Most people find that securing a guest blogging opportunity is the hardest part of guest blogging. However, no matter how many guest posts you can secure, if your posts are not optimised to produce the greatest return on investment, you will be missing out on new site traffic and potential new leads and sales.
Create An Article To Fit The Blog
One of the first things that you should do before creating a guest blog is read the editor’s guidelines. This will typically include rules on what kind of sources to use, what size images to use, word count limits, as well as what should be included in the author’s biography. This will ensure that your guest post is in line with the other posts on the blog.
In fact, it is best to read the editors guidelines before you have even proposed a guest blog. Additionally, once the guest blog proposal has been accepted, ask the editor for any guidelines they may have regarding tone and formality to ensure that your post appeals to the audience of the blog. It is also important to communicate with the editor during the creation of your guest post to ensure that it meets their expectations.
Provide Value
Also key to creating a successful guest blog is providing value for both the reader and the owner of the blog. The easiest way to do this is to write about what you know. Use your expertise to provide unique value to readers that is relevant to the blog as a whole.
This will also ensure that your article is as factual and accurate as possible, as there is nothing worse than submitting a guest post to someone within your industry that is full of inaccuracies. Because there is so much information on the internet, anyone can look up how to do something and then write an article about it. The key to creating a great article that provides unique value is to use your own expertise to connect the dots and make the process easy to understand for readers.
Promote An Action
When creating a guest blog there is always a desired outcome. Whether it be driving more traffic to your new article or generating new leads through a contact form. Your guest post should be designed to funnel people towards your desired outcome, otherwise all of the new traffic you generate from the post won’t lead anywhere.
For example, simply providing a link to the homepage of your site won’t greatly affect your leads or sales. This is because there is no clear action for the user to take, and the distracting amount of information on a homepage will lead to users leaving your site.
Conversely, if you create a free resource that is relevant to your guest post and provide a link to a separate landing page where readers can claim their free resource by filling out a contact form, you are providing value and generating qualified leads at the same time.
However, as mentioned above, it is important to check the editors guidelines before including a call to action like this as some blogs may not allow it.
Don’t Over Promote Your Brand
Although it can be tempting to promote your band at every opportunity you get, when creating a guest post you should avoid over promoting yourself. A guest post is the place for a strategically placed, and highly relevant, call to action, rather than overt self promotion.
Not only will the editor of the blog likely reject your post when they realise that it is just a self promoting article, if the article does make it through it is unlikely to get a positive response from the audience. This is because it may be the first time that any of them have even heard about your brand as you are posting on someone else’s blog.
Edit, Then Edit Again
Finally, before submitting a guest blog ensure that it is thoroughly edited. Run it through a grammar and spell checker, and if possible, have another person edit it as well. There are few things less impressive than submitting a guest post full of simple spelling and grammatical errors.
When editing, ensure that you double check any sources used and external links as well as the flow and readability of the article. As, if you are submitting an article before the editor has agreed to even post it, it is much more likely to get accepted if it has been well edited.
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