Be a gracious blog host
Last week’s post was all about why you should do a little bit of guest blogging to improve business and traffic to your blog. This week, it’s time to switch things up a little and focus on why you should host guest bloggers on your own site.
There are a number of things to consider, and a lot of it stems back to the idea of good blogging karma that we’re so fond of around here. “Trading” guest posts creates a bit of a give and take with other bloggers, demonstrating you’re not just taking advantage of the exposure that they can give you when you guest blog for them; but that you’re willing to offer them the same. It’s only an indirect self-serving method since it helps your reputation, but there are other reasons as well to host guest bloggers that will bring quick benefits, and all for little to no effort of your own.
- Free advertising and promotion – if you’re hosting guest bloggers, you’ve got more people batting for your team when it comes to promoting your blog. Why? Because people are always proud to show off their work. They might create a link to their guest posts on their own blog or site, and will definitely spread their writing around social media. Sure, they’d do the same if you yourself wrote a really great article, but they’ll go the extra mile for themselves.
- More reader support and subscribers – get yourself a guest blogger with a known website, blog or business and their following will be drawn over to your blog. Suddenly you’ve gotten more subscribers that are just reading out of a sense of loyalty to the writer, or because they like their stuff normally. This captures a whole new audience you just might not get through SEO for your blog.
- Fresh content – having a guest blogger probably means that there will be more content added to your site then you might get up there on your own. I don’t need to tell you how good that is for the sake of SEO or how that will help engage readers. But, what I will tell you is that bringing a fresh perspective to a topic relevant to your business adds some diversity and greater interest!
I could go on and on about how hosting guest bloggers is good for your blog (and have already, really) but these are just a few reasons that when mentioned make people go “ahh, of course”, because they seem so obvious but aren’t always thought about.
Looking for guest bloggers for your business? Spread the word on social networks, advertise on job boards, or ask someone you know would add something special to your blog. If you ask nicely enough, Bonnie or I just might consider contributing to yours!
Tags: Beth Graddon-Hodgson, blogging for business, blogging for small business, finding guest blogger, guest bloggers, professional blogging, small business promotion, social media
July 15th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
Hey Beth don’t forget you can also offer your guest something free just for visiting, like an ebook or something
July 16th, 2010 at 10:41 am
absolutely…but that’s another post