Guest blogging is actually one of the most effective ways to build your brand and gain credibility in your field. It’s a great way of getting your work in front of people, while building authority in your niche.

In my years in the industry, I’ve collected a lot of useful advice given by other industry experts who are big advocates of guest blogging. I’d like to share some of those tips now. Hope they help!

1. Prioritize your pitch

Even before you start writing, first pitch the idea of a post to the site owner. This can be one of the hardest parts of guest blogging—especially when you have no prior connection. Do your research and learn about their business, read through their posts to determine the right tone. Keep your pitch short and to the point; and always write with the blog’s audience in mind.

2. Don’t put too much focus on your brand or business

If you’re given the privilege to guest post on a great site, don’t waste their time by writing a piece that focuses solely on your company and products. Readers won’t want to read something that sounds like one long advertisement. Neither will the blog owner appreciate the fact that you’re using their name and platform purely for commercial purposes.

3. Learn the focus of their content and tailor your pitch around it

You want to make sure that you’re able to customize your pitch and your content so that it’s relevant to the audience of the blog you want to post for. 

In your pitch, make sure that you explain how your contribution will fulfill their reader’s needs. If you’re given a chance to submit a sample for review, figure out the type of content that the site produces and make sure that you’re writing something that’s consistent with their tone and voice.

4. Follow guest posting guidelines

If you’re trying to reach out to an established blogger, chances are, they have standard guest posting guidelines. Be sure to read through it and follow it. It’s very likely that the guidelines will show where you can submit the post, how to submit it, and other guidelines that you have to follow.

5. Don’t guest blog just for the sake of it

If you’ve been given an opportunity to publish on a popular, high traffic site, don’t just create a post simply because it’s a well-known website. No matter how popular a site is, it won’t do anything for your brand if it’s not relevant to your business.

You want to drive quality leads to your own page. A small, niche site with a similar audience profile is better than a large site that won’t deliver high-quality prospects.

6. Never use guest posting simply to get inbound links

Google has been very clear about the fact that guest blogging simply to add links is not a good strategy. Doing so registers your site as a spammy, low-quality resource, following Google’s sophisticated monitoring algorithms.

7. Always keep quality in mind

Focus on guest blogging as a way to build interesting, relevant content for readers that share similar profiles as your own. Use your knowledge of their interests and passions to offer solutions to problems they may already have. Be clear about what benefit they are set to gain from reading and sharing your post.

8. Make sure you have equally good content to offer on your own site

It’s important to deliver quality content when you’re guest blogging. However, it’s equally important that your own site is full of awesome, shareable, and engaging material as well. Remember, your goal is to entice these new audiences to check out your own site. You don’t want them to arrive on your page only to be disappointed that your website is lacking useful and engaging content.

9. Avoid delivering sub-par content because it’s “only a guest blog”

Don’t be tempted to deliver sub-par content if you’re guest blogging on the premise that you want your own content to shine. At the end of the day, that’s still your name and business on the byline—and it will ultimately reflect your brand’s expertise and credibility.

10. Anchor your strategy on building long-term relationships

Don’t pitch for a spot on someone’s blog and write material solely for the intent of driving new audiences to your site. If you recognized the value in someone’s website, then you want to make sure that you build a mutually beneficial relationship with the site owner. Always look at the big picture and make sure that you’re addressing your own objectives, as well as theirs so that you can start a long-lasting connection. 

What do you think? I’d be happy to hear from you and hear what you think. If you want to discuss more ways to promote and market your brand through content marketing, reach out to us and I’d be happy to personally answer any questions you may have.