For more than a decade of blogging, I have had the privilege of writing for some of the well-known industry blogs. 

From daily blog Tips to Enstine Muki, NinjaOutreach, blogging Tips, to Neal Schaffer, just to name a few. I learned some effective guest blogging tips I want to share with you today if you’re thinking of writing outside your blog. 

These tips will help you land your guest post campaign on any blog, assuming you’ve chosen the right blog.

I don’t need to bother you with the benefits of guest blogging, you already knew that. So, without further delay, here are my ten best guest blogging tips for a successful campaign.

1. What is your Goal?

Before anything else, before you even think of what to write or what blog to write for, you should ask yourself this very question, “what do I want to achieve with my guest blogging campaign?

When I write for the Ogbonge blog, I wasn’t just wanted to write another guest article to add to the growing list, nope!

Nor do I want more website traffic or email subscribers. Not that also. I want something specific – I want Nigerian Internet traffic.

I want Nigerian relevant internet blog readers to discover my blog more.

I discovered then, that much of my traffic is coming from India and the united states but little from my country, Nigeria.

From the data I gather in my Google Analytics dashboard, traffic coming from Nigeria is more engaging than any of those two traffic sources, despite being very small in terms of the total average of a visit.

The traffic from Nigeria is spending on average 9 minutes on the blog while that of the United States is 2 minutes and India is 3 minutes on the blog.

So I set out to guest blog on two very well-known blogs to the Nigerian audience, Geek.ng, and OgbongeBlog.com, and the result prove that I didn’t think wrong.

2. Who Are Your Target Audiences?

Despite knowing what I want in step one above, it is not enough for me to just jump out and start writing for the Ogbonge blog or any other for that matter.

You’ll need to figure out who your ideal audience is and where exactly they reside most.

For instance, since I want more Nigerian traffic.

The best place to have submitted my content would have been LindaIkeji’s blog. This is a high-traffic blog that is well-read by Nigerians. But I didn’t even think of her blog for a second, why?

My ideal potential audience isn’t her audience.

Her blog is in the entertainment niche and there is just no way my blog topic would appeal to her readers. So I opt for those two blogs instead, despite their not being in the rank of LindaIkeji’s blog.

Don’t just look out for high-traffic blogs, but watch out for a targeted audience too.

3. Engagement Matters

One of my most successful guest blogging as of now came from EnstineMuki.com.

That’s why you could see my guest blog more than twice on the blog. To date, my articles on Enstine Muki still trickle in some traffic once in a while.

Real and lots of user engagements are important when you’re looking for a blog to guest blog on. This will ensure that your article will be read and engage with the already established audience.

And if you’re looking to build an email list or drive engaging traffic to your blog, this is a good metric to watch out for.

4. Blog Size

You wouldn’t like to write for a blog that receives no traffic or has very minimal traffic, right?

So it is very important that you find out the traffic size of the blog.

Alexa traffic data would help you out here. Though this in itself is just an estimate of traffic data. It gives you an insight into what you should expect from writing for such a blog.

In an ideal world, I wouldn’t write for any blog that it’s traffic rank is above 400,000 Alexa. Except if there are other reasons to do so and for a very good reason must that be?

Like passing SEO do-follow links.

5. Check Out The Blog Popular Post.

My article on Daily Blog Tips did pretty well on the blog it receive good comments and brought in new readers before closing comments on it. It also ranks at number one for its target keyword – Effective Blog Commenting on Google from the moment it was published, why is this so?

Before I wrote that article for the daily blog tips, I spend a bit of time playing around on the blog to see what their readers like most. The shares, comments, etc.

I discover that “list post” performs better than daily blog tips. In fact, 17 out of the 26 popular posts on Daily Blog Tips are made of the list posts.

So I know for sure that I just have to come up with a list of posts if I don’t want to appear as just another blogger on Daniel Sccoco’s blog.

And what list post could it be?

Another question.

After digging further, I found out that one of the most recent engaged blog topics on the blog has to do with “how to build a blog community”. So I thought of coming up with blog commenting.

But I have one big obstacle…Ryan of “Blog from Paradise” has already written something on blog commenting also for daily blog tips as a guest article.

So I had to hit the topic from a different angle and take Brian Dean of Backlinko’s advice, “find a proven blog topic, and make it better“.

Yes, that’s all I did to write my guest article on Daily Blog Tips.

I use Buzzumo to find articles on blog commenting that already perform well in the industry. I find one written by Neil Patel of QuickSprout.

So I read and understand what Neil is saying in the post and all I did was make it better by polishing the post to shine more and more and make it new.

Old wine in a new bottle.

The funny thing is, this guest article on Daily Blog Tips now sits above Neil Patel’s original post at number one on Google.

6. Guest Blog On Content Syndication Sites

This has been one of my best experiences in guest blogging last year.

I did a guest blog on two blogs, one is a content syndication site and the other is a guest blogging network site –  Kingged.com and Comluv respectively.

While I have stopped to publish on Comluv due to Google clamping down on such guest blogging network sites. Such as MBG and a host of other guest blog networks.

I have enjoyed good significant targeted traffic from my unique articles published on Kingged.com to date.

The reason is, sites like this do perform well for effective guest blogging opportunities. They have both high traffic and engaged users.

If your guest article made it to the front page on Kingged, it could turn into some good targeted traffic for you. If your content is useful and relevant to the user.

Don’t forget to write out your bio in the author box and link to your blog.

7. Ask for Permission

It is important and advisable that you ask the blogger behind the blog or the gatekeepers for guest blogging opportunities before submitting your post.

It will look silly and unprofessional of you to just hook up a blogger with your content without prior notice.

In your email pitch, address your potential host blogger in his/her first name. Sending out a mass generic email with some marketing tool might not be a good thing.

Like the email pitch below. Note, the marketer couldn’t address me by my name in the image below.

guest post email

 

8. Observe Content-Length

This is extremely important that you pay attention to it when looking out for blogs that you wanted to guest blog on.

If the blog is publishing short articles of 500 – 800 words, don’t go about writing 1,500 words or more content.

It will turn the blogger and his audience off.

If the blogger seems to be publishing lengthy stuff like 2000 and more word count, don’t write 500 word-count posts and expect them to get published on such a blog.

Your guest articles won’t even be given a second look.

I once received a guest post pitch from a marketer asking it to be published on this blog. This article just ranges within 500 words or less.

The first thing that comes to my mind is “Does this marketer ever read my blog?

If he does, then he should’ve seen that on average, my articles are 2000 word count.

If you’re going to entice me to take a look at your guest post, then come up with something detailed. Something useful, relevant, and in the range of 1,800 – 2,500 words or any length you can from there.

Just make sure is full of facts, figures, case studies, proofs, tutorials, etc…and very useful to my target audience.

Take a look at some of these posts for better ideas on how to get your post accepted on this blog.

  1.  How to Increase Organic Traffic Without Backlinks
  2.  How to Get More SEO Traffic to Your Website
  3. On-page SEO: 7 Tips You Need to Know to Succeed

9. Start with your peers

Every content marketer’s dream is to have his or her article published on Huffington Post, Mashable, Forbes, ProBlogger, CopyBlogger, SmartPassiveIncome, John Chow, QuickSprout, KissMetrics, etc.

But the bitter truth is this…

You’re not going to get your content published on those blogs. Except you’re a friend to Darren Rowse or you know Neil Patel from your high school days. And Neil introduces you to Brian Clark of CopyBlogger as one better writer.

Start with your peers.

These are people who will help you grow and move your blogging career to the next level.

As you continue to write for or guest blog on your peer’s blogs, you’re building the platform or laying the foundation for a bigger opportunity that may come your way.

My first-ever guest post was on a friend’s blog. He gave me the first-ever opportunity to write outside my blog. An opportunity to showcase my talent and creativity to another larger audience.

That is just the boost I needed to believe in myself and my blogging ability.

10. Guest Blogging Is Over Hype

I know many would argue with me on this one.

But in my little experience with guest blogging, I just think it is overhyped as a real source of blog marketing.

Don’t get me wrong, the benefits you stand to gain from consistent and effective guest blogging are huge and endless. But thinking just one guest post on a popular blog will drive an endless stream of traffic is mistaken.

You have to do it consistently and work extremely hard on the quality of content you publish on other blogs.

In fact, and from personal experience, your guest post must be two times better than the articles you publish on your own blog. If not, you may end up just wasting your precious time writing stuff that will never benefit you in any way.

Conclusion…Effective Guest Blogging Tips

I haven’t gone too deep into effective guest blogging as a means to market this blog. But I can tell you that it is not for everyone to try.

If you’re not bold, or you don’t enjoy writing consistently, guest blogging may not be a perfect match for you.

Using guest blogging for blog promotions or self-branding is not easy. It is a long-term commitment. If you can’t stick with it, know that it may not work out for you.

How has your guest blogging campaign worked out?

We would like to hear some of the effective guesting blogging tips you’ve used either in the past or present.

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31 Comments

  1. Hi Shamsudeen!

    Thanks for sharing these tips. Guest blogging is something that takes quite a bit of investment with your time, so it’s important that you’re doing it right and actually getting the results out of it that you want. Too many people go into it with unrealistic expectations, or they approach it the wrong way, and they end up disappointed. The tips mentioned in this post will really help with developing a solid strategy.

    As for point number 10, it may be a bit overhyped but I think it still makes great sense if you fit it in as part of a bigger system.

    I think of guest blogging like I would an offline speaking engagement. Many people will forget about you after you leave the stage. Some people will connect with your message and remember you if they see you again out in the world. A few people will really resonate with you and your style, and eventually become customers and extremely engaged readers.

    Over months and years of guest blogging, it can really add up to a sizeable amount. It is just a slow, cumulative process if the end goal is conversions (and not just traffic surges.)

    Thanks again and I’ll be sharing this article right now!

    – James McAllister

    1. Hey James,

      I like this part,

      Over months and years of guest blogging, it can really add up to a sizeable amount. It is just a slow, cumulative process if the end goal is conversions (and not just traffic surges.)

      That’s my point.

      Guest blogging, like SEO, is not just something you do once or twice and expect to see a significant positive result. Forget about the hype, just put in everything you’ve got into making it work for you.

      Thanks, James, your comment really add more value to this topic.

  2. Hi Shamsudeen,

    So much I can relate to in this article!

    I think the worst submission I ever had was where someone had just copy/pasted 500 words of their website advert. Aaagh. In fact that was a tiny a temptation as they even offered to pay me. But I didn’t want to sacrifice my principles and rejected it.

    I am also very careful now what people want to link to. Someone sent me an excellent article and I published it. Then someone else pointed out that I had linked to what I consider an unethical service. (In fact this person wanted me to link to the same service for their own affiliate link.) I would never have linked to that service if I had known what they were promoting so I can only think that they maybe used a link cloaking service and switched what they were linking to. Sneaky!

    Very interested in what you said about the differences in time spent reading articles.

    What a great post, thanks.

    Joy Healey – Blogging After Dark

    1. Hi Joy,

      Thanks for the visit.

      Interesting to read your guest blogger experience.

      One thing I usually do is to leave every guest articles for days before I review it. I review the guest article when I have less task to do online and have every time in this world to devote to it.

      This allows me to look at things carefully, and examine every paragraphs/sentence/links carefully.

      Thanks, Joy, nice having you here.

  3. Hi Shamsudeen Adeshokan, Thanks for allowing us to read this information. Some people will think what are the benefits, why am I doing this? So this question can be answered in the following lines:

    WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF GUEST BLOGGING?

    1. BUILDING YOUR DOMAIN AUTHORITY
    2. GETTING VALUABLE BACKLINKS
    3. GENERATING REFERRAL TRAFFIC
    4. CREATING NEW RELATIONSHIPS WITH BLOGGERS

    These are the benefits, so now whenever you post, you will be aware of the benefits.

  4. It seems as if this post was meant for me, As i have been looking for a concise guest blogging guide to kick-off my guest blogging.

    Thank you Shamsudeen for easing the job for me by sharing what works better while guest blogging.

    Kudos !!

  5. Very interested in the articles. What a great post, thanks.

  6. It seems as if this post was meant for me, As i have been looking for a concise guest blogging guide to kick-off my guest blogging.

    Thank you Shamsudeen for easing the job for me by sharing what works better while guest blogging.

  7. A really good article, I like how you have written from your experiences, thank you for sharing your experiences and tips

  8. I really want to say thanks, such a great information that you have given

  9. Such a useful Keep sharing, keep motivating people, Guest posting is very much important to increase the ranking of a website. I will definitely apply these rules. For more information visit- http://www.bookmycolleges.com/

  10. These are the best blogging tips i have received till now. Thanks for sharing it

  11. Hello Adeshokan,

    You know, if you are using content marketing, a guest blogging strategy can be a key tactic to boost your traffic and content marketing ROI.

    Regular guest blogging can help others see you as an expert, which is great for the reputation of your business.

    In my opinion – No one likes a guest blogger who provides a post and then walks away from it right when it is published.

    To help you get the very most from your guest post, you will need to promote it on socially.

    Thanks for sharing these wonderful ideas with us.

    With best wishes,

    Amar Kumar

  12. Blog size matters but when you don’t have a previous track record of guest blogging on higher authority sites, bigger websites won’t allow you. So, my suggestion, if you are a newbie then focus moderately on medium size sites so that as fast as you can build your backlink profile.

    1. Hi Mahmood

      Yes, I agree with you on that. The size of blogs really matters a lot.

      But like you said, if you’re new to guest blogging, start with your peers.

      Thanks, Mahmood.

  13. Hi. This was very informative. Writing guest posts is part of my team’s tasks, so this will be useful for us. Had my pen ready while reading so I can jot down important notes I can share with my team.

    1. Hi, Sarah,

      Thanks for your comment, and I’m glad you find it helpful.

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