Recently, I was sent the worst guest post ever. I mean it was really bad. So this guest post by Melvin on the five ways to ruin your guest post came at a perfect time. Before you submit your guest post, read this post first. – John Chow
Guest posting is the modern way of getting easy traffic and readers to your blog. Not only that, doing guest posts also increases brand awareness as well as indirectly boost search rankings. I’m very sure that you have already done it or if not, you may want to do it now before it completely becomes saturated.
So for those who have done guest posting already, let me ask you question. Did your guest post convert you new readers? Did it bring you a substantial amount of traffic? Did you gain more subscribers? If all your answers are no, then you may want to read this article on why so many bloggers ruin their guest post. Here we go:
1. They don’t write their best post
So when we talk about guest posting, we are aware that it should be your best shot. Yes, I know that it wouldn’t even get accepted if its not a quality post but believe it or not, a lot of bloggers are taking advantage of this fact that most blog owners don’t really spend that much time in checking the quality of their articles.
If you just give 80% of effort in writing that guest article and it was accepted by the owner, then expect the blog readers to criticize your article. The truth about guest posting is that it works two ways. It could either give you some boost in a good way or in a bad way. If you’re writing a bad guest article, then pray for the blog owner not to accept it. You don’t want to get known for being a sloppy guest blogger.
Post note: And I’m not hoping to become a sloppy blogger too that’s why I took time with this guest post. LOL.
2. They make bad use of signature line.
So whenever we make guest posts we get this small byline either at the top of the article or at the bottom to describe briefly who we are and what our blog is all about. And most of the times, I notice that most people just put it waste.
Even in that aspect, there is a conversion that happens. They read your article, but are they going to be interested in commenting? And more importantly, is your signature byline compelling enough to make them click it?
Be sure to keep your signature line short and simple but deliver your message direct to the point. Don’t try to make them do a lot of things.
3. They leave crappy posts on their blog
We’re all guilty that at some point in time we tend to publish crappy rubbish posts. We sometimes talk about our lovelife and crushes, we tend to mention our cat, our stupid neighbor, brag how busy we are and etc. And believe me its fine.
However, when we make guest posts on other blogs, readers of that blog who will visit our blog are expecting to see something meaningful. In short, try to strategize your posts and get them to see the best ones when they click your link. For example, if you’re looking to guest post on a bunch of sites for a certain month, then try to ensure that you have some good stuff on your blog as well for that period.
4. They don’t get people to opt-in
In one of my blog posts about clever ways to drive traffic to your blog, I mentioned that even today, 70%+ of bloggers still don’t have a list which is really surprising. But then that’s the best advantage that we can get. If you have a list, utilize it. Make sure that you try to capture leads each and every time someone visits your page.
In my blog, I set up Aweber to show a lightbox form everytime for first time visitors. Critical people will always say its annoying but stats will always tell you things differently.
That way I can maximize the potential of them getting subscribed into my newsletter.
5. They don’t interact with the readers
There’s nothing more disappointing as a reader than to find out a great article, ask questions by leaving comments, only to be ignored. I’m seeing that most bloggers who make guest posts to other people’s blogs don’t really interact as they should and as a result, it creates a perceived impression that the guest blogger doesn’t really care about anything other than the traffic.
I mentioned this a lot here in this blog and in some of my guest posts. The traffic that you get totally depends on the readers that convert (quality of readers). You can make a guest post on lets say Techcrunch and get 5000 hits in one day and 2 hits for the next 5 days. However, you can create a good guest post and get 150 hits in one day but add 80 new subscribers or opt-ins. Again, its all about the quality.
Conclusion
Guest Posting is really a powerful way to quickly grow your readership and increase your traffic. In fact, there are blogs out there that actually utilizes it very well. The reason for that is simply because guest posting is a spontaneous way of sharing good information without sounding like advertising yet, could yield advertising-like results.
Because of this, too many bloggers simply just jump out into it without really understanding things. Just like with anything, the goal in guest posting is not really to get lots of hits but rather try to convert people into something else. What say you?
Melvin is a cool damn blogger from MelvinBlog.com who loves to write some stuff about internet marketing and blogging. If you feel this post is superb, then he’s encouraging you to check out some of his best posts.