This is a guest post by Anna Miller from OnlineDegree.net . Through this post, she is going to give tips on how to get good guest bloggers to write for our blogs so that our blog remains as fresh as possible with new content.
Many articles on this site and others are geared more toward guest bloggers themselves. But maybe your own blog has stagnated a bit. You don’t have the time to write content for your blog on a regular basis, or perhaps you can’t come up with new ideas. You’d like to occasionally spotlight a new voice that will imbue your blog with a freshness that you, at the moment, cannot provide.
The fact of the matter is that there are various good reasons for having outsiders write content for your blog. If anything, it’ll give your blog some forward momentum. At the same time, however, attracting a guest blogger who is a good fit for your blog can be tough work. Here are a few tips for doing just that:
1. Be Sure To Have Guest Post Guidelines Featured Visibly On Your Blog, And Be As Specific As Possible About What It Is You Are Looking For.
In order to attract potential guest bloggers, you must, of course, let them know that you accept guest posts. In addition to writing a blog article announcing your desire for guest bloggers, add a tab that details guest post guidelines. Be as specific as you can possibly be. Include approximate word counts, your readers’ general areas of interest, and maybe a few points on things that you are NOT looking for. This way, a potential guest blogger will know exactly what you and your audience wants, so that neither he/she nor you waste anyone’s time.
2. Once Guest Bloggers Approach You, Find Out About Their Background In Your Niche.
The best guest bloggers, I’ve found, are both knowledgeable and passionate about your niche. When you receive requests or even full-length posts from guest bloggers, communicate with them a little before moving forward. Although this communication may take some time, it’s always a good idea to collaborate and bounce ideas back and forth with guest bloggers. For one, it’s a great way to connect with other bloggers who share your interest. What’s more, developing a relationship with each guest blogger increases your chances of having a steady source of quality content.
3. Beware Of Guest Bloggers Who Have Ulterior Motives.
This tip ties in with the previous one. There are many guest bloggers out there who are only looking to score links for their own purposes. Of course, since guest bloggers aren’t compensated materially for their work, a guest blogger is motivated in large part by the added exposure their own blog will get. And this is completely understandable. However, as any blogger knows, blogging is first and foremost a labor of love. It’s not all about money or recognition; it’s about sharing ideas and interests with others. Guest bloggers who focus solely on expanding their own audience usually produce lackluster work that’s poorly and hastily written.
4. Encourage A Successful Guest Blogger To Submit More Content.
Once you’ve accepted a guest post and published it, and you see that your readers really enjoyed having a new voice featured on your blog, be sure to thank your guest. Encourage him or her to respond to comments posted by your readers, to get involved with your audience. Developing a relationship with a good guest blogger means you’ll have someone reliable to ask for more quality content in the future. Of course, always be on the lookout for new guest bloggers with new ideas and perspectives, but it’s better to have a few good guests than a million mediocre ones.
Final Words…
Featuring guest bloggers is an excellent way to revive your blog, free up some of your time, and connect with others in the blogosphere. Follow these tips and you’ll be sure to attract great writers with interesting new ideas to generate value for you and your readers.
Excellent post Anna. I get requests all the time and I tell them they must write the post about the niche and not about them, and then when I tell them that I only allow one anchor link in the bottom of the post, they usually go away. LOLOne very excellent service that I can recommend is Cathy Stucker’s BloggerLinkUp dot com which is an email newsletter received twice a week that lists people that are willing to write articles and the niches are shown and then also people that are looking for guest posters to write articles on various topics.It is all on the up and up and there is no cost.
Thanks for the info Anna. I am a new blogger, and this info was really beneficial for me. But I had one question. How do we know, if the guest blogger is posting duplicate content, from another website and linking it to his website.
If he posts duplicate content, we will get unnecessarily bad image right?
Maybe I missed it in the article, but besides being able to have more content for your website, what does having guess bloggers do for a blog, as I know the guest blogger seems to be the bigger winner…
This is a great post. With guest blogging both blogs can benefit. It is just a matter of limitation. We cannot avoid the fact that the guest blogger will place some links in the post in order to promote his or her blog. But as long as the links doesn’t ruin the entire article or is very minimal, the blog host must accept it. Let us enjoy a mutual environment where both can benefit from a very interesting post.
Thanks for your sharing Ana.
I will add the guest post on my blog but not now because my traffic and PR is still low . However, it is really the good tips for me when i start the guest post for my blog.
Hi Anna
Thanks for this Awesome article. Actually I am really look for good number of guest bloggers for my blog.
This is post is very helpful to me.
I think that guest could promote nothing in its post, but just tell you the opinion. As a blogger I don’t like to hear the opinions from people I don’t know. And I’ll feel myself uncomfortable when I get such post.
This is definitely an informative post regarding guest blogging. I have never really thought about it but I guess guest bloggers can really help in putting content to a blog that has been dormant for weeks. In fact, it may even help in reviving a weblog.
A guest blogger should be very good at English. He should have deep understanding of the nice about which he has planned to write. He should also have research on niche on which he is writing.
@Al: there’s copyscape for you to know if it’s a duplicate or not. Many people try to do this but beware. This post is really informative. I have been blogging a long time and didn’t thought of having a guest blogger for my niche. Anyway, Thanks for sharing.