Top 3 Really Bad Guest Blogging Tips You Should Ignore

Let’s get one thing clear. There are tons of guest blogging tips over the internet. In fact, there are so many of them and this is a serious problem.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re just starting out or you’re a veteran blogger. If you get the guest blogging process wrong, you are going to suffer. This is not a warning. This is not a threat. This is the real deal.

The problem is a lot of people are under the impression that they can just approach any blog that at least has something to do with their topics. They’re under the impression that these blogs would be ready, willing, and eager to publish their posts. It is no surprise that they meet with failure time and time again.

The worst part to all of this is not simply getting denied. That’s actually good news if you think about it hard enough. The big problem is when you get accepted. You see, a lot of websites out there that would publish guest blog posts without any kind of editorial output or even editing or proofreading create toxic backlinks to your site.

Sadly, if you are a complete beginner or you’re just desperate for a backlink, you might think that any backlink would do. This is absolutely wrong. This is why it’s really crucial to pay close attention to guest blogging tips you choose to follow. They are not created equal.

In fact, a lot of them will just make the whole guest blogging process a waste of time for you. I know that this is probably not the kind of advice you’re looking for. You probably are looking for something that would encourage you or tell you that what you’re doing is right.

But I’d rather tell you the truth and see you succeed rather than just make you feel good about what you’re doing and see you crash and burn. This happens too many times. Here are just some guest blogging tips that you need to stay away from.

Volume is everything

Believe it or not, a lot of so-called pro bloggers tell you that you just need as many different links to your website. It doesn’t matter how you get the links. Just get them there, as long as they’re niche relevant and there’s enough diversity in the form of those backlinks.

This is absolutely wrong because niche relevance and anchor diversity may be important, but there are a lot of other ingredients in the big picture. You need to pay attention to these other factors. Otherwise, you’re going to get links that might actually work against you instead of pushing your rankings up.

Pay close attention to domain authority. Look at the other sites linking to the website that you’re trying to get a link from. You have to think in terms of context. You have to think in terms of quality instead of quantity.

What if I told you that there are websites out there that have very little backlinks? But the backlinks that they do get are really high quality. It is no surprise that these websites outrank their competition all day, every day. They focus on quality instead of quantity.

Write your guest post first and then shop it around

One of the most ridiculous pieces of advice I’ve ever come across when it comes to guest blogging involves pre-written content. Of all the guest blogging tips you can choose to follow, this is the worst. Why?

You have to understand that these third party blogs, they exist for their own purposes. In other words, they have their own agenda. They have their own plans. Those plans usually have nothing to do with you.

Now, if you’re going to come up with some pre-written piece of content and you’re just going to shop around, good luck with that. Most of the time, these people wouldn’t be interested. You could be talking about topics that they couldn’t care less about.

How can they know this? Well, somebody has approached me with a pre-written piece of content. He said that he’s not going to publish it anywhere else, but I don’t care. It doesn’t fit the topics that I talk about. It doesn’t meet the needs of my audience. So I turned him down. He comes back again with another piece of content and it was obvious that he was just shopping a pre-written set of content.

If you don’t want to waste time trying to get guest blog post spots, do what I do. Approach these different blogs that are directly related to your niche and have high-value SEO metrics. When you approach them, engage with them in social media first.

Pay close attention to what they are normally talking about. Once you have a good idea of the range of topics that they usually cover and you’re clear that they accept guest posts, then and only then should you make your move. Otherwise, you’re just wasting your time.

When you approach them, pitch them on an open-ended idea. Basically, you’re telling them: Well, I like your topics and I think that this range of topics that I’m proposing would fit the stuff that you’re already publishing. Another way to say this is: The stuff that I’m proposing to you meets the needs of your current audiences.

Remember, guest blogging is all about their needs. The fact that you get a backlink is just an afterthought. Seriously. It’s just a by-product. The whole interaction should be about them and their needs. Otherwise, you’re doing it wrong.

Wait until you have enough posts to do guest blogging

Another faulty idea that keeps getting repeated in the guest blogging tips published online involves timing. According to this idea, you have to have enough posts on your blog for you to start shopping around guest posts.

This is wrong. You have to understand that the idea of guest blogging is all about building up your brand. Ultimately, it’s all about pulling real traffic from third-party sources so you can build your own organic following.

This means that even if you have five posts or even ten posts, that’s fine. What you’re really selling is your brand. What you’re really trying to promote is the range of expertise that your blog brand brings to the table.

Don’t get your wires crossed. Don’t think that you have to be shy and hold back on pitching guest blog posts until you have 60 to 100 posts on your website. You don’t have to do that. You don’t have to wait that long.

Keep the tips above in mind if you really want to avoid toxic guest blogging tips. Please understand that it’s very easy to get tripped up by all these bogus or inaccurate tips. Make sure you focus on quality instead of quantity and you create real relationships.

At the end of the day, the real secret behind successful guest blogging is all about relationship building. If you can build a relationship between your brand and other blog brands covering the same niche, you would be able to complement and enhance each other’s audience base. This is not a zero-sum game. You can create a win-win situation.

 

About the Author Lucy Jacobs spends her day dreaming of living in a beautiful space and enjoying her travels. She writes for a number of outlets and brands.