Guest Posting Not Going Your Way? Some Reasons Why.

If you’re a regular reader of NetMediaBlog, you may consider a fine article written last month by a Mr. Richie Richardson and the reasons why guest posting is so important for your SEO and overall awareness. There has been a lot of talk in the SEO world recently about just how effective guest posting is in the long run, and one article written on SEOmoz yesterday started off a lot of talk about the potential diminishing returns of guest blogging.

Guest blogging is effective if you are effective with guest blogging. The problem is that many people who guest blog aren’t really trained as writers, don’t know how to approach site owners, and their content just really isn’t interesting. If you’re having a hard time with your luck on guest blogging, or just don’t know where to begin, take some of the following steps into consideration.

So why are you having a difficult time?

1. Your Pitch Is Lousy or Unwanted

When it comes to guest blogging, getting the approval to write is sometimes the hardest part. Emailing seemingly countless site owners for a request to write and not hearing anything back is frustrating and a little damaging to your overall confidence. However, you have to make some considerations why this is so.

For one, if you’re asking to write, don’t just ask to write. Even more so, don’t sound like a salesperson. Talk to the person like you would meet at a social gathering. Also, don’t leave them guessing what you want to write about. Give them the precise subject. Most site owners have a lot to handle, and don’t have the time for trivial emails. Cool, calm and straight to the point.

And please, if the guidelines specifically say not to ask them to write, then don’t! Just write the article, and the rest will be taken care off.

2. You Are Not Editing

Imagine if the postions were switched, and you were the site owner. If someone sent you an article that was litered with bad spelling, grammar and disorganization, would you take it? Even more so, would you really put in the time to fix other people’s mistakes? Maybe, but you have a lot going on and the content is unacceptable.

You can’t really be angry at a site owner if they don’t publish your article because of poor language. Do yourself a favor (for them as well), and put some extra time in reviewing your writing. It will mean all of the difference between a lost opportunity and a good link.

Guest Posting Not Going Your Way? Some Reasons Why.

3. Content Is Not Interesting

The thing about guest blogging is that it has opened the door for relatively inexperienced or unqualified writers. Let’s face it, writing is not easy. There is a difference between guest bloggers and the kind of articles that you might read in the New York Times and whatnot.

Find a way to really engage your reader, and don’t just write for the sake of the link. If you want to gain reputation as a blogger, learn ways to become a better writer. There are plenty of resources around you. One of the best ways I have learned (though I am still very much learning), is to simply read! It’s a common saying that better readers are better writers.

Initiatie. Imitate. Innovate.

4. You Aren’t Checking the Site’s Activity

You’ve probably heard this point be made by plenty of other individuals in the past, but it is very important to be reminded. If you’re trying to get in touch with a blog whose last post was from as late as a month ago, then it isn’t worth your time to spend trying to contact. Some site owners just abandon the site until the domain name is up for sale, and sometimes you can’t assume that it is active.

The best way to check is in Google for either when the page was last cached. When looking for opportunities in general, put the Google options to only include pages with updates in the past month or so.

Conclusion:

Guest posting is a very effective way to gain traffic and rank better in the SERPs. Next time you think about writing a guest post, consider all the options listed above. Please share your contribution using the comment box below. If you find above post on “Guest Posting Not Going Your Way? Some Reasons Why.?” interesting and useful, please share this post with your friends using the share tools on the left hand side of the browser or the ones under this post. Please if you haven’t liked our Facebook page simply click on the “Like” button on the right hand side of the browser. You can also follow us on Twitter right under the Facebook page.

I hope you read my blog post on “Four ways to increase traffic with freshness“. If you like this blog posts Subscribe to NetMediaBlog Feeds by Email so you can be getting more of my posts on your email even when you are offline.