As a marketer, you’ve probably trod the familiar territories of guest blogging so many times — first as a guest bloggers hunting for backlinks and second as a web owner angling for guest content.
Guess blogging works because it’s of mutual benefit to both parties involved. As a writer, you get to receive a link from a trusted source pointing back to your domain. And, as the host, your quid pro quo is with the quality content you receive for site traffic, leads, and social media shares.
Getting someone to guest author on your blog is one thing, finding a good writer to do the same is another.
But instead of sitting there idly waiting for your “write for us” page to attract a guest blogger, what incentives can you give to get them flocking in with submissions?
Here are a few ideas of the kind of incentives you can use to entice potential guest bloggers into submitting an article on your blog.
Backlinks
Some authors would love to contribute content to your blog for the same reason you’d want to guest author for another blog, backlinks.
At a time when every blogger you know is busy hunting for backlinks, you’d be surprised by the sheer number of active guest authors willing to contribute to your blog in the hope of receiving backlinks from you and nothing else.
This isn’t too much to ask, provided the author delivers an awesome piece of content, not just a lazy spin of crap mass-shot to a dozen of other blogs out there. Depending on your preference and experience, there’s no harm in awarding a guest blogger who goes out of their way to deliver quality content with one or two keyword-rich links.
It’s however important that you exercise extra caution while at it so as NOT to attract spammers. The links you get should also be modishly and naturally placed, and NOT done as if they were specifically targeting search engines.
It’s also important that you check out the site your guest blogger wants you to link back to. Find out if it’s quality enough to be associated with you. Be sure to carry this exercise before giving them the green light to submit their posts.
Lastly, don’t make the mistake of sleeping on your standards and linking policies. Writers must be well aware from the word go that you have rules that if violated, leads to a definite NO or rejection from your end.
Personal Branding and Credits
Guest authors get exposure, followed by a thorough marketing of their guest posts.
Interested authors are invited to submit their bio. You can start by creating an attractive author box with an option to upload a profile photo and write your own short description.
For Singapore Web owners running their blogs on WordPress, a simple trick would be to put one of the many multi-author plugins into good use. Strapped for choices?
Look no further than Author Exposed, a simplistic, clutter-free plugin that can be customiSed to exactly match your site design. Readers can be able to read author info and everything else with a simple click of a button.
The only limitation is that the plugin is JavaScript-driven and is therefore NOT very much search-engine friendly. If you’re also concerned about your writers’ ranking in SERPs, you might want to factor that in while selecting the plugin.
Cool Author Box is another plugin to consider. With this, you can allow your authors to post their name, a short bio, their website’s name and a link leading to their blog just in case your readers become interested in reading more of their content.
Nice Words of Appreciation
You can start by introducing your author with a few words of appreciation. Talk about your relationship with the author. How you came to find out about them and why you think their contribution is of great value to your readers.
It’s also crucial that you shoot them an email, thanking them for taking their time to come up with a really nice piece of content and making it clear that they’re free to drop another article should they get the time.
Also remember to make it known that you really enjoyed reading the article and that you’ll be sharing it around just to get as many people as you possibly can to read it.
How to Express your Appreciation:
- Leave a comment behind, detailing how helpful the author’s post really is. Talk about the things you liked about it and, if possible, expound on a few things the author mentioned.
- Make a tweet of the post, crediting the author and including a link to the post. All you have to do is come up with something positive to say about the post, and then tag the author followed by the link of the post.
- Share the post on Facebook and remember to tag the author while at it so that their readers can as well read it from their timeline.
Money Incentives
There’s no better way to grab the attention of great writers than paying them for their work. This is NOT necessary, as there already a good number of bloggers that will be willing to do it for free, but if your business is making you money, then why NOT split the lot with some of the talented writers you have on board.
Help writers earn more by buying one or two posts a month for as little as $20.
The money you pay should serve as motivation for great content. Writers know they’ll be paid should they submit an awesome copy, so instead of scribbling a few words down and calling it a day, they’ll be pulling an all out to produce a brilliant piece of content you wont have second thoughts forking over your hard-earned cash for.
It’s a wrap
Establishing a solid team of guest authors isn’t something you achieve in a day or two. If anything, it takes a great of time to attract a good writer, and when you finally succeed in netting one, you want to get them to submit even more guest articles for your readers.
For web owners in Singapore still stranded on how to go about this whole idea of guest blogging, why not contact MediaOne today for some advice on how to get it done within minimal strain on your part?
