3 tips for maximizing your guest blog’s impact

Example of guest post by Margaret Patterson–You can click on the photo to see the post.

What if you wrote a guest post and nobody realized you were the author? I’ve read guest contributions on blogs that hid their author’s identity so well, I thought the host was the author. If you follow my tips, this won’t happen to you.

1. Ask your host to insert your byline into the post.

When “By Jane Advisor” runs prominently near the top of the post, it’s easy to identify the author.

2. Provide a head shot photo to run with your guest post.

Some readers respond better to visual cues than words. A photo leaves no doubt that the blog host is not the author.

3. Ask your host to run a brief bio, including at least one link.

A bio is your one chance for overt promotion when you guest blog. Provide the bio to your host, rather than relying on him or her to write something suitable. Include at least one link in your bio. Good candidates: your website or your strongest social media page. Another possibility is to link to a landing page where you make a special offer to the readers of your guest post.

To see sample guest posts…

…click on some of the links in my “Guest bloggers: 2011 in review” post.

More on guest posts

Wondering how you can snare a guest post? Check out this link: Audiocast: How to Guest-Blog on Personal Finance or Investments.

 

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at freedigitalphotos.net.

2 replies
  1. Maria
    Maria says:

    Your tip made me remember that so often, the owner of the blog’s name is right under each title. That has the reader think that you’ve written all the posts.

    I just realize that on my new blog, it’s also my name (first name) that each of my blog posts include near the date. I’m going to see about removing my name. I think it’s important to give credit where credit is due. When someone guest blogs for me, I make sure they get a copyright notice, their name and a resource box with an active link at the end of the post.

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