7 Deadly guest blogging mistakes you must avoid

For all those still living under a rock, guest posting or Blogging is one of the most popular trends in the ever-growing market of SEO. It is exactly what it sounds like – publishing original and meaningful content on someone else’s website as a guest blogger. This is considered the best inbound marketing strategy by building long-lasting relationships with consumers who want to hear more from an expert. 

This contribution to a reputable website helps establish credibility for up-and-coming brands and builds trust in their authenticity. Though it is not as simple as it sounds. Bloggers tend to mess up these golden opportunities in a rush to deliver and completely miss the holistic view of the situation.  

To help fellow bloggers in this tricky situation, here are 7 deadly mistakes to avoid when guest posting for your business –  

Not connecting with the relevant audience  

It is extremely easy to get lost in the sea of influential websites out there and lose sight of your ultimate aim. You may get multiple gigs but you have got to ask yourself some relevant questions at the beginning itself –  

• Do they help in generating traffic for your business? 
• Is the website aimed at your targeted audience? 
• Is your aim to garner backlinks or customers? 

Well, you may believe that a popular website is a way to go for a guest post but if it does not cater to the kind of clientele you are looking for, it is a lost cause. Some websites may get backlinks for you but that does not necessarily mean that these convert to customers for your brand.  

Find websites that have a decent following and still cater to audience members who will connect to your brand and its vision.You should also look for sites that have blogs similar to the content you hope to publish. Invest your energy and time wisely. 

Missing personalisation as the key 

How often do you open emails that seem vague and impersonal? Almost never will be my guess. Imagine if the situation is reversed. Influential sites have inboxes chock full of such messages. See the mail here. It is cringeworthy and would never grab your attention. 

What will make you stand out? Personalisation my friend. Do your research.  

• Every site has an ‘About Us’ and ‘Contact Information’ page. Find the person most relevant to your chosen topic of blogging and write a pitch addressing him/her by name. 

• Write a compact and concise pitch without droning on and on. 
• Provide reference links for previous submissions so that the blog manager may grasp your prowess. 
• Mention some pointers referencing what draw your attention to this particular site.  

This stands for any website you want to contact. Don’t spam everyone with the same mail. Take your time but do it right. 

Non adherence to guest posting guidelines 

The blog manager has approved your pitch. First step – Check. Now it is time to write your blog. Every popular website has hundreds of approved pitches but only a handful make the final cut. No manager has the time to guide a guest contributor from start to finish to fine tune a single blog so it is important to put in the work.  

Steps that can come in handy –  

• Ask for any specifications before deep diving. 
• Go through the website for any published guidelines or FAQs.  

• If you can’t find any, examine old guest blogs’ structure and length relevant to your area. 
• Make sure to check inbound links in your blog are in the allowed range. 
• Approach the blog manager with a near-flawless piece for review and ask if any edits are required. 

Irrelevant or low-quality content 

Well, you are approaching multiple websites at the same time and feel it is important to get the word out rather than putting in real effort to make your blog stand out. At least it is not your own website so it’s okay. Nuh uh. Don’t ever fall in this trap. 

Any respectable website will put a taboo on you forever. If that doesn’t happen and by sheer luck the blog does get published, such low quality content would never be widely promoted. And don’t expect any clickbacks on such content. Irrelevant blogs are never upvoted and bite the dust in the archives corner. 

Retrospectively, it is important to make a good impression when you write for external blogs – not just to earn respect and receive future work but also to ensure a niche clientele. Quality caliber is taken very seriously and can even result in positive word of mouth. Focus on quality rather than quantity. 

Not understanding the balance of inbound links 

Most Guest bloggers start this practice just for the sake of improving their SEO. That is perfectly acceptable and guest posting is a great way to achieve this purpose as long as the blog does not start seeming like spam. A great blog outshines if inbound backlinks are included for your own website. 

Nobody has the time to search separately for your site but this way they can directly move forward and get a sense of what to expect. An even better idea – include keywords as anchor text i.e. exactly matching keywords in links. 

Take an example – 

Topic – Wikipedia Backlinks: How to make Wiki edits that get 100% approval   

Inbound link – viralchilly

The website uses exact keywords to ensure ranking in search engines. 

But keep in mind to not go overboard with these links. Generally, all websites allow backlinking to a limit and follow these guidelines to gain an edge. 

Take advantage of this opportunity to give the readers another opportunity to view your content. These additional resources may make the difference in your blog making the cut. 

Unclear objective and strategy 

Your blog is up and you are getting a good response in the initial stages. What next? Half the people falter on this step and this is what causes their downfall. Even before you start guest blogging, you should have a clearly outlined strategy.  

After finding the right websites for guest blogging, it is important to keep the momentum going and find customers and nurture relationships with them over the long term to invest them in your journey. Reply to comments regularly. One-off blogs don’t convert to customers generally.  

You may get backlinks which tend not to convert to customers.  

In case you want a change in audience, identify blogs more relevant to the line-change rather than your own blog’s nuanced customers.  

You can also use websites which provide organic SEO and link building services like ViralChilly. Having their tools at your disposal may increase your panache in the SEO market. 

Don’t waste the exposure from the initial phase and capitalize on it while you have the chance. Make use of the referral traffic to redirect them to your sales landing or client acquisition website pages. Keep a track of these outreach records. Blog publishing is just the first step in a long journey. 

Being Resistant to Change 

In the words of Albert Einstein –

“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change” 

You may be a great writer but that doesn’t mean there is no room for improvement. Your tone may not be exactly aligned or you may be going off-base and sounding too promotional or vice versa. The article might be too technical for readers to understand. You might be sounding like a pesky show-off.  

The blog manager has a better insight into his target audience rather than an outsider. There is no shame in taking his/her opinion and improving quality. In the end, it would be beneficial to you itself. Being open to ideas can ensure that you see the blog from a completely different thought process.  

With ever-evolving high-quality content being the main focus in every search algorithm, relevant guest posting will gain even more traction in the future. This is the time fellow bloggers, to gain superiority in the SEO market and expand your marketing strategy. As we discussed, keep your eye on the bigger prize and don’t settle for short term profits. Avoid the mistakes mentioned in this post and you will surely increase your chances of success by a considerable amount.