3 Things Every Guest Blogger Needs

1. An SEO toolbox for your site.

It’s great to give guest bloggers creative license over the content they are writing, but that doesn’t mean expecting them to fly blind when it comes to your SEO. If you want your guest bloggers to have a good experience when writing for your site and deliver content that meets your SEO standards, then they should have all the tools they need to succeed.

Tell them which keywords you would like them to focus on, whether they are general search terms or localized keywords. Also, give guest bloggers your specific guidelines for keyword density (don’t assume everyone knows them). You can also give them an idea of how keywords can be implemented, by sending them links to articles you’ve written that contain good keyword implementation. Above all, make sure they understand that readability comes first.

Guest bloggers are professionals, and they deserve to be treated with professionalism; so rather than sending them multiple messages with too many links and attachments to keep track of, send this SEO toolbox in one communication: one email, with an outline and any necessary attachments all in one message.

2. A link building incentive.

Most experienced content marketers understand that it is standard practice, and an expected courtesy, to give guest bloggers a backlink to their own website or blog. For them, it ensures that the effort they put into writing content for you is also an investment in their own SEO rankings. And for your own SEO interests, make sure you have a variety of guest bloggers; this will give you a diverse portfolio of linkscoming to your site (guest bloggers will link to their articles on your site, and you need those links coming from many different domains).

In addition to backlinks, guest bloggers need bylines. Google puts more weight on authorship now, which makes bylines more important than ever. Anyone who writes for your site as a guest should be granted a byline; remember, guest bloggers are not anonymous ghostbloggers.

3. The rules of engagement.

Before you publish your guest’s blog post, make sure he knows your policy on engaging with readers who comment. If you tend to respond to comments on the blogs you write, then it would be a nice thing to allow your guest bloggers the same privilege. If you prefer to let people sound off without engaging them, then your policy is one-way commenting, and it should be the same for your guest bloggers. Either way, make sure they know your engagement policy.

Also, if you don’t currently allow readers to subscribe to comments on blog posts, now would be a good time to implement that. That way, your guest bloggers don’t have to constantly check the site for comments; they can receive an email anytime a comment is posted.

Asking others to guest blog is a great way to diversify the content on your site, boost its authority in search engines and make contacts in the industry. It can be a win-win situation, when guest bloggers have everything they need. If you are seeking information on other types of blogging services for your business website, contact our Dallas SEO agency; we will be happy to explain what services are available.