Having guest bloggers contribute to your website has several benefits.
It can help relieve your workload, as you won't have to worry as much
about keeping a continuous fresh stream of content published. It can
also increase traffic when those guest bloggers have their own devoted
following - their readers may migrate to your site.
Guest bloggers, when chosen carefully, can also lend credentials to your
website. If your topic is nutrition, for example, having a medical
doctor write a post will make your readers more likely to respect your
blog's credibility.
To reap these benefits, however, you must vet your guest bloggers to
ensure they will be an asset to your website. The flipside of the coin
may be that they bring your reputation down with their own poor
reputation.
Here are five tips for developing guest blogger guidelines to ensure
your guest blogging process is smooth and results in quality content.
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| Make sure all the members of your team are clear about your guest blogger guidelines. |
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Rule #1: Street cred
Make it a rule that all guest bloggers must have some kind of relevant
credentials in the subject your website covers. These don't necessarily
have to be formal education certifications, but at a minimum your guest
blogger should have a platform with published writings proving their
expertise on the topic.
Rule #2: Check it out
Sometimes the most educated people are the worst writers. Not everyone
expresses themselves well with the written word. Never post a guest blog
without having it edited. If you are not qualified to edit the
material, it behooves you to pay a third party to edit all guest blogs.
Misspellings and grammatical errors are the fastest way to make your
website appear amateurish.
Rule #3: Show us yours
Always ask your guest blogger to provide a professional photograph for
posting at the bottom of their article. This helps your readers identify
with the author. If their photograph is less than professional-looking,
omit it. It doesn't do to have your "expert nutritionist" showing up in
a T-shirt at the bottom of their post.
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| This is not the type of bio photo you would want! |
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Rule #4: Keep in touch
Request that your guest blogger subscribe to the comments on the post
they write for your blog. This will let your readers ask questions
regarding the post and receive expert advice from the blogger in return.
This enhances not only the relationship between the readers and the
guest blogger, but also the interaction between your readers and your
website. When a reader asks a question and they know they will get an
answer, they are more likely to return.
Rule #5: Keep it real
Whenever possible, request that your bloggers cite references in their
post. This increases the legitimacy of the post and will make your
website stand out as a reliable source of accurate information.
Remember, your website is a representation of you and what you stand
for. Your guest bloggers can make you look good or can detract from the
quality reputation you have worked so hard to build.
Kate Supino
is a professional freelance writer and small business owner who writes
extensively about best business practices, such as using business accounting software.
All images courtesy of
Photos.com
Hooray! Another one of our favourites! Search Engine
Optimisation (SEO) marketing is the technique of getting a website to work
better with search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing etc. Sounds oh so
simple, right? Well the good thing about SEO is that it improves the quality and
volume of web traffic, which is what we all want! SEO has a duty to increase
visibility in search engines through domain trust, social popularity and search
engine connectivity. Gaining traffic from Google is all about keywords and
links, it’s important to use the right words for a specific keyword search. 
Mobile marketing is pretty self explanatory, it’s the
process of marketing to people through their smart phone devices, it’s also an
extension of internet marketing. The competence and real time tracking of
information makes mobile phone marketing less demanding than other advertising
strategies. With people spending more time on their mobile devices and less
time on their desktop, it’s the strategy to watch in 2014. Let’s face it, we knew this was going to
happen as soon as BBM, Whatsapp and Twitter came into existence!
