The Pros and Cons of Guest Blogging

Erik Karey Aug 17th, 2007 27 Comments

Guest Cartoon As of late the practice of guest blogging has been booming. I’ve seen new guest bloggers on a number of different blogs that I regularly read and wanted to take a moment and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of guest blogging. First, for those not familiar with the term, what is guest blogging? Guest blogging is allowing another blogger to write an article on your blog in exchange for a link to the authors own blog at the beginning or end of the guest blog post. Is guest blogging a good thing? Let’s have a closer look:

Pros of Guest Blogging

Blog Owner – From a blog owner’s perspective guest blogging can be a great way to take a break from their blog while still keeping it ticking. By allowing other bloggers to write for them, they can go away for a few days and take a break, while their blog continues to have fresh content. All this in exchange for a link to the guest blogger’s blog? Sounds like a pretty nice deal to me.
Guest Blogger – Guest blogging also has its benefits for the guest blogger. By blogging on a different blog, hopefully one that is bigger and more popular than their own, they are increasing exposure to their own blog through the linkback while gaining exposure for their name. Additionally they also gain a link back to their own blog which can help SERPs rankings as well.
Readers – There are even some benefits to the readers through guest blogging. Guest bloggers are not the same as the blog owner and can bring new fresh perspectives on the topics related to the blog. This may be interesting to the reader and break up the monotony of a single blogger. Also the reader gets exposed to a new blogger which they may actually enjoy.

Cons of Guest Blogging

Blog Owner – As the owner of the blog you have to understand the cons of allowing guest blogging as well. You need to choose those guests wisely and be careful that their writing is up to the standards of your blog. You don’t want to sacrifice the quality of your blog just to get a few days off.
Guest Blogger – Although there are a lot of benefits for the actual guest blogger in terms of promotion and free advertising, the position has it’s cons. First, by guest blogging you are adding an additional article or more per day that you have to write. Second, you need to make sure that the articles you guest blog are high quality and represent you as best they can.
Readers – The readers may be the ones who can suffer the most from guest blogging. Many readers come to specific blogs to read the views and opinions of the blow owner, not Joe Schmoe of a 3 month old blog “icanmakemoneyonlinenow.info” Also, in some cases, the content produced by guest bloggers isn’t as good as the blog owner or even what you would find on the guest blogger’s own blog. Many guest bloggers save their best content for their own blog, which makes sense, but it a detriment to the reader.

Personal Experience
I myself have only guest blogged once over on Matt Huggin’s blog where I wrote “Network Your Way to Success”. I had a good time doing it and didn’t feel like I let anyone down with the article. I’ve considered getting a few guest bloggers to post here on occasion, but have yet to make a definitive decision on whether I should or not.

Now It’s Your Turn…
What are your thoughts on guest blogging? Have you ever guest blogged or had guest bloggers? Do you think it’s a good or bad thing? Leave a comment with your thoughts!

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27 Comments

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1

Carl Zetterlund August 17, 2007

Thanks for your insights. It’s good to hear from someone with more experience.

I’m just starting out and I’m really considering doing the guest post thing. I think the potential for new readers is huge for new people.

Now… just to write that one article…
2

Marc Eilbeck August 17, 2007

nice article erik some good points raised. I noticed you say ‘Joe Schmoe of a 3 month old blog’, how long would you consider a blog to be open for before they are established ?
3

Erik Karey August 17, 2007

Thanks guys!

@Marc - I guess there is real definitive answer to that question, it’s more of building a reputation. The example was just to say a generic blog. 3 months is generally the dropoff point for a lot of blogs, so personally I would say around 5-6 months and you *should* be established.
4

Marc Eilbeck August 17, 2007

not long for me then !
5

DayJobNuker August 17, 2007

HEY,
I was going to buy “icanmakemoneyonlinenow.info” and now you’ve ruined it for me.

Seriously, how do people with real jobs have time for guest blogging and their own blog?
6

Matt Jones August 17, 2007

I’m a big believer in guest blogging, but only when it is done in the very short-term. I.e. As you say many people visit a blog to read the authors opinions, but I have no problem reading the odd guest post here and there.

On blogs like performancing it’s a groupd blog anyway, so guest blogging there is perfect.
7

cooliojones August 17, 2007

I guest blogged on a couple of sites now, and it’s been a cool experience. But I believe your points were very valid. Good job.

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8

Joey Primiani August 19, 2007

Great article Erik! Keep up the good work.
9

shaun August 19, 2007

I had a guest blog over at my site and I had 0 comments for that post. It was a really good article but it didn’t spark the interest of any readers I guess. I normally get at least 2 comments but I haven’t had 0 comments in a while. I also guest blogged on a few other sites and my posts didn’t do too well for those bloggers either. I will continue to experiment with this though.
10

Best Omaha Sites August 19, 2007

Im not a big fan of quest blogging…I like to be in control of everything….im a control freak
11

Jo August 20, 2007

I have a post here on what I had experienced while guest-blogging.
12

Charles Lau August 22, 2007

guest blogging is cool. It helps everybody in all ways… Just choose your bloggers properly, that should settle it. And set to filter the blog posts accordingly so that you can have a nice little holiday… It is good to leverage.
13

Erik Karey August 23, 2007

I think it can be done right provided the guest blogger stays on topic and can provide a quality article. You just have to be careful about who you let blog for you.
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Michael from Pro Blog Design August 27, 2007

As a blogger, I’ve enjoyed writing a few guest posts (Just 3 so far). They’re a lot of fun because they let me talk about something I’m interested in, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be a topic that I would normally write about on my own blog.
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Word Hugger September 3, 2007

I don’t really agree with guest blogging. To me, it feels like it is just a reason for someone to talk about a subject so they can throw their site in the bottom and expect traffic.

I feel that posts by the blog owner about a given subject are better, because the readers know that it is YOUR opinion, which is what they are looking for. After all, they are reading YOUR blog. The only circumstance in which I find it absolutely acceptable to allow guest blogging, is when the blog owner is going on vacation, and a guest blogger can keep new posts rolling while the actual blog owner can’t. That is what ShoeMoney.com does.
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[...] Guest posting is another amazing method. With guest posting, not only will you be able to make new content, but you will also be able to get more traffic! Most guest blogs include something like “This was guest blogged by <name> at <your website>” before or after the body of the post. Just start emailing bloggers who are in your niche asking if you would like to guest blog on each others blogs. If you are really interested in guest blogging, I recommend you read Erik Karey’s Pros and Cons to Guest Blogging. [...]
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