To say that there are benefits to be had with guest blogging would be an understatement. Not only will you be able to reach a wider audience with your well-written material but guest blogging is one of the best ways to expand your digital portfolio, if you have the desire to do so. Whether you are involved in social media or just writing in general, the ability to post your content to various sites can help you in the long term.
With that said, guest blogging practically hinges on social media and I believe it's important to understand how to make the most out of this endeavor. How can you write smartly and maximize your content's value?
In order to have a better understanding of guest blogging, from a social standpoint or otherwise, here are 5 methods to help you along.
1. Make sure that what you write is something you'd like to read
As someone who's been guest blogging for only a little over a year, I've started to understand what makes guest blogging so effective. For one, content should be engaging, in addition to informative, and stories should be covered in a way that readers stand a lesser chance of clicking away. To put it simply, if you are bored even writing a certain post, it is unlikely that people will share it out or enjoy reading it. If you can stay engaged while writing, you'll benefit from guest blogging that much more.
2. Come to terms with the fact that your efforts may not be financially compensated
Much like internships that college students undertake, money is not the ultimate goal of guest blogging. This isn't to say that there aren't sites which compensate contributors but, from my experience, these sites are few and far between and their requirements are stricter to boot. In any event, much like how college internships are meant for credit, guest blogging is utilized for exposure. If you are looking to get into guest blogging so that you can make a couple of extra bucks, you may not be doing it for the right reasons.
3. Understand the extent of a site's social media interaction
One of the reasons why online marketing companies, across the board, see the value in guest blogging is because of the amount of traffic it can attain on social media. Most sites syndicate their posts on various sites and you want to make sure that some of the biggest - Facebook and Twitter, to name a couple of examples - are included. Of course, your own efforts to share out these posts will matter but when sites with high page rankings have numerous followers and fans, your reach can extend far more than you could imagine.
4. When contacting any given site, make it a point to research beforehand
If you want to write for a particular platform, you have to make sure that your interests fall in line with what said platform is all about. For example, if you are looking to write for a blog that focuses on technology, you're not going to write a 1,000-word blog on fashion, regardless of how well-constructed it is. To a website owner, it shows that you're not blogging with the right audience in mind. Chances are that if you do not have a strong idea of what a website is about, your submissions are not going to be accepted at all.
5. Once you contact the site, outline your capabilities
There are many guest bloggers who do not have the utmost experience but this doesn't mean that they should hide their background. In fact, there may be certain qualifications that bloggers, who allow for guest posts, are looking for. If you are writer who has had a few articles published in a sports magazine, that works to your benefit. If you work with social media and have experience in creating content for various sites, it'll only help your pitch further. Just because you feel as though your resume is on the paltry side does not mean that your writing isn't worthwhile.
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