The Dos and Don’ts for Announcing You’re Looking for Guest Bloggers

There are plenty of articles out there that cover the dos and don’ts of guest blogging, how to craft the perfect pitch for your dream outlet, and the traffic benefits that guest bloggers can have on your website. But what about seeking out guest writers? What’s the best way to announce that your blog is open for guest bloggers and to entice them into submitting their original content? While the rules will vary depending on the type of blog you have and the content you’re looking for, if you’re planning on creating some specs to get started here are the dos and don’ts to keep in mind.

Do… Create clear guidelines for structure and tone.

What are you really looking for in a guest post? This is about so much more than writing an article for the sake of getting it published and backlinked on another website. Be clear upfront about the kind of content your audience enjoys reading about and how successful posts are structured, whether that means writing in a bullet format or taking a long-form approach. Additionally, share how the tone of the post should be conveyed. Should it be conversational or do you prefer a more serious approach? All of this matters when writing the final draft of the article so it’s important to establish these guidelines from the start.

Do… Be specific about submission format.

There are a few ways you can go about doing this. You can create a landing page that allows the potential guest writer to submit their article directly to the team from the page. Or, you can encourage guest posters to email you directly (through a generic submission email) with their post. Be sure to specify how you want the guest article to be included. Consider format first, including whether the post should be submitted as a Google Doc or Word Document, and then the method for sending it in. Some options can include submitting the guest post as a PDF attachment, via a Dropbox link, or copied and pasted directly into the email. Attachments in the last few years have turned into a dicey area where spam content can easily be submitted, so it’s important to follow the rules exactly.

Don’t… Ask for images to be included with submissions.

This is a controversial statement to make, but through personal experience I have found it is a better idea to source your own images. Create accounts with stock image sites like Getty Images or iStockPhoto or seek out free high quality photos from communities like Pixabay or Unsplash. It’s always better to err on the side of caution in this department, even if the writer claims that they have permission to use the image attached, and all of these sites have fantastic, credited images that can accompany any blog post regardless of its topic.

Do… Request more information about the author.

What makes this writer credible? You don’t need them to share with you their life’s story, but interested guest bloggers should submit a bit of background information in their bio or byline that states who they are, what they do, and what makes them a fit to blog with you. Bonus points for any guest writers that can also include links to their existing published content so you can get a feel for their writing style and areas of expertise.

Don’t… Guarantee an immediate response.

It’s entirely possible that you might not be able to get to the guest post the second it has been submitted, so make a note on your landing page or within your guidelines about what the follow-up process for post submissions might look like.

Don’t… Sell yourself.

If you would like to endlessly talk about how awesome your business is, you can create your own blog for those kinds of posts. When you’re posting on another blog, this is your opportunity to share your expertise and ideas. Be respectful and understanding about that.

Do… Cast a (fairly) wide net for your search.

Now that you know you’re looking for guest writers, you’ll want to share the news so as to bring in as many potential contributors as possible. Make the announcement via your social media handles, Facebook groups you’re a member of, your company newsletter, and even by sharing the news with trusted partners of your business or influential bloggers you already work alongside. Make sure that the writers you do get in touch with are the same ones you build a rapport with — and you might even be able to reciprocate by blogging with them as well later on!

First read here — > http://www.socialmediatoday.com/smt-influencer/dos-and-donts-announcing-youre-looking-guest-bloggers

7 Easy and Free Ways to Get More Traffic That You Should Be Using (But Aren’t)

We all want our content to reach more people, and to also live on, and keep bringing visitors to our site long after we’ve published it. Most brands do the basics, they publish a blog and cross-promote articles on social media. Some brands take it further, by publishing directly on social platforms like LinkedIn’s publishing platform or connecting their blog to Facebook Instant Articles. Companies who are serious about driving leads and winning customers online have adopted an inbound marketing strategy that drives traffic, captures leads, and moves those leads down their funnel using lead magnets and calls-to-action on their website, and blog.

We’ve found, however, that most companies aren’t using some of the best content promotion techniques available to them, even though they’re free. We think they’re so valuable, that we add these sites, tools, and strategies to the content strategy we create for all of our clients.

In this post, we’ll share seven easy and free ways to get more traffic.

1. Add Links to Social Bookmarking Sites

You should look to promote all your content on social bookmarking sites.

Bookmarking sites like Reddit and Digg, and StumbleUpon are used by many as one of their primary sources of news, information, and opinion. Adding links to these sites give you access to those audiences.

At the start of 2105, StumbleUpon was the fourth best traffic generating social networking site, behind Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. As you know, mileage will vary (we get 4-7% of our traffic from StumbleUpon alone).

t’s not 20%, but it’s not bad either, especially considering that social bookmarking sites are totally free.

2. Add Calls-to-Action to Links You Share

Tools like Snip.ly enable you to add calls-to-action to every link you share.

The ways these tools work is simple – you paste in a link and the tool shortens the link and displays a call-to-action anytime someone clicks it.

Link sharing CTAs are great for promoting lead magnets with every piece of content you share – be it your content, or curated material. They’re also great for promoting events and getting sign-ups.

Different tools have free and paid options which provide additional features, like custom branding, analytics, and promotion options.

We use Snip.ly, but there are many similar tools to choose from including:

Snip.ly
Replug
CliClap
Smol
Insighter
Backly
When reviewing the tools, be sure to check out how many clicks and conversions you get at each price point (or for free), and if the tools integrate with CRM and email automation software if you plan to use them to collect sign-ups.

3. Add Banner Calls-to-Action to Your Website

Simple website banner ads can be compelling and are usually easy to add to your website.
If you’re doing inbound marketing right, you should have calls-to-action on each page of your site related to the content on each page. Website banners stand out because they’re at the top of the page – they’re the first thing visitors see. They also stand out because they are consistent across your entire site, making them an omnipresent advertisement on all of your pages.

You can use website banners the same way as link based calls-to-action, but they can be particularly nice for driving sign-ups or your event.

GoAnimate has a good article where they compare the 6 Best, Free Banner Making Tools.

4. Use Pinned Posts on Social Media Networks

Pinned posts are a great way to promote content on your social channels. The great thing about pinning a post is that it stays at the top of your page’s feed until you unpin it. That means, whenever anyone visits your page or profile, it’s the first post they’ll see.
Dhariana Lozano wrote a great article on how to pin posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+. We recommend keeping your latest blog post, content offer, or event as a pinned post.

5. Make Your Social Media Page Banners Calls-to-Actions

Another way you can leverage your social media channels for some free promotion is to change the page banner of your social media profiles into a CTA graphic. This lets everyone know about your latest offer or event.

Facebook is especially well-suited to this because you can use their call-to-action buttons to link to the landing page related to what you’re advertising. All you need to do is design a banner that describes your offer and points to the button on your page.

Not all page banners are as well suited to this as Facebook, but you can usually find a way to utilize the banner to promote your latest offer or event.

If you’re using pinned posts, you can combine the two and have your banner point to the pinned post that has a better description, and a link to the relevant landing page.

6. Answer Questions on Social Q&A Sites

Another set of promotional sites which are worth looking into are social question and answer sites like Quora, Yahoo Answers.

How do you use a Q&A site to drive traffic? Simple, use the blog posts you’re already creating to answer questions posted on the site. Every time you publish a new post, search for related questions. Answer those questions and link back to the relevant blog post for additional information.
This can often be done in as little as 30 minutes after publishing a post, and from that point, the traffic will start streaming in.

Wishpond wrote an article about how they use Quora to generate traffic, and the numbers are startling.

7. Have Employees Share Content on Their Social Channels

One thing every marketer and business is trying to do on social media is get more reach. Employees can provide built in reach.

Encourage employees to share your latest articles, content offers, and news about upcoming events on their personal social channels. Employees are often eager to talk about the exciting things their company is doing, and this gives them the opportunity to do just that. Every employee that shares your content will be extending your reach to a new group people.

Brevard Seo Read this first here –>http://www.socialmediatoday.com/smt-influencer/7-easy-and-free-ways-get-more-traffic-you-should-be-using-arent