Why are You Getting Guest Post Requests?
With the SEO game changing as of late, ethical SEO companies and website owners are working to get valid links back to their websites by guest posting on other websites in their niche. This can be great for you and for them: they get a link to their site and you get content on your site. Even if you’re already blogging a lot, you can NEVER have enough links and content! 
Should I Accept Guest Posts on My Site? Is It Safe?
While guest posts can be great for your site, there are pitfalls to avoid.
After all, you’re most likely considering putting content on your website written by someone you don’t know. Most website owners should carefully consider the content published on their site. Therapists should be even MORE CAREFUL!
Guest posting can be a win-win situation, but only if you go about it in the right way.
Here are ten steps to follow to ensure that both you and your guest poster are happy with the results:
10 Steps to Accepting a Guest Post Request the Right Way:
- Study the guest poster’s website: As soon as you are contacted by a potential guest poster, go visit their website. Do you like what you see? Is the writing quality good? Do your views mesh with theirs, in general? They are writing for your site in exchange for a link back to theirs, so make sure you’ll feel good about sending your visitors to their site. If you have reservations, Just Say No!
- Ask them to study your website: You want them to write to your audience. They should become familiar with your site so their piece fits in.
- Agree on a topic ahead of time: If you like what you see on the guest poster’s website, ask them to write a unique piece for your site and give them a topic. If you don’t know what you want, ask them to suggest several topics. You want to ensure that the new content fits in with your website and even enriches it in some way.
- Be specific about length: Most guest posters will be willing to write a 500-700 word guest post to get a link back to their site. Make sure you agree on the length. You don’t want a 100 word post that says nothing. You also don’t want them write the next War and Peace.
- Be specific about the links you will give them: Agree to give them one link back to their website, in the bio section of the post (see item 6). You don’t want your readers to feel they’re being marketed to in a blog post. Tell your guest poster you want them to provide value in the post itself, and then they can list their link in their bio at the bottom of the post.
- Ask them to include a 1-2 sentence bio with a small headshot and a link back to their site.
- Reserve the right to edit the post: You are the publisher of your own website, and therefore you need the freedom to make the editorial changes you see fit. If you make any substantial changes, give the guest poster the courtesy of reviewing and approving the changes before the post is published.
- If you accept their blog post, ask them to submit a photo with it: Content always looks better with a photo. You need to reserve the right to deny the photo, however, if you don’t think it fits with your site. Also, I suggest you purchase the photo yourself so you know it’s royalty free.
- Accept the post with the agreement that it won’t be published elsewhere: You should only accept their blog post if they are willing to agree that they will not publish it on any other website, including their own. Unique content will keep you from getting penalized by the search engines for duplicate content.
- Ask them to notify their readers and friends when the post goes live. This will ensure that you get exposure to an audience that should be similar to yours.
Put it in writing!
It’s a good idea to have all these terms written out in your email to your guest poster, as your conditions for publication of their post. Ask them to reply to that email with their agreement. That way, both of you know what is expected and what has been agreed to.
Becky