How to Write a Guest Post that the Blogger Can’t Refuse

Guest blogging is good for the blog's owner and a guest blogger only if it's done properly. So, before you start guest blogging, you'll want to make sure your own blog or website is ready for new readers that you will get by guest blogging. In particular, you need to ensure that your blog/website:

• has only quality posts,
• has a good design, and
• offers a subscription option.

Once it's done, you can start searching for the blogs to guest post on.

Search for Blogs

To get the most of your guest blogging, look for a blog with an audience that’s similar to yours. Guest posting on a blog that has absolutely nothing in common with your blog theme will not bring you very many readers. But if you guest post on a blog with a similar subject, you can greatly increase the number of your visitors.

The best place to start looking for blogs to guest post on is the blogs you already know and like reading. You can also discover new blogs from comments on your blog, your favorite blogs’ blogrolls, searches and other links.

To find blogs that accept guest posts, type in Google or Fast Blog Finder the search terms like 

Looking for "guest post"
Looking For "Guest Bloggers"
"This guest post was written"
"This guest post is from"
"Guest post by"

and start the search. To find the blogs relevant to your niche, add your keywords to the search query, for example:

Looking For "Guest Bloggers" your keyword phrase
Wanted: "Guest Bloggers" your keyword phrase

Got the idea? When you found the blogs for guest blogging, you'll want to know what kind of post they accept. Read a few posts on the blog to get familiar with the blog’s style: personal, conversational, informal, professional, informational, or preachy, in order to understand what kind of blog you will be writing for.  

Visit those blogs regularly, read the posts and leave your comments where you see it appropriate. Leave useful and valuable comments. Acting in this way you will present yourself as an active blog reader competent in the subject the blog deals with. You will be recognizable by the blog's owner and other readers. This will greatly increase the chance to have your guest post accepted by the blogger and published. You know many bloggers are concerned about guest posts from totally unknown persons and publish the stories from people they know only.

You should also look if the blog already has a guest posting policy like "no submissions", "submissions via e-mail", "queries first", etc. and follow those rules. Look for signals of interest in guest bloggers before making your offer. Has the blogger made any indication they are open to guest blogging? Some bloggers announce that the opportunity is there, on many blogs guest blogging can be arranged behind the scenes. Others wouldn’t make sense to have other bloggers.

Write Guest Post

After you get a feel for the style and posts on the blog, write a guest post specifically for that blog. Generally, it’s not enough to copy and paste one of your old blog posts or a guest post that you’ve already posted on another blog. Don't write in the way "slam bang – and it's done!" thinking that you don’t like to spend time for the content for someone else’s blog. It’s you who are primarily interested in a guest post of a high quality because:

• more people will want to click on your link and visit your own blog;
• your guest posts will likely be accepted without hesitation in the future;
• people will more likely remember the author of a good quality post.

When thinking of an idea for your guest post, remember that it must be of interest to the blog’s target audience, and most importantly, it must tell about something the blogger hasn’t written about before. If you are not sure about what to write, read the posts on the blog you want to write a guest post on and see what they have already covered on the topic and what they have not covered completely.

Your post should add value to the host’s blog, in particular if you’re sending an unsolicited submission. Make your post as useful as possible to the blog’s readers. Keep in mind that this is not your blog, write for the host blog's audience. Try to find topics and a style that the audience can enjoy. Don't be shy to consult the blogger for ideas. This might help your creative process.

While writing a post, think about how you can interlink your guest post with articles on the blog. Making that extra effort to integrate your post into the blog will most likely impress the blog's owner, and your post will act as a solid link between your website and the blog you have a guest post on.

What you must absolutely do to leverage your guest blogging is include a link or two to a post on your blog or website. Be sure to choose the anchor text of the links wisely because taken into account when calculating search engine rankings. The anchor text such as "Click here" or "Read more" isn't descriptive or helpful to readers or search engines.

In the next article I will tell about how to find the opportune moment to contact the blogger and what to tell them to have your guest post accepted.