Any list of SEO techniques is not complete if it does not include guest blogging. Guest blogging remains one of the effective SEO strategies for content creators. A very simple way to describe the concept of guest blogging is that it involves writing blog posts for a blog that is not yours. Its many advantages - including promoting your personal brand by boosting your site's traffic and gaining exposure - cause a lot of people to engage in it. Likely, you too are drawn to the perks of guest blogging and want to get started. To help you, thus, this guide lets you in on the basic principles of guest blogging.
If you are looking to start guest blogging and key in on its benefits, you no doubt would want to do it right. In fact, you have to do it right. Like every other technique in SEO, guest blogging has its essentials. Neglecting the basics would do more harm than good to those who try to get involved in it. So, you want to make the most success out of guest blogging? Below are some guidelines you need to follow as a guest blogger to ensure that you achieve your desired results:
Determine your long-term goals
For a person going into guest blogging, you need to determine your long-term goals. Doing this would aid in knowing what you want to achieve as a guest blogger. Some goals of guest bloggers might be gaining exposure to their name. People go into guest blogging because they want to break into the writing audience and ensure they are known. Some other guest bloggers might have been into writing already, and their goal is to drive traffic to their backlinks. Here, they get a website more popular than theirs and become a guest blogger there. Then, they get people hooked and intrigued so they can be compelled to check on their sites.
long-term goals to be highlighted, and guest blogging is not an exception. Goals allow you to have a destination that you would work with. This also assists to ensure that you do not slack. And even more, you can be bench-marking your strengths and weaknesses along the way. This is one factor that paves the way for review. And review, in turn, paves way for growth.Laying down your long-term goals helps in having a focus and a drive. Also, it helps you determine the duration at which you would function as a guest blogger. Some people get lost in guest blogging, forgetting their drive and focus. And then, they remain guest bloggers for much longer than they are supposed to. Every aspect of life needs
Identify the best suitable blogs for you The worst mistake any guest blogger would make is to choose a blog that would not be able to satisfy their long-term goals. Take, as an example, choosing a blog that does not generate enough traffic when your goal is to reach a larger audience and if possible, direct them back to your blog. It would be, not only time-wasting but devastating when you eventually realize the import of your choice. Therefore, it is best to be on the safe side and carry out adequate research. Do not be in a rush to jump on just any available blog. Rather, be deliberate about your choice. Ensure you monitor various blogs for a certain period.
There are numerous blogs out there, so expectedly, it would be an issue picking a specific one. Work hand-in-hand with your long-term goals to pick a number of them – five (5) different blogs, for example - that can possibly satisfy your goals. Then, monitor these highlighted choices and watch for some time. Within this time, you get to see the ones that have the highest traffic and the consistent ones. Working for a blog that is not consistent is as good as not working at all. It kills whatever aspirations you may have. A blog with consistency is the only one that can assist you in the long run. At first sight, it could be easy to mistaken blogs that are not consistent as successful. This is why you should not be in a rush because no matter the act they put up, it would flop at a point. In the end, ensure to pick a consistent blog.
Ensure your choice blog is on your niche As a guest blogger, you need to stand apart and be known for something. Before going into writing, you must have decided on the niche you would be writing on. That niche is what you should stick to, even when looking for a blog where you could be a guest blogger. Imagine choosing to be a guest blogger in a science blog when your niche is in entertainment. These are contradicting concepts which would give you difficulty in the long run. The logic is simple - when you choose a blog different from your usual niche, you would find it hard to develop content for that blog. From concept-forming to writing style adaptation and other factors, you would be bound to encounter issues upon issues.
Another thing is this. As a blogger, you must have had a certain level of audience base before, no matter how small they might have been. How confused they would be to see you working for a blog different from your usual niche. They would take it that you are unserious about your known niche and they would likely lose interest in your works. People got attracted to you and your write ups for a reason, so you should not give them reasons to regret their choice. Stick to working with blogs that deal with your niche. This way, you would grow and be firmly rooted in the niche. Practice, they say, makes perfect. The more you write on that niche, the more you become a pro. And likewise, you could gradually become internationally recognized.
Do not sit back and relax. Pitch! You have determined your choice of blog(s)? Then go ahead and sell yourself through pitching! Convince the blog owner(s) on why you should be a guest blogger on their blog. Remember! You are not the only one trying to get that position. So, this should be a constant motivation to you. For you to have picked that blog or those blogs, it means they must have proven themselves to be exceptional. After all, everyone wants to be a part of something good and exceptional. To this end, you compete with numerous and diverse people. In such a situation, only your pitch would be able to help you out.
In your pitch, you need to highlight your experience with the blog's niche. Accomplishments you must have done within that niche and links to some of your works are also important things to include. While pitching, you need to let the tone of your pitch not come off as too commanding (or demanding). But it should also be really convincing. Highlight the benefits it would be, having you as a guest blogger and the demerits that could come with not having you as their guest blogger. You need to let them know that it is either you or nothing. Be mindful, however, not to come off as an overly desperate person. Desperate people are usually taken for granted when employed. You do not want to be that person who would be overused and not appreciated. Simply, all you need to do is this. Create a perfect pitch, submit it, and relax. Do not bug the blog owner. If the work should be yours, it would be yours.
Proofread everything. Every time The truth is that, for one thing, errors in a pitch proposal are a big turnoff. After all, you claim to be a writer, one whom the blog needs. Thus, if you apply to be a guest blogger and your pitch is full of mistakes, well, the result is pretty obvious. Now, no one is above mistakes, and even the most excellent writer is bound to make mistakes. Hence, there is no harm in giving a friend your pitch to proofread before you submit it. Your pitch needs to be error-free, so you need to be extremely deliberate with it. Ensure that you "dot all 'i's and cross all 't's." Be on the lookout for wrong grammatical structures and ensure that there is a synergy among your paragraphs.
Do not play around with your pitching as you never can tell who would be reading it. You might decide to submit your pitch to a certain blog owner, and their friends who also own blogs could stumble upon that pitch. For a pitch that is excellent and error-free, it would also win their hearts and secure your gigs with them. This way, you are applying for one job but getting multiple offers. And if you are extremely efficient, you can decide to accept all and multi-task. Grammarly is one of the great tools that can help you proofread. It, not only saves time but is also really easy to use. Thus, writers will find it and similar tools helpful in getting ahead of their writing game. Since proofreading is an essential part of writing, do not downplay its power!
And bear in mind, too, that to sustain your job as a guest blogger, it is important to consistently provide quality content. What would help you do so? Again, proofreading. So, proofread every single article, every time.
Establish partnerships Did you get the job as a guest blogger? Congratulations! But the work does not stop there. In fact, it just began. In as much as you would put effort into the writing, you also need to develop and establish a relationship with the blog owner. If there is no synergy between you both, the work would not go smoothly. You need to understand that you are not the owner of the blog. Hence, you have to work with the person's house style. However, you will find it hard to work with the owner's house style if you have not taken time to understudy the person. There should be a bond that would lead to trust. If there is no trust, you would be overly monitored. And this would not lead to you performing efficiently and adequately. For progress to be made, the owners of the blog should be able to trust you as a guest blogger, believing that their blog is in safe hands.
Also, there has to be a relationship so you can know what the blog owner expects, and when he/she expects it. Dictating job duties every time is not a pleasure most blog owners revel in. Yet, this is what is bound to happen between you and the blog owner when there is no established relationship. You also do not wish to work in a toxic environment as it would be extremely draining. When there is an established, favorable relationship between the blog owner and you as the guest blogger, everything would go so smoothly. More so, you would also look forward to writing on the blog. You, therefore, would always be in the lookout for more innovative ideas and would find yourself progressing day by day. For you and the blog owner, that is a win-win!
Conclusion
Every aspect of content creation has its guidelines, and guest blogging is not without its, too. It is, however, not easy to keep up with a long list of Dos and Don'ts, simply to get started. Thankfully, this article has outlined six essential guidelines for ensuring a successful start and continuity in guest blogging. From determining your goals to pitching and then, to partnering, this guide to guest blogging has been as comprehensive as they come. All you need to do is to bear in mind the basics and apply them carefully and consistently. Then, you would experience all the merits that successful guest blogging has to offer.
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