Occasionally I receive guest post inquiries from previous guest bloggers that want to submit a post under another name, even a fake one. I normally do not accept these types. I am very selective when accepting guest blog posts and encourage others to do the same.
Why?
Well, I want my readers to read posts from real people who they can connect with. There are too many available guest writers wanting to post that are actually using it as a way to make money. I respect that people need to make a living, but not when it may be the fact my readers are not able to connect with my guest bloggers.
Getting money to get a backlink on someone’s site, well, that means someone is making money off of me and I just gave kudos to their client in the person’s author bio. Of course, I do not publish guest posts, but I walk away knowing that my readers know who is writing and that they are eager to respond back.
I want real people to guest post, not middle men (or middle women.) I deserve it. AND…. so do you.
Even if you have a site that is fairly new, you should be selective about who you let on board. You want guest bloggers who want to interact with your readers, not someone there for just a backlink for a business. Of course, in some cases, and I say this is a not often, you may find a business who have relevant topics for your blog and wanting to interact. Great! That is what you want.
While I am sure you are eager to push out content, making sure it is quality and done honestly is just as important. You never know- you could be inviting plagiarism, spun articles that do not have much value, and much more. There is a big market out there in the freelance world looking for writers and article re-writers who will basically ghost write and allow their articles to be spun maybe a hundred times and sold to clients to disperse around the Internet.
Make sure when you are allowing guest writers on board to establish a set of rules and also, you need to follow up with them. Guest writers who are not actively responding to comments on articles they have written obviously have no care other than money. They do not even care that their client they represented got a backlink from your site nor are they held to any rules to respond to articles written.
I am sure there are quite a few people who may not agree with my thoughts on this matter, but it is a choice I made. I was tired of seeing it on other blogs and stopped it from continuing on mine as those posts in the end held little value to encourage my readers to engage.
Are you selective when accepting guest blog posts? What tips do you have from your own experience?
Its true Nile. Guest blogging has been a good method of backlinking strategy. I don’t see any harm in it if the post is well written, valuable to the reader and guest author is ready to extend relationship with readers. You’ve very rightly raised the spun article problem. You should not allow it until carefully reading the post. 🙂
Hi Nile,
I agree with your idea. But may I ask, how can you make sure that they are fake or not? 🙂
Hi Nile, this is so true. I've been getting contacted by all sorts of people asking for link exchanges and requesting guest posting opportunities. Some of them aren't even related to my niche and they are very demanding too! They tell me how many backlinks they want and everything. I avoid those types. But others have provided writing samples and are much more congenial, so it's good to be selective no matter how new your blog is.
Thanks for the post Nile. Have a great day!
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agreed with you nile, be selective,related o your post, quality comment and stay firm
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I agree with you nile and donald…we really need to be very selective regarding guest posting opportunities…otherwise…our blog's content will be jeopardized.
Hi Nile,
I agree with you as well. However, it maybe a challenge to know beforehand if the person is genuine or not. I guess, best thing to do would be to do a little background check. Checking the writer's own blog will tell us a great deal as we can always tell what the person's about by how and what he writes about.
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Hello Nile,
With blogs, we are supposed to publish new contents on daily basis. With guest bloggers in, you are able to publish some targeted posts on your blog. So you can relax a bit, as you will not need to write new posts quite often for your blog. But be sure to accept post that really relates to your blog.
Guest posts are a great way to connect with other bloggers. The fact someone wants to post under a different name is just downright wrong. If I ever found out that was the case about blogs I read on a regular basis, I would lose all respect for them.
Honesty is the best policy. Be selective. Build connections with your readers and utilize guest posts to your advantage.
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Nile – great points! I think sometimes when bloggers are new they think that it's necessary to say yes to everything that might promote their site. Being selective from the start is a smart course of action.
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We can really have so many benefits in accepting guest posts in our blogs. Through guest post, we can get backlinks and volume of traffic to other sites and our blog will become known to others.
Must read by beginners of Blogging who like to monetize and start making income from their blog. Being selective is a best way to gain traffic and quality backlinks. Thanks for these excellent tips and points.
I totally agree with this, because administrator or moderator should be strict regarding on different blog post. we all know that there are no exception on commenting in different blog sites, because some shared out bound links that is not useful enough and can be considered as spam.
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HI nile,,agree with you s. With guest bloggers in, you are able to publish some targeted posts on your blog. So you can relax a bit, :):)
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I think your users should defiantly come first, I do agree that doing things to benefit yourself are defiantly worth doing, but is it is going to hurt your users or your credibility then it is defiantly worth not doing. I don't know why people would post under fake names, that says a lot about what they have to say.
Nile, This article really helped me a lot as a guest blogger. Honestly, I am new on this stuff but rest assured that i am giving my best shot on this. Bloggers are really sensitive when commenting because of spammers.
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I got lots of email from people that they want to write on my blog, but i am little curious about security.
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Thanks for this post! I am a new blogger and have started receiving emails from people wanting to submit guest posts. Something seemed off about a few of them but I couldn't put my finger on it. I think what you described above is what I was sensing from them. I don't blog to make money. I am focused on content to engage and inspire so I would rather not entertain those types of posts. Is it appropriate to put language in the "Submit a Guest Post" section of my blog to that effect?
Billie
It is really rewarding to be selective and also it is our site should we not?
Hello Nile, nice to 'meet' you. I think a novel way to solve this problem is to go out and find someone that you want to guest blog and make them the offer, not the other way round. I had someone do that to me the other day – actually it was an article of mine that was already published on my blog that he wanted to put on his blog as a 'guest blog' for his readers.
It ocurred to me at the time that this might violate the spirit a bit becuase it was not original content; but I thought about it some more and realised that actually it was fine, he wanted good content for his readers, he has way more readers than me so everyone's happy. You could say that this was technically sharing not guesting but I think the difference is very small, i.e. the content has appeared elsewhere before. So what? None of his readers had read it before and that's what matters.
By the way, my blog is a personal blog so excuse the low brow article below 😉
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Take care of some of the critical issues of the blog such as transparency, and authenticity.
I agree that.We should choose quality website,
I also believe that blog owners do need to select guest post which is true to what they are doing and also as written in your article, someone who can connect to his readers. It is hard to write something which you don't love to do. Writing from your heart will make it far better with someone who writes for the sake of writing.
I often ask then to produce an earlier piece of work that they have created, before agreeing to a guest post with them. This way you can see that the work will actually be completed in an appropriate manner.
i definitely agree selecting guest post which are true and sensible could be a help but in some ways i agree with others because of some who might only post for their own expense but still helpful in some ways.
hmm…..Great Post . Thanks for Sharing !
I appreciate you but want to add few thing. As per my knowledge Guest blogging is the best way to prove your self and your talent rather take it from seo perspective. It helps to grow blogger community.
Hi Nile, this is so true. I’ve been accepting contacted by all sorts of humans allurement for hotlink exchanges and requesting bedfellow announcement opportunities. Some of them aren’t even accompanying to my alcove and they are actual ambitious too! They acquaint me how abounding backlinks they wish and everything. I abstain those types. But others accept provided autograph samples and are abundant added congenial, so it’s acceptable to be careful no amount how new your blog is.
Thanks for the column Nile. Accept a abundant day!
Hi Nile,
I think that is the fundamental problem with online marketing as a whole. People don’t get it. Lack of engagement is one thing that marketers should want. In reality, they miss the whole big picture by focusing at the wrong thing.
Guest Post is a concept that has become quite popular in the blogging-sphere. Despite the obvious benefits surrounding guest posts, there are many myths surrounding it. And one of the most feared myth by bloggers is that blogs accepting guest posts lose their identity.