28 June 2011

Why Guest Blogging Is a Win-Win Situation

To be successful online we all try to market our brands in the most prolific manner and are always on the lookout for productive ways to advertise and get seen. And advertising can be done in many subtle ways without annoying our readers.
Photo: Will Lion



Guest blogging is one of the most cherished (and rightfully so) ways of popularizing ourselves and our brands, regardless of which side of the fence we are at - the guest blogger's or the host's. If you have noticed, the most successful blogs on the net regularly invite guest bloggers. I also love my experience as a guest blogger and as a host equally well and here are some of the reasons why:

From the guest blogger's point of view: 

Get backlinks
It is considered good manners when you are invited to guest blog to be allowed to add a link to your blog/website/etsy store and this is great because it is a wonderful way to create backlinks and make your blog's rating higher. By writing a guest post you get the chance to have a permanent link pointing back to your own blog!

Show yourself in a different light
Guest writing for another blog makes your brain change the frequency it works on and you may come up with great new approaches or themes. This will ultimately have a great effect on the development of your writing style, and it can lead to amazing new personal discoveries! 

Get quality traffic
When you offer your expertise to a new readership you get not only exposure but new fans as well! People are naturally curious and if you manage to catch their attention, many of them will click on your link to find out more about your knowledge and interests. What better way to gain even more followers!

Spread the word
When you guest post you take advantage not only of the readership but also of the distribution network of the host and your article may get quite popular. Consider the host's Twitter and facebook followers and you will get a rough idea how many people you didn't know will be able to read your words and probably re-distribute them!
Photo: swisscan

From the host blogger's point of view 
Break the routine
As much as your readers love you, they would appreciate a new "voice". Opening up for guest bloggers will allow you to make a change in your blogging routine and maybe even give you new ideas. It will also provide you with time to work on your SEO or anything else you deem valuable for your blog.

Get fresh content
A guest blogger will offer a different perspective on a theme you and your readers are passionate about. This will inevitable raise the interest towards your blog and very soon you will be able to see a change in your Stats.


Have new conversation points
By inviting guest bloggers to your blog you offer your readers diversity and new themes. What is more, a guest writer can have a slightly different point of view which will invariable sparkle discussions and will liven up your blog.

Gain new readership
Guest bloggers are also social! They would love to brag about their latest article, published on your blog, thus creating more links for you and bringing more traffic your way. They will also mention their post on their own blogs, so this is a wonderful way to attract new followers and backlinks.


Original content
A very important aspect for both guest bloggers and blog hosts is publishing original content. Many people are willing to copy and paste a previously published article on your blog but  since February 2011 Google stopped indexing duplicate information. You can read Google's point of view and reasons why they consider duplicate content spam here.

Want to know more? Read all articles in the How to Blog Like a Pro series.

10 comments:

  1. Love all this info, thank you so much:)

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  2. Very, very good points. I'm thinking about adding a guest blog post to my own blog.

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  3. Thank you! This is very helpful. I have been wanting to have guest bloggers, but am too intimidated to ask, as I don't have many followers yet.

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  4. I love your blogging tips posts - they're always so right on. Lots of good info in this one! I love your point about breaking routine - so important. Thanks for sharing this!

    xo,
    melissa

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  5. I end up bookmarking almost all of your posts! You always open my eyes to new things I hadn't thought about. I'm going to make a goal of trying guest posting because it sounds like a win win for both guests and hosts. Plus, I love the idea of breaking routine like Melissa said and also reaching new readers! Thanks for the tips, Sonya! xo, Mary

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  6. Thank you, ladies! Your words mean so much to me!

    Mary, I hope you would love to break the routine at my blog when you decide to go on with guest blogging!

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  7. Coincidentally, your artist feature on Lilac & Snow introduced me to your work and blog!

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  8. weird amiga, I love coincidents!

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  9. I've thought that guest bloggers would be a neat idea at some point, but currently I've only had one guest poster on my blog, and guest posted a few times on other blogs. (One, soon to be two, to be exact. ;) I think it's always fun to be able to guest post, though, so I'd like to offer others the option to post on my blog at some point. :)

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