Mastering Guest Blogging: Common Mistakes That You Should Avoid

–

One of the most effective link building practices that help generate more traffic on a webpage is guest blogging. This is one of the best ways to be able to connect with an entirely new audience, and boost your rankings entirely. With that in mind, the quality of a guest blog is very crucial, as there are times that some poorly-made guest blogs can be seen as “spammy”, which can make it challenging for some people to post on guest blogging sites.

Guest blogging is not a simple feat to do, as you will always encounter different kinds of challenges when it comes to pitching on different kinds of sites. With that in mind, it is important to avoid some mistakes that would make it even more difficult. Here are some of these guest blogging mistakes that you should definitely avoid, along with some helpful advice.

Not providing a proper introduction

First impressions count a lot, which is why it is always a must to write an introduction that can catch someone’s attention. One of the common mistakes that link builders tend to do that affect their pitch is not provide links to their social profiles, which means that they would not be able to do a background check on the person wanting to post a guest blog.

Another mistake that commonly occurs in guest blogging pitches is not including your idea on the post itself. Blog editors are usually busy when it comes to going through different pitches, and seeing that your pitch does not even have an idea to begin with, they won’t even bother taking another look at your email.

Solution: Provide your personal details and social media links on your introduction to make sure that editors get to know more about you, and see you as a legitimate source. Next, it is mandatory that you already have a guest blog idea before even sending your pitch, as this is the main purpose of the pitch in the first place.

Poorly written pitches

This does not only apply for guest blogging pitches, but also for emails in general. Poorly written emails that have grammatical and spelling errors do not give a good impression to any editor you would be sending your pitch.

Solution: It is best to do some proofreading before sending any email, to make sure that you have all of the details accurate, and your grammar correct. There are a good number of grammar checking tools that you can use, such as the Grammar Checking Tool of SERPed.net, which is just one feature of this versatile tool.

Not following the proper guest blogging guidelines

Every guest blogging website has their own guidelines when it comes to posting, and not following them means not having your guest blog being posted. These guidelines include what topics the website prefers to post, topics that are not allowed, and how to submit your post. These guidelines are specific, and make sure that your guest blog would be compliant to what they are looking.

Solution: Carefully read these guidelines, as each website has different guidelines that you need to follow. Making sure that you comply would mean having your guest blog posted with no problem.

Using automated pitching templates

Automated pitching tools are commonly used in guest blogging, as it allows you to follow a specific email template that you can use to contact editors quicker than the usual. However, this has become used so much that editors know how templated emails look like and ignore them.

Solution: While using automated pitching email templates is not a bad thing, it is advisable to customize it for different editors, so they’ll know you applied your personal touch. A presentable email pitch is almost always worth a good look.

Insincere/Rude Tone

Tone is important when it comes to pitching anything, and it definitely pays to be kind and sincere. Having an insincere or rude tone on your pitch would definitely sway away editors from even considering your pitch.

Solution: Once again, proofreading is your friend. Have a fellow writer or editor take a look at your email pitch before sending it. You would be able to adjust the language and tone of your pitch, and make it sound even better than it was.

Not doing proper research before writing

Now that you have your post ready to be written, make sure that you have done your own share of research which helps you know more the topics and crucial details of your guest blog. Poorly written guest blogs would most likely not see the light of day, and will remain as just a pitch.

Solution: Gather around a good number of sources for each post that you are going to make to have a solid and well-written post. You can have as much sources as you would need, and this makes sure that what you are writing is accurate and true.

Forgetting your byline

As a guest blogger, a byline is a short description about you, along with a link to your personal website. This is placed on a guest blog for users to access. This helps you get more leads and new contacts, which is why forgetting to add one would make your guest blog incomplete.

Solution: Add a short, yet sweet byline which briefly describes you, what you do, and a link to your website. 2 to 3 sentences is already enough for this, which also means that it would not take up space on your blog.

Key Takeaway

Guest blogging is crucial in the world of SEO, and doing it well helps generate better traffic overall. By avoiding these mistakes, you are guaranteed that you would be able to get your guest blogs posted in no time.

If you have questions about guest blogging, or SEO in general, leave a comment below, and let’s talk.