't create an account on a new forum and start begging for guest post opportunities right away - that sounds like a recipe for negative reputation. Get involved, network with the most active members of the community, and then move in for the kill.

Blogger Directories
Technorati and Alltop come to mind right away. These blog directories can help you find the best and most trafficked blogs in your industry. These can really give you a sense of who the A-listers are for your niche. Aside from the massive amount of link juice these blogs will be able to dish out, they come with the added benefit of tremendous amounts of traffic. The opportunity to get eyeballs on your name and your brand is a huge bonus.

Craigslist: It's Not Just For Anonymous Sex
I see posts on Craigslist every day with people looking for bloggers, or website owners looking for article writers. Why not approach these people and tell them that while you're not looking for a full-time writing gig, you'd love to give them an article for free - provided they link back to your website. Explain your background and why you're an authority in your industry, and sell them on how much their audience will appreciate your expert knowledge. You already know these people have a need for more content, now you just have to sell them on accepting YOUR content. While you're already on Craigslist, why not also put up an ad saying that you're available for guest posting? You'd be surprised the kind of response you can get, especially in bigger cities.

LEVERAGING PREVIOUS GUEST POSTS

Use Your Guest Post as a Billboard
Every guest post typically comes with a byline. Guest posters naturally use this space to put in links to their target website, and to mention their social media profiles to gain more followers and fans. What about mentioning your availability for more guest post opportunities? "Interested in getting my advice on your blog? I'm always looking for the opportunity to share my knowledge with new communities!"

Interact With Commenters
Once you land your guest post and successfully get it published on a blog, don't forget to stay on top of the comments section. This gives you a great opportunity to network with the followers of the blog you guest posted on. Chances are good that some of these people also have blogs in the industry, and by rubbing elbows with them, you can create the opportunity for even more guest posts. Don't be afraid to ask - these people already see you as an authority if you're posting on their favorite blog.

Going Back for Seconds
I know, I know. You're in this for the back linking, and you want them coming from as many domains as possible. That shouldn't rule out making repeat guest posts on blogs, however, especially if your first guest post generated traffic or followers. This is an opportunity to grow an audience and a network. Don't forget that aside from being a powerful link building tactic, guest posting is also a PR strategy. The more you give to a community, the more they will view you as an authority. Oh, and did I mention the opportunity to link to different areas of your website with different keyword rich anchor text? Bottom line: take all of the guest post opportunities you can get, even if you've already worked with a blog in the past.

What's your favorite strategy to find guest post opportunities?  Let us know in the comments section below!

Anthony Mangia is the CEO of Mangia Marketing, a boutique digital marketing firm based in Downtown NYC that specializes in SEO, paid search, and social media for companies of all sizes. He is actively looking for guest blog post opportunities on authoritative Internet Marketing blogs.  Follow him on Twitter at @Aignam to get in touch.