What is a guest post?
So just what is a Guest Post? Well, its when you write something for someone else’s blog or website. Yep, that’s it. That’s all it is. Simple really when you know. But it can be very powerful too. You see when you write something for your own website that’s great and it gets out to your audience. Hopefully you promote it a bit using your social media and it gets a bit further. And sometimes, just sometimes, it gets picked up by something like Digg or Stumble and goes all over the place. But that doesn’t always happen, does it? Well that’s where Guest Posting comes in.
Is it a good idea?
Yes, it is. You see if you guest post on someone else’s blog, you get in front of their audience and their social media channels and hey presto you’ve got your words going out to all sorts of people who maybe haven’t come across you before and all the great things you have to offer.
How do I do it?
Well that’s all very well you may say. But how do I get someone else to publish my stuff on their website? That’s a good question. Sometimes you see people asking for guest bloggers. Try a Google search and see what comes up. But you need to make sure that who you write for is complementary to what you are doing.
If you are a garage selling motorbikes, then there probably isn’t a lot of point writing a blog post, however amazing, on a site that does flower arranging. Yes, there may be a flower arranger who is also keen on bikes but it won’t be what they are looking for. However if you were to write for a site that promotes bike holidays then you will probably have more of an audience.
Make sure
Make sure you give value of course. Your blog post should contain some really good content. Obviously you want to make reference to what you do so that people can connect with you, if they find you via this post. But don’t make that the sole reason for writing – and if you do, even your friends probably won’t accept the post! So make sure it complements and adds to their site and links to yours and then you have a win-win!
So what’s the easiest way to do this? (shhh, big secret, don’t tell anyone).
Team up with your friends! Find a friend who has a website with a business that complements yours in some way and swap posts. She/he can guest post on your site and you can post on theirs. It’s a great way to get started, gives both sites some fresh content and perhaps a new angle. And who knows once you get thinking in this way you will probably find all sorts of ways to co-operate with other site owners.
So get out there and start spreading the word, your word!
(PS: Got some content you think would complement one of my sites: rosemariegant.com or freshapproachweb.co.uk? Get in touch and let’s talk!)
