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low bidder
12-02-2009, 03:41 PM
Does it make sense to do a "guest blog" on a site that has higher ranking vs. posting to your own blog? Do both?

KristineS
12-02-2009, 04:20 PM
Some people who ask you to guest blog will also be o.k. if you post the same material on your own site, but ask first. I don't know that I'd necessarily worry about ranking, but I would look to see if the blog that's asking for a guest post has suitable traffic and is likely to send some people to your blog.

Also, I always ask for a small bio to accompany any guest posts that I write. It doesn't have to be more than a couple of lines, but it should have a link back to your blog.

vangogh
12-02-2009, 07:12 PM
Guest blogging can be a great way to generate traffic and pick up new subscribers.

I've actually written some posts about this very subject so I hope you don't mind if I point you there for more details

Grow Your Blog By Giving Away Your Content (http://www.vanseodesign.com/blogging/guest-blogging-benefits/)
Your Content On Another Blog May Be The Key To Your Success (http://www.vanseodesign.com/blogging/succes-through-guest-blogging/)
How To Improve The ROI Of Your Guest Posts (http://www.vanseodesign.com/blogging/guest-postinging-roi/)

The basic idea is to guest post for blogs who's audience would likely be interested in your blog. The more popular that other blog the better, but more important it to match the audiences of both blogs.

Most blogs will at the very least let you write a short bio with a link or two back to your site. Some will be fine with you adding a few links inside the post as well. These will be how people will find your blog and they also give you a few links when it comes to search engine optimization.

You want to write the best post you can for the other blog and make it as easy as possible for them to publish as possible. When the post is published promote the guest post. Do everything you can to make that post as successful as possible for that other site. Remember it's only one click away from your site and the better it does the better you also do.

Don't limit yourself to one guest post here or there. This is a bit of guesswork, but I suspect the best strategy is to publish several guest posts for several sites over a short time period, say a month. People may not visit your site after one guest post, but if they see your name a half dozen times on two or three sites over the course of a few weeks they will. And naturally you want to make sure to also have some great and current posts on your own blog for when they come.

I think guest posting is one of the best strategies you can use to build your own subscribers. It takes a lot of work since you do need to create a fair amount of really good content, but when you think about it, it's such a perfect strategy for increasing subscribers. You get to place your content in front of the kind of people who are likely to want to consume it. You have content and you know there are people out there who would like your content if they only knew about it. This is the way to get them to know about it.

Honeysuckle74
01-15-2010, 04:14 PM
Are you talking about guest blogging or replicating your blog on multiple blog sites? If you mean just guest blogging (one post or a series of posts on someone else's blog) I think this is a great way to promote your own blog and establish yourself as an expert in your field. If you mean completely replicating your blog in more than one place, I've actually heard this can lower your ranking because they are looking for unique content and don't want to see it all over the place. I will say that I've seen great google ranking results with blogger, but that's probably because google owns it.

nicolebeckett
07-08-2010, 01:28 PM
Like Honeysuckle pointed out, guest blogging is a great way to increase traffic and establish yourself as an expert. Obviously, anything you post on a guest blog needs to be different from posts on your own site. If someone reads your guest blog, likes it, then clicks on your link to see what else you have to offer, they don't want to see the same exact thing. Duplicate content issues aside, it's something that would damage your credibility, and the hard work you put into guest blogging would be in vain.

As for establishing yourself as an expert, internet marketing is all about getting your name (and link) out there. If people see that you're a contributor on other sites, they'll be more inclined to see you as a legitimate expert in your niche.

vangogh
07-08-2010, 01:48 PM
Exactly. You alluded to this, but to make it clear, guest posting can also be a great way to get links from trusted, authority sites in your industry. Most any site accepting a guest post will display a short bio of you with a link or two and as long as you don't overdo and link to content relevant to your guest post, you can link back to your own site. I almost always notice that I pick up more search traffic after a few of my guest posts are published.

Mainly though, like Nicole said marketing is about getting your name out there. People do click on the links in your post or bio and follow you back to your site. The more your own content matches the content in the guest post and is in tune with the audience of the site you're writing for, the better.

RealProfitStrategies
08-22-2010, 07:16 PM
I'd do both, with the caveat that the articles you write for the guest blog should be totally unique, and not the same exact content that's available on your blog. For one, unique content will be more appealing to the person you're guest blogging for. For two, you don't want people who read your guest blog to go back to your own blog (if that's where you're sending them to) and see the same content that you just read. You want to use good content for your guest blogs and then even better and in-depth content for your own. You can talk about the same topics on both, but use different articles.

vangogh
08-22-2010, 08:31 PM
Absolutely. I think people miss this important point. You have to write your best stuff when guest posting. Make it unique and put everything you can into it. I always look through the site I'm writing for to get a feel for what they've covered and haven't covered and also what their usual writing style and audience is like. When someone contacts me to write for them I assume they want me and how I usually write, but I do try to tailor my posts some for the specific blog.

It's also a good idea to promote the post on that blog, since you do want people to see and read it. From an seo standpoint if you help your guest post do well then any links in it pointing back to your own site are that much stronger.

jpohl
03-03-2011, 12:02 AM
GUEST BLOGGING ROCKS!!! Assuming there is some decent traffic on the site, I will gladly write unique content on the site as a guest blogger. I will write a similar post on my own site but it will also be quite unique. I may write a guest blog about the advantages of setting up google alerts and how it can help your business grow. On the guest blog, I will talk about all the uses and of google alerts and why its important.

On my own blog, I will be doing a how to post of how to set up google alerts. This way, I have done a couple things. I have created two unique articles that compliment each other. I have given a good reason to the reader of the other site to come to my web site to essentially get the rest of the story even though both posts are fully self contained. The other part of that equation is that since both articles are similar, the link juice from the other site will flow nicely to my site for backlinking purposes.
Just so we are clear, the guest blogging has the short term effect of getting you readers to your site immediately. The long term effect is to have quality backlinks. Good luck, you are asking the right questions.

jamesray50
03-03-2011, 03:12 AM
Interesting, I have never thought about asking anyone if they would like to be a guest blogger. I may try that to drive traffic to my website. I have seen on LinkedIn in some of the groups that I am in where other people have asked for guest bloggers. Wonder why I never thought of it before? Guess I needed to read what you all were saying about it. Thanks for the insight.

Capitalist
03-08-2011, 10:45 PM
Guest blogging is great - it's like a joint offer for blogs :)

To be most effective, both parties must participate. You're going to have to write your best content, and talk to everyone you can about the fact that you posted on <website>. The target blog will gain traffic from your visitors going over to his blog to see your post, while you will gain traffic from people reading your article and clicking through to your site from the bio box.

It's a no-lose, really. Just be sure you have something for all those click-throughs to see when they come calling :)

vangogh
03-08-2011, 11:02 PM
All true. One of my favorite ways to market yourself. You get to present your expertise right in front of an audience that's likely interested in what you have to offer. Like you said it's a win-win. The author gets some good marketing and the site gets some content.

Chris1812
07-22-2011, 08:55 PM
I agree that guest blogging can be a great way to generate traffic and pick up new subscribers. It also is an outstanding platform to build your reputation and authority in your industry. I have found a few great blogs and writers because of guest blogging. As long as the blogger has quality work and a blog along the same lines as yours, I do not see how it could hurt. You may pick up a few more followers.

ryantc
12-12-2013, 01:54 PM
I see a lot of value in the advantages that guest blogging offers. If possible the best bang for your buck would come from posting on your own blog as well as guest blogging on another. Here are some benefits of guest blogging: Build Relationships, Become An Expert, Discover Business Opportunities, Capture A Wider Audience, Link Building.

Core List
12-12-2013, 02:42 PM
This is to Vangogh, as I saw you posted to this thread a few years back.
What are your thoughts today on Guest Posts?
Do you still perform the same practices as of several years ago when you first posted about Guest Blogging here?

Regards
John

OlegLola
12-17-2013, 05:02 AM
But if you ask someone to write a guest post for you what offer they are waiting for? Do you need to pay for the article or just put a link to the author?

marrick
12-18-2013, 04:29 AM
Does it make sense to do a "guest blog" on a site that has higher ranking vs. posting to your own blog? Do both?

Yes it makes sense to do a guest blog especially if that blog has a good ranking. The point is blogs that rank good have regular visitors and increasing number of traffic. One thing I see is that you can have a chance of sharing a chunk of those traffic if you manage to land a good content there. Another benefit is social sharing, a well-established blog is sharing every content that has been posted there. And most of them have a good number of followers. So link, traffic, social signals, and authority can be delivered to your site through guest posting (provided that the blog is a good one).

You can do both but don't make duplicate contents or you will end up getting your content removed from the other blog. Most owners don't want their blog to be filled with duplicate contents. Make a unique and informative content for both of your blog and the other one.

Thompson92
05-21-2014, 11:37 AM
Posting to your own blog and guest blogging in my eyes are both musts!

KristineS
05-21-2014, 12:18 PM
Posting to your own blog goes without saying, if you're not posting content to your blog there's nothing for potential readers to read. As for guest blogging being a must, I'm not sure I agree with that. I've written several successful blogs without doing much guest blogging. In some situations, guest blogging can help raise awareness of the blog you write and perhaps drive readership, but I'm not sure it's something you "must" do to be a successful blogger.

Adel Landman Steyn
01-27-2015, 03:27 AM
While I totally agree that it is probably best to feature different articles on a site that you guest blog for, rather than duplicate the same article, I do think that it may be a good idea for you to include a short excerpt either in a post, or alternatively, include it in a widget area. Your own readership may also like to see your article. Not only that, but the person you are guest blogging for are probably also going to be more keen to have you around if you send some traffic their way as well. Unless the two of you don't want to do this because reciprocal linking is not always as SEO friendly as a one-way link?