This is a guest post by Tushar Agarwal from BloggersPassion.
Promotion is the only way to keep a blog alive. It is always said that good content is nothing without traffic. The quality of the content does matter but if nobody come to your blog, what is the use of that content. It will not get the laurels it deserves and this is sure to discourage you.
90% of the bloggers use free methods of promoting which sometimes work and sometimes does not.
But ask any seasoned blogger about the best way to promote a blog without spending a single penny and the most common answers you will hear are COMMENTING and GUEST BLOGGING.
These are the most used methods and often leave us with a debate on which is the best among the two. Both have its advantages and I am trying to find out the best between these two based on two common metrics.
1. Effort
Obviously, guest blogging takes much more effort than commenting. For promoting the blog through COMMENTING, you just need to go to a blog, click on the post that you understand and comment. Many “desperate for traffic” commentators do not even bother to read what is there in the post. They are more interested in leaving their link there and waiting for traffic.
On the other hand, GUEST POSTING takes a lot of effort, you have to be at your very best to deliver the best article and that require as much time as your own blog’s post needs. A bad guest post can very easily backfire because:
- The blog author can easily reject it citing reasons that you are just posting to get the visitors and the quality is missing. He might also not consider your future posts as FIRST IMPRESSION IS THE LAST IMPRESSION.
- Even if your bad guest post gets published, readers will eventually find out that this was nothing more than a guest post. Just 300 words of crap to get the back link and traffic can force them to avoid you, your posts and your blog in the future.
2. Result
When it comes to the end result you wanted, the traffic, guest blogging leaves commenting way behind. With a good quality guest post published in a blog with huge traffic, do not be surprised if you get few hundred hits in a day.
Commenting can never get you this much number of visitors even if you put in as much time as you put in your post. Moreover, if your comment is not in the first 5, you might not even get noticed and your little effort will go in vain.
Only guest posting can get you traffic that you want, all it requires is that little extra effort.
But as everything, guest blogging has some disadvantages. First, you have to write your best post to attract the traffic. This post could have been on your blog but it could not happen. Second, if you make a wrong choice of the blog where you will be posting, you might not get enough traffic and your effort goes waste.
Still, guest blogging is one of those ways that can get you tonnes of traffic. There is a merrier side of guest blogging. There are many blogs that offer revenue sharing i.e. you get Adsense revenue for the ads that are clicked on the page your post is displayed, provided you have entered your Adsense publication id.
At The End…
I encourage everyone of you reading this post to participate in this debate between commenting and guest posting. And do not forget to participate in our poll below.
[poll id=”6″]
I’m not yet in position to Guest Post so commenting is the only way
Tushar and Sushant,
Guest blogging is “where the rubber meets the road”. Before I say more about that I certainly love to comment because I believe it is a response that shows value to an author and peer.
Comments stating “thanks” or “great posting” may be encouraging 10% of the time when no other comments are being received. Comments should show appreciation through compliments and critique as a result of comteplating what was written. Comments can even be instructional from other bloggers.
Commenting can help to build traffic but in comparison it does not hold a candle to guest blogging.
The process of reading post from other bloggers, reading the comments, and commenting yourself will aid in understanding how you may affect a positive contribution as a guest blogger
Guest blogging is the ability to place yourself in a position to serve the readership of the blog and the host blogger. When serving well you recieve the credibility of the host blogger and potential future relationship with the host blogger”s audience.
Your post well stated the pro’s and con’s of both methods. Thank you!
Vonzel “Maxafier”
.-= Vonzel Sawyer´s last blog ..9 Ways to Turn Adversity to Your Advantage =-.
Commenting is really my cup of tea . Even if guest blogging is respectful and benificial , commenting has its own advantages . More links in less time .
.-= Shikhar’s last blog ..Difference between amortization, depreciation and depletion =-.
I prefer commenting to guest blogging. There is too much of effort involved in guest blogging.
Finding good blogs in your niche. Writing a quality post and getting it accepted by the webmaster. I think that is too much effort.
.-= Sammy´s last blog ..Some Free Tips On How To Get Your Ex Back With Good Hope =-.
Commenting seems to be the easiest way and Guest Blogging is the effective way. A single guest post on a huge blog will drive 1000 times better traffic than a comment.
guest posting is something that cant be compared to commenting….its true that it takes 10 times more than time you need to comment but it can get you just more than traffic
Guest posting. is one of the best free method to promote in blog.No matter how harder you try and how much effort you give in to promote your blog through commenting.Those people/bloggers who use guest posting method to promote themselves are more successful in less time.Commenting might be suitable for those who are looking for short-term benefits but if you want to be successful in the long run and build your brand in less time, guest posting is the way to go.
actually i do not agree with tushar….commenting has the power to get you enough visitors….the rest depends on your content that will keep bringing them back and back and back….guest posting takes too much time and its not always true that commenting can never help you spread yourself
Guest post is always my favorite, you are right that it requires little more efforts but results are also so good than only commenting. So first preferring to guest posting.
I also like commenting because its a good way to interact and share our thoughts with others as well as helps us to make good relations with blogger.
both have its advantages and disadvantages.guest blogging might take time but is much more worthy.commenting takes less time but works if you are regular commentator on one blog..