Over the last few months I’ve offered some guest blogging opportunities and that has resulted in some really interesting and varied posts appearing on this site. (Guest blog posts are posts written by other business owners on a topic of their choice, loosely related to what I’m doing here.) I love reading other people’s blogs so giving people the opportunity to use my site to promote themselves gives me a bit of a thrill; it also makes my job easier, as I don’t have to write so many posts myself! Of course there’s always the risk that people will read the guest blog posts and give them business rather than me, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take – and anyway, I hope that by opening up my website to guest bloggers, they’ll repay the favour sometime!
But what’s in it for you to write a post for me? Wouldn’t it make more sense to write posts for your own blog? Well yes, if you’re not already doing that – but there are some important benefits to being a guest blogger too. So here are …
5 reasons why guest blogging opportunities are important
1. More traffic to your website
Write an interesting guest blog post, include a link to your website – either in the article itself, or in the “bio” section – and you’re guaranteed more traffic because people will naturally want to know more about you.
2. Improved web ranking for your website
One of the many things Google looks for when it ranks websites is the number of inbound links – links from other sites. When you guest blog you get a link back to your website, and depending on the quality of the site your post is on, that could be really valuable. For example, this website has a Google page rank of 4 which means it’s above average – so it’s worth getting a link from here to your own site!
3. Build credibility
So you’ve got articles on your own blog – great! But who’s to say they’re any good? Any webmaster worth their salt will moderate the guest blog posts they accept, so if your post is published you know it’s a good one – and the blog readers know you’re someone worth reading too, which gives you more credibility.
4. Raised profile
Guest blogging is worth doing because it raises your profile by giving you exposure to a whole new audience. People who have never heard of you before will read your post and may well visit your website as a result – giving you a whole new bunch of potential customers!
5: Social media exposure
Every time I update this blog a link goes to Twitter, Facebook (business and personal pages) and my LinkedIn profile – 2000+ people – and that goes for guest blog posts as well as my own. I also promote older posts now and then too. So when you write a guest blog post, not only can you promote it to your social network but it gets exposure amongst my network too!
So there you go – 5 reasons why guest blogging opportunities are worth taking. My guest blogger schedule is full up well into 2013 now but if you would like to submit something for consideration, drop me a line. And if you’d like me to guest blog on your site, I’d love to! And if you’re wondering what the heck this blogging thing is all about … well, you need my help! Give me a call on 01367 888229 and we can talk about the benefits of blogging and how you can get started.
