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Hi! I’m Will and I created a passive 5 figure passive income, within 5 years, through SEO and an effective blogging strategy. I share my incites exclusively on Ask Will Online.
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5 Reasons You Should Stay Away From Guest Posts

You may think I am contradicting myself as I allow other bloggers to guest post on ask will online, but I’m not. In actual fact, I’m agreeing with myself. You shouldn’t use guest posts, or you shouldn’t submit them too. However, guest posts if used properly, can help benefit your blog be it your guest posting on another blog or letting others guest post on your blog. It all comes down to rules, rules, rules…

As a blogger myself, I am constantly guest posting on other websites. This gives me the benefits of:

  • Increasing my Google Page Rank.
  • Increasing traffic to my website.
  • Getting myself known to the world.
  • And what I find most important, developing partnerships with other bloggers.

However, I only get these benefits if the following happens and this is why in some of my cases I don’t like guest posting:

  • I get at least one back link – The back link by itself is one of the main reasons I guest post. It generates traffic and increases page rank  I find that many bloggers take the back link out of the guest post after a week or so thinking I won’t notice. I do! It’s so frustrating as they now have my guest post without any back links to my website. When guest posting, make sure you get a back link!
  •  I don’t get recognised for my guest post – This is just as frustrating as after writing an amazing guest post for another blog, I don’t get a mention for my hard work. Even if there is a byline at the bottom, I think having the guest blogger’s name at the top immediately identifies to anyone reading the guest post that it is a guest post from this person. So when you guest post, make sure you get a mention at the top and bottom of the post!
  • They change the content – Some bloggers do this even if it’s marginal. What is the point of letting others guest post if your going to change it? Maybe any typos I will change in the guest post but if you find your guest post content has been changed, complain.
  • They link to their website in the article – This isn’t as annoying but it still sends people away from my guest post. I don’t like it but being objective like I am, it’s a way of decreasing the bounce rate which is so important for a blog. That’s why on guest posts, as much as I hate them, I only allow myself to link twice.


And is it Actually Worth it?

I do wonder how effective guest posting is sometimes. From a guest blogger, does the guest post produce you more traffic, reputation and so on through publishing it on another blog or your own? Will your traffic increase from publishing it on another site more than publishing it on your own? In some guest posts, the answer is yes when others may have the answer no. A way of answering the question is in one question: Is this guest post going to be more valuable on another blog than mine? If the answer is yes, then guest post!

For the other side, as a website that invites guest post, well it’s always going to be a win-win. You get free content for providing a byline and back link. You just have to make sure that the actual content is up to the same standards as your own content. Otherwise, subscribers may be dissatisfied with the low level quality guest posts.

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2 Comments

  1. Tim at IMM May 4, 2011

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