10 Ways To Master The Art of Guest Blogging

Many new bloggers look for all sort of ways to drive traffic to their blogs to take their venture to the next level. Bloggers can generate a significant amount of traffic to their blogs by optimizing their sites for SEO, being involved in top and niche social networking sites, and producing high quality content. But they also need to be proactive about promoting their blog and brand. One way to do that is by writing guest posts on other blogs. That can not only expose your content to a whole new audience, it could help you build better relationships with other bloggers.

Guest posting is not as easy as it sounds. Sure, your content is going to matter. But you don’t want to cut corners to try to save yourself some time. If you want your new audience to follow you back to your own blog, you want to put your best foot forward. With that in mind, here are 10 ways you can become a super guest blogger.

1. Only your Best Work

Don’t even think about cutting corners and sending your below-par work to other blogs. Some bloggers may use your work regardless of its quality. But having your sub-par content distributed through other blogs can be damaging to your brand. Do yourself a favor and focus even more on quality with your guest posts. Your audience will appreciate it.

2. Be Yourself

I have seen many newbie bloggers who try to cheat and be someone else on other blogs. They change their voice and try things they have not done before. But you have to try to be yourself even as a guest poster if you want to get some real benefit out of your articles. People are not going to follow you on your blog if the voice you presented in your guest posts is very different from what you offer on your own site.

3. Use Media

Don’t hesitate to use images and videos in your guest posts. Images are especially important as they make it much easier for people to read your posts. Besides, by adding images to your guest post, you save your host some time as well.

4. Pay Attention To Details

Nothing is more frustrating for a blogger than having to go through a guest post that is full of grammar and spelling errors. Your post may have some real value but it’s always nice to make sure your posts are error free and ready to go.

5. Optimize For SEO

Another way to save your host some time is by optimizing your post for SEO. That means using the proper keywords and adding proper alt tags to your images. You also want to optimize your anchor texts and avoid linking out to dubious sites.

6. Link to Other Posts

I am not talking about linking to your own blog. As a matter of fact, you want to link to other posts on the blog you are writing a guest post for. Your host will appreciate it.

7. Use the Correct Post Format

I can’t tell you how frustrating it can be to have a guest post on your hand that is in the wrong format. I remember receiving a guest post from a top blogger a few months ago that was 10 pages long and was full of formatting issues. I had to spend a few hours to fix the post. Not exactly what I had in mind.

8. Be Active In Your New Community

Don’t just write a post and disappear. Make sure you have a way to keep track of your guest posts and the comments they get. You want to be available just in case people have questions about your posts.

9. Promote Your Blog Post

You shouldn’t leave the process of promoting your posts only to your host. You should also take time to tweet about it, Facebook it, and discuss it on LinkedIn.

10. Provide Accurate Contact Information

This is really a no brainer. If you are taking time to write a post for another blog, at least make sure your links work, and your host has accurate information as far as your Twitter name, Facebook account, or blog URL is concerned.

Writing a decent guest post is not rocket science. But don’t underestimate the process. Think of it as a job interview. Prepare for everything and put only your best work forward.

What other tips would you suggest for better guest blogging?