Accepting guest posts is a much debated topic in the blogging world, particularly over the past 18 months. They can be an excellent way to build relationships with other bloggers in your niche, or even to get some great relevant content on your site. However there is no doubt that in some areas, guest posting has become spammy and over exploited. Here is a quick guide for those of you hoping to navigate the pro’s and con’s of guest posting!
What are you looking for?
To begin, if you’re considering guest posting yourself or want to begin accepting posts have a good think about exactly why you’ll be doing so. There are plenty of reasons that people decide to accept guest posts, whether it’s due to an excellent quality article being written for you or the chance to feature a fellow bloggers work and build a great relationship with them. Time is often also a factor; running a successful blog is tough at times, but it is 100% necessary to try to maintain a regular flow of new content. There are plenty of bloggers who accept posts to take the pressure off a little, especially as their readership grows.
Before you begin accepting guest posts it’s imperative to be clear on why you’ll be doing so. Do you want to make a quick buck, are you interested in building your content bank but lack time or do you want to build a few bridges? Being clear on your aims will help you set your guidelines and standards!
Time to set guidelines: What are you comfortable with?
The last thing you want to do is compromise the integrity of your blog. If a brand offers you a sponsored post, but asks you not to mention it’s sponsored you may well want to create a policy against this! Transparency is often the best policy, so once you’ve decided what kind of post your willing to take work out what your boundaries will be. How many are you willing to take per month, do you want to dictate the content yourself?
Once you’ve answered all these questions it might be helpful to write up your guidelines, if anything just to be clear yourself.
Ensuring content is high quality and relevant.
Once you’ve worked out who to take content from, and what your guidelines are you’re ready to start accepting! However, the content will be going on your site and therefore must reach your standards. We’d recommend proof-reading every single post extremely thoroughly. This way you can make sure you’re happy to endorse the content, as well as making sure the quality of writing is acceptable.
Don’t be afraid to send something back!
Never ever post a below-par piece of content on your blog because you feel bad about asking for edits! If something needs looking at, send a polite email highlighting your concerns- whoever is writing may well be glad of the feed back! The key to a good guest post is great content which suits you’re blog down to a tea- so settle for no less!
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