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A lot has been written recently about the benefits of guest posting for the guest author. However, not much has been written from the perspective of the blog owner.
If you own a writing (or other topic) blog, you may be wondering whether you should accept guest posts on your blog. If so, this post is for you.
Pros of Accepting Guest Posts on Your Blog
There are many benefits to consider when deciding whether to accept guest posts on your writing blog. Here are a few:
- A guest post provides additional content for busy times when you may not be able to write a post.
- Guest posts are often offered to blog owners free of charge.
- Publishing one can expand your blog audience when your guest author’s fans discover your blog.
- You may build a new relationship with the guest post author.
- They can provide a fresh voice to your blog.
However, for each positive aspect of accepting guest posts, there is also a negative aspect.
Negatives of Accepting Guest Posts on Your Blog
Here are some of the negative aspects of accepting guest posts:
- Guest author may promise a post and not deliver.
- Guest author may deliver a post that does not fit your blog.
- You may have to reject a poorly written guest post.
- You will need to take the time to review, format, and possibly edit the guest post.
- Too many guest posts may cause your own voice to be diluted.
More Information to Consider Before Accepting Guest Posts
As you can see, the decision to accept guest posts on what has formerly been a single author blog is not to be taken lightly.
Here is some additional information on publishing guest posts:
- From Create A WebSite.com, 5 Reasons I’ll Reject Your Guest Post
- From Tricia.Me, Moms, Beware Guest Posts (written for Mommy Bloggers, but applicable to everyone)
- From Daily Blog Tips, Managing Guest Post Submissions Efficiently
Next week, I’ll take a look at guest posting from the perspective of the guest author.
In Summary
You’ve probably noticed that I do accept guest posts here on WritingThoughts.
However, this blog is still primarily my voice to the writing world. For that reason, I screen potential posts very carefully and I ensure that the majority of posts published here are my own writing.
Do you accept guest posts? What has been your experience with it?
12 responses so far ↓
1 Tricia Meyer // Jan 25, 2011 at
Thanks for including my post! You are right that it definitely applies to all bloggers. I actually tracked my fake blogger back to an SEO firm who says that they have a “house writer” who specializes in medical, dental, and health blogs. On the one hand, you figure it can’t hurt to allow the post if the content is really good. On the other hand, how can you trust the content when the writer is lying about who they are? It’s tough!
2 Laura Spencer // Jan 25, 2011 at
Tricia, I think your example is something that happens all too often in guest posting. The guest author is not really who he or she says they are. In some cases, of course, there’s no real way to find out. I thought your story was interesting, so naturally I thought my readers might learn from it. 🙂
3 Lillie Ammann // Jan 26, 2011 at
Laura,
I do accept guest posts from time to time, but only if I feel the content will be useful for my readers. I get a lot of requests from bloggers who want to submit guest posts, but in most cases their topics aren’t suitable for my blog or the articles are so general that they don’t offer any value.
4 Laura Spencer // Jan 26, 2011 at
Hi Lillie!
It’s good to see you here again. 🙂 I’ve also found that there is a large number of folks who want to submit off-topic posts. In some cases I even wonder if they’ve read my blog at all. You’re right to reject those posts–I reject them too.
5 Taqiyyah Shakirah Dawud // Jan 26, 2011 at
I enjoy inviting guests I think will benefit my readers on a semi-regular basis. But, question for you–when people invite themselves, and you’re not keen on having them over for whatever reason (writing quality, association, etc.) how do you turn them down gently?
6 Laura Spencer // Jan 26, 2011 at
Taqiyyah Shakirah Dawud,
That is an excellent question and one that I struggle with regularly–not only for this blog, but for another one where I am responsible for overseeing guest posts. What works for me is to frame a letter with kind, but firm wording (okay, it’s canned) and then customize it to the situation. I always start by thanking them for their submission, even if I can’t use the post.
For example, if I believe that a post can be fixed I tell the author what should be fixed and encourage them to resubmit it. In other cases, I just reject the post outright and list the reason.
I do confess, in the past I sometimes viewed submissions of way off-topic posts as spam and ignored them. Probably that was not the best move on my part. 🙁
7 Twitter Trackbacks for Should You Rely on Guest Posts to Provide Content for Your Blog? : WritingThoughts [writingthoughts.com] on Topsy.com // Jan 26, 2011 at
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8 Cindi @ Moomettes Magnificents // Jan 29, 2011 at
Yes, I welcome and accept Guest Posts on my blog, and like how they add a different perspective and expertise in areas that benefit my readers.
9 Laura Spencer // Feb 1, 2011 at
Good to know Cindi!
Thanks for sharing your experience.
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