Guest Blogging Etiquette- 5 Tips for Success
By Golda Smith
So you’re looking for opportunities to be a guest blogger, eh? The word to remember in this is “guest”. When you are a guest in someone’s home there’s a certain way you behave…hopefully, you are on your best behavior because you probably want to be invited back.
In the world of blogging, it’s no different. Guest blogging etiquette when done correctly could mean the difference between a beautiful relationship with your host blogger and their readers or a quick never to be repeated visit.
Today I want to share 5 guest blogging etiquette tips that should attract more traffic to your website and increase your subscriber list.
1. Select the right blog- All blogs aren’t created equally and you don’t want to right for just any blog just because it looks nice. Do your research and select a blog that is in your niche. For example, in the google tool bar you can type
Mommy blogs + your niche
If you market weight loss, it would look like this: mommy blogs + weight loss
Or if you are interested in vegan cooking it would be: mommy blogs + vegan food.
Make sure that the blogs you are interested in have a good amount of traffic. Ideally, you want to make sure they have an alexa ranking of no more than 400k. After all, the last thing you want is to write for a site that gets virtually no traffic.
2. Create relevant content- Now that you have identified some blogs where you may be able to guest blog do your homework. Be nosey, dig through the content and see what people are interested in. Read the most popular posts. Read the comments, especially on the posts that had a high number of shares and tweets. This will give you a good idea of what you can write as well as what you should probably stay away from. Always ask yourself if your content is adding value to your readers.
3. Introduce yourself- Like any good neighbor and guest, please introduce yourself to the website/blog owner. Do not under any circumstance submit your article without spending some time to get to know the blog owner. That would be RUDE, tacky and tasteless! Spend some time on their site…get on their subscriber list to get a feel of how they communicate with their readers. Ask if they accept guest bloggers and if so, what the guidelines are.
4. Engage in the conversation- If you are lucky enough to be allowed to submit a guest blog, you’ll absolutely want to make sure that you stay connected. No dump and run when you’re a guest on someone’s site. That means that you are actively engaged with the comments people leave on your blog. Remember that you are building relationships. You should also find out if your host has comment guidelines and if so familiarize yourself with them. People don’t always play nice and when you’re a guest blogger, you must be on your best behavior.
5. Cross your T’s and dot your I’s- Although most blog hosts will read your article with a fine tooth comb, don’t expect them to edit and make corrections to your blog, that’s your job. Take a few minutes to run it through spell check. Also make sure that you haven’t shamelessly promoted yourself…this isn’t the place. When you take the time to correct your own work, you look like true rock star.
Of course I can write a book on bog etiquette tips and I may share some more at a later date but these five are a great start for beginners and professionals alike. Guest blogging is a great way to help build your subscriber list. If you haven’t added it to your marketing plan, then get to it. Are you ready to take that step? Maybe you have what it takes to write for us. Happy blogging.
Golda Smith is a single mom who is building her "Business From The Kitchen Table" and enjoys working with other moms to get them into the happy zone and living the lives they were meant to live! She has a FREE video entitled "Create your WordPress Blog 10 Minutes or Less". Exclusively designed for the non-techies in any home based business! Get this video NOW!!! { 2 comments }
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