photo credit: spcummings

While it’s true that most of us create blogs to write our own posts or give an opinion on other posts by other bloggers, there has been an increasing trend in allowing guest posters to submit content for various high traffic blogs. When starting out, you make sure that you write quality, interesting and valuable material for your site. Sometimes writing several days worth in a couple of hours, then scheduling their release. The articles that you create are meant to draw readers to your site, build your traffic, email lists, etc. Many blogs, including this one, accept guest posting and most of the time, it wil not cost you a thing.

What is Guest Posting?

Guest posting has become a bit of a trend in the world of blogging today. It used to be the bigger blogs that would accept guest posts for a fee. Nowadays… it’s not uncommon for just about any blogger to accept guest posts for free. When writing a guest post, you will have to make sure that you write content that is going to be acceptable and within the topics covered on the blog that you are writing for. Also, you will want to get permission from the blog owner before you start all your hard work. My recommendation would be to contact the blog owner and explain the topic that you are going to cover. They will either accept or deny your request for a guest post on their site.  Once accepted make sure that you write an exceptional article, that will not only be of value to the host blog’s readers, but will also make them want to visit your site for more of your writing.

How is it Beneficial?

The amount of traffic that your guest post will generate depends on how well you have written your guest post. If the reader finds value in what you have written, you will receive traffic from the backlink that you placed in the guest post. Guest posting allows you to expose your blog and content to potential readers that may not have come across your blog otherwise. Most guest post requirements do allow you to create a small excerpt about yourself and your blog. What you write in this exceprt will not always have the benefit that you expect. Really, the outcome of the guest post and the traffic that you generate will be directly related to the quality and value of the article itself. The excerpt is just another way of directing interested readers to your site for more content.

What Should You Post About?

When you start posting guest posts, you must leave everything behind and start from scratch — COMPLETELY NEW AND FRESH! This is because the ideas, strategies and topics that you focus on in your own blog’s content may be different from the host blog’s. The guest post that you are going to write is going to feel completely different, without your personality in it. With time, and exposure, it will be possible to come around to your own style of writing once your brand is established.

An example of how to go about guest posting:

1. Contact potential host blog owner about posting with explanation of your intended article content.
2. If accepted, write a quality, valuable, intriguing article that matches with the host blog’s content topics.
3. Make sure that you cover all aspects of the article that you are writing. Do not leave the reader wondering about anything that you are covering. Explain all thoughts fully and concisely.
4. Once the guest post article is complete, add in some small links to your blog and a small excerpt, but remember not to go overboard. You should also include some pictures to make your writing more interesting.
5. Once everything else is done, be sure to proof read your submission at least twice.
6. Submit your article to the host blog.

What is the Effect of Guest Posting?

Guest posting is a great way to give back to the blogging community, as well as an infinite return for your blog. A permanent link on the host blog will allow you to get visitors from that blog. If that blog has a higher Google PageRank, you should be able to raise your own Google ranks in the search engine and in PageRank value. By including 1 or 2 links within your content, you will receive referal visitors to your blog. Also, if you have chosen the correct blog to guest post on, your return on investment (ROI) will be endless.

Which Blogs Should You Choose?

Choosing a blog to guest post on can be very difficult — you wouldn’t want all your hard work to go to waste! There are a lot of blogs that allow guest post, or even ask for them up front, but you may not get the desired result depending on the blog that you choose. Here are some things that you should consider when choosing a blog to guest post on:

1. Check the blog’s stats
2. Check the popularity of the blog
3. Check the # of subscribers — Be wary… this can be faked.

Blogs Accepting Guest Posts:

Below are some of the bigger blogs that accept guest posts. If you are going to be submitting guest posts to these blogs, I would highly recommend that you do so sooner, as opposed to later.

*contact them through the contact page and ask for permission first*

• John Chow
• John Cow
• ZenHabits
• Carl Ocab
• Zedomax
• Tyler Cruz

Host in the Shell’s Guest Posting Details

If you haven’t already noticed, Host in the Shell has also joined the “Guest Posting” era. We do accept submissions from other bloggers.

For more information about guest posting on Host in the Shell, check out the “SUBMIT A POST” page.

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