Find It Friday! How To Be An Outstanding Guest Blogger
Welcome to Find It Friday in which we help you find the answers to your how to blog questions.
The Question
I got an e-mail this week from a reader who is happy to have his question shared on Find It Friday.
I have been asked to write a guest blog on an aspect of my business which the blog owner feels would be of interest to her readers. How do you suggest I make the most of this opportunity?
The Answer
As anyone who has attended my talks will know, I am a big fan of guest blogging. It benefits both the blog owner and the guest blogger, introducing both to a whole new readership.
Here are my top 5 tips for guest blogging
1. Do your research
Read the archived posts of the blog owner. Make sure the tone and language of your post fits the character of the blog. Which posts get the most comments? What resonates best with readers?
2. Pull out all the stops to make your post top-notch
This is your chance to shine, so really make this the best piece of writing you can. Check your facts, credit your sources, and link to external references and sites.
3. Provide an author bio
Write the basic facts that readers will want – don’t overdo it, just enough to make it interesting and relevant.
4. Don’t be self-serving
There is nothing guaranteed to put a reader off than something that is obviously written as a sales pitch for your product or service. You will get the opportunity to link to your business in your author bio and trust me, if your content is good enough, people will check you out, just so long as they don’t feel as if they are being aggressively sold to.
5. Follow through
The last step, but this, in my opinion, is the one that separates the mediocre guest blogger from the finest. When I invite guest bloggers to write for me, the outstanding ones are those who show they care enough to follow through by responding to comments, promoting via social networks, connecting with commentators online, and even expanding the discussion, as happened on one of my other blogs this week, by starting a twitter chat around the topic.
Over To You!
Do you invite guest bloggers to contribute to your blog? Or have you contributed as a guest blogger to other blogs? How did it work out for you?
Find It Friday: How to drive more traffic to your blog.
Welcome to the Find It Friday in which we help you find the answers to your how to blog questions.
The Question
This week Jane Collins posted the following question on our Facebook page:
I got a question for you 😉 It’s one you probably get asked a lot I am sure, but what are your top tips for driving more traffic to your blog?
Yes Jane, it is one we get asked a lot! Today I will outline some tips to drive more traffic to your blog, and if you want to learn more check out my slideshare presentation here.
The Answer
14 ways to drive more traffic to your blog
1. Create compelling content that your audience will want to read
2. Write SEO friendly content (Lorna has written a post on this here)
3. Post frequently to your blog, but remember quality wins out over quantity
4. Use great headlines to hook your reader
5. Capture reader interest with great images and video content
6. Include more inbound and outbound links
7. Where does your target audience gather online? Meet them there
8. Use Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn to promote your blog and make connections, find new readers.
9. Submit your posts to social book marking sites like Reddit and StumbleUpon
10. Write a guest blog for others and also feature guest blogs on your own blog.
12.. Encourage readers to subscribe to your blog’s feed via RSS or email
13. Add your blog’s url to your email signature
14. Make it easy for readers to share your content
Do you have a question on how to blog effectively?
Leave a comment below and we will be happy to help you find the answer.
You might also like to read:
Find It Friday! Your Blogging Questions Answered
Welcome to Find It Friday in which we help you find the answers to your how to blog questions.
The Question
This week Aine Casey asks us the following question:
Would love to know the answer to the question when setting up a website for a company operating in Ireland, is it better to use .COM or .IE
The Answer
If both are available, I would recommending registering both as many people will presume the domain name has a .com ending and may type that in automatically. The .ie will signify that you are an Irish company.
However, do bear in mind that your business may expand and you may wish to target consumers or companies abroad so it is always good to have a .com address if it is available.
As far as I am aware, one will be the principal address so if .ie is the principal one and someone types in .com, it will automatically divert to the .ie address which will demonstrate you are a company operating within Ireland. Check this is done correctly with your web developer so the SEO effects aren’t spread across the two domains.
Some will recommend registering a variety of domain names, for example, registering a .eu domain too.
If the .com of your chosen domain name isn’t available but the .ie is, then by all means register it as a .ie. If someone is googling your business name from Ireland, google should provide the .ie company first in any case. My only qualm is when someone knows the url but presumes it is a .com and comes to the wrong site (I’ve done this with other businesses in the past).
I hope that helps.
Do you have a question on how to blog effectively?
Leave a comment below and we will be happy to help you find the answer.
Find It Friday! Your Blogging Questions Answered
Welcome to the first Find It Friday in which we help you find the answers to your how to blog questions.
The Question
This week Aine Casey asks us how often should you blog?
The Answer
The simple fact is that the more posts that you create on your blog, the more pages search engine crawlers have to index and the more frequently you post, the more frequently the crawlers will return, and the more your blog will increase in page rank.
But, as Aine has indicated to us, she is concerned about the time commitment of a frequent blogging schedule. And yes, it won’t suit everyone. You may become overwhelmed by the need to post frequently, lose the momentum and lose interest in the blog – and this will be reflected in your posts when you do write. There is also the danger that readers may become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information you are churning out.
So what’s the solution?
- Try alternating your posts between short daily ones, which readers may dip into (Chris Brogan is a master of this style) and more detailed, informative posts once a week, fortnight, or even once a month. The key is to establish a regular routine that works for you and is one your readers can rely on.
- Set aside one day a week to write your blog posts for the coming week and then schedule them to publish on your selected days. You may well find that once you start writing, you will get in the flow of producing content. Creating an editorial calendar for your blog is a very useful support (we will cover this topic in a future post).
- Inviting guest bloggers to your site can ease the pressure of blogging for you while adding some variety to your voice.
- As for writing fatigue, we can honestly say we don’t experience it and that is because we are passionate about what we write about (another key to successful blogging), and have lots of information we want to share with readers.
So how often should you post content to your blog?
Well the answer lies in what you want to achieve. If you want a higher search engine rank and an active engaged community, then post as frequently as you can manage without losing interest and momentum. Involve good guest bloggers to lighten your load and add interest. (A good rule of thumb is to blog 3 times a week).
Above all, find your passion – for when you are passionate about your subject, you will find that you want to communicate that passion with your readers on a regular basis.
Do you have a question on how to blog effectively?
Leave a comment below and we will be happy to help you find the answer.
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