Guest blogging is nothing more than writing original articles on subjects that interest the readership of your host blog. Assuming you work in the same industry, you should know a lot about the questions and topics that interest the relevant clientele, so coming up with article topics should be easy enough. While your ultimate goal may be to sell a product, your guest post can contain interesting information on topics that are only tangentially related to your product. For example, if a social media expert at Whiteflash.com, an online diamond jewelry vendor, were to guest blog on a wedding planning blog, he might not talk about Whiteflash rings at all. Of course, the company wants readers to visit their site and buy diamonds, but guest blogging is not advertising—the goal is to provide helpful, useful information that readers will enjoy and even forward to their friends.
But to really stand out as a guest blogger, you can utilize some “best practices” tips that will help you maximize the professionalism and efficiency of your guest blog posts.
1. First, you need to find blogs that accept guest posts in your area of interest. Put together a list of the top websites and blogs in your industry, using the blogroll of one blog to help you jump to others in the same field. Search for relevant keywords along with terms like “guest post” and “guest blog” to see which sites have already accepted guest bloggers.
2. Organize these sites by their prominence in the industry, their readership, and other factors that will help you prioritize which blogs will give you the most useful exposure. Keep an organized log of which sites have accepted which posts, so you will always be able to offer new and fresh content to the best blogs. Creating personal contacts with the people behind these blogs will give you the upper hand in getting your posts published in a timely manner.
3. Establish a name for yourself in the relevant industry. Building an audience may not be easy, but it is the most important part of successful guest blogging. You may dream of being featured on the Huffington Post, but starting small on a modest but high-quality blog in your field of interest can be a good way to gain exposure and experience before moving on to bigger and more well-known sites.
4. Contact your chosen blogs with well-written and direct emails. Explain why you think you would be qualified to post on their blog, and include links to your own blog and to other blogs that have posted your material. Show your professionalism by asking about relevant details like linking and word counts, and show your enthusiasm for the topic as well as for the blog you are contacting.
5. Focus on quality writing, and the audience will follow. Blog posts that are not well-written, well-researched, proofread and edited will not be reposted or even read. There is a big blogosphere out there—to stand out, your writing needs to shine. Practice writing in the style that is appropriate to your industry and to the demographic you are trying to reach. Audience is important—are you writing to in-the-know industry insiders, or are you trying to demystify your industry’s jargon to amateurs or beginners? If you are not confident in your writing skills, hire a freelance writer to help you with your articles.
6. To make your guest posts as helpful to your business as possible, learn about the magic of linking. Linking, within the article, as well as in citation or endnote format, is the secret to getting your post noticed. Use a combination of external links to authoritative websites on your topic and internal links to other posts on your site. Don’t go overboard with hyperlinking—the reader still wants to see a block of text, not a list of links!
7. Craft the perfect author’s biography, for use along with every article you submit. This byline should be short, clever, and contain all the information your reader needs to know about you. You can alter your bio slightly to match the content and tone of the guest post, but keep important elements like your name, photo, and website information uniform.
About: Guest blog by online jewelry store in Houston – Whiteflash.