After blogging for your own domain for a while, a blogger will naturally start looking for a wider audience for more exposure. The best way to grow your audience is – guest posting. I started off my blogspot blog in May 2010 and I was offered a guest post soon after. Initially, I was as confused as any newbie blogger would be. I had some unanswered questions in my mind:
> What do I write for the guest post?
> Will the blog owner like and approve my post?
> What kind of post will work well?
Now, after having written 8 guest posts (some popular ones too :)) I have a clear idea of what works and what doesn’t. So if you are a new blogger who wants to get started with guest blogging, keep reading!
Here are some things you should do before writing the post:
Read the blog’s previous articles.
When you read the blog’s previous articles, you will get an idea of the type of content. Ask yourself, what kind of blog is it? What types of blog posts have been already written? How can I add more value to it? Also, read the comments on that blog. Try to understand their readers and audience. And then, sit to think for the topic. When you’re trying to think of a topic, remember that, a blogger usually wants a guest post for two main things:
> The blogger wants to give his/her readers something new – content wise and quality wise.
> He/she wants to provide a fresh and different writing style to the blog’s audience.
So, think of a topic which has not been explored on that blog before – keeping in mind the target audience and niche of that blog.
Put your best foot forward.
The reason why you write a guest post is for more exposure. Give your best content as the guest post, so that the blog’s readers will be (literally) pulled to your blog. You can also add a link or two to your own blog posts within the guest post – only if the article(s) is relevant to the guest post. But don’t go overboard. Don’t write about anything you don’t know much about. Write about something you are sure and confident of writing.
To write a quality blog post, here are some questions you can ask yourself:
1. Is my post helpful/informative?
2. Are there any grammatical and/or spelling mistakes in the post? [Important!]
3. Will this topic generate enough discussion/comments/replies?
4. Is my post too long/too short?
You can also ask the blog owner about the guest post topic – because sometimes they may have a specific topic in mind for you to write about.
Write a fantastic headline.
I write the headline after I finish writing the post because you have a clear idea of what your post is all about. When blog posts/articles are shared on social networking sites like twitter, people usually just skim through hundreds of tweets. If your post title is not catchy or attractive enough, your post might go unnoticed. Write a great headline which effectively captures the readers’ attention and gives an idea of what the post is about. Also, writing misleading headlines just to grab attention is a no-no!
Write the post in points.
Blog posts which have points makes it much easier to read and makes the content understandable. Readers usually get bored of posts which have big paragraphs and no points. Bold sub headlines (like in this post) also work well!
Add images to your post.
Images which are relevant to the content of the post are great because they provide the much needed relief in between chunks of text.
Write a great author bio.
After reading your post, people will most definitely read about the author. Write about your strengths, what you do, what you love to do etc (in short) in the about section. You can be funny too! And don’t forget to mention your own blog(s) link in there (duh!).
Finally, proofread and edit!
Re-read your post for any kind of mistakes. And then you are ready to go!
Guest blogging can really be a win-win situation for both – the host blogger and the guest blogger. Make the most of this opportunity and I’m sure you will find a lot of new readers on your own blog 🙂
I hope these points will help you if you’re getting started with guest posting! If I have missed out on some points, please share them in the comments below! 🙂 Happy blogging!
writing image credit: healingdream / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
magnifying glass image credit: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
keyboard image credit: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Rss and blog images are mine.
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Your blog tips were excellent for this newbie to blogging and Twitter, Nicky
thank you Bill! Glad to know that my article was helpful 🙂
Great blog post again! I have a question for you now: would it be a good idea to do blog post if you don’t have a blog? I’m thinking of trying that. I feel I have interesting things to share but I don’t have time now to run a complete blog (and I don’t want to start something I wouldn’t be able to take care of properly). Thanks!
Hi Andrée-Anne!
Thank you for reading!
Let me tell you something – I wrote a guest post before I had a blog myself, so I think it is perfectly okay to do a blog post even if you don’t have a blog! 🙂
Go ahead and write! You are always welcome to write here if you wish to 😀
Lemme know how it goes 🙂 Have a great day!