Is Guest Blogging the Next Big Sell?

You will often see bloggers lately touting the benefits of Guest Blogging and this is the next big “sell” among bloggers who are now writing ebooks and guides on How to Guest Blog just like they were about how to SEO Optimize, How to Start a Blog…etc.  I am not going to tell you that guest blogging isn’t valuable as I myself have written guest articles for 15+ other blogs online and accept guest articles on my own site quite regularly.  Guest blogging is a great way to branch out and reach an audience you would otherwise not have touched with your own site except by a lucky search engine result or promotion on social media for your article.

I think every blogger should start writing some guest articles for other sites online at some point but should adhere to the following guidelines and absorb the following knowledge.

Guest Blogging Tip 1 – Frequency

Guest blogging is a great way to bring in notice or hone your writing skills but if you guest blog only 1x for another site you are likely to see little long term benefit.  Guest bloggers have to have a routine, and the readers of another site should get to know “guest bloggers” and expect to see articles on a fairly regular basis even if it is 1x per month.  If you blog once and never publish another post, none of the new readers will likely know you ever were a guest blogger on the site.

Guest Blogging Tip 2 – Value

Remember that when guest blogging you are giving just as much if not more value to the site you are blogging for than your own site (depending on your online celebrity status).  Make sure that your own site has quality content and information so that when a reader is interested enough to check out your own site you will keep them there or convert them into a regular reader.  Your own site or blog should come first and making sure your content is top notch and ready to receive and “impress” readers should be a priority, after all if you write your best material for guest posts and not equally inviting material on your own sites you will not see as much value.

Guest Blogging Tip 3 – Variation

This tip seems to contradict tip 1, but it doesn’t.  Most smaller blogs don’t grow more than 1-2% traffic increase per month, as a result if you guest blog too often you will likely only reach the same audience you already do with your own site.  This is especially true when blogging in the same arenas.  An example is that I already have almost the same audience as some other bloggers, I can tell because when I guest post the same readers who comment on my site comment on my guest posts on other sites.  This in turn shows that I am not reaching a new and broader audience but just reaching most of the same audience on another site.  This requires that you guest post for unique blogs that aren’t in your usual network, branch out and guest post for blogs you have never written for before.  This will help ensure you are reaching a new audience instead of the same groups who follow the same blogs.

Guest Blogging Tip 4 – Courtesy

As a courtesy for blogging on other sites I would never blatantly promote or pitch an affiliate product or your own product.  Unless you purchase a guest post or compensate the advertiser, don’t use the guest blogging platform as a way to promote yourself but instead provide value to the readers and clearly show them who provided the content and make it easy to find more of what you have written.  An author bio box is great, but if the blog you are writing a guest article for doesn’t have an author bio box then make sure to write a sentence or two paragraph about yourself after your article (or before it.

Guest Blogging Tip 5 – Social Networking

Don’t just guest blog and forget, make the time to promote that guest article on the blog you guest authored for, the more you show that you are promoting your article on the host bloggers site the more they will in turn benefit and you yourself will be seen as a respectable guest blogger.

Guest Blogging Tip 6 – Get Noticed

There are far too many people just spewing the same content in different words, try to be completely unique and create an article that is worthy of discussion and feedback.  Challenge something, incite someone to a reaction of some sort.  Invoking more than just an analytical response is a great way to get recognized, but don’t ever spew something that isn’t fact or false.  There are a few bloggers who stand out because of their unique voices, personalities and ways they “challenge” the normal and this is something you want to consider to stand out from the casual posts.  Your voice should also be different from the host bloggers voice, if your writing style is too similar you may not even be noticed as a guest blogger.

In Summary

I think Guest Blogging has value but the sites you write for and how you leverage it can determine how much value it provides.  Always remember that you are providing equal if not more value to the site you are writing for than your own sites.  Guest blogging will not however be a magic bullet to get you tons of traffic, it will increase your readership and audience but only having quality content on your own site will keep them and turn them into regular readers.

There isn’t much science to guest blogging folks and I don’t believe you need to purchase a “guide” to learn how to be a guest blogger, just use common sense and courtesy.

As always, I accept guest bloggers on my site and if you are interested in getting noticed by an audience contact me and I would be happy to showcase your article on DragonBlogger.com.

-Dragon Blogger