When we think about blogging, we typically think about long-form articles or maybe a niche site that covers a single topic. However, there’s another type of blogging that’s becoming more and more popular.
It’s called guest posting. It’s similar to blogging in that you get to share your thoughts on a particular topic. The difference is that instead of publishing your post on your own site, you submit it to an existing blog as a guest author.
When you do that, you get to publish your post on the other author’s site without any other changes.
Therefore, it’s a great way to get exposure to new readers and grow your audience.
But why should you consider guest blogging? Here’s what you need to know.
1. Why Guest Post?
Guest posting is similar to blogging, but it’s a lot easier. First off, guest posts are usually shorter than your usual posts. They can range from 500 to 1,200 words.
So even if you have a lot to say, you don’t have to write 1,000 words. That’s important because it means you can write on a variety of topics quickly.
If you have a specific topic that you’re passionate about, you can write more in-depth. On the other hand, you can also guest post on topics that aren’t related to your own area of expertise.
One of the goals of guest posting is to create more exposure for your own website, for example, you could write a blog post and have links back to your own website that explain specific aspects in more detail.
There are hundreds of websites that offer guest post blogging, I even offer guest posting on my website.
If you do guest posting correctly it can also improve your website rankings. Remember quality over quantity is best!
2. Tips for Success with Guest Posting
In order to succeed as a guest author, you need to follow a few guidelines.
Before requesting a guest post, research the website and find out if it fits the type of content you are interested in. If a website is focused on motor cars then there is no point in contacting the webmaster if you are interested in writing about health and fitness.
Read the guest post guideline carefully, post websites that offer guest posting also have a set of guidelines to follow such as:
- A minimum number of words for a guest post.
- Specific categories for accepting a guest post.
- If do-follow links are accepted.
- The number of external links your blog post can contain.
- If images are accepted in the blog post.
Apart from the above, the blog post you create should be 100% original content.
Below you can see a list of guidelines I have for guest posting on DCP Web Designers website:
- All guest posts must be 2000 words or more.
- Must be Copyscape checked before submitting.
- The article must be original.
- The article must not be republished on other websites.
- Must contain 2 x links to authoritative websites.
- Must contain 1 x link to existing DCP blog post.
- Contains no more than 4 external links.
- Place links equally across the whole post.
- UK English spelling only.
- Use short paragraphs and subheadings.
- Provide your full name for the blog post signature.
- Must fit into categories listed in the form below.
3. Structure of a Guest Post
When creating your blog post, try to create a list format if possible, this makes it easier for website visitors to consume. For example, in this blog post, you can see there are 3 key points.
For longer format blog posts it is worth creating an index and the beginning of the article which quickly gives the reader access to key information they are looking for.
For example, you can view this blog post I created about Social Media Image Sizes. At the top of the blog article, you can see I create a simple index of the content.
There are also other types of blog articles to consider:
- How-To Guides
- Checklists/Cheat Sheets
- Infographics
- Interviews
- Newsworthy Articles
- Personal Stories
I personally like to create articles that incorporate video tutorials, as I find this the most fun type of content to create and the most engaging for your website visitors.
Final Words: Is Guest Posting for you?
There’s no doubt that guest posting can be a great way to get published, get traffic, and build your audience. However, it’s important to keep a few things in mind when you decide to do it.
First off, it is important that you create content that is simply awesome, you have a better chance of being published if your content is simply better than the rest.
Make sure you fully spell and grammar check your content, and also write your content in the correct language, for example, if you are trying to guest post on a UK website then use UK English spelling!
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Article by Pankaj Shah: DCP London Web Designers
