In this post I am going to look at all aspects of guest blogging. Particularly what circumstances make it a good idea to be the guest on another writer’s blog or to host a guest on your own site.
Guest Blogging or Guest Posts
First I need to clarify a few things about guest posts.
- As a writer you can guest on another site and get paid for it. I did that here…
- You can guest on another site for free. Barefoot did that here…
- You can have another writer guest on your blog and you pay them. A few personal blogs I know of do this.
- You can have a writer guest on your blog for free. Marie has a free guest here…
Guests and hosts are often people who work within the same online community as you.
So you can see these are different to sponsored posts where a company pays you to host their article on your own site. Or pays you to write a post for them on your site. Sponsored content will include links that need to have the correct attributes. I will tackling the topic of Sponsored Posts here in the A to Z.
Let’s look at each of the above guest post examples in turn.
Guest on another bloggers site and be paid
Well obviously the incentive here is clear. But often the payment you receive will be minimal, particularly if the site is a personal one and not a business. However because you are seen as a guest and adding value to their site the owner will usually give you a normal link as well, which is positive.
Why guest on another blog for free when you have your own site?
Back at the start of 2019 I had been getting paid for my guest content for a while when I decided to write a free guest story for Cara Sutra. She had explained I wouldn’t be paid but that she would include a May More bio and normal links to my blog and twitter with the published story. I agreed to go ahead. Why? Well, her views were a lot higher than mine, in fact I still get visitors via her site today. But what really swung it for me was something called MOZRank.
What is MOZRank? And do I care?
Simply, it is based on how many normal links a website has from popular higher ranked sites. For example, Cara Sutra included a link to Sex Matters. Her site has a higher MOZ rank than mine. So that link went towards my own ranking getting higher. So, the more popular/higher Moz ranked sites that link back to your blog, the higher your MOZ gets. If a popular site is linking to you, google see this as validation.
Why does this matter? Well if you are not really trying to earn money on your blog or via the profile from your blog, then it doesn’t matter diddly squat. But I am. And had been told by a couple of companies they would not want to work with sites who had a rank lower than 2.9. The rank is from 0 to 10. It is very difficult to have a rank over 5. And once over 3 the numbers move slowly. At the time I wrote the free story for Cara my rank was 2.9. It has gone up to 3.6 since then. Not all companies are bothered by MOZ but some will ask what your rank is when they approach you to collaborate with them. I know it has helped me get some paid work. You can check your MOZ here…
Paying a guest to write a post for your site
As I said I know a few blogs who do this even if only for a short time. It may be that they are very busy with other things and can afford to pay a few quid for someone to write a post for them. I can’t afford to do this but can see the advantages of having quality content to publish when I am busy with other things. The nearest I have got to this is posting free toys to bloggers who have then written a guest sex toy review for my site.
Have a writer guest on your site for free
It may be that you know someone who does not have a blog and writes. By letting them guest on yours site you provide your readers with variety. Sometimes another blogger will ask to guest on your site and in return you guest on theirs. No money exchanges hands. But of course a bio and link is included to the guest.
Concluding Guest Blogging
A writer can get paid to guest blog or can host another writers post and pay them. However, usually guest posting is something that does not involve money. Guesting free for a higher ranked blog than your own can have a knock on effect in that your website rank may well benefit from the host including your bio and site url along side your guest post. And being a guest, or the host is fun!
If you have any questions ask away in the comments section below…
It’s good to have all kinds of guest post discussed in one place, and why it matters to do them. And of course you had me checking my Moz… 🙂
~ Marie xox
Your MOZ is great!
May xx
Such a clear post May. I will admit I have always felt baffled when I am approached by someone who wants to work with me. I never know what is a good idea and what isn’t and tend to ignore the requests unless it is from someone I know. Your post is helpful in sorting things out and I look forward to reading about sponsored posts too. Missy x