Guest Blogging has become hugely popular over the last few years.It is also hugely beneficial for both the guest submitting the post and the blogger publishing the post.The main benefit for the guest blogger lies in their work being shown to a new and often larger audience and of course those ever so valuable
backlinks in the author bio section at the foot of their post.Indeed many articles have been written on the benefit of becoming a guest author and strategies in writing and submitting guest posts.
But what about the other side of the coin, the blogger looking to publish guest posts.Here i want to look at my personal experience as a blogger going from wondering if the link to submit guest posts on my blog was working to receiving up to 50 posts and enquires weekly.While it's fantastic having such an interest from bloggers all over the world in contributing, not all submissions have your blogs best interests in mind.I have probably only actually published between ten or twenty percent of posts submitted.
As the number of guest post submissions increased i realised i needed a system to deal them.I also realised i needed a strict policy and set of rules.
First i have 4 basic Guest Post rules.
1. Post must be on topic with your blog - On my blog that covers blogging tips and tutorials i have received posts on topics as far afield as Picking a cellphone to buying a used car.While you may think its easier to just ignore emails with such posts you may end up wasting time opening follow up emails, i reply with simply "No Thanks post is totally off topic".In one case a blogger has accidentally sent me the wrong post and the post that was written for my blog was subsequently published so do reply.
2. Post must have no links in the body - The accepted rule in guest posts is two Do-Follow links for the author in the foot of the post.However i have received countless posts stuffed with links to the authors sites.Of course there are exceptions, some posts use references that will require a link.In such cases links advance the post and are not an author looking to benefit.Recently i have been contacted by writers for SEO company's that submit
3. Quality - I know when i started to receive guest posts it was exciting in the same way as the first few comments you receive as a new blogger.This can lead you to perhaps letting your standards drop in an effort to publish those first few guest posts.However i feel you need to be strict when it comes to quality right from the start.If I'm unsure of a post i will delay replying and take a second look the following day, i find on a second read i usually know if it's up to scratch or not.
4. Exclusive - Every guest post much be original and not published anywhere else.Posts should be written for your blog and your audience.One post sticks in my mind when it comes to this.I read a post submitted for my blog and was extremely impressed but i had a feeling i had seen it before.I copied a few of the main phrases from the post and popped them into Google and sure enough when i searched i found the post published previously numerous times.
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