A Blogger’s Checklist for Guest Posting On Other Blogs

December 26, 2008

Writing guest posts on other blogs is just plain smart. It exposes you to other audiences and does help grow your blog’s traffic. But, how should you approach doing it?

I have compiled a quick series of bullet points that will maximize the effectiveness of guest posting.

  1. Know the Audience. It is important that you know who you’re talking to. Additionally, choose blogs that are relevant to your own blog.
  2. Form a relationship with the blog owner. It is best when you have some common bond with the other blogger. I meet a lot of bloggers at conferences. That provides a way to create a relationship with them. Even if I don’t have the chance to have an in-depth conversation with them at a conference, the fact that we were both there is a common reality between you. I met Darren Rowse of ProBlogger and talked with him for quite awhile at BlogWorld Expo, and last week I did my first guest post on Problogger. Networking ALWAYS helps.
  3. Just Write It. If you send the blogger an email asking them what they want you to write about, they’re probably going to ignore you. If you have an idea, just write it and send it to them. Let them judge it.
  4. Make the guest post some of your best stuff. Do not approach guest posting from the standpoint of saving your best stuff for your own site. You need to provide really good material for the host blog because it represents you.
  5. Send the post in an easily digestible format. You want the host blogger to be able to do something as simple as copy and paste and that’s it! Make it EASY to post your guest post. When I sent my post to Darren, for example, I pasted my article (with HTML) into the email underneath my email signature. I also attached it as an HTML file. The HTML in that article was VERY simple.
  6. Include your bio. Most guest posts include a small link and blurb about the blogger which links to his/her blog. Write this yourself and include it with your guest post. Keep it short! Long bios are annoying, take too much space, and the host blog isn’t going to want to post it. So, be pithy. Likewise, send this phrase with HTML. If you want to link to your blog, include the full HTML for that link.
  7. Interact with Commenters. If your guest post is published, you should monitor any comments which are posted in response and respond to questions. Be approachable.
  8. Welcome new readers. A little trick…you might want to provide a custom welcome message to any new readers who arrive to your blog from the host blog. Set up a plug-in like WP Greet Box. This way, you can welcome new readers specifically from the host blog and welcome them to the fold, ask them to subscribe to your RSS feed, etc.

So, in short, provide good material and make the act of posting your post to the blog as easy as you possibly can for the host blogger. From there, you might want to explore following up with additional guest posts to the same blog so as to solidify your position within their audience.

Lastly, yes, I’m always open to guest posts on this blog. If you’ve got an idea, send it over.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

  1. The Measurable Benefits Of Guest Posting
  2. 5 Tips for Getting a Blogger To Review Your Product
  3. Guest Appearance on Tampa Radio Show
  4. How To Strategically Comment On Other Blogs
  5. The Use of Blogs
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  • Oh no.. lol, I guess I didn't read your article well enough.. You caught me. (See my comment above)
  • Great tips David, I welcome guest posts on business travel and tourism content.
  • Excellent Tips David, such a motivating article... Thanks :)
  • I agree with just write it. Don't have them have to be on your writing. Seeing is believing.
  • Valuable tip, especially as it's straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak!

    Thanks for sharing it.

    Gina
  • Great tips. It's not just writing the guest post, the work happens after you do that (Replying to comments, etc).

    One thing I would suggest is to install a plugin that shows a message based on the referrer, and use that to welcome these users to your blog.
  • This is really eye-opening especially that piece about making it simple for the blog owner to publish the article. Putting it in a html format really makes it easy indeed.

    I'm looking forward to using guest posting as a strategy for promoting my blog in the coming year.
  • Kim Kinrade
    Hi David,

    I have been blogging for a 1 1/2 years and have made piles of mistakes. However, like Edison I now know a 1,000 ways NOT to do it.

    That said, I sure wish I would have found your blog a year ago!

    Thanks and keep up the great posts!
    Kim Kinrade
  • Thank you, Kim. But, you found me at a good time. This blog wasn't here a year ago! :-) I used to have one called WebbyOnline, but it was a rather dead blog for awhile. I moved all those posts over here and now I'm going for blood. ;)

    Nice to have you onboard.
  • The point about it being ready enough to copy-and-paste is one that should be followed when sending guest posts over. A seamless transfer is something that is quite enjoyable to perform, and that is a good feeling to provide to the site hosting the guest post.
  • guest posting on Bloghology Social Network is available.

    Start connecting, blogging and sharing on the first social network similar to facebook but for the Blogosphere
  • TonyB
    Hi Everyone,
    I have a carpet cleaning business in Houston,TX that was doing pretty good until the economy went bad, and with it my clientele. I have a website for the business but I dont
    know what I have to do the get it to show up in a search. Right now it's somewhere in the yahoo/google netherworld (LOL).

    Is there someone on here that can give me some insight or know of anyone that coud give me insight on how I can get my local website on the front
    page of a Yahoo or Google search to increase my business without it costing me 5 or 10k $$$? If so please share with me.

    I thank you and my hungry over-eating children thank you.

    thanks,
  • Most of the same techniques apply for your site as for the blogs discussed here - get good quality information with your name attached out there on the web.
    I like Gina's idea about posting carpet cleaning advice on the site, but also post or offer it elsewhere making sure that there is a link back to your own site either in the information or in the signature/resource file.
    There is lots of good information out there about how to do this without spending money, but it will take some work on your part. Some of this info does have a price but there is often a free "back door"...
  • TonyB, your clients' carpets are still getting dirty, so why not extend the website to include advice on how to clean your own carpets?

    You could give away a free report with carpet maintenance tips to get a mailing list, then offer carpet cleaning products and equipment for sale, get AdSense ads on your site, affiliate products, etc.

    Once you get the snowball rolling, if you do it right it will take care of itself, i.e., people will find you if you use the right keywords and the more they visit you, the more Google will like you.

    No need to spend any $$$ at all, just your time and some patience.

    Gina
  • # 3 seems key here, what with all the ways we tend to sabotage our own success -- don't wait for someone to tell you to do something. do it. if they don't want the content, it's not like it's going to be a waste. you can publish it yourself...
  • When you mentioned attaching the file as an HTML after your signature, are you creating it in Word or another editor prior to copying and attaching it.


    I ask, because Word, AbiWord, and OpenOffice Writer create "HTML" files, so I would like to know what editor you prefer to use (even if it's creating in notepad).

    Have a great day:)
    Patrick.
  • Just an edit on my last comment. I included an html tag with a space in it, thinking that it would show up. So the last part of the final sentence should have read (even if it's creating {html} in notepad). Hopefully it shows up this time with the brackets instead of the <'s.

    Have a great day:)
    Patrick.
  • Ecommercewebdesign
    I totally agree with you David. Thanks for sharing these excellent tips with us. Keep posting.
  • Hi David. I really like the tips you have shared with us. It really helped me a lot and will be referring my friends about this post. I keep seeing articles like these. Keep blogging.
  • WOW… What a post. I never come across such a lovely post which is very well written, to the point and have every thing which a target customer is looking for. Thanks for sharing a wonderful post. :)
  • Hi! David its really one of the nice psot and tour,traveling is one of my favorite so I like this post very much,Thanks for giving one of the best informations which I really like a lot.Waiting for your updated one,this is very nice post.Thanks for this and keep up post continue.
  • Hi! Looking great like your site which is very informative and innovative tips,which helps me a lot.Thanks for the innovative one.Keep up post continue and stay tune with us.Thanks for the innovative one.
  • David Its one of the nice creativity,I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.Thanks a lot............:)
  • Fascinating article. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for the great tips. I would like to say thank you for this post.
  • Hi! Its very creative and one of the innovative post which I like a lot,This is very informative also which I like a lot.so keep up post continue and stay tune with us.Thanks
  • Hi! Pretty post and really impressive thinking,I like the presentation,your style of writing.The informations are really helpful for the newbies like me.Thanks for the fabulous information.Keep up blogging continue.........:)
  • Some informative tips peter.Thanx for sharing such tips with us.It works.Good topic for discussion...
  • Thanks for an insightful post. These tips are really helpful. Again thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.Keep up the good work.
  • David, I totally agree that you must reach out to other relevant bloggers to your topic. And the "subtle" touch is the best way to approach it.

    As one internet expert said, "own more of the internet space," which I take to mean spread the word of who you are and what you do to the largest possible space on the internet. You will eventually gain a targeted audience.
  • Sounds like a John Reese statement. And, yeah, he's right on that.
  • Yup, you got it right! Good ole' John R!
    I gotta give you kudos on where you are going with your blogging and blogging methods. Keep it up David! I'm a fan...
  • Great tips, I really need to do more guest posting, will try and schedule it into my timetable
  • It works.
  • Great article David! Heh, funny thing, I'm in the process of writing a guest article to send to you! Thanks for the tips... ;-)
  • Yeah, been getting a lot of guest posts lately. :-) Look forward to seeing it. Might not be able to post it until the Blog Masters launch is done with, though.
  • No worries my friend, I know you're a very busy man what with the Blog Masters launch and a new addition to the family coming soon. I'm never in a rush and view all this as one big, fantasic, fun filled ride!
  • Thank you for this post. I am new to your blog and get really very nice. I will keep visiting your blog.
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