Guest Blogging
Allowing guest blogging on your own site is a great way to give back to your readers and community. It gives your readership some variety, can help build new long lasting relationships, can give your authority, gives you great credibility and my favourite…it leverages your time, so you can work on other activities.
I have been allowing guest blogging on my site for over 12 months now and I have had some great success. Some of my guest blog posts generate me a ton of traffic each month. Anyone wishing to be a blogger here at Bethhewittonline can do so by registering to apply on the right hand side of my homepage and I would recommend the strategy to others.
However, if you do go down the guest blogging route there are some things that you need to consider.
Guest Bloggers - Who Are They!
When you get approached - be sure ‘who’ it is who is asking to be a guest blogger. If you have been in the blogging world for some-time, you may have a good idea of who they are and how trustworthy they are. 99% of the time I would not have any concerns with anyone who was a member of the TSA.
Guest Blogger
If you have never heard about the person, find out as much about them as possible. Check out their own websites. If they don’t have one, alarm bells should start ringing. Do a basic Google search on them and look at other content they have created. Are they a serial guest blogger?
Guest Blogging Tip - Agree Blog Title and Blog Content
Before receiving the guest blog, agree on the blog title and what it will be about. Ensure that it is congruent to your site and niche. If you feel happy to do so, allow them to include do follow links to other sites, but again be sure to check these out. It is important you do not affiliate yourself with something you would not usually be happy to do.
Edify your Guest Blogger
It is important that you can completely edify your guest blogger. Your readers believe and trust in your content; if you include a guest blog from someone who is not of the upmost integrity you run the risk of doing yourself a disservice. Ask them to include a short bio of themselves with picture. Remember you are completely within your rights to ask them for samples of their other work.
It is important to introduce your guest blogger stating why they are worthy of reading and also to make it clear that this is not your content when your readers start to read your post. At the end of the post I would include your guest blogs bio and picture and links to their blog if you agree to do that.
Guest Blogging Tip - Is the content original?
Sadly some guest bloggers are not who they say they are. Please ensure that you read the post they have submitted in its entirety to be sure it is not spun and copied from elsewhere. Some clever spinners can make content seem natural but you can normally spot spun material a mile off.
This is a real excerpt example of a post I had sent to me
“It doesn’t matter what you sell or what services you provide, it can’t promise you umpteenth traffic to your website, if its home page looks disastrous.”
Spun content will have really oddly used synonyms in place of original text so be on the lookout. Overlooking this could have terrible consequences for your blog and the hard work you have put in to ranking you blogs pages on Google.
If anyone knows a free tool to check for spun content, please feel free to post it below in the comments section. But doing a quick Google on some key sentences and headings in the post should give you some clues to where the post has been copied from (and how many times!)
I hope this has been helpful. I wouldn’t want any-ones blog to suffer because some guest bloggers are not completely reliable. Stick to people you know and trust and you can t got far wrong.
To Your Success,
Increase your sales and Increase customer retention!
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May 8th, 2012 at 1:14 am
This is an interesting topic, Beth.
I know a lot of people, including you, have done a very nice job with the inclusion of guest blogs into their main roll.
I guess the big concerns are (1) losing your “voice”, or moderating your personal brand to some extent, and (2) posting blogs by hack-spinners, as you point out in this post.
If I were to allow guest blogs, it seems to me that I’d be far safer to solicit individual bloggers that I’ve already researched and pre-qualified. Once somebody “offers” to guest blog, the burden is on you to jump the hurdles that you explain here, to be sure they are legitimate and that their content is authentic.
It’s a blogging component that many people have been very successful with though, so it seems like it’s a worthwhile avenue to explore.
Thanks, Beth, I love being given the opportunity to peek inside of what successful bloggers and internet marketers like you are doing to stay on top of the wave.
David Merrill´s last [type] ..“List Building” With Forum Marketing
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May 8th, 2012 at 1:16 am
Aloha Beth, awesome post and good to know about guest bloggers and blogging. I have been approached a few times to have their content on my blog, but with a little research as you mentioned it didn’t quite turn out the way it sounded. I am glad I came by. Mahalo, Lani
Lani - Aloha´s last [type] ..Modifiy Spam Comments To Increase Your Page Rank
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bethhewitt80 Reply:
May 8th, 2012 at 8:22 pm
Hey Lani,
Yeah there seems to be a number of rogue so called bloggers contacting bloggers recently. Need to be on your guard
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May 8th, 2012 at 2:52 am
Hi Beth! I haven’t done guest blogging yet, but plan to do so. I would only do it with people I know. Of course, it would have to be in my niche and would be an enhancement to who I am and what I represent.
I agree with David’s comment. He is a very smart man! LOL
Donna
Donna Merrill´s last [type] ..What To Do When You Experience “Overwhelm”?
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May 8th, 2012 at 8:37 am
Hi Beth, allowing guest posts on your blog is a great way to get fresh content on your blog very frequantly. I have many guest posts on my blog that really help to get more traffic everyday, actually I get tens of guest posting rerquests everyday so I always have the option to choose the best of them eventhough I get many low quality articles too, anyway thanks for sharing all these tips they are certainly helpful…
Kostas´s last [type] ..Increase Your Adsense Earnings By Attending The Free Adsense Academy
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bethhewitt80 Reply:
May 8th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Yes…you can get low quality posts. Which is why people should review what they get from other bloggers.
Thanks for stopping by Kostas
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May 8th, 2012 at 9:11 am
I agree with Donna, I would only do guest blogging with people I know and trust.
Laura´s last [type] ..Waiting for Easter in London
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bethhewitt80 Reply:
May 8th, 2012 at 8:20 pm
Good strategy
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May 8th, 2012 at 8:43 pm
This is a great article, Beth. I do think its important that whoever is guest blogging on your site be compatible with what your site’s main topic is. I know folks like Jon Morrow, teach that guest blogging is a great way to get traffic for both the blog host and the guest blogger. But like you are saying, it does take some looknig out for to find out a bit about the person before you let them write on your blog. Good think we have the internet to help us find out more about someone who wants to write.
Michael´s last [type] ..Building Your Dream
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May 9th, 2012 at 2:15 am
Hi Beth,
This is my first time here. I love guest blogging both ways. I love to post on other folks blogs and I love people post on my blog. As a matter of fact, my next post on my writing/marketing blog will be a guest post.
It’s good to know that you are welcoming guest bloggers, I may do that some times if it’s OK with you.
When someone post on your blog, I think that it’s your right to edit any misspell or grammar error, because even though it’s not your post it still represents you, because it’s your blog . I know I do that myself.
Thanks for those great tips about guest posting.
Sylviane Nuccio´s last [type] ..5 Different Channels To Create Excellent Content
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May 9th, 2012 at 9:16 am
Good points Beth, same thing with me, I always make sure if the contents are unique and original. I also ensures that my criterias are met.
Herbert´s last [type] ..Online Marketing with WPromote
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May 9th, 2012 at 6:21 pm
Truly, guest blogging can promote increase in the visits of one’s site. Once there is increase in the traffic of a site, this will eventually transform into sales and profits. This technique is a proven and effective way to boost the popularity of your blog. This is being practiced by so many bloggers from the different parts of the world. In case you want to promote your site, this is one of the best techniques that you can try.
Amrik Virdi´s last [type] ..Top 3 Social Media Marketing Strategies That Pack A Punch
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May 9th, 2012 at 6:30 pm
Great Article beth. I also allowing guest blogging but for my case it working superb. We should change our taste so reader will be more happy.
Thanks.
Amit Shaw´s last [type] ..The Best and Free Android Apps for Every Basic User
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May 10th, 2012 at 1:53 am
Good pointers on guest blogging. I’m think about guest blogging. I’ll be sure to contact you. I like how the blog owner introduces the guest and edifies. Everyone wins.
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bethhewitt80 Reply:
May 10th, 2012 at 7:33 pm
Yes please do Jacob, it would be a pleasure to have you guest blog
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May 10th, 2012 at 3:14 am
These are terrific tips Beth. I just posted my first article by a guest blogger today. It certainly wasn’t the first time I’ve been approached so I’ve learned a LOT just going through the process of researching requests. Thanks for the recommendations.
marquita herald´s last [type] ..Choosing Happiness in Your Job
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May 10th, 2012 at 6:03 pm
Hey Beth,
Excellent Topic … I agree that guest blogging can give your friends and readers a little variety, as long as you use the KLT (Know, Like, Trust) principal when you’re approving guest article content for your blog.
As you mentioned if you’re part of a tribe and already know a little about the Style and Content of a possible guest blogger then much of your research is already done!
Some great tips here Beth, thanks for sharing!
Kevin
Kevin DeRoo´s last [type] ..The Art of Influence and Persuasion
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