The Basics of Guest Blogging for Writers

Has the era of guest blogging ended? Some confusion exists about whether guest blogging helps with promotions, search engine optimization, and online marketing. The confusion comes from Google executive Matt Cutts commentary about guest blogging being "dead." People must read Cutts' comments in context. He noted that guest blogging became too "spammy." Few could argue with him there. Many guest blogs come off as poorly written and slapdash. The dark ages of SEO came filled with haphazard tactics. Quality guest blogging, however, does maintain some value.

Are there any smart tips to follow when taking on the role of a guest blogger? Yes, and putting good guest blogging practices to use could generate all the promotional benefits sought from crafting the content.

The Link-Building Scenario

We must turn our attention back to history to understand what to do today. And we also must learn what not to do. Using guest blogging for link-building isn't viable. In the past, the quality didn't count so much, and writing became an afterthought. Positioning in the search engines heavily focused on popularity scores based on links. So, people put horrible blog articles together and placed links in them. Google eventually became fed up with the practice and started labeling such link-building blog posts as spam.

If you intend to use guest blogging article for other, better purposes, then the writing may help you out tremendously.

Creating a Perception of Authority

Anyone involved with a commercial website wants to draw in patrons. Doing so requires standing out from the massive crowd of competitors. Someone involved in the fitness industry, for example, may find a generic website doesn't move all that many people. Blogging on many different topics related to health, personal training, nutrition, sports, and more could create a perception about the professional at the center of the website. If the writing stands out as smart, passionate, and informative, readers may see the blogger as an expert. People may pay nicely for the services of a credible expert.

Anyone publishes excellent material on his/her blog; however, will only have an impact on people who read the content. Working hard to draw in new readers must remain a top priority, but also do what is necessary to reach out to others. Guest blogging helps with this cause. Reading over articles on the subject or checking out a guest post tutorial could shed light on the topic.

The People Who Caused Problems for Guest Blogging

Less-than-reputable marketing firms abused the concept of guest blogging early on. Link spam began to increase when marketing companies offered to purchase space on people's blogs. They'd pay money for guest blogs with links inside them. Although the agreements often came with a promise of high-quality blogs, the material frequently proved lacking. And blog publishers seemed not to care as long as they received their money.

Another problem emerged when guest blog networks turned spammy. Blog editors and publishers wanted new content to drive up their ad revenue and traffic. They bought material to add pages to their blogs, but the quality and link-spam issues ruined everything.

Google got tired of poor writing, lame links, and other problems. Sanctions followed in the form of Panda and Penguin updates.

Guest Blogging and Freelance Writing

A would-be guest blogger should approach the process as if he/she intended to write for a magazine. A freelance writer checks out the magazines covering topics and publishing articles similar to the material he/she wants to sell. The writer usually seeks out the top magazines, but also maintains a level of realism. Getting published in tip-top magazines isn't always possible. So, it becomes important also to consider submitting material to small-press publications as well.

Guest bloggers could follow a similar path. Emailing the blog publisher a query letter and a bio could lead to a positive response. Hopefully, the guest blogger already has some material published on the internet for the blog publisher to read and review. After all, who would approve a blogger who doesn't appear to blog anything?

The freelance writer will craft a short query letter introducing him/herself. The letter contains a brief professional bio and a short description of the article. The magazine's editor will then hopefully respond receptively and ask for the submission.

Guest blogging still has the potential to bring forth many benefits for the blogger. The presumptive guest blogger must stay current with the changes in the present landscape. This way, the guest posts work to your benefit and cause no harm.