8 Golden Rules for Guest Blogs

Many internet marketers are using guest posting as a form of link building to increase the ranking of their website or blog. The problem is that because of the number of people using this method to spam the internet with low-quality content, Google has talked about and is probably already working on an adjustment to their algorithm in order to penalize sites with low-quality guest posts.

It is very important to choose not only which blogs you want to write for but also who writes on your blog for you. Many internet marketers who have bombarded the article directories with poor-quality spun content are also the ones who are responsible for guest post spamming.

This is not to say that you should not use guest blogging in your campaigns, you do however need to make sure that you are adding something of quality to a worthwhile and respected blog.

So we have created a list of 8 rules for allowing guest posts:

#1: Always check for outgoing links

Check that the blogger has not stuffed the post with links that do not bring anything to the table. Links in the body of the post are ok as long as they are there to add worth to the text i.e. linking out to Apple’s homepage when talking about apple goods could be useful to someone wanting more information because Apple’s website is a respected, authority website.

The best way to go about it is to screen all the links personally by visiting them and not only seeing if they have good content, but also if they link to harmful websites that could contain malware.

#2: All content you allow should be unique and useful

Do not under any circumstances accept content that isn’t unique and interesting, you can use Copyscape to check for duplicated content. Guest posts need to be a minimum of 300 words but closer to 1000 would be more suitable as it would convey information better.

You need to make sure that all the content you write is engaging and interesting. This is maybe harder than you think on some subjects but is essential as a safeguard.

For something to be unique it doesn’t have to be groundbreaking, but regardless of the topic, it should be typed in a way that brings something new to the table.

Guest blogging, the missing piece of the puzzle?

#3: The authors you use should have a good record of posts in the past

It is always best to allow only respected authors and professional bloggers to guest post on your site. Often SEO companies hire writers to create posts for their clients. These are often very good, however, a real person who writes about a subject they are passionate about will write far more interesting content.

Another important thing is that their work with other bloggers should have a good amount of reader feedback. The best blog posts are always the ones with the most feedback. If someone posts in a high-traffic blog and gets very few comments, it’s very likely that their work isn’t good enough in attracting a good deal of attention Always watch out for that and you will have only the best guest authors at your blog.

#4: Have high standards

Do not accept any posts that have grammatical errors. Writing with poor grammar shows that the person who wrote it does not really care about their piece of work. This type of writing is also difficult to read and will show your blog in a poor light. You wouldn’t expect to buy a book that was littered with mistakes so don’t allow them on your blog either. You must give the right impression to your visitors from the very start.

Keep your blog standards high

Maybe there will be times when you are going to be tempted to accept a guest post because of the lack of quality material available, but if you ever find yourself in a situation where you’re not able to post material as often as you would like, the best thing to do is to wait until you have something truly worth posting. You should never take your chances with low-quality publications.

#5: Never give login access to your guest authors

If you owned your own shop, would you give the key to anyone and allow them to put anything they wanted to in the window? Of course not, so why on God’s green earth would you allow someone you don’t know to post whatever they want on your blog?

It doesn’t matter if you really like what they are doing. If you don’t know an author personally, you should never allow them to have access to posting on your blog without your moderation. There have been cases when guest bloggers have altered their work in the past and placed links to their own affiliate sites or sites of a dodgy nature. Some people really don’t care if they damage your reputation or get your website penalized, they are in for quick money it’s as simple as that.

Trust no one with your login details

#6 Lazy blog owners are not a good choice

Have a look around the blog and if most of the posts are from guest posts then steer clear. A well-run blog will have a lot of posts from the blog owner and a few guest posts mixed in. Anyone using a high percentage of guest posters is just being lazy.

#7 PageRank and Domain authority, adverts, and outbound links

Look for a PageRank of 3+ and a good DA. These are good indicators that the site is a quality one and has been well looked after. Sites with many outbound links or adverts are probably there just for monetary gain and the sites could also be selling text links. Again keep away or you could be tarred with the same brush.

Always use white hat SEO techniques

#8 Don’t give money in return for your post

Buying links is strictly against Google guidelines. We have all seen the ads on sites selling links and offering guest post opportunities for money. Did you know that Google also has people who manually browse these sites too?

Oh yes, they do, and guess what happens to sites that buy and sell links? Yes, you got it in one. Sooner or later they crash and burn.

So to sum things up if you follow all of the tips we just gave you, there will be no need to worry about Google sanctioning your guest blogger content. The posts will provide useful content and Google won’t have a problem with this at all. Search engines in general won’t mind who writes the content as long as it’s fresh and interesting.

Hopefully, this will help you in your quest to become a successful blogger. The best formula for success is to be consistent and to always provide top-quality material for your readers. They will always come back again if this helped them learn something valuable. Never guest blog just for links, add value to the Internet.