How to Invite Guest Bloggers to Create Content on Your Website

When you run a small business, your blog is so much more than simply a way to share your thoughts with the world. A well-crafted blog is an integral part of a strong content marketing strategy.

You know the importance of posting on your own blog, and maybe you’ve even branched out to guest posting on other websites. But did you know that inviting guest bloggers to write for your site has incredible benefits, too?

Here’s a closer look at some of the ways guest bloggers can benefit your site — and how you can find and start working with them.

Why Your Blog Needs a Steady Flow of New Content

When they first start their blogs, plenty of business owners are eager to post daily or almost daily. But as the day-to-day grind of running your business continues, you may find it harder to set aside the time to write and publish quality content.

However, if you want to build your business and get more clients, maintaining a steady flow of blog posts is essential. It matters for a few key reasons:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

When you think of SEO, the first thing that comes to mind might be carefully placed keywords. And that’s certainly part of it. But did you know that search engines don’t just look at each individual piece of content?

Search engines reward websites that are regularly updated with relevant, fresh information. This means that a blog that is consistently updated will show up higher on the search engine results page (SERP). Higher rankings mean you’re likely to get more clicks, and that’s always a good thing.

Building Authority in Your Niche

It takes a lot to build authority in any niche. Of course, having well-written and helpful articles matters. So does having quality backlinks — links on other websites that lead back to your site.

However, if a visitor comes to your blog and sees that you haven’t posted anything in months, that authority diminishes. If you want to maintain the authority you’ve worked so hard to build, posting consistently is vital.

How Guest Contributors Can Help

Some business owners like to write all their blog posts themselves. Others prefer to work with content agencies or individual writers. Both are solid strategies, but if your blog needs a little boost, you might consider trying something new: inviting a guest blogger to contribute.

Why ask someone else to write an article for your site? When you choose the right guest blogger, you’ll be able to reap more benefits than you might think. For instance, guest bloggers can:

• Write engaging content on relevant topics you don’t know much about
• Promote the content they write, which means promoting your blog too
• Offer you an opportunity to write for their site as well
• Provide you with more visitors, potentially giving you more regular readers
• Help you lighten your content-writing burden by effectively outsourcing blog posts

Connecting with a guest blogger in a similar niche also opens up future guest posting or collaborative opportunities.

Inviting and Working with Guest Bloggers: A Step-by-Step Guide

If you’ve never worked with a guest contributor or written a guest post yourself, you might not know how to begin the process. There’s a little bit of a learning curve, but it’s fairly straightforward.

1. Identify Potential Guest Contributors

The first step is to find people who would make great guest contributors. You want to ask someone whose expertise is closely related to the design field. However, you don’t want to ask a direct competitor — the last thing you want to do is promote another interior designer on your company’s blog.

So how do you find a potential contributor? You could start by looking at vendors or products you work with. For example, a wallpaper company might carry products you regularly use in your designs. In that case, you could ask the company’s founder to write a piece on how wallpaper can pull a room together.

This type of post is a great example of what a guest post should be. Your blog’s readers come to your site for interior design insights. Even though the post described above isn’t written by a designer, it still provides valuable insights for anyone with an interest in design.

The founder of the wallpaper company will also probably share their guest post on social media. If someone has recently purchased wallpaper and wants to design a room around it, they might learn about your services that way.

It’s a good idea to choose at least a handful of potential contributors you’d like to work with — visual artists, furniture-makers, and other people in fields adjacent to interior design are all great choices.

It’s possible that some of the people you reach out to may not get back to you. But if multiple prospects agree to write guest posts, you’ll be able to fill up your content calendar easily.

2. Invite Them via Email or Social Media

Once you’ve chosen your prospects, the next step is to invite them to create content on your website. Personalization is critically important here. Depending on each prospect’s existing authority within their niche, they might receive more requests for guest posts than they can handle.

To maximize your chances of a reply (and an eventual guest post), make sure you personalize your requests. If your request stands out by being tailored to the recipient and clearly explaining the benefits of guest posting, your potential guest poster is much more likely to notice and reply. Here are a few guidelines for writing a winning invite:

Flatter the Blogger

Everyone loves a good compliment. If you’ve chosen someone as a potential guest contributor, tell them why. Striking a balance is necessary here; you want to be a little flattering but avoid going overboard. The latter might make you seem insincere.

Be specific and brief. What is it you like about the blogger? Do they have an amazing blog with great user engagement? Is their social media content unique in the best way? Do they write beautifully? Taking a little time to include a compliment at the beginning of your email makes it more likely that your future contributor will keep reading.

Explain the Benefits

Why should this blogger write for you and not someone else? In your initial invite, briefly outline how writing for you can benefit the blogger.

Guest blogging is a great way to promote yourself, so bloggers want to ensure that writing for you is worth their time. For instance, if you have a high search engine results page (SERP) ranking, the blogger will get a quality backlink. If you have a large number of followers or site visitors, the blogger’s work is more likely to grow their own audience.

What if you’re just starting out and don’t have impressive metrics yet? If you offer reasonable pay for a post, a blogger might still be willing to write a guest post for your site.

Outline Expectations

Be clear about the topic, the length and style of the post you want, and how much you’re willing to pay. Your potential guest blogger will quickly be able to tell you whether this is a project they can take on, so you don’t have to worry about wasting your time or theirs.

Drafting your first few invites might be challenging. It’s difficult to determine exactly what you want to say and how you want to say it. Once you have some practice, though, writing these invites becomes a lot easier.

3. Create Guidelines and Expectations

In your initial invite email, it’s a good idea to briefly summarize what you’re looking for. If you have a topic in mind, check whether that’s something the contributor is interested in writing about.

However, it’s also worth seeing whether potential contributors have their own topic ideas. After all, part of the appeal of working with guest bloggers is getting blog posts from slightly different perspectives.

If you have a website style guide or a particular format you prefer guest posts to follow, make sure to send these references over as well. It can be very helpful for would-be contributors to have a list of guidelines and expectations for guest posts. Even a basic list can save both you and the guest blogger plenty of time on any revisions.

4. Gather All Relevant Contact Info for Your Guest Poster

It’s easy to forget this part. However, when the guest post goes live on your blog, you’ll want to make sure you have all your guest blogger’s info ready to go. It’s best to ask them directly what kind of social media or contact info they’d like to have posted. Do they have a website they want you to link to? Would they rather have their email listed? What about their social media handles?

5. Make Sure You’re on the Same Page

Early on in the process, you should ensure that you and the guest blogger agree on the rules of engagement. Will you have an opportunity to write a guest post for their blog? Will they be writing a one-off article or a series? Open and thorough communication is key.

6. Post and Promote the New Content

So you’ve received the guest post, gone through any revisions, and taken the time to format it nicely. Now, it’s time for the exciting part: posting it on your blog.

However, you’ll need to do more than just hit the post button. Make sure to also promote your work on your social media channels, and don’t forget to attach your guest blogger’s name and bio.

7. Monitor Comments and Feedback

An active, engaged audience is one of the best things a blogger could ask for. Just as you’d do with one of your regular blog posts, make sure to monitor reader feedback and comments.

Replying to comments and encouraging positive dialogue is a great way to drive engagement. If you wish, you can welcome and encourage your guest poster to engage with the audience in the comments as well.

8. Share Your Success and Celebrate!

If all goes well, you’ll probably see an uptick in site visitors, an increase in your number of followers, and other positive statistics. Don’t just keep those numbers to yourself, though. Share your success with your contributor, too.

Want More Tips for Building Your Online Presence?

When it comes to interior design, you’re a master of your craft. But if you’re like most other designers, you aren’t completely confident when it comes to content marketing.

That’s where Behind the Design comes in. We’re an online community dedicated to supporting interior designers. We offer training, helpful guides, and the kind of camaraderie that’s difficult to find after college. If you’re ready to take your design business to the next level, join us today.

As an interior designer, you know how important it is to generate leads and build a strong online presence. But let's face it: marketing can be overwhelming and time-consuming.

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