Are Guest Bloggers a Good Idea for Your Business?

Is having outside contributors write blog posts for your business a good idea?

The short answer is YES! Inviting guests to contribute to your blog can be a great idea… But there’s a “but.” Guest bloggers can add a lot of value if the relationship meets the following criteria:

• The blog posts help your audience to learn more about your industry
• The guest blog content offers some fresh perspective on topics that reinforce your brand, thereby helping to emphasize your own expertise
• The guest blogger could help expose your brand to new audiences
• The relationship is mutually beneficial for both you and the guest writer

If the relationship meets that criteria, then it’s a win-win situation! You just need to make sure that you’re staying on brand, adding value for your readers, emphasizing your own expertise, and also creating a mutually beneficial relationship with your guest blogger.

Let’s explore guest blogging in more detail:

Why Your Blog is Important

Before you invite anyone else to do a guest blog post for you, your business’ blog should already be active. So here’s a question for you: How often are you currently blogging? For many business owners, the answer ranges from weekly, to bi-weekly, to monthly… to sporadic. We get it. Sometimes it can be hard to stick to a schedule. But your business blog is so important!

Maybe you have trouble finding enough time to write, or perhaps you could use a bit of outside inspiration. Bringing in a guest blogger can have a lot of benefits and make a great contribution to your blog’s overall success.

Posting new blog posts on your website at regular intervals can really pay huge dividends. First, blogging is great for your SEO. Google loves blog updates, so posting to your blog regularly will help to ensure that Google gives you a good ranking so that your ideal customers can actually find you.

Blog posts also provide valuable content for your marketing. Don’t forget to share your new blog posts on your social media channels. The same goes for content to share in your email marketing; you can link to your fresh blog content in your newsletters to help drive your followers to check out your website.

And don’t forget, great blog posts help to position you as an expert in your field. This is how you build a trusting relationship with your existing and potential customers.

That’s a lot of upsides to having an active blog!

Networking Opportunity

Partnering with other experts in your field is always advantageous. It can really help to spread the word around about your business. By partnering with a guest blogger, you have a fantastic networking opportunity not only to gain a new perspective on your industry subject matter; you’ll probably also have the chance to expand your audience! When a guest blogger writes for your website, they’ll probably also share it with their own network, which helps to get your brand and website in front of a whole new audience.

The networking potential can go both ways. Remember that networking should always be a two-way street where there are benefits for both people involved. You might also choose to return the favour by writing a blog post for their website. The only stipulation is that both of you should always be credited for your work and your bio, website, and social media contact information should always be included at the bottom of the blog post. When sharing the blog post on social media, it’s always a good idea to tag your guest. This could be considered a “trade” with no need for payment as you’re both getting something out of the arrangement: exposure for content and expertise. (This is different from a ghost blogger who would remain anonymous and would be paid for their contribution.)

That said, it’s vitally important that you partner with the right person!

Find the Right Guest Blogger

You don’t want just any yahoo with Microsoft Word writing a blog for your website! You want someone who’s an expert and who’ll provide your audience with value. When looking for a guest blogger, it’s imperative that you find someone who will be able to deliver at the same level that you expect from yourself.

Consider who you already know. Maybe there are some great contacts in your existing network who would be a good fit for cross-branding. Before you reach out to someone to ask if they’d like to partner on a guest blog, make sure that you’ve read their past work. Do they have a blog on their website? Make sure you give everything there a good read to get a feel for their style and content. Will it pair well with your own? If so, then you may have found a great person to connect with.

Keep an Eye on Style and Grammar

Although inviting a guest to come in and write a blog for your site has definite upsides, there are a few pitfalls to watch out for. While it’s important that a writer’s personal voice is heard, you also need to ensure that they’re upholding excellent grammar and positive messaging so that they don’t reflect poorly on your brand.

Just because someone is an expert in their field doesn’t necessarily make them a good speller or indicate they know where to use a comma. If you’re getting someone else to write a blog that will be hosted on your site, its quality and professionalism are going to reflect on you. That’s why everything should always be proofread. Never post content to your site blindly without having someone go through it to catch any little mistakes and make sure that the blog will be as polished as all of the other articles on your website! If grammar isn’t your strong point, consider outsourcing the proofreading to your VA or check out Grammarly (side note: Grammarly also offers Human Proofreaders if needed. Ps – that’s an affiliate link so I get a small kickback for referring them if you sign up through me – but I refer them cuz they’re awesome and I use it every day.).

It’s not just about grammar. You also want to make sure that the overall content that your guest is contributing is upbeat and positive. A little sarcasm never really hurt anyone, but sometimes someone else’s personal style can go a little too far. Keep that in mind before you publish.

A Guest Blogger Can Save You Time

Another reason to engage guest bloggers is that you’re probably pretty busy. Like, super busy. Often, we don’t have enough time to spend drafting and writing detailed and valuable blog posts ourselves. Rather than skipping a week, engaging a guest blogger could be a very smart solution!

Your guest blogger will be the one who spends their time writing the blog post; all you need to do is check it over after they’re finished and schedule it to your site. This can be a huge time saver! You might even consider lining up a few guest bloggers to have in your back pocket for when you’re too busy to write a blog post yourself.

Go For It!

The bottom line is that, if you can find one or more writers you trust who provide you with solid content, then engaging guest bloggers can be a fantastic idea! Just make sure that you (or someone else who knows your brand intimately) check their work carefully to make sure that everything is accurate and that proper formatting and grammar are followed. The last thing that you want is someone else’s mistakes showing up on your website!

Have you ever worked with a guest blogger? What was your experience like? We’d love to hear about it!

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