Guest Blogs – Bringing Others In To Contribute
We’ve discussed guest blogging for other people. But another smart way to build up your content without too much effort is to invite others to contribute guest blogs to your site.
Today, we’ll look at the why, the how, and when it’s the right thing for you to do.
Why have guest blogs on your site?
Firstly, let’s look at why you might want to include guest blogs on your blog:
To bring new audiences to your site
To build relationships with like-minded practitioners and businesses
Bringing in a new expert to offer value to your readers
As part of a cross-promotion or collaboration with other practitioner
There may be other reasons, but it’s important to be clear on why you want it. It should never just be ‘so I don’t have to write another article’ - because then you might end up accepting low-quality content. Know what you want, and what you’re willing to offer.
How to know if the guest blogs submitted are right for you
There are some qualities you want your guest blogs to have in common. These might vary according to your goals for accepting them. However, they generally should be:
Relevant to your target audience
Offering free, actionable value to the people reading the blog
Easy to read, and ideally similar to your own style of writing
Easy to edit up to your preferred standards for your blog
If they have ticked these boxes, they could be a great idea for you to accept. Just remember that it goes both ways – you need to offer at least a bio and link for the writer, and share it on social media.
When guest blogs shouldn’t be involved
There are times when guest blogs shouldn’t be something you are accepting. This might be:
When the articles provided are generic and just for the other person to build up their backlinks
When the information provided is irrelevant to your current readers and prospective clients
If the article is just one big ad for a service or product, offering no other value
If the articles are in need of heavy editing to make them readable
In these cases, the guest blogs aren’t achieving your goals, and are just causing more stress.
How to gather guest blogs for your site
So you’re ready to accept articles from others. How do you get started? I recommend:
Writing up guidelines for what you expect in articles. Not everyone is a natural writer, so guidelines can help minimise the amount of editing you might need to do!
Make it clear in the guidelines what you’re offering in return. That includes whether you are paying for articles or offering a link and promotion instead.
Asking in trusted practitioner groups.
Go to local practitioner meetups to suss out people who might be interested
Ask the people and businesses you already work with or refer to! These are your best bets.
Editing guest blogs can take up precious time.
If you'd like to accept blogs from others, why not consider an editing package? Contact me today to learn more.
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