Many people take advantage of guest blogging for the sake of getting backlinks. But successful guest blogging takes time and effort, not like the rather automatic process you may expect from article marketing. Blogs that accept guest posts typically have higher quality standards than general article directories like GoArticles and EzineArticles. Despite changes made by the latter as far as submission guidelines are concerned (as a result of Google Panda), it’s still fairly easy to get your articles published by them. Not so with guest blogging.
To be successful in guest blogging, learn which sites are the best places for your posts, and try to understand what they need from you. For example:
1: Look for blogs that are in your niche.
Backlinks from relevant sites in your niche are more valuable than links from unrelated sites. So stick to blogs in your topic. If you have a Facebook blog, then look for technology, Internet and social media blogs. If you write about raising puppies, look for dog lovers’ blogs. Be patient. If your niche is small, it may take some time before you find a suitable host.
2: Don’t be too picky.
If you find many blogs to submit to, don’t obsess over which article to send where. It’s okay to be choosy but not when it costs you a lot of time. For instance, don’t think too much of the blog’s current PageRank. That can change. If you can’t find enough PR4 and up sites to submit to, try PR3 and so on. Just keep looking for quality blogs.
3: Read other guest posts.
This will give you an idea what kinds of articles a blog accepts and what its quality standards are. The more impressive the guest posts, the better your own articles will have to be if you want to improve your odds of getting accepted.
4: Follow the submission rules.
Every blog will have its own guest posting rules. Some have a page full of requirements, others hardly any. In general, they require a minimum word count and a maximum of 1-3 links to your website. Many blogs forbid affiliate links, but not all. Some insist that you use a real name and photo of yourself. Make sure you submit your article in the appropriate format, be it text, MS Word or HTML.
Finally, have a bit of a thick skin. Nobody likes being rejected, but it happens to all of us from time to time. So when you get that email saying, “Sorry, we can’t use your article” (or worse, no reply at all), just move on.
About Blog Lady
US-based writer, blogger and Internet marketer. Visit my website at www.bloglady.net.
Twitter: kg_photography
says:
I struggle with finding the time to guest post; so I’ve set aside 1 day a month to work on guest posts and I limit my submissions to a couple of blogs to keep from being overwhelmed.
I love your suggestions here. They are spot on!
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Thanks, Kimberly! I suggest you keep a log of your candidate sites too. That will help you keep track of sites you’ve submitted to, their requirements, PR, etc. Good luck!
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I am just learning about guest posting…thanks for the tips!
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Great Tips about guest posting! I agree that guest posting is more difficult than submitting on article directories. Well the fact that we gain quality backlinks and traffic from guest posting is just very good source of targeted traffic.
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Guest blogging is really a good technique for online promotion, specially if you are a good writer. You can not only create a back link to your website but you can also get other important things like rss feed to your blog, increased traffic to your website etc. But always do post on the relevant websites so that you can get useful traffic to your website.
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