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How to Zoom to the First Page With “The Upside Down Guest Post

Click play to see how to do it:

If you want more exclusive link building techniques and strategies like this, hop on the Backlinko newsletter right now so that you don’t miss out.

As always, I want to hear from you. Leave a comment below right now 🙂

103 Comments

  1. Hi Brian,
    I’m so excited that you rolled out a video. Bookmarked to see it in the morning. ( And with so much hopes ).

    Thanks a lot 🙂

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Amal! Let me know what you think of the video when you watch it tomorrow.

      1. Hi again Brian,
        I just finished watching it. What I feel now is like going back in time and linking back to my site from the middle portion of my guest posts.
        Most Blog Owners didn’t allow to link to my site from the middle portion of the guest posts. I tried many ways to do that, but none of them was worth it.
        I wonder why on earth I didn’t thought of the Resources linking idea. Way to go Brian.
        Linking to other guest posts also seem brilliant. Thanks a lot for that valuable information.
        BTW, why didn’t you rolled out this as a post on your blog ?

        Looking forward to your reply and newsletter.
        Cheers!

        1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

          Really glad you liked the video, Amal. This is one of those things I just kind of figured out by accident. I’m glad I did because it works great.

          Good question. Now that you mention it this could have definitely been a blog post. But I like to provide exclusive content like this that isn’t linked from the homepage just for Backlinko subscribers 🙂

    1. Sam Avatar Samsays:

      Hi Brian,
      Just wondering how many guest posts you actually had published to achieve that jump from the bottom of page 2 to number 4 on page one? and what was the DA of those sites? Thanks

      1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

        Hi Sam, it wasn’t only the guest posts that got me there. It’s hard to say because the post generated some natural links along the way.

  2. I like this idea, Brian. Having those resource sections in your post almost forces you to write a more actionable guest post.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      That’s a good point, Andrew. I never thought of that. It also adds value to the post because it gives people curated resources they can check out if they want to learn more about a topic.

  3. Incredibly insightful as always. I look forward to your emails and reading your newest posts. Thanks Brian!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      I aim to please, Nathan 🙂

      Thanks for watching and give me a heads up if you need help with anything.

  4. Anthony Tran Avatar Anthony Transays:

    Hi Brian, that is some amazing stuff! I love your backlinking tutorials… you make it very easy to understand and the stuff simply works! I have already used some of your previous strategies and now I am able to rank on front page of Google. Thanks again and keep it rocking!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Anthony! I work really hard to make sure that everything that I publish is crystal clear and easy to follow. And I’m REALLY happy to hear that you were able to get first page rankings using my techniques 🙂

  5. Brian,
    That’s a great strategy! Thanks for sharing it, as well as all the other helpful tips you have provided. I am learning a lot about link building from your posts.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Glad you liked it, Richard! And thanks for your kind words. I aim to please 🙂

  6. Great idea on the helpful resources section. The only problem is that some guest post guidelines limit the links out to only 1. But this can probably be mitigated if you show that you’re actually linking out to quality resources, and the best websites usually don’t put those strict guidelines on the guest posting. It’s usually those mediocre websites that allow a lot of guest posting that add the limits.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Glad you enjoyed the video, Joe. Good question. I’ve found the same thing: only shady sites tend to care about how and where you link out to. Quality sites only care about one thing: publishing an awesome post. So if you bring that to the table, they’re usually flexible to publish links wherever you want as long as it makes sense.

  7. What do you think about the idea of putting the author bio as the intro to the guest post? I’ve seen that done before and wondering if that’s a good tactic. (That’s what I thought you were going to suggest at first)

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      That’s definitely better than having the author bio at the bottom of the page. My only issue with that is that there’s usually words around the link, like “today’s guest post is by” or “today’s post is from” that Google my use to ID and devalue guest post links in the future.

  8. Brilliant as always. Love the idea of linking to other sites that already link to you with your other resources. So obvious!
    My question… when linking to other sites that have links pointing to you, do you link to their home page or do you link to the page with the link pointing back to you? If not the home page, has anyone called you on the fact that each site has a link to your site?

    Thanks as always!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Adam! Good question. I link to the page that’s linking back to you. I haven’t been called out because I mix it up quite a bit. If I link out 10 times, only 2-3 will be links to my sites or pages with my links.

    1. You might also want to consider whether the page that you’re linking to is also linking to your competitors, as it would be a more efficient use of your outgoing link.

  9. Dom Avatar Domsays:

    Hi Brian
    Another mega post as always!
    Will this strategy still work with the recent clamp down by Google on guest post links? Do you recommend keyword anchor text in the link or just url, more info, visit page type links?

    Keep up the good work
    Dom

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Really good question that I think a lot of people wonder about. Actually, I see this as working long-term because you’re getting contextual links. It’s those author bio links that are getting devalued. I usually use the title of the post as the anchor text, which typically contains the keyword. But I also mix it up and sometimes use generic anchor text.

      Thanks for watching, Dom 🙂

  10. Incredible video 🙂 Just a suggestion – You can also offer your videos as downloads if the visitor completes a certain kind of social transaction. For example – like or share or tweet or +1 your post so that he/she can download the video 😉

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      That’s a REALLY good idea, Swayam. Might do that for the next batch of videos.

      And glad to hear that you enjoyed the video 🙂

  11. Which % of links from gost post link profile is optimal to target to home page, and which to deeper pages? Is this % depends from industry to industry? How many gost post per day you suggest?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      I’d say 50-75% of all of your links should go to your inner pages, and that shouldn’t vary too much between industries. I’d only publish around 10 guest posts per month to make sure you’re only publishing on top-quality sites in your niche.

      1. Thanks for answers, from my exeperiance optimal value is about 50% – maybe 60% to home page. Can you check, what is ratio for Backlinko? I think, it is more than 50% to HP.

        1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

          50% is definitely good. It’s when you get into the 80% range that it starts to look a bit unnatural.

  12. Hey Brian,
    Quality video yet again. Very cool idea and something I will definitely try with my clients.
    Keep up the good work.
    Mark

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks for your comment, Mark. Really glad to hear that you’re going to use this with your clients. I think you (and they) will be happy with the results 🙂

  13. I laughed out loud when you said the bios are so low they’re on your keyword underneath your monitor! I do a lot of guest posting and plan on putting this into action asap. Thanks!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Nice! I guess I have a career in comedy if this whole SEO thing doesn’t work out 🙂

      Glad to hear you’ll be putting this technique into action, Julian. Let me know how it works out for you.

  14. Hi Brian sounds a really good idea, will try with the next few posts..Thanks…By the way do you remember how many posts you submitted in total using the strategy to get to top 5

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Awesome. I think you’ll see a difference in results. That’s a good question. I think it was around 12 (plus the Expanded List Post and Content Roadshow 1-2 punch I talked about in the last video): https://backlinko.com/how-to-rank-for-any-keyword

  15. Mike Avatar Mikesays:

    Awesome per usual Brian. I really love the cliff hangers you send by email right before you drop a kick arse strategy!!

    Hook line and sinker!

    Thanks again,
    Mike ; )

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks for your kind words, Mike!

      I guess all those copywriting books I’ve been reading are starting to pay off 🙂

  16. Hi Brian,
    Thanks for the great information! I’ll totally keep these tips in mind when I finally plunge into guest blog posting 🙂

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      My pleasure, Lisa! This is actually the perfect strategy to get started with guest posting because you’re building links that will stand the test of time.

  17. Hi Brian,
    I watched your video and it’s really helpful for me.
    Thank you very much for all your hard work.
    Best Regards.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks for watching, Thuong. Let me know if you have any questions.

  18. Brian,
    It’s a pretty neat strategy – thx for sharing. I wonder if you could also provide a visual example of this type of guest post.
    Ekaterina

  19. Brian, you are great , take the things to work.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Rambabu. Glad you enjoyed the video 🙂

  20. Thanks for another great strategy Brian!
    I thought the first part – linking to your site as a helpful resource – was really cool. Then you started talking about tiered linking to your other backlinks, and I was even more impressed.
    Very creative!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      My pleasure, Todd 🙂

      The tiered linking was something I started to experiment recently and it’s been working super well. As long as you mix it up and link out to other resources that aren’t associated with you, most site owners don’t mind a bit. In fact, you’re adding value to the post by providing helpful resources. Its a win-win 🙂

  21. katherine Avatar katherinesays:

    Hey Brian,
    Thanks alot for explaining this strategy in a video. I also want to guest posting but couldn’t find good websites which approve guest post soon(don’t take my time to approve) and have good page rank.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Sure thing, Katherine. It’s hard to find the best of both worlds there. I’ve found the same thing: sites that are super high quality tend to have a queue. I think it’s usually worth the wait to get links from sites like that. But if you’re in a rush you can always ask them to see if they can move your post up in the queue. In my experience, if you send them an outstanding, 1500-word article most site owners are willing to make an exception and publish your post faster than usual.

  22. Hi Brian,
    Thanks for this! Really useful video and have shared with my colleagues. I’ve adopted similar approaches in the past but in a fairly haphazard fashion. Now I know the best way every time!
    Do you find that by including useful resources that don’t link to you, they are more likely to be receptive to your future backlink requests? (i.e. I included you here, think your site is great, etc).

    Thanks, Alex

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks for sharing the video, Alex. Yes, that’s a great technique to get an “in” with another site owner. You just send them a quick email saying, “Just wanted to let you know that I mentioned your awesome post in my guest post on example.com”. I’ve found that they usually return the favor 🙂

  23. Boni Avatar Bonisays:

    Hi Brian,

    once again awesome insight. One question – do you recommend doing a good amount of guest post to get keyword ranking?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Boni. Yes, guest posting can be a pretty big chunk of your strategy. But you definitely want to mix it up as much as possible.

  24. Hey Brian, I looked you up after I saw your contributions to quicksprout’s university, nice website you got going here with some useful information, thanks for all the hard work

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Jesse! Really glad to hear that you’re enjoying QuickSprout University and Backlinko. Let me know if you ever have any questions.

  25. I didn’t know the position of the your link on the article could affect the value of it! That’s is very interesting and I have to test it right away.
    Thanks for the tip.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Glad you learned something from the video, Alojate 🙂

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Iris. Done 🙂

  27. Hi Brian,

    Thanks for the videos , i was more than happy to subscribe after the first video to go through the second part. The strategies you told in the video are simply awesome. Looking forward for more such useful videos and content from your side.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Ankit 🙂

  28. Brian I’m so glad I found your work! Thanks for sharing so many practical tips that we can actually implement! I have about 2000 email subscribers to my lifestyle blog but google analytics says I only have around 1700 monthly page views (down from 6500 during the holidays at way less subscribers). Does this sound strange? It did to me. Anyway, I know in my gut that I can leverage what I’ve built with my blog. I wanted to ask you HOW you work to interpret data? Is there a way to do this strategically? I’ve been blogging for 5 years but only became serious 2 years ago. I want to take my blog to the next level but still working on the how. Thank you again.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      I’m glad you found it too, Diha. I actually wouldn’t pay too much attention to pageviews. Unique visitors is a much more telling stat.

  29. Thank you for posting the two videos, they are instructive and well presented. I hadn’t even thought about a backlinks strategy until I came across your work. It was a real eye opener for me and has fired my imagination about what can be achieved. Keep up the good work.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Phil. Let me know how the strategies in the video work out for you 🙂

  30. Shahid Avatar Shahidsays:

    Hey Brian,
    It is really nice Video.I have a question Can we use some technique in WEB 2:0.I have seen a few people suggest we should link back our site in bottom of post in TIER 1.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      I wouldn’t use web 2.0 properties for link building Shahid.

  31. Hey Brian ~
    Great Stuff – you are my new hero:)
    Quick question – how many of these ‘upside down’ guest posts did it take to get you from bottom of page 2 to the top of page 1?
    Thanks!!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Susan 🙂

      After about 5 I noticed some serious upward movement.

  32. Keep posting the good work.Some really helpful information in there. Nice to see your site. Thanks!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Sonesh.

  33. Andrew Walton Avatar Andrew Waltonsays:

    What an elegant solution to a question I’ve often asked. I was a guest author on a site that got massive traffic but my author box was so buried as you described that I’d only get 5-10 visits. This looks like a way to actually capitalize on my writing – definitely trying this one out ASAP.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Sounds good, Andrew. Good point: this also gets you more traffic from the guest post.

  34. Mike Avatar Mikesays:

    Great video brian, do you still recommend no following the links?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Mike. Nope, I’d keep them dofollow.

  35. Hey Brian
    Wow, these really are great informative videos, which every serious website owner should see.

    The tiered linking strategy in video which you share in ‘video 2’ is really powerful – I am already, planning my next article based around this technique – awesome stuff!

    It is so refreshing to find someone who shares knowledge so freely – this is true value, and the information in these videos (and on the rest of your site), make the web a better place.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Happy to help, Paul. Let me know how these strategies work for you 🙂

  36. Thanks Brian! This is cool and new. Never thought about it before.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Lisa.

  37. Great Brian,
    This is just guest posting but getting more traffic and value. I guest posted some days ago and unfortunately I didn´t know about this. it´s great to know it, thanks!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Pablo. This should definitely help your guest posting efforts moving forward.

  38. Great Video. I’ll be following you and reaching out to learn more.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Jonathan.

  39. Nice post Brian and good information indeed. I’ve done a few guest posts, but did not incorporate this technique at all. Will have to do that; its quite easy in my niche to do that where it will make sense. Just have to make sure it does not come across too spammy though, right?
    Thanks…

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Kerwin. That’s right: you definitely need to be careful about how you add your link. That’s smart.

  40. Hello Brian,
    I am working on a guest post now and you have given me some fine ideas to use.

  41. Jhon Avatar Jhonsays:

    Hi Brian, I have a intresting question.
    So from a page you will link to pages with your links who link to the same page ?
    For example from page X you will link to your links who pointing to the same page X or to the other page from website ?

  42. chris Avatar chrissays:

    Hi Great post. Is this an external blog of your own or are you guest posting on another blog. I get so confused these days with google+ blogs, website content & social media etc … I often just don’t know which platform to put the content on …. help!

  43. Mary Avatar Marysays:

    Hi Brian,

    Thank you for this excellent two part video. I do not have a blog yet, but plan on starting one soon, and you have given me some great info to use to get started. You offer very clear step-by-step information which is wonderful for someone like myself (part of the AARP crowd! 😉 ) and I am going to share your site with my other older/retired friends who are interested in blogging also, and possibly creating a second career with blogging. I have subscribed to your email list and your YouTube channel and look forward to learning more.

    All the best,
    Mary

  44. Hi Brian,
    This is a great strategy that I have never come across before. I will use it when I do my first guest post which I hope will be soon.
    I can see that emailing the big guns in my niche to thank them will make a big difference to my backlinking.
    Thanks again,Scott

  45. oliver Avatar oliversays:

    Another great vid, always one of the first emails i open at the start of the day. Do you recommend a specific font and size i should use for the content? Thanks Ollie

  46. Francesca Michaud Avatar Francesca Michaudsays:

    LOVE IT!
    Thank you so much this i SO valuable!
    Add me to your fanclub!!

  47. Hey Brain,

    Awesome video 🙂 I still used link in middle of guest or some time from start. it was working for me but now you endorsed that is smart strategy 🙂

  48. Hi Brian,

    I’ve learned so much from you over the last several months! Thank you for that.
    I enjoyed your 2 punch video about the Extended List Post and Content Roadshow but do have a question. To reach out to 50 or more forums and email each of them would take a lot of time. Do you save the emails address and then use them over and over as a group email? I have a cleaning business and have written over 100 articles but get little readership. I’m hoping that will change with your 2 punch ideas that I’m going to put into practice.

  49. Really very helpful. I did a lot of guest-posting and the links were all right at the bottom. I guess this is probably one of the many reasons why It didn’t affect my site ranking very much. I will be sure to keep the upside down guest-post in mind when I do future guest-posting. Thanks for the helpful tip! 🙂

  50. This is a great video Brian. Watched all 3 and was a great run down on getting your content in front of people and optimizing the link placement on the page. Any input on whether to dofollow or nofollow those outbound links? Our other site we posted a long list of recommended SEO, web design and internet marketing tools but not sure if Google would hate so many links on one page, especially the site audit tools we run that mention it may be a flag. Thoughts?

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