The Do’s and Don’ts of Guest Blogging

An effective online content marketing strategy incorporates several methods for attracting website visitors via fresh, relevant content that includes guest blogs. While guest bloggers provide entrepreneurs with a number of benefits, they can also hurt a small business in one of the worst possible ways. Here are some dos and don’ts of guest blogging for small businesses.

The Pros

First, guest bloggers bring their followers to your website, ultimately increasing your traffic, and maybe even your sales. Once they read the guest blog, the newcomers to your small business website most likely peruse a few other pages to learn more about you and your small business. Second, guest bloggers take some of the content writing load off your busy shoulders. Finally, guest bloggers offer new ideas on how to enhance small business operations.

Guest Bloggers No One Likes

But all it takes is one guest to ruin a perfectly planned dinner party and the same principle applies to the world of blogging. The surest way to turn off your hard earned website audience is to associate your small business with a blogger who not only insults via the written blog word, but also takes the insults a step further by attacking your potential customers in the comment section. Insulting guest bloggers presents a negative image that entrepreneurs should always avoid. You want engaging bloggers who introduce fresh ideas that help your website visitors solve a problem or mitigate difficult issues.
Your website visitors also do not like the incompetent guest blogger that writes about topics outside of his or her expertise. The information conveyed in the guest blog inaccurately describes how to do something, such as cleaning a drain or serving a bottle of wine. Once your website visitors realize the information is not helpful, they flock to other websites to find real and relevant answers to their questions. You lose credibility when you have a guest blogger present erroneous information.
Another type of guest blogger that no one likes writes about topics that have no connection to your small business. For example, entrepreneurs who own and operate restaurants do not want guest blogging to be about the pros and cons of sky diving. Your website visitors want information that pertains to your business and not useless information that wastes a few minutes of their time. Many guest bloggers unsuccessfully try to incorporate humor into pieces that require straight face approaches to writing. Your website visitors do not come to your website for a stand up routine.

Offer Open Lines of Communication

All in all, entrepreneurs and small business owners should be monitoring their content marketing strategies, including the content being posted to a blog or website on a daily basis. But we all know this can’t always happen. Try to associate your small business with experienced, reputable guest bloggers and established, professional writers that have good track records to avoid a content disaster.
However, if the worst of the worst does happen, having a toll free vanity number handy for customers as well as website visitors could help open the lines of communication and diffuse any disappointed or angry customers.