Guest blogging is one of the most efficient ways to promote goods, services, and personal brand to a wider audience. Even more, it is a SEO (Search Engine Optimization) practice.
It’s rather advantageous to both a website owner and a guest blogger, as the first takes a break from writing articles while maintaining the schedule while the latter promotes his services, boosts raise search engine rankings and attract new visitors.
Well, it’s not that easy to get such an opportunity, especially if you’re going to contribute to the credible resource while yours is still unknown. Although you have little chance, that’s not impossible in case the blog post is high-quality, relevant, catching, and unique.
In a highly competitive environment, you have to constantly work on your guest blogging skills and techniques. Check the advice below and reach the best blogs, being a real guest post guru.
#1 Relevance of the Idea
The first and the most important guest blogging rule is that the guest post must correspond to the topic of the website. On the one hand, it narrows the number of websites on which you can post; on the other hand; you get the relevant audience that will likely read the piece and become interested in you in case the post is worthy.
Sometimes it’s quite challenging to come up with the topic so that to satisfy the website owner and make the research in-depth and grounded. Well, if you’re in such a crisis, the next ideas are at your service:
- Informational post. Tell readers about a particular term or phenomenon or provide a detailed response to a specific question. You may write a post in encyclopedia style or a freestyle, depending on the specifics of the website.
- Guide. Quite a popular genre, which always attracts a large number of audience. The mission is to provide readers with a step-by-step plan that will help them to achieve this or that result. Well, the alpha and omega here are to provide a consistent and error-free sequence of actions; otherwise, you’ll get reproaches instead of gratitude.
- Classification. Share the varieties of the object and provide concrete and useful information about each one, backed by illustrations and specific examples.
- Review. The best practice is to choose some useful online service, affiliate program, application software package, etc. and analyze it from A to Z. Set yourself a task to provide readers with comprehensive information and get at least questions as possible.
- Comparison. In fact, you make a parallel review of several programs, services, etc., specifying their general and distinctive features. Don’t make the conclusion in favor of this or that product – that’s the prerogative of readers.
- News. If you have some hot news that must be shared with the world, don’t hesitate to ask the host about it. Of course, the main thing is to publish fresh materials that haven’t been announced yet. If you are the first – the job is done!
- Interview. Let’s not go into details as it’s obvious that success of the interview depends on the chosen questions.
- History. I doubt that the blog owner will allow you to share the personal history of your brand/goods/services (until the post is paid), but you may succeed in posting some instructive and enlightening, warning the readers or explaining to them how to act in a particular situation.
- Rating. Obviously, that’s the most popular YouTube theme. Nowadays, YouTube is full of different charts. The best, the worst, the cheapest, the strongest, the biggest, the most shocking, etc. As a rule, an audience kindly appreciates this kind of posts.
- Pros and Cons. The task is almost the same as in “Comparison” blog post. Try to be fair and objective so not let the reader get the impression that you advertise intrusively or throw mud at someone.
- Methods/Tips/Advice. Here you can share your personal vision of the problem and give some advice on the solution. Lifehacks are welcomed!☺
- Disclosure. In this kind of post, you expose some untrue news, myths and even harmful actions of specific individuals. I must say this genre is very difficult, as you risk amassing competitors and enemies. Don’t embellish or misrepresent facts.
- Personal Experience. Tell about your experiments, both successful and frankly failing. That’s always interesting.
If you already have a loyal audience, be sure to catch their hints for new posts. Continue to study and research, and you will find an infinite number of topics you can take. Dig deeper and write more than insightful posts!
#2 Writing Style and Formatting
Every blogger has an own unique writing style. Don’t be afraid of showing your personal style. Diversity contributes to the perception of the whole blog, as regular readers may get tired of contemplating one and the same style. Nevertheless, stick to the established rules and regulations. Be sure to check the guidelines before you start writing.
To hone your writing style and make the post more appealing, try to:
- Put a quotation at the top.
- Write an intriguing introduction; bring a few fascinating facts or statistics.
- Vary long and short sentences.
- Use bulleted lists and format the paper so that to ease the perception.
- Use spellcheckers and special software to eliminate typos.
- Remove meaningless sentences.
- Put your word aside for a while and then edit it.
- Read the piece aloud.
- Share it with your family and friends to get some tips.
Look at the most popular guest posts on the website and try to stick to the same format and style. Pay attention to the size of paragraphs, headers, and images. Make sure that the images correspond to the content of the paper, have an appropriate width, and are labeled for reuse. Feel free to include screenshots for “how to” articles and guides.
#3 Editing Before Publication
It all depends on the website owner (editors/managers). Be ready that your post will be edited and changed before the approval. Firstly, it can be done to improve the effectiveness of the article – editors may come up with more engaging header or subheaders, highlight certain words and phrases, include images, remove “contentious issues,” etc. So do not be offended if this happens, even if you believe your piece is perfect. ☺
#4 Backlinks
It is clear that the author of the guest post should receive some benefit from the publication. Therefore, as a rule, it’s allowed put 1–3 references to a project that you would like to promote. Make sure that the links add some value to the paper and look relevant. Purely promotional links usually cause irritation and feeling of imposing.
If you want to promote safely, specify that the article is a guest post at the first chapter and add a link to your personal blog.
You can always check LinksManagement, a link-building service to get help with your links.
#5 Avoiding Typical Mistakes
If the whole process – from the request to the publication – runs smoothly, then you get a great chance to become a regular contributor. Well, even if you haven’t counted on it, why to refuse to stay in touch with the audience of the credible website?
Here are some of the common mistake made by both novice and experienced bloggers:
- Non-personal inquiry. It all starts with sending the request. If the message begins with an impersonal greeting, the recipient may consider the letter as spam. Be sure to include the name of the company you’re writing to, and you’ll be treated as a professional.
- Misprints and grammar mistakes. If you can’t write a professional offer, why would the editor of the blog decide the letter will be better? Take time to prepare proposals or hire an editor.
- Topics that were already covered. Suggesting an article on a topic that was previously covered is the shortest way to miss the opportunity to publish. Conduct research before sending your list of themes. If you are looking to post on a particular topic to improve the issuance on keywords, look on the website to see which articles on the selected topic have already been published.
- Underestimating your talent. Use your marketing skills! Show yourself in the best light; point to the main advantages and state the main reasons for considering you as an author for the blog. Sell yourself! If you have a successful blog or you’re popular on social networks, be sure to share this info in the offer.
- Poor bio. Stick to the guide for guest bloggers. As a rule, a bio should include a few sentences that vividly describe the blogger. Treat this info as an elevator pitch.
Be sure to discuss all the terms and conditions, as well as the exact date of publication before sending the post on approval. Well-written guest posts will significantly speed up the indexing of your site and increase trust in the eyes of search engines and visitors.
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