Most of us at some point or another have thought about the possibilities of guest blogging, or may even be doing it right now. Guest blogging is the exchange of information (content) from one blogger to another, for a site which is not your own.
It can be hard enough coming up with original content for your own site, so the idea of writing for someone else on top of your usual routine probably fills you with dread. The thing is, there are a number of advantages to lending your services out as a guest blogger. Here’s the lowdown…
Gain exposure on the web
This one is a bit of a no-brainer. The more you put yourself out there on sites and blogs, the more publicity you get to showcase yourself and your services. By taking some time to write for another person, you get the opportunity to introduce yourself to new people and potentially increase your own customer base and contact lists if they like what you have written.
Get subscribers to your own site
Without subscribers to your blog, your site will end up being a lonely and ignored affair, which makes you feel as if you are posting up messages in to the ether. Having a broad range of loyal readers is the equivalent of going to a party and knowing everyone there – it makes you feel as if you are doing something really worthwhile, and your blog is well liked. By posting up quality content as a guest blogger, you enhance your prospects of gaining a wider readership for your work.
Generate more links
Hyperlinks are the friendly and helpful powerhouse of the internet. To enhance your ranking on Google and other engines, you need links. They help you to be recognised as an expert in your field, direct traffic to your site, and increase your visibility on the web. Guest blogging helps you to quickly and easily develop custom anchor-text and back links to your blog. It’s a free and highly effective way of driving your marketing strategy forward.
Direct valuable traffic to your site
We are all ultimately in competition for our readers. If we don’t stay ahead of our game, people will leave our site and look elsewhere for their information. High traffic means high recognition, and high awareness – invaluable if you are selling products through your blog. Sharing your blogging services enables you to generate more traffic. Which enables you to generate more sales. Simple!
Guest blogging is a great way of helping other people, and gaining from it in return. Blog owners gain free content for their site, and you benefit by generating traffic, links and subscribers for your own blog.
If you write quality content that is completely original, use images and research your platform, you will be able to write effective articles which really enhance your personal brand. If you’re lucky, you’ll get asked back to post. You could also ask people to post on your site, and take the day off from writing! Remember that as a guest blogger, this is your chance to showcase your knowledge and encourage people to support you.
If you write good content for other sites, you’ll get all the benefits that guest posting has to offer. If, however, you produce poor-quality writing, you run the risk of doing more harm than good for your own business.
To learn more about guest posting check out Chris Garrett’s Guest Posting eBook ($10).
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It can't be truer than this. Looks like ur reading my mind
It can't be truer than this. Looks like ur reading my mind
Thanks for your perspective Sherri, interesting to know! Of course depending on the topic, post don't have to be controversial, but it does help stimulate debate when done without too much prejudice. Factual posts like you mention there are a safe bet to be interesting to other blog authors and readers alike!
Joel,
You are so right. Guest posting is important and does a lot of good for both you and the person for whom you guest post.
I've had a couple of proposals from others to guest post on my Debt Free or Bust blog from BlogCatalog, and the quality of the posts I received to review was horrible. The topics chosen didn't match the blog, and the persons writing did an extremely poor job of both the actual writing and referencing facts.
I haven't guest posted for others because I feel like what I write about is often too controversial for others to publish. I'm often strongly opinionated and partisan, though I do argue facts, I argue them from a certain (progressive left) point of view. Publishing on my own blog is asking for enough trouble and arguments. I wouldn't want to do that to anyone else's blog.
Since I've been writing on my Hurricane Katrina Pictures blog again about the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, a factual piece about what oil spills do or the clean up technology v the drilling technology might be beneficial to someone's blog and to me. I'll have to give that some thought.
Thanks for the reminder and kick in the pants!
Sherri
It's worth it, I promise!
Joel, I know I need to get out there and post elsewhere, but oy! The time involved. I guess I better carve out some time somewhere and get this done.
Good on you Cheryl! I'm always happy to accept guest posts too! If you want to give it a go jsut let me know 🙂
Really awesome result! Love how you spell “blooger” lol!
Wow! Corinne sent a post to Yaro and he published it! That is so cool! Sometimes, when we think less and act more, the most amazing things happen. I love guest posting and I love to invite others to guest post for me. Anytime you like!
I'm inspired to take a risk today.
Sounds like a great idea Michelle, let's do it! I think you have my email or use the contact form and we'l get it set up. Thanks!
Thanks Raymond.
I am officially offering my services to do a video interview as a guest post on your site! I don't write anymore, but I love interviewing! I'll come video interview you about your blog and your life, and post it around the web. What do you think? Can I guest post here?
I did that before and it really builds up my subscribers list and give me lots of credibility.
I saw your guest post on Problogger, congrats!
Guest posts are an essential way of building your blog.
I know that I was able to enjoy all the benefits of being a guest blogger on Problogger earlier this year.
Thanks for this excellent post.
Krizia
Guest posts are an essential way of building your blog.
I know that I was able to enjoy all the benefits of being a guest blogger on Problogger earlier this year.
Thanks for this excellent post.
Krizia
Thanks Lisa!
Thanks Lisa!
What a great concept, and one that I have never used or done. Definitely something to consider. Thanks for bringing it up!
a sound idea, thanks Joel
Great story Corinne! Sometimes that's the best way isn't it? Just doing it rather than worrying about it.
It is great having someone else's perspective on your blog, as long as it's not all guest posts of course. I should invite more people to write on this site too!
Haha, I could delete them, but I won't as it'll make sure people know who you are 🙂
Guest posting is one of those things that can often wait until “more important” things are done, but it's a matter of perspective isn't it?
We're always happy to help Debbie, you know that!
It's a good idea to ask your readers for guest posts, as long as you don't sound like you're doing it because you need more content! Although you can do it if you're going away for a week or so and think it'll be fun to have guest posts on your site for that reason, I've seen that work well.
Thank you Beat, I appreciate that! I don't really see any other bloggers as competition, not even my competitors lol! It's a community and one where we should share our voices with others more.
You're right of course, you have almost nothing to lose as you write it yourself. Sometimes if the subject is controversial it could have some minor negative effects, but more that likely the effects will be fantastic for you.
Oh, you are so right!
Thanks for the jolt.
I sent a guest post to Yaro when I was only 2 months blogging. What did I know?
He posted it.
I didn't think about rejection. I just didn't know any better than to send a guest post to a famous blooger who didn't know me..
I think Guest posting is a fantastic idea – the only thing that would stop me doing it much more often is time! As the proud owner of two whole guest posts now, I understand how lovely this process is! If anyone would like to guest post on Stilus – feel free! 🙂
Jen
Guess I wanted everyone to know who I am. Don't quite know how all the Debbie's got on there. It is early in the morning, so guess I better go take a shower and re group. OOPS
Just me again Debbie
I do understand how important this is and thank you Joel for reminding me again. Sometimes I get caught up doing other things and forget about guest posting. Slowly I am getting more organzied in all the little details of blogging. I have learned that once you can get some kind of organzation going everything falls into place easier. Yours and Andrews course has really help me with this. I'd probably be back in the dark ages of blogging if it weren't have your Blogging Course
Thanks for keeping me on track.
Debbie
Debbie
Debbie
Hi Joel,
This is a such a brilliant reminder, thank you. I have lapsed in this so more good guest posts will be ready to go on soon. But I will ask my database for more next week. I agree it adds useful variety to a site and i hope will boost traffic in this quiet season.
*** not sure my comment made it through the first time around. if yes, just delete one of the two ***
The longer I blog, the more I come to the realization that guest posting for a blogger is like exercising for a person – not optional, but mandatory. Or, depending on your social skills, it's like cooking for yourself and have a meal versus cooking for a guest and have an experience. At the outset, maybe only bloggers do it who do not see other bloggers as competition, but as allies.
Joel, I was struck by the conciseness and clarity of your post. Great blog post writing template, regardless of keyword or topic! The longer I blog, the more I come to the realization that guest posting for a blogger is like exercising for a person – not optional, but mandatory. Or, depending on your social skills, it's like cooking for yourself and have a meal versus cooking for a guest and have an experience. At the outset, maybe only bloggers do it who do not see other bloggers as competition, but as allies.
With all these benefits, why do people NOT do guest posting?
For the fear of rejection!
They fear their blog post will be rejected. It most probably will be if you aim too high (i.e. a blog site that is very, very popular and you are just starting out).
But what have you got to lose?
If your blog post isn’t accepted…move on…try someone else.
Get into a habit of having at least one blog post published each month – you will notice the difference to your traffic and opt-ins and comments.
Andrew
That's some great advice, thanks Tom. It can be hard to get the motivation to write content on your blog topic for someone else, so changing it like you suggest could make it more fun and interesting. Thanks!
Hopefully some of those readers remain too, and are at least aware of your site so it builds up recognition. Thanks for stopping by Bruce.
It is true that if you have a hard time coming up with content, it is even harder to give it away as a guest post. What I do instead is I write guest posts in areas which would not fit on my blog, but target the audience that I would like to see on my blog. To give you an example, I write about accessibility to people with disabilities. So, anybody who has a blog could potentially find useful information on my blog. So, I write about some tricks that I use to generate traffic, or just to share my experience with others, which otherwise wouldn't be a good topic on my own blog. It seems to work.
I have had the opportunity to write some guest posts and found from watching analytics that I did receive small spikes in traffic every time I wrote an article. I agree with Joel, I would love to have a guest post from David also.
Very true Mitch, thanks! It is a great way to get known and get exposure to new readers, I often wonder why people (including myself) don't do it more often!
Well, if you wanted to start guest posting then I'd happily accept one from you 🙂 Thanks David!
I used to do a lot of guest posting when my site was new and it was extremely effective for getting my name out there so people knew I existed. Now I have people guest post on my site often and most have found it helpful for at least some of their reasons for doing it in the first place. As it always seems to come down to with this stuff, If you are doing and writing about what you love, it comes through no matter whose site is publishing it, just some sites have more of an established audience.
Guest posting is something I can see the benefits of, but have yet to try. The other side of the coin is allowing guest posts on your own blog – I'm tempted to start that as well to give new impetus and ideas.