Over the years, the world of guest blogging has grown into one of the most sought-after and effective ways of building links. Seeing the impact of guest posts on marketing campaigns, most people have decided to join the bandwagon, but without knowing what it really entails or even doing it right.
Some people think it’s really easy, but it’s not. Guest posting is a lot more than just writing an article and throwing in a couple of links. You’ll learn that the hard way if you’ve put in the work to write a post and it gets rejected by the blog editor of the target blog. That can be disappointing, plus you will have wasted your time.
So, to fine-tune your guest posting strategy, we’ll be giving you some tips to improve your chances of getting that guest post accepted and published. Basically, the do’s and don’ts of guest posting.
DO make sure to read some of the posts from the blog before sending anything. You stand a great chance of having your post accepted and published if it’s similar to the type of content they post. You need to pay attention to things like reading level (beginner or advanced), word count, and tone (humorous, formal, informal, and so on). And if there are publishing guidelines, make sure you read them first, and follow them. You are not exempt from the guidelines.
DO respond to emails. If your target blog sends you emails, reply to them. Even if they did not approve your submission, it’s always good to follow through, to retain a good reputation.
DO form a relationship before you write. Although this is not entirely necessary, if you’re trying to get your guest post published on one of the more exclusive blogs, you’ll stand a greater chance with the editors if they already know you. Link to the blog from your site, comment on the blog, interact with the writers/editors/readers on the blog, and engage with the editors on social media.
DON’T send them an email asking what they think you should write. Provide them with some article topic ideas. They’ll let you know if your choices are not suitable. And if they have something specific that they want you to write about, they’ll let you know.
DON’T write an existing post. Ensure that your guest post is not so rudimentary, or a post that virtually everyone has seen before, or one which is readily available through a Google search. If you do this, you’ll end up boring the editor of the blog or their readers. Also, duplicating a familiar article is bad for SEO.
DO write a title that’s just as powerful as your content. There are times when the title of a guest post is powerful but the content turns out to be a damp squib. Ideally, a great title that clearly states what to expect from a blog post, along with some sub-headings that are well placed, can improve a post greatly, even if you don’t change the content.
DON’T demand that they publish your submission. It’s at the blog owner’s discretion to decide whether your article is a good fit for their blog or not. If they decide that it isn’t, you can offer to replace it, but don’t demand that they publish it.
DO send some images for the post. If your post requires some images or screenshots, then make sure you send them. This will save the blog editor the stress of having to look for images for your post. If you’re submitting a case study or something similar, include a graph or table to show your data.
DON’T add too many links. If you stuff your articles with links, there’s a good chance it will be rejected. The fact that you’re guest posting for the backlink does not mean you should give the editor the impression that you’re using them. The only time you should link to your site is if it’s relevant to the topic. Or else, keep your links for the bio. There’s a point when you don’t get as much traffic from too many links on a single page.
DO send guest posts to blogs covering your area of expertise. If you don’t have a good grasp of the topic you want to write about, you might end up writing a post that already exists. If you want to build links outside your niche, you need to find a way to make it relevant.
DON’T submit articles that are not relevant to the blog. Ensure that you submit only articles that align with what the readers of the blog want. Before submitting your article, carry out your research on the blog to find out their niche.
DO edit your article before submission. The blog owner should not be responsible for editing your grammar, paragraph placement, word choice, or the general flow of the article. You should have taken care of these things when you were writing the article. You could get someone to edit and proofread it for you before you send it in. A second opinion is always a good thing.
DON’T send the same guest post to numerous blogs. Blog editors don’t want content that you’ve sent to other blogs. If you’re repurposing an article you’ve written in the past, ensure that you make significant changes to it, even if it’s going to be the same theme.
DON’T be discouraged. If your submission is not accepted, send them a polite email asking what you should fix or change. Work on those things but keep on writing and submitting your articles to other blogs.
If you follow through on these tips, you will be building your reputation as a writer and getting your guest posts accepted and published will be easier to manage. If you think this is too much stress for you, you could outsource to our guest post agency. Your business will be better for it.
If you would like to find out how our services could be of benefit to your business, feel free to get in touch with us.