5 Benefits of Accepting Guest Posts On Your New Blog

Did you know that accepting guest posts on your blog can greatly increase your chances of success?

You may have already heard about the benefits of guest blogging on someone else’s website.  If you haven’t heard, you should definitely check out Jordan’s post over at Creative Revolt.  She goes over why you need to be writing guest posts and even shares templates for pitching potential gigs.  You can read it here.

On the flip side, did you know that accepting guest posts can have a significant impact on your growth as well?

In this post, you’ll learn how to make the most of accepting guest posts on your blog.

1. Build Your Blogging Tribe

If you’re not building your blogging tribe yet, I’d recommend that you get started.  Connecting with other bloggers helps you stay focused on your goals and why you’re doing this blogging thing in the first place.

Other Bloggers Get It

Life as a blogger can be very lonely, especially in the beginning.

Unfortunately, family and friends don’t understand how much work it takes to build a successful blog.  They might think you’re wasting your time, especially if you’re trying to monetize your blog.

Their lack of enthusiasm can easily influence your self-esteem and your motivation to keep trying.   You may start to doubt yourself and wonder if you should just give up.

 

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I assure you, this is a very common challenge for new bloggers – I went through this myself and so have my clients.  You are not alone!

However, just like any challenge in life, it’s always easier to get through when you have people in your corner.  That’s another reason why building your own blogger tribe is so important.

Serious bloggers are always looking for guest blogging opportunities in their niche.  That means, by accepting guest posts on your blog other bloggers will view you as a team-player.

You’ll now have the perfect ice-breaker for reaching out!  You’ll also have bloggers reaching out to you, hoping to get featured on your blog.  It’s a win-win.

By helping each other, we actually increase our own success!

2. Publish More Content For Readers

No matter how long you’ve been blogging, you know that you can never have enough content!  Accepting guest posts on your blog will give your readers even more quality content to choose from.

We all know how much time goes into just one blog post.  If you’re juggling a full-time job, school or taking care of a family, you may struggle with publishing consistently.

Staying connected to your audience is so important, especially in the early stages of your blog.  It’s easy to get discouraged when traffic stats aren’t growing or they tend to fluctuate.  Until you’ve built an audience of loyal readers, you can never have enough content.

Accepting guest posts can help you post consistently and free up time to focus on other important aspects of growing your blog.

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3. Increase Your Authority With Google

Ranking on page 1 of Google for popular keyword searches is every blogger’s dream.  The higher you rank in search results the more organic traffic you’ll get.

If you’re new to blogging and don’t know anything about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), you’ll want to check out the free SEO Training For Beginners from Yoast.  You’ll learn the basics, get a better understanding of how search engines work and learn how to use the free Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress to improve your own SEO.

There are a number of factors that can increase your chances and accepting guest posts will help.

By accepting guest posts you will increase your authority with Google by:

• Building your backlinks to reputable websites
• Increasing the number of quality blog posts
• Increasing traffic to your website

You’ll want to make sure that you’re setting strict guidelines for the posts you’ll accept.  If the post isn’t going to help you, it’s not worth publishing.

I’ve created a template for Guest Post Guidelines that you can use on your own blog.

4. Get More Social Media Shares

When you accept a guest post, your guidelines should include your expectations from the blogger after the post is published.

You’ll want to ask your guest blogger to share the post URL with their own social media accounts and to tag you in the posts.

Your content gets in front of their social media followers, leading to more social shares and followers for you.  That’s great for brand exposure and building your reputation in your niche.

Bloggers don’t mind doing this and it’s a common requirement for guest posting.

5. Get More Traffic To Your Blog

The best part about accepting guest posts on your blog is you will get more blog traffic!

Since the guest blogger is in a similar niche, their audience is most likely your target audience too.  They’re going to visit your blog to read that post and hopefully find a reason to stick around.

Be sure to add relevant links to your own content within the guest post.  That way, their audience will become your audience too.

You can even add a content upgrade for the guest post to get those readers on your email list.

Dos & Don’ts For Accepting Guest Posts

Everything you do with your blog should have purpose and be done strategically.  Accepting guest posts on your website is only beneficial if done right.

Do:

1. Post clear guidelines for guest posts.  Let bloggers know upfront what you expect from them as a guest blogger.  Download my free Guest Post Guidelines Template to use on your own website.
2. Check out potential guest bloggers. 
   1. Make sure you’re only working with bloggers that are in your niche (or close to your niche).
   2. Check out their blog and social media accounts to verify that they provide quality content.
3. Share the guest post with your own audience generously.  Promote the guest post as much as you would your own post.  Guest posting is a 2-way street and should benefit the guest blogger just as much as it does you.  Share on your Facebook page, tweet several times, pin to your own relevant boards and group boards and share with your email list.
4. Thank the blogger and provide feedback.  Everyone likes to know they’re appreciated.  Be sure to send a follow-up email to your guest blogger to thank them and let them know how the post is performing.  They may want to write even more content for you if they’re also seeing the benefits of the guest post.
5. Offer a guest post on their blog.  If you’ve lucked out and published a post from a blogger with a larger audience than your own, offer to provide a guest post of your own.  They’re already familiar with you and your content, and will most likely be happy to return the favor.

Don’t:

1. Publish guest posts from bloggers that don’t follow the guidelines.  If you’re providing clear instructions for your expectations, don’t bend your own rules.  Remember, if their post isn’t going to add value to your library of content, it’s not worth publishing.  Don’t be afraid to ask for revisions to meet your needs.
2. Take advantage of another blogger.  Let potential guest bloggers know upfront how guest posting on your blog is going to benefit them.  My Guest Post Guidelines Template is a great resource for what you offer guest bloggers.  Download it now.
3. Publish content without optimizing it first.  Even though accepting guest posts can save you time, there’s still some work to be done.  Be sure to do the following before publishing:
   1. Check for spelling and grammar errors
   2. Format the post for readability (add white-space)
   3. Add relevant backlinks to resources
   4. Add internal links to relevant posts and pages
   5. Add images with alt text
   6. Optimize for SEO by adding keyword phrases:
      1. In your post title
      2. In the URL slug
      3. In the first paragraph
      4. Sprinkled through out the post
      5. In at least one sub-heading
      6. In your meta description (post snippet)
      7. In image alt-text

Finding Guest Bloggers

Once you’re ready to accept guest posts, you’ll have to spread the news.

Here are some suggestions for finding bloggers that will be interested in providing guest posts:

1. Find blogger Facebook groups and post about your opportunity
2. Announce it on your Facebook page
3. Create a tweet and tag accounts that will retweet to bloggers.  I have a list of 30 accounts you can follow that will do this.  You can download the list here.
4. Add the page to the Main Menu on your website
5. Contact bloggers directly by email that you would like to feature as guest bloggers
6. Add an announcement to your email signature with a link to your Guest Post page
7. Let your email subscribers know, especially if your target audience includes bloggers

If you use those tips above, you should start receiving inquiries in no time!

Conclusion

As you can see, accepting guest posts on your blog is almost a no-brainer.  Now that you know all of the benefits, why not implement this new strategy right now?

Are you already accepting guest posts on your blog?  Did you learn anything new that will improve on what you’re already doing?  Let me know in the comments section below.

While we’re on the subject, are you interested in writing a guest post for Next Level Blogging?  I’m always looking for stellar content to feature on the blog!  You can check out the Guest Post Guidelines and submit your ideas here.