Helping You Rock Out Your Site Like A Rockstar!

Are you a blogger that accepts guest bloggers quite frequently? You might want to think about how you label your site, especially if you are wanting to strengthen your own brand.

Guest blogging can be really great for blog owners as it is a means to supplement content when it cannot be published as frequently. It is a way for fresh faces to be heard with topics that echo that of the blog owner’s views. However, it is a supplement- not to be used frequently.

In allowing frequent guest bloggers, it becomes a permanent crutch, leaving you unable to break out on top.

I have found it quite alarming that there are individuals that believe themselves to be influential in their niche, but it is more like an article submission website. Of course you are going to build a good reputation opening up your site to guest bloggers, but your circle is going to only attract that following. Individual voices will mesh together with others. That is great! I know this sounds harsh, but it is true. Sometimes I visit a site in order to read the blog owner’s work, not the 10 other posts done by other people.

I find it a bit disturbing if the one person who own’s a site where only a percentage of articles were written by them is claiming credit for building such a site. Also, I find it even more disturbing if the site is being monetized and the blog owner is not doing some sort of revenue share system. It does take money to keep a site up, but there is a line that has to be drawn.

(Example – and the site shall remain nameless: I had guest blogged at a site about freelancing and web designing, and it became quite popular. When I was busy with conferences, the blog owner constantly was asking me to submit an article. I was not being paid, nor did I ever agree to regular submissions because of my schedule.

When I did write up my last post for that site, the owner sent a mass email to his newsletter and his contributors to say that he sold the site to someone else. Soon after that, I was contacted by the new owners, and after seeing my work used to line someone else’s pockets without a flinch of remorse, I could not agree to contribute and asked for my work to be pulled off.

I still guest post at several places, but I am cautious to take on others that may be doing the same thing.)

A community blog is more suited title for such sites. It gives the community that contributed the credit it deserves. If you want to build authority, having a community blog is not the route to go. Your voice gets diluted in between your guest bloggers’ posts.

If you plan to become an influential blogger, make it your goal to put together a plan in regards to guest post submission. You need to determine how many posts in between should your guest bloggers be published. Your ratio of your own posts to your guest posts should be in favor of your end.

Blog communities are not bad and there can be a wealth of information found at those sites. In no way will I ever say that they should be avoided. They can be a great place to meet other bloggers!

However, building your brand and engaging with others should be priority. The guest posts will roll in, and as your site grows, you can become more selective about what is submitted.

What are your thoughts? Have you ever had any experiences with guest blogging that left you feeling sour?

It is not uncommon to read from a lot of blogs about blogging that guest blogging has a lot of benefits. However, with all these people guest blogging and sites publishing these articles, are people really taking advantage of this in the best way possible.

The benefits of guest blogging is a two-way street. Both the site owner and the blogger benefit. So, in order to cover how you can make the most of guest blogging, I need to address both sides of the street.

For the Site Owner:

• While you want to follow the focus of your site, be open to new things. It may be because you are not familiar with new techniques or news in your niche as you thought you were. There will always be someone with a leg up on your knowledge in your niche. Let them bring that knowledge in and enhance your site.
• Make sure that you place guidelines for guest posts if you decide to open your site to outside writers. It would be pointless to keep rejecting articles that do not fit your site’s criteria, especially if you do not list any in the first place. Do not assume people will write exactly what you want.
• Be courteous with your guest bloggers and make sure you do background searches on them. They are doing you a favor by providing you quality content. Even if you promise pay for regular writing, they are still doing a larger favor.
• Make sure you do background searches your guest writers. No, you do not have to do a full research, but find out what your guest writers are writing about on their own websites. There are a lot of bloggers who pull information almost out of thin air and that could hurt your site. You want your site to be able to offer the right information, not the wrong.

  For example, I recently read an article, to which I will not name, that had quite a few points that showed a lack of experience in the area. In fact, the article probably should have either been revised or not been published at the site as it contradicted other articles on the site that had a similar topic.

For the Guest Blogger:

• If a site owner has criteria, follow it. If you are unsure of the requirements for guest blogging at a website, ask.
• Do not expect your article to always be approved. Site owners try to make sure the articles fit their site before publishing. If your site does not meet the owner’s expectations, you can take the article to another site for consideration.
• Your guest post is not a free ticket to make money by throwing in an affiliate link or slipping in an article you are getting paid for by an outside company, even for SEO. This is wrong. That is why there are places for that (like your own blog and article publishing sites.) As social media marketing has become popular, people are looking for transparency – not people writing and making money off someone else’s blog for a guest post. In that case, pay the site owner their cut for hosting your paid blog post.
• It is fine to insert keywords, but they should be related to a direct business or place that you have control over. Again, this relates somewhat to the previous point mentioned.
• One of the purposes of guest blogging is to build a healthy relationship with readers in your niche. That should be what you set your sights on building. Once you have, you will find people eager to read your own site, connect more with you, or even do business with you.

Are there other ways that you can make the most of guest blogging?

Occasionally I receive guest post inquiries from previous guest bloggers that want to submit a post under another name, even a fake one. I normally do not accept these types. I am very selective when accepting guest blog posts and encourage others to do the same.

Why?

Well, I want my readers to read posts from real people who they can connect with. There are too many available guest writers wanting to post that are actually using it as a way to make money. I respect that people need to make a living, but not when it may be the fact my readers are not able to connect with my guest bloggers.

Getting money to get a backlink on someone’s site, well, that means someone is making money off of me and I just gave kudos to their client in the person’s author bio. Of course, I do not publish guest posts, but I walk away knowing that my readers know who is writing and that they are eager to respond back.

I want real people to guest post, not middle men (or middle women.) I deserve it. AND…. so do you.

Even if you have a site that is fairly new, you should be selective about who you let on board. You want guest bloggers who want to interact with your readers, not someone there for just a backlink for a business. Of course, in some cases, and I say this is a not often, you may find a business who have relevant topics for your blog and wanting to interact. Great! That is what you want.

While I am sure you are eager to push out content, making sure it is quality and done honestly is just as important. You never know- you could be inviting plagiarism, spun articles that do not have much value, and much more. There is a big market out there in the freelance world looking for writers and article re-writers who will basically ghost write and allow their articles to be spun maybe a hundred times and sold to clients to disperse around the Internet.

Make sure when you are allowing guest writers on board to establish a set of rules and also, you need to follow up with them. Guest writers who are not actively responding to comments on articles they have written obviously have no care other than money. They do not even care that their client they represented got a backlink from your site nor are they held to any rules to respond to articles written.

I am sure there are quite a few people who may not agree with my thoughts on this matter, but it is a choice I made. I was tired of seeing it on other blogs and stopped it from continuing on mine as those posts in the end held little value to encourage my readers to engage.

Are you selective when accepting guest blog posts? What tips do you have from your own experience?

There are many advantages that are associated with guest blogging and should be really beneficial if you are looking for ways to promote your business. In this article we will be having a look at 5 interesting ways on how your business can benefit from guest blogging.

SEO

The first way that you will likely benefit from guest blogging is that it can help you with your SEO task. After the Google Panda update there are some people that believe that article directories are simply devalued and it may be a waste of time trying article submission for SEO purposes. This is where guest blogging can come in handy. By posting regularly on related blogs you will be able to build some really good backlinks to your own site and allow you to get your site up the SERP.

Traffic

Guest blogging can also help you get some interesting traffic towards your own site. Indeed if you post some really useful content people will be really interested to check your site and this can help increase the amount of visitors to your site. However you will need to ensure that your articles are really useful to the readers and that will truly encourage them to click on the link and visit your site.

Reputation Building

By posting quality guest posts on some authority sites you can successfully build your reputation online. Again all will depend on whether your articles are really useful and whether it really adds value for the readers. The more you do so the more credibility you will build online and people will gradually consider you as being an expert in the niche.

New Contacts

Guest blogging can also allow you to make new contacts in your niche. This not limited only to fellow webmasters but also to visitors of the host blog. One benefit of this is that you can get feedback on your blogging quality and hence help you improve your blog. Guest blogging can also provide you with opportunities for joint ventures and hence help you to develop your business.

Subscriber Base

Another interesting advantage of guest blogging is that it can also allow you to build your subscriber base quickly. Rather than just relying on organic traffic to build your list, guest posting on related blogs can help boost your subscriber base radically. However you need to make sure that your landing page is optimized well to ensure that you make the most of the surge in traffic on your blog.

Are you checking your guest blogger’s links in their posts? Do you care?

YOU SHOULD!

While every blog owner has their own policy on what is allowed and what is not allowed in guest posting, the links some guest bloggers are pimping out may not be something you will want to have on your site.

Why?

Well, it could be a number of reasons. Probably best to put out a few scenarios:

• Scenario 1: In the case your guest blogger is working for a company, the keyword they use directs to the business they are paid to write for. While the article may be well written – you are actually allowing them to advertise for free on your website. Say you have a similar business or affiliate market with a similar business, this is a conflict of interest.
• Scenario 2: You like to try to be laid back about your blog and your guest posting policy reflects that. You just skim over posts, maybe do a few edits, and then either publish it or schedule the post to publish. When it publishes, you find out from a reader that the link your guest blogger put in there leads to a suspicious website or even is an affiliate link.
• Scenario 3: You do not mind the link dropping, and you get a lot of guest posts. Your blog becomes one hot mess of link dropping spam instead of focused on quality content.

These are merely a couple scenarios. Some of the guest bloggers out there are genuine and are transparent about themselves. Others, they will concoct a whole story to make it seem they are genuine. It is unfortunate that I have had to come across such people and have turned away some or removed quite a few guest posts submitted for review. I am sure some of you have also had problems.

It is important to put a policy in place for guest post submissions or you could possibly be harming your blog’s reputation in the future.

Do you accept guest posts? What are your blog’s guest posting rules? Have you encountered guest bloggers that still submit articles after failing to adhere to your site’s guest writing rules?

I love to receive guest posts. However receiving and publishing them are two different things. While I am pretty welcoming about allowing people to register in order to submit a guest post for review, nearly half of the articles submitted have been rejected. So, I decided to put together a small list on reasons a site owner will not approve your guest post.

1. You spammed. Simple as that. You decided to advertise your business or the one you are getting paid to blog for. In the end you just embarrassed your company. Might be harsh, but bloggers want transparency, not something fake. If you want to advertise a company, perhaps inquiring if the site owner allows sponsored posts and how much might be a more respectful thing to do before submitting.
2. Your topic has nothing to do with the site. Kind of embarrassing, huh? Well, before even considering to submit, make sure to research the site. It will make things far more efficient and your post’s chance of being approved a lot higher.
3. You failed to follow the site owner’s directions when signing up and submitting an article. If they have an author box and do not want you to put a byline, or if you should have a gravatar or enter your social network handles – these are important to take notice of.
4. Your article does not coincide with the opinions of the website or the information is wrong. If the article is suppose to have good information, it needs to at least coincide with the views of the website or it will not be welcomed.

   If the site owner believes in one method, it is important to bring your side to the table before submitting and perhaps the blog owner may approve your article if it sounds logical to them. Some blog administrators are fairly lenient in articles written with opinion, but if it is pretty far fetched, it might not be posted. As for false information – pretty understandable that you will not be approved as it will reflect negatively on the site.

5. Your article was not understandable. Language barriers sometimes get in the way, and some grammar issues are easy to fix, but if your article is not in the least understandable, forget about being published.
6. Your article seems to be a duplicate copy. Big no no!!! Do not copy your post from another website. Always create a fresh and unique article!
7. You plagiarized. Simple as that. No one wants a content theft’s work. It is not hard to search and find if article has been stolen. If you are a person who paid another for a guest post, make sure to check the article before submitting or you will look as bad as the person who copied.

If you are a site owner who accepts guest posts, what other methods would qualify for the guest’s article to not be approved? Any guest post stories? Have you ever had anyone submit plagiarized material to your site?

There are a lot of good and bad things about guest blogging. Some blog owners are not certain if it is something they want to take on, so I have put together some pros and cons. As a side note, I accept guest posts, but I am very picky about what cannot go into an article so it remains pure of spam.

The Good of Guest Blogging

• You get free content to share with your readers.
• You get some extra time to either write future articles, and even network with readers.
• You are building a good relationship with other bloggers in your niche and overall blogging community, even helping some bloggers gain a better reputation.
• You learn a lot from your guest bloggers through the new topics they bring for you to publish onto your site.

The Bad of Guest Blogging

• You open up your blog to possible security issues, especially if your site is not set with roles for users to deny access to specific areas of the website.
• You open your site up to spammers. This works in two ways. The first is if spammers registered with your site and the second is from guest writers trying to sneak in articles that are spam.
• You will have to check articles and spell check. From experience, I have had to correct some spelling and grammar problems.
• You may have to seek out or create thumbnail issues and format articles to fit with your blog’s style. For example, you might have to set keywords, and make sure html heading tags are properly done.

Guest blogging does take a little more time. It is nearly like the old days of getting a job when you walk in a place, say you want to get hired, and usually after a brief interview, you might be given the job. In this case of guest blogging, it is signing up to a site or contacting the website owner, submitting the article, and then waiting for it to be approved to be published.

Not everyone has the time, but those who do, guest blogging can be a blast. I have learned a few new things from all of my guest writers and for me, that is a huge thing. I know I am not the only person who things so.

Deciding whether guest blogging is for your website is not to be an intimidating decision. Consider what time you have and the direction you want your site to take. If you are not sure, discuss it with someone in your niche who does have their site open to guest blogging and see what they suggest.

If you have guest blogged or are a site owner of a website that allows guest posts, what are the good and bad of guest blogging that you have discovered by experience?

So, you have decided to dabble in accepting guest blogging. Perhaps you have accepted posts, but have been only accepting the articles via email and posting them yourself.

STOP!

You are making more work for yourself.

Guest blogging is like regular blogging… it should not be a chore. You should be accepting posts, reviewing, and publishing, so streamline your work.

Here are ways to prepare your site for guest bloggers:

1. Create a page just for Guest Writing. It can be “Guest Blog Here”, “Guest Write Here”, “Submit Your Article”, or whatever. That page needs to have your requirements and how a person can submit their post.
2. Secure Your WordPress Site. You are opening your site to people. Make sure to try to keep your WordPress installation up-to-date and make sure you keep an eye on who registers on your site.
3. Install the Role Manager Plugin for WordPress… that is, if you are using WordPress. You will be able to specify exactly what capabilities your guest bloggers will be allowed to do on your site.
4. Create an Author Box for your posts. Forget bylines when the author box can be filled out by your guest bloggers filling out their WordPress user information. This is where they can promote their own sites or businesses they work for.
5. Create an Author Page for your guest bloggers. If you have a few regular guest bloggers, this is a nice page for your guest bloggers to bring back to their own site to promote.
6. Promote that your site is open. It might be once a week you have to mention it, but it is necessary. People need reminding and while they may not jump for the chance immediately, they may sometime down the line.

While I would put in the list Adsense revenue sharing, I am going to leave that as optional as that is more of a personal choice rather than something that is truly necessary.

What other resources should site owners use when preparing their site to accept guest bloggers?