How to Get Started Guest Posting

You likely already know that guestposting can pay you back in multiple ways. You get an increase in traffic, additional name recognition, and hopefully new readers. Perhaps you're excited about the possibility of guest posting but wonder how to get started. Luckily, it's not as difficult as you may think.

How to Find Blogs on Which to Guest Post

You'll have the best chance if you approach a blogger who clearly accepts guest posts. How do you know? The blog may have a tab that says, "Write for Us" or something like that. If you don't see that, check the about page. Finally, look to see if you see guest posts on the blog.

What if the blog doesn't seem to accept guest posts? All is not lost. If you're a regular reader of that particular blog and you often comment, chances are that the blogger is familiar with you or at least your name. You could e-mail the owner and ask if she would accept a guest post.

What Topics to Pitch?

When guest posting, make sure to write about something you know a great deal about and that is of interest to the blogger's readers. For instance, I love to have a freezer cooking session once a month. One blogger got a question from a reader asking about freezer cooking, and she asked readers to give their advice since she never did once a month cooking. I e-mailed the blogger and proposed a guest post about the ins and outs of freezer cooking. The post ended up being a two part post; it was useful to her readers, and I got the most traffic to my site that I had ever gotten.

Make sure not to propose topics that will just benefit you. Most importantly, make sure they benefit the blog owner's readers.

Finally, keep in mind that there are several blogs that pay their guest writers. Of course, don't expect this, but getting paid is a nice bonus that happens sometimes. However, even if you're not paid, guest posting for free can be well worth your effort.