No – Guest Blogging Isn't Out

You’ve likely heard the rumor. Guest blogging is out; it’s dead. Reading that out loud is a little jarring, but don’t worry – it’s not true. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
What is out is republishing the same work in multiple places. What is out is generic keyword-rich blog posts that have nothing to do with the website, being posted by people just trying to get backlinks. What’s out is lame and boring articles and blogs that don’t put the audience first. What’s out is blanketing the web with short blog posts that are either identical or almost identical, and never following up.
If you really want to guest blog, this is how you do it.
* Know the Audience You’re Writing For – There is no point posting a blog post just anywhere, or writing it for an audience you don’t know about. Know the audience and write directly for that particular audience. They should know that they’re still on the blog they went to when reading your guest post. Try to match the style that the blogger uses to make your blog fit in.
* Write Only Original Blog Posts for That Particular Blog – Don’t regurgitate anything for a guest blog post. Write something new and original for that particular blog. The readers of that blog are used to a certain personality. While you want to be yourself, you should do things the way the owner of that blog wants them done.
* Publish a Blog Post Only Once – Don’t reuse the content elsewhere. It now belongs to that blog, forever. If you want to write about that topic again, of course you can, but you need to keep that blog unique to avoid duplicate content issues for you and the blog owner.
* Guest Blog Only Where Your Audience Reads – Don’t put guest blog posts anyplace just to get backlinks to your website. Put guest blog posts in places that your audience reads. Make sure there is a real reason for the guest blog post.
* Write Posts That Are Not Sales Pages – A guest blog post is not the place to pitch your offerings and make a sales page. It should be an informative, educational and engaging blog post that provides value to the reader and the blog owner.
* Promote the Blog Post – Once you’ve written it you must also promote it. You should inform your list, inform your blog about the post, and also promote it via social media as hard as you would anything else you have written.
* Answer Comments on the Blog Posts – When someone comments on your blog post, you should respond to them. The more you respond, the more the viewers will appreciate your post and you.
* Follow Up with the Owner of the Blog – Give it a week or two and then follow up with the blog owner to find out if they were satisfied with the results of the blog post. If they are satisfied, would they like you to contribute regularly? If not, why not, so that you can do better?
If you really want to guest blog, do it strategically. Find blogs that have a rating higher than or equal to yours, which cater to your audience but which are not direct competition to you. Offer the blog owner an opportunity to join your affiliate program, or make one, so that they can get credit for traffic sent by their blog from your post.