An ultimate guide to guest blogging for beginners is immensely helpful for success. You may have read that one effective technique to draw attention to your blog is by writing as a guest on well-known blogs. This week on the blog, we'll cover this subject in-depth, debate whether accepting guest articles is a worthwhile use of bloggers' time, and go over the best ways to make your guest posts effective.
Today I'm going to share my own experience with guest writing and provide some advice based on what I've discovered.
An Ultimate Guide to Guest Blogging for Beginners
The quick version is: Guest blogging may lead to many opportunities, but it can also be a huge time waster. Whether you can make money off of your guest post depends on a variety of circumstances.
Preparation Stage of Guest Blogging
1. Prepare your blog
The greatest error I made was not optimizing my blog to draw in readers who were coming from another blog. I did not yet have a free offer for subscribers, nor did I have a nice subscription signup box. Both, I've discovered, are quite important for turning infrequent visitors into loyal subscribers. Additionally, my blog had a lot of clutter; I've now deleted a lot of material to make it less busy and simpler to navigate.
2. Create a unique landing page
Although it didn't work out so well for me, I'm sure it did for many other people. Send visitors from other blogs to a secret page you've created particularly for them instead of your main page, which introduces your site and may even include a special offer. Stanford's unique landing page on Pushing Social is a fantastic illustration.
3. Make a helpful tagline link
When I originally started, I simply directed readers to my most recent article on the homepage. Your website can crash as a result of everyone visiting it at once. Sending them to one of your most well-liked posts that is now off the front page, a unique free offer, or both can help you divide the traffic.
4. Guest post on a small site
On a tiny site, think about guest posting. Doing some guest writing on lesser sites is a terrific way to practice guest posting for the big leagues. With fewer eyes on you the first time around, you'll get experience writing for a new audience and working with an editor.
5. Keep patience
Have something to sell, but don't count on getting customers right now. You can't effectively monetize the extra traffic you receive if you don't have a product funnel, which includes big-ticket items like membership sites, consultancy, or e-courses with lesser things like an ebook as teasers. Ads all over your website could turn people away.
However, keep in mind that you could affiliate-sell some items, so consider what you would be proud to give to your audience. You should have items you can offer prepared, but don't be shocked if your new visitors don't make a purchase right away. It will take some time for them to feel confident enough to do business with you.
Pitching Stage of Guest Blogging
6. Promote yourself
As opposed to pitching the site, I've found that many guest posts appear when well-known bloggers come across a new blog and invite the author to guest post on their site. This social media axiom was introduced to me by Copyblogger assistant editor Jon Morrow:
The next great bloggers aren't formed, they're appointed – by the present crop of well-known bloggers. You never know who will read your blog pieces, so be sure to share them widely on social media.
7. Evaluate your goals
Pay close attention to the content on the website you wish to guest write for, especially the most well-liked entries. Write a powerful inquiry letter that targets their interests.
8. Twitter-targeting for bloggers
Writing a piece on your own blog that you know the author of a well-known blog will enjoy is a terrific method to secure guest postings. After that, tweet it to them with the following message: "@CliffCareer: You might appreciate my article Top 10 Blogging advice (and then the link)." Make sure a famous blogger finds you; don't just hope they will.
9. Ask like a crazy
Numerous major websites, like Problogger, have writer's rules and actively seek guest content. Write your query as though you were sending it to a prestigious national consumer magazine.
Posting Stage of Guest Blogging
10. Do your best writing
Yes, you are not being compensated. However, you shouldn't approach guest posting in that manner. Real money-earning potential exists, as evidenced by the fact that skilled guest writers generate tens of thousands of dollars from their guest posts by sending readers to their stores.
It's a huge opportunity when you land a guest post on a well-known website. Additionally, many major websites prefer lengthy pieces; Copyblogger, for example, has a 1,000-word limit. This is going to be a big jump if you've never written for publication. You should be aware that even the best writers at the top websites take a long time to write each piece. Jon Morrow informed me that he sometimes spends 10 hours on a single post.
11. Carefully consider your topic
The first guest post you write for a website serves as an introduction to its readers. It must be awesome for people to start following you and becoming fans of you that website. Actually, I wrote my second piece on Copyblogger first, as it turned out. In order to introduce myself to their readership, Jon Morrow and I agreed to start anew and have me write a whole different piece. It was the right decision, but it required a lot of extra work.
12. Prepare for anything.
Some websites take an eternity to publish guest articles, while others may publish your piece immediately after you write it – this is what happened to me on Write to Done. So before you click "submit" on your article, make sure your seatbelt is secured and that your website is prepared.
13. Consider scannable
List postings are usually beneficial for large websites and are difficult to structurally mishandle.
14. Engage their audience
You should constantly visit the website, especially on the day your article goes live, and reply to comments posted on it exactly like you would if it were on your own blog. Both viewers and the site's proprietors will respect you more as a result.
15. Instantly make another proposal in response
Consider your guest blogs as the start of a relationship rather than as one-time transactions. Keep it up, and you'll probably notice an increase in site traffic with each post.
16. Make a sidebar that says "As seen on"
Once you begin guest blogging, you may inform readers of your blog that you are also featured in a number of important locations by including the logos of the larger websites where you have done so. This also establishes your internet literacy with important social proof.
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