One of the easiest ways to get additional traffic to your site is to provide guest posts to other people's blogs. I've found that guest blogging is a great way to engage other people's audiences and get new people on my e-mail list. Here are 5 and a half tips to get started with guest blogging:
1. Make sure that your blog is a nice place to visit.
Bloggers who use guest bloggers want to make sure that they have some credibility – since posting someone's work on your blog is an endorsement of who they are and what they do. Make sure that your blog has a nice, clean design, that links work, that your content is interesting and relatively free of spelling and grammar errors.
2. Don't be afraid to approach the “big fish”
It is easy to play it safe with the first few blog posts and guest post for people who also have small blogs. The trouble with that is that you don't get a lot of traffic if you are only posting on “comparable” blogs. Larger blogs often need content more often and are willing to give your posts a look if it fits their audience. (If you are interested in possibly guest posting on this blog – contact Meredith). Spend some time looking at the type of posts, how long are they? How are they written? (This will be important when you submit a post – it is more likely to be accepted if it is the right length and style. Are there other guest posts on the site?
3. Find out who the top players are in your niche
Spend some time googling and looking at Alexa rankings for the top blogs in your niche. Visit the blogs, see if they have guidelines for guest posts. See if the writing style of the blog is compatible with yours. Start making a list of blogs that would be a good fit.
4. Develop relationships
Don't just fire off an e-mail to a large blog asking if you can guest blog. Take some time to develop a relationship with the blogger. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter and share and retweet their best posts. Comment on their blog posts with useful content and information. Ask questions, try to engage them. If you can, buy their products. People are much more likely to respond to your request if you have made it on to their radar.
5. Submit the post
In your research, you should have found out who the contact is for guest posts. Send them an e-mail (make sure you spell their name right), introduce yourself (briefly), tell them that you've written the attached guest post in their style and ask for feedback. Even if they don't publish the post – the feedback itself will be valuable.
5. 5 Don't give up
Editors of big blogs tend to be busy people and get hundreds of requests a week for guest posts. Keep trying, be polite and they will notice.
Have you done any guest blogging? Did it bring additional traffic to your site?
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