Image source: Joe the Goat Farmer
Many articles offer tips on how to submit guest blog posts. Relatively few provide advice about how to go about accepting guest posts on your own blog. Corporate and small business blogs run for PR, marketing and customer service purposes gain several benefits from accepting contributed articles. Besides offering additional content, guest blog posts can provide different perspectives and specialized knowledge, additional prestige if the writers are experts in their field, and more readers – especially if contributors are influencers who share the post with their networks.
Opening your doors to contributors also poses risks. Poor content filled with spammy links can alienate readers and damage your search rankings. Google takes a dim view of guests posting strictly for SEO purposes. Google recommends skepticism, or at least caution, toward guest blog submissions.
Experts recommend taking these steps before accepting a guest blog post.
Create guidelines. Writers will be more likely to submit content you desire if they know upfront what you prefer. Briefly describe the type of content you seek and the number of outgoing links you’ll accept. State if you prefer a particular structure or tone. Specify the format for submissions be a Word document, Google docs or email text. Clearly state your right to edit all submissions.
Vet the contributor. Ask interested contributors to provide information about their backgrounds and links to previous articles or writing samples. Google their name and read their previous articles to review their quality. Determine if their previously published articles include links to low-quality spam sites.
Reviewing Blog Submissions
Check their links. Accept one or two links in their bio and restrict links in body of the post link to informative, helpful information that’s clearly related to the anchor text, experts advise. Forbid links to promotional sites like company product pages.
Opinions vary on the number of acceptable outgoing links. Digital marketing expert Neil Patel at Quick Sprout recommends at least four links in the article. “People have written blog posts on almost every topic out there, so instead of regurgitating the same old information, link out to the sites that have already covered it,” Patel explains.
Beware of plagiarized and duplicative content. Some writers spin posts into slightly different versions, often with automated programs, or even plagiarize articles. Accepting such articles can damage both your reputation and SEO. Publishers recommend searching for duplicative content on the web with a free service like Copyscape.
Be selective. Accept posts only if you believe they’ll benefit your readers, not because you think they’ll boost your website traffic or search rankings. Accept only posts related to your topics and demand proper grammar, correct spelling and clear writing. Edit all guest posts to meet your blog’s editorial standards.
Other Guest Post Tips
Request a title and brief outline. Reviewing an outline first can save both you and the writer time later on and offers you the chance to provide direction early in the process. “Offering constructive feedback can help improve the end result, without forcing you to spend ages editing a finished article,” says Brittney Stephenson, a marketer at Powered by Search.
Retain publishing privileges. Some blog managers say granting contributors access to their blogging platforms saves uploading and formatting time. However, make sure they can only save content as a draft. Reserve final publishing privileges for you or someone on your team. In WordPress, assign them the “contributor” role.
Don’t ask writers for images, advises Deborah Sweeney, CEO of MyCorporation in Social Media Today. “This is a controversial statement to make, but through personal experience I have found it is a better idea to source your own images,” Sweeney writes. Contributors may not have permission to use the images.
Invite good writers back. “This is a particularly smart move if your audience responded well to their post by commenting and sharing it online,” Stephenson says. But don’t be too demanding with their time – give them plenty of time to finish another post.
Own the content. Make it clear you will own the content to decrease chances contributors or others will republish posts. Owning the content enables you to repurpose the post, if you desire. “As long as you own it, you can do whatever you want,” Patel says.
Bottom Line: Although organizations can benefit from publishing guest posts on their blogs, dangers abound. Many writers submit low-quality, duplicative content filled with spammy links to disreputable websites. Follow the recommended steps to screen out undesirable submissions.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
