jatiN mahindrA doT coM

Who’s the guest?

This guest post, about guest posts, comes from yoinkgasp of the WickedFire forums.

Utilizing Guests Posts: A Basic How To

Blogging has become the latest and greatest symbol of affiliate affluence. It’s no secret that blogging has been around for a while, but blogging seems to be withholding the test of time. Unlike other flash-in-the-pan trends, blogging isn’t going anywhere. This has been reinforced by bloggers who attempt to kick blogging to the curb, only to come back to the blogging scene.

Obviously, anyone worth their weight in salt is going to focus their marketing efforts on working, with blogging take a place firmly rooted on their proverbial back burner. The unfortunate downside to running both a business and a blog is that one tends to suffer when the other is successful.

Not so, thanks to the many advantages of guest blogging.

Why Guest Blogging Is So Powerful

Extracting some excellent and unique content from another specialist to post on your blog is almost always a win-win situation for everyone involved. If your blog is even mildly popular, having a guest post or two is a great way to expand your reach and draw in new visitors. You may even find that the content discussed in the guest post brings in a significant enough of a reader base to expand upon further in future posts.

For the guest blogger, it means the ability to reach out to a completely different visitor base and, hopefully, bring some of that action back to their blog. The golden rules of guest blogging are simple (provide good content, good a juicy back link), yet so many bloggers throw the rules out the window. Namely, the “provide good content” portion gets thrown out in exchange for convenience and/or money. This, ultimately, is a bad thing.

Qualities Of A Good Guest Post

If you’re the owner of a relatively hip and happening blog, the idea of a guest post or two may certainly seem appealing. Before you start throwing up any and all lines of text someone throws your way, you should carefully consider if the content should actually be on your blog.

• Does the post meet the quality of your other posts? Little details, such as the use of proper grammatical conventions or the proper spelling of common words, can really disconnect a reader. Never assume that someone will just ignore certain shortcomings due to your reputation. Ensuring that the guest post is technically correct on a copy level will prevent this from ever becoming an issue.

• Is the content of the guest post accurate and relevant? There’s no faster way to ruin your reputation, aside from selling your friends out (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/01/how-to-spam-facebook-like-a-pro-an-insiders-confession/), than endorsing false or misleading information. Your reputation is paramount in any industry, so it’s in your best interests to protect it.

• Is the post mutually beneficial? If your blog is about pet supplies, and you throw up a guest post about how to level quickly in World of Warcraft, where’s the benefit? The back link loses its weight due to unrelated association, and your readers will likely skip right over the post.

Most importantly:

• Does the guest blogger have credibility? Anyone and their mother can claim to be an internet marketing guru or search engine marketing specialist. Does your guest post come from someone with credibility, so that the information they are presenting has merit to the reader? A guest post from a newbie marketer on this particular blog would likely be overlooked, especially if the lack of experience on behalf of the poster was ever exposed. Ensure that your “expert guest post” is actually written by an expert.

Obviously, opinion posts and/or posts that are a little more casual in nature don’t need to carry the same authority.

Following this de-facto guide to guest blogging will ensure many long-standing and mutually beneficial relationships in the future!

- yoinkgasp (http://www.wickedfire.com/members/yoink-gasp-.html)

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