Writing Guest Blogs – How to Get Asked Back

A great way to boost your online exposure is by writing guest blog posts.

Although you will undoubtedly be doing this to increase your own profile you must never lose sight of the blog owner. If you don’t add value to them they won’t be asking you back.

Here are 6 tips to help you write great guest blogs and get asked back.

1. Understand your audience

You’ve got your first guest blogging gig – fantastic!

But before you start to write, you must research your audience. Read through several past blog posts to get a feel for the style and what the audience are reading. After all if you are writing for a marketing blog and come up with a post about flower arranging, it’s unlikely to go down well.

2. Don’t bluff

Don’t be lured into writing for a blog just because it has a high page rank or vast swathes of traffic. The key to a great blog post is writing about what you know. If you try to write about a topic you know nothing about just because it gets shed loads of visitors, you’ll get found out. Stick with what you know and show your expertise.

3. Have personality

Even though you’re writing for someone else’s blog, still show your personality through your writing. A post without personality is dull, dry and boring.

People want to be entertained so don’t disappoint them.

4. On topic

This goes hand in hand with number 1. Don’t try and write a post for a blog that has nothing to do with its main subject matter. It’s a waste of your time and the blog owner is not going to publish it and probably won’t entertain any other submissions from you.

5. Write to get readers

A big mistake from many guest bloggers is that they write to get traffic for themselves as opposed to the blog they are guesting on.

Building a relationship with blog owners is essential if you want your work to get published. Therefore use social media to spread the word when your post is published. Generating traffic will get you invited back. As will interaction – if your post is commented on, interact with your readers and show that you’re not just a post-and-run kind of blogger.

6. Don’t push your link luck

When you guest blog the publisher will be happy to provide you with a link – but don’t be greedy. Getting your name published on a popular blog is pretty cool, and to get a link back to your own blog or mention of your business is great. But don’t blatantly add in links that are obviously there to promote your products. If that’s your motivation, ask before you add – if you don’t your post could be rejected.

Writing guest blogs is great for you and great for the blog readers. It offers new perspectives on subjects and enriches the readers’ experience.

If you want to be a guest blogger:

• Ask first – drop the blog owner an email and ask if you can submit a post
• Research – make sure your topic fits the blog
• Entertain – make sure your blog adds value

If you have something to say about marketing, copywriting or social media and want to be considered as a guest blogger for Freelance Copywriter’s Blog, drop me a line with your suggestions.