Providing blog articles for another blog and inviting others to write for your blog offers many benefits. With the right match, it is a true win-win. That’s something to keep in mind if you are considering inviting someone to write a post for your blog. They benefit too. It’s more than an ego boost to ask. What does guest blogging do for you, besides the obvious benefit of introducing you to a new audience?
When that new audience reads your words, some of them will look for a link to your website or blog to learn more about you. That is another opportunity to impress and engage them. Guest blogging drives traffic to your site, and that traffic is quality traffic. It isn’t just numbers.
These are people who have read your piece and were interested enough to look for more information. For the most part, they are closer to converting to sales than many other page visitors.
Do you share your blog posts on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media? (You should!) So will the blog where your guest post appears. Your brand will get a shout-out on the host blogs’ social media platforms as well as your own.
Guest blogging is not necessarily a chance to write directly about your products and services. But you do not have to resort to a sales pitch. Remember that marketing is always about helping a potential customer solve a problem. What you say about the problem in your guest blog, and how you say it, will help define your brand for the reader.
Writing a guest blog positions you and your brand as authoritative. You are writing as an expert in your field. One of the key benefits of guest blogging is that you build credibility for your brand. This is another reason it helps to write more broadly about solving the potential customer’s problems rather than focusing too narrowly on your own products and services.
Another way guest blogging defines your brand is by associating you with the host blog. Choose your guest blogging partners wisely. If you are invited to write for another blog, take the time to research it before accepting.
Most of the time, the association will be positive because you are reaching an audience that thinks enough of the blog to read it. But a quick search can confirm that the company doesn’t have any recent scandals, just to be safe. We are all judged in part by the company we keep.
Blog Management Solutions
By Irene Hislop
By Jeff Sheridan