Every experienced blogger knows that guest blogging has many benefits. And if you are new to blogging, you certainly should too. It is one of the most effective ways that you can increase your visibility, reach a wider audience and build lasting relationships with other bloggers so you can assist one another in the future. It is the reason so many do regular crossovers, despite not being official affiliates.
But how do you make the most of every single guest blogging contact you make? Sure, the bulk of that effort rests on your writing quality posts and remaining friendly with the site owners and staff while doing it. Is that all of it, though?
Actually, there are several things you can do to improve those nifty positives of guest blogging. Just follow these simple tips.
Become a Friend
This is obvious: Find the blog owner hosting your guest article across various social media sites he/she participates in and follow everywhere.
Tip: Create a separate Twitter list, Facebook interest list and Google Plus circle for all bloggers you guest contribute for (e.g. “Guest blogging”) and add them there. This way you'll:
- Categorize them more effectively (in case you need another guest post placed, for example)
- Follow them closer (retweet and re-share) to make sure they remember you!
Reply to Comments When Guest Blogging
There is no reason to run off the second your post launches. Instead, you should stick around so you can see the responses you get. Answering questions, replying to observations or just saying ‘thanks' to the readers further exposes you to them. All while showing that you are friendly and approachable.
You may also manage to score a few more readers on your own blog this way. Everyone loves a blogger who is engaging, and if you strike up a conversation that interests readers, they will probably want to check you out more thoroughly.
Besides, it will keep your post from becoming a dead zone after the first few weeks.
Tip: If there are no comments yet, feel free to jump in to be the first. Make a comment thanking the blog owner for having you and ask his/her opinion on the topic discussed in your article. Invite people to comment in your tweets and likes.
Share Your Guest Posts
How will your readers know that you are guest posting if you don't let them know? Chances are a fair amount won't be following the blog you choose to write for. Which would be a shame, because it keeps you from targeting what is already a perfect viewer base…people who already read you. Why wouldn't you want to take advantage of that?
Social networking sites and even email newsletters are a great way to get the word out. This is also a highly shareable method of putting your guest blogging efforts out of there. Just a ‘like' on your status update or link about it will show up on their friend's Facebook feed, after all.
Tip: Always tag the blog owner in your tweet to make sure he/she notices your effort!
Link to Them From Your Own Site
If you have a WordPress blog (who doesn't?), you can use it to share links to your posts in a professional looking way from your own site. Just use the handy External Permalinks plugin. It will allow you to post a short intro about it, and then refer them to the original site the guest post is hosted on.
Of course, you can always go the more creative route and create a secondary post about it in a different format. For example, make an Infographic containing the data, and then link it to the original guest post where that data came from. Or do it in a YouTube video, which I have seen a lot lately thanks to the ease of embedding clips in WordPress posts.
Become a Regular
Probably the best way to get the most out of a guest blogging gig is to become a regular contributor. It means you will be familiar and known, and have a certain amount of credibility as a member of that site. Plus, regular exposure through your posts, which can be frequently exploited using the tips above.
Conclusion: Final thoughts on guest blogging
If you aren't guest posting yet, you are severely misinformed about the use of such a tool. It is an easy way to increase exposure and visibility on a month by month basis, with very little effort. Not to mention, it is a fantastic link building tool.
Use the tips above, and it becomes an even bigger powerhouse for writers.
Hey Jessy,
Guest blogging is very powerful as you just mentioned. I just learned greatly from this post. I’ll go ahead and create a Google+ circle and a Twitter List for owners of blogs I guest post on. This is being organised.
Thanks for sharing these tips and hope you have a splendid week
Yep!
True points!
And thanks for reminding the “forgotten” tip to tag the blog owner in the tweet.
Happy guest blogging and build connection 😉
Hi Jessy,
I think guest blogging is a powerful tool like you said in your post. It is part of my new year revolution and i hope it works out for me.
Thanks for this great post and reminding me of my to do lists.
Great resolution! Good luck with it!
Good luck with that resolution of yours!
Super tips Jessy because your focus is on building relationships.
You are not just trying to get more opt ins or readers. You can make a close friend and expand your business network too, leveraging your presence along the way. This is the quick way to grow a massive readership. Guest post and then follow up and make connections with fellow bloggers as you are introduced to new audiences.
Thanks!
Exactly! One great friend you build through your guest post is worth hundreds of links!
Jessy, this was a really interesting read thank you!
This is really powerful stuff – building contacts is definitely the way to go but the approach is really important too.
Thanks for stopping by to read and comment!
Great set of best-practices for building long-lasting blogging contacts! Guest blogging is so much more than simply a backlink-building exercise. In fact, that is simply a bonus. Your point about guest-blogging for contact is an interesting (and a valid) one.
And I totally agree with your point on replying to comments on a guest post, even if the blog-owner doesnt ask you to. It leaves a good impression on the blog-owner, as well as the people who took time to leave their feedback, it helps build rapport, and and it looks professional.
Yes, replying to comments is a must! There’s no way an article should live without the first-hand author’s replies!
(and that’s what I am doing ow btw :))
Appreciate the tips, it makes a lot of sense to do guest blogging these days. Ever since Google make their changes in the algorithms things are not doing too good for stand alone blogs.
I have always found linking to the posts through my blog a great technique to build contacts. I also employ fiverr gigs to get facebook likes so that the post goes viral
guest blogging is best for blogging niche bloggers. It strengthen your relationships with blog owner as well as you also get some backlinks It also provide you a chance to interact with that blog regular visiters
HI Jessy,
Great share!
These are the best practices in blogging which can help us in getting more visibility and then building great contacts. One can leverage those contacts to build relationship. Guest blogging is what I’m really interested in and will be working on this.
Thanks for sharing this.
Sapna
Hey Sapna, thanks for your support and for reading it!
Thanks for the post. its reality that link building helps alot to get more out of your blog/ site. Informative post to learn more.
Great post, Jessy. I totally agree with all of your points here.
I especially liked what you mentioned about repurposing your guests post. As you mentioned, this is a great way to gain even more exposure and open yourself and blog up to an entirely different audience.
I’m doing this now with my own blog/guest post content on my YouTube channel. It’s been a great way to provide more value in a different format and connect even further with my readers.
Thanks for sharing such great insights with us. I appreciate it! 🙂
Ti
You are right! Videos are great ways to repurpose your guest articles and get additional value. Thanks, Ti!
Repurposing with videos is something that I have not tried
Great article on guest blogging. I always thought the objective was for backlinks, turns out it’s about building relationships with other blog authors. It really makes sense. Also, you should probably guest blog on related blogs. I had someone contact me about guest blogging for my fat loss blog and I said sure. She sent me the article and it was on finance. I had to decline, politely.
This is very helpful information because I am trying to build up some guest blogging opportunities and this tips are very helpful. I read the other day somewhere that some of the best places to guest blog is someone that has in the 3k in google+ circle and it will really spread with them just sharing your guest blog post through google +.
Thanks again for sharing,
Eric
You touched on a very important point: It helps to alert your current subscribers of your guest posts. Apart from the fact that doing this will impress your host (as your guest posts get more activity), it will also help your guest posts give you more value. With more social activities on your guest posts (thanks to many more readers), you stand a better chance of ranking higher in search engines for your target keywords.
Great article, Jessy. You really pull it all together in not just a how-to, but an ultimate how-to!
Guest posting is one of the most effective way to get good traffic, business as well as visibility in search engine ranking pages. Your shared points are very helpful do guest posting and to build strong relationships with bloggers. Especially these points are very important Link to “Link Them From Your Own Site” and “Become a Regular”. When someone give links to a particular blog and become a regular participant in a blog it will helps a lot for future relations which can help a lot to get good traffic and high quality backlinks.
How about the one I always get. “I am offering this content FREE OF CHARGE as long as you link to me!” I find it funny that someone out of the blue would think I would pay them for content and so I am getting a deal by posting it with a link to them…
Thanks
I like your valuable Tip of “Create a separate Twitter list, Facebook interest list and Google Plus circle for all bloggers you guest contribute for” the most. Makes real business sense, for all concerned bloggers. Quite an informative post!
Certainly Guest post have got more importance in link building as well as in networking.
This is one such tactic which benefits in both ways, attracting users and increasing SERPs.
And here you shared some really helpful tips to take guest post to another level.
Thanks for that.
~@Khajamoin1
Hi Jessy,
Thanks so much that you listed all the important things bloggers should definitely do to keep a great networking between each other and reply to comments is what blogger must do.
Thanks for Great Post – Ferb
This tip is very helpful for me,recently i have created a blog and i want to some benefit from my blog,I know enough seo system but i don’t know this system so many thanks for you “Jessy”.
I just learned very good from your post and also thank for reminding this process.
Hi Jessy,
Certainly good tips, It’s essential to have good relationships with blog owners so that you can easily get approval for your guest posting. Plus if you other bloggers know you then they would also share your posts, that results in more exposure.
Jessy, I agree with you on guest blogging benefits. In my personal opinion blog get more benefit than guest blogger in terms of traffic and social presence. The guest author try his/her best to impress the blog reader through article and reader will share the article on social media and give him/her reward back. and of course the blog will get benefited at last.
Guest posting is great or both attracting users and increasing SERPs and can give you back-links as well as traffic, very helpful information for everyone who is going to become a good blogger, thanks for sharing this nice info Jessy Troy…
Jessy, Yes, guest blogging can be quite powerful. It doubles your power with shares and introduces you to new readers as well. It also is great for back links and credibility. Much of blogging is about being social too.
So well-said! Thanks for your comment, Lisa!
Guest blogging is great way not only to get back links but also making connections. Its one of the few white hat SEO techniques left. I like the idea of creating a list, I would not have thought of it. Thanks for these cool ideas.
I see HellBound Bloggers as one of the blogs that stands on multiple blogger’s strength. It’s one of the example where all Bloggers have a good relationship with them.
Guest blogging is truly a great tool for traffic generation, backlinks and also connection. It is wise to do guest blogging to meet and interact with new bloggers. thanks
Oh, lots of helpful and almost lost tips for me! Thanks! You refreshed my silly mind) That’s why I like to read your posts! So much common sense) Great job!
Thanks for reading and your kind words, Marta!
Guest blogging is certainly something I intend to start doing this year after a few years or publishing guest posts on my own blogs. MyBlogGuest is an awesome avenue for gaining guest posts by the way. 🙂
Hi Jessy,
Guest blogging is certainly something I intend to start doing this year as I’ve been busy building my own infrastructure so far. I wasn’t initially interested in it but I do realize that this is a great way to build great connections.
Thank you for the insights.
Regards,
Kumar
I like it Jessy!
It’s not just about the end result, it’s about the long haul. building a solid community of peers and fans that actually want to do business with you, and help you grow. Thanks for the tips on leveraging guest posting, really good post!
If a Blogger offers his articles regularly to a particular Blog or Author he will surely catch his eye. Plus sharing his other posts where he has not contributed his work also helps to make friendly Conversation starters. Thanks Jessy
Hello Jessy,
You make valid points about guest blogging. I did my first one and I’m so excited about it. Not only does this result in recognition of your site but it’s also been a motivator for me to when to keep learning and growing.
Enjoyed reading your post and looking forward to the next one. Enjoy the rest of your week.
Guest blogging is a good concept but in my opinion its little bit time taking. But its worth to give your time as it has a lots of benefits.
I cannot understand that why Author Rank has Became so Important? Will it be same as PageRank ?
I guess we don’t know yet but it’s better to start getting prepared now!
What is the Expected Time Period when it will be Launched?
Hi Ravi,
Rumours are flying around that it may have already been released.
https://plus.google.com/+MarkTraphagen/posts/XmH3S1W9wEg
Guest Blogging is no doubt vital way of marketing your website. Sharing quality blogs can indeed attract many readers.
In short its all about creating a community around yourself and your blog.
These will help your blog go viral. I agree on all the points above and trying hard to implement them
That’s why we are here on this website. Also love to be a part to this blog community commentators.
Guest blogging has always scared me even the first time I learned about it. To me, it means writing a post that is a whole level better than my regular posts in my own blog. It means researching for hours in order to come up with a write up that is beyond refute. It means drafting an article that is 100% new that nobody has ever heard about before. To sum it up, to me it means writing a perfect article, which in essence is impossible.
Even though I have accepted some guest posts on my own blog and have also seen guest posts made on some popular blogs, most of which fell short of my expectations, I still could not let go of the beliefs I’ve associated with guest posts and thus to this day I’ve never ever made one yet.
The recent surge of articles I’ve encountered about guest post would hopefully give me some sort of re-education so that I can eventually let go of my fear and just simply dive in and give it a fair attempt.
“To me, it means writing a post that is a whole level better than my regular posts in my own blog.”
That’s an absolutely correct approach to guest blogging!
Don’t get distracted if you notice lower-quality guest articles. There are still plenty of brilliant ones!
Great tips about guest posting Jessy. The key to being a “good guest poster” is taking the time to write valuable,actionable content, replying to comments, sharing your guest post on all you social media sites, and of course becoming friendly with the host of the blog you are guest posting on.
when these steps are done anyone can guest post on my blog. Unfortunately 99% of the people who want to guest post on my blog don’t do this. Now, I only ask for guest posts from bloggers I know and respect. I don’t accept unsolicited guest posts anymore.
Take Care.
“Unfortunately 99% of the people who want to guest post on my blog don’t do this.”
Unfortunately spammers are easier to notice. That’s the same percentage of spam comments we are receiving!
Good thing that 1% of authentic and dedicated authors who can become part of your blogging community is simply INVALUABLE!
Thanks for your comment!
Hi Jessy! Absolutely true. I have always found guest posting to be a great tool not just for traffic but because it’s a great way to read some other great posts from other bloggers. I think it’s really important to expand the circle of influence. You’re absolutely right about responding to comments. If people take the time to comment, why not say at least thanks. It’s fun and I look forward to doing a lot more Guest blogging in 2013!
Absolutely! Thanks for reading and for the comment! 😉
It is true that it is one of the most effective ways that we can increase our visibility audience and build lasting relationships with other bloggers so we can assist one another in the future. I completely agree this blog.
Guest blogging is the best promotion you can do for your blog.
No question!
Guest blogging hits so many angles of gaining success with your blog or site.
I love using this strategy and loving it more and more!
This is really good stuff. The whole key is building solid mutually beneficial relationships You simply cannot receive unless you give. Giving your best work as well as your time and attention to respond to your readers is the way to receive links, traffic and lots of friends which always equates to opportunity.
I have done very few guest posts,bt it feels great to get comments on your guest posts.
There is no doubt that guest posting is indeed paramount in this blogging community. I’ve made a priority this year and I’m certainly going to that.
Thanks for the tips, Jessy. Guest blogging is something that I have not tried yet, but if anyone would be interested in doing a guest blog for my website related to woodworking, I’d be open to hearing from them. Can send me a Tweet or a comment on my site. Comment would probably be seen first.
Myblogguest is a nice medium to build contact in blogging. Guest blogging is make our blog well ranked and gets many visitors.
Nice post thanks for sharing it……..
Sure, but I think it will be quite hard to get to do a guest post for an A-list blogger, unless the post have some exceptionally good, never seen before content, or your blog is already quite popular so the A-list blogger knows they can trust you.
Marvelous, What a research…! Jenny you are right. Guest posting for the sake of links has less value than the value of author who has written a hundred of articles. I should change my strategy.
Guest Blogging is what help us to connect more and more people and make them good friends.Guest Blogging also gives us a lot of exposure too,that’s why i love it.
Hey Sukhraj,
The key is your approach.
In order to even be considered a chance to post on an A-list blog, firstly your grammer and spelling need to be A+. Remember your contacting them as an ‘Author’ asking to write quality content. You should take time to read the content on their blog and personalise your email as best you can. Finding out the blog owners name is a great idea.
Small things are always key, perhaps add the blog owner on Google Plus or follow them on Twitter before you send them an email asking for a link.
Thanks for the article. I also clicked on the guest backlink link in your article and it was a great read!
I think I will definitely give this a go… I guess the challenge is finding appropriate blogs to guest post on – I run a cartoon blog which is quite specific to South African politics so not that easy to find high traffic blogs to post on that do not belong to newspapers etc.
Well written article. But these days so many articles are published about the importance of guest posting. So would like to know if guest-posting still got its importance or is it done only for the sake of link-building.
Hi Jessy,
I agree with you, I think that guest blogging is very important to build influential contacts, but it is also a unique way to get targeted readers and backlinks.
However, the main disadvantage of this technique is that it takes a lot of time to write a quality article…
Hope this guest post will bring you readers.
Best regards, Nathan Brunner
Hello,
Guest blogging to other blogs is certainly something I intend to start doing this year as I’ve been busy building my own infrastructure so far. I wasn’t initially interested in it but I do realize that this is a great way to build great connections.
Do you have any advice on the value of guest blogging on low PR blogs? Is the link juice worth the time? Or is it better to swing for the fences and only focus on the high page rank stuff?
Awesome tips, I’ve been exploring My Blog Guest for a bit and I find that it is a very powerful way to build authority links. A very cool resource indeed!
Hi,
Thanks for this very useful tips, I learn a lot about Guest Blogging from your article. I’m starting to practice it.
I always heard that making Guest post is very good source of traffic and backlinks but i never tried that because of no so time.Because i’m a student and a part time blogger.So what should i do sir please tell me briefly
But, will this links be “dofollow” from this guest posts. And you told about forum comments in your another article. But this links still “nofollow”. Can you write an article about “how to get DOFOLLOW links”, especially if you have a new blog, self-hosted and without community.
Hi Alex,
What you need is The Ultimate Guide to Do Follow or No Follow Links on Your Blog. In this podcast I talk about the importance of links and I also provide a handy Cheat Sheet you can read and download for future use.
One more thing I included is a playlist of videos from Matt Cutts from Google and what he has to say about links. Please take advantage of these resources and sign up for my newsletter to get more info.
Hey Jessy,
Nice post and Yes, Guest blogging is the best way for getting visibility in blogging and it also helps in make links with other blogger and also helps to drive more traffic to our blog. Thanks for sharing this post.
Good article, I want to start guest writing for people now.
Being conscious of guest bloggers’ queries, giving an answer their remarks or by merely saying thanks a ton for the positive commentary. Through these actions, you can actually disclose to your visitors the sociable and favorable side of you.