How ‘Not’ to Have a Successful a Guest Post
Posted on May 22, 2009 by Melvin
I have already seen many guides on making an effective guest posts so I thought I would create one that is quite completely the opposite. 
Anyways you might have seen me do guest articles on some blogs related to this niche. And to tell you honestly, guest post is really a great way to reach out to newer audience and types of people, interactive with them and hopefully have them following your blog. As I have been doing guest posts since last year I have learned a lot of stuffs about it and today I want to share you what are the things that you should do if you want to have your guest post suck big time:
- Crappy grammar – Well I have had some problems before with this because usually I just type what’s on my mind spontaneously so grammars had become one of my problems before. If you are no-english native, that doesn’t mean you should write posts with grammatical errors. But still if you like ‘Not” to have a successful guest post, then do your crappy article!
- Don’t comment/interact – While I don’t really respond to all comments, I try to interact as much as I can especially with guest posts. There is no worse thing than when a reader asks something on that certain post w/o getting a response from the guest blogger. Responding and interacting with them is like giving them another reason to subscribe and follow your blog. But anyway don’t respond back especially if you don’t want your author bio link to be clicked.
- Be boring - Every blogger has his one tone and by trying to pretend you are somebody is a big ‘YES’ if you want to have an unsuccessful guest post. If you speak like ‘chow’ then so be it! If not, readers would surely get bored with your ‘professional-like, pretending’ tone.
- Self-Promo Bio box – It’s not wrong to say that you are a ’10 year old blogger who has some experience in blogging’. But saying stuffs in bio box like ‘a guy who is making six figures a month and by purchasing my book you can learn how to’ is a big no no! The bio box plays a crucial role because it gives a short overview of who you really are and what value they can get from you in case they want to visit your blog. The box is not for bragging and self-promo but still if you think it can help you go ahead. Congrats, because you are destined to have no clickers for your link.
- Full of fluffs – I have to confess that during my early days of guest posting, I get a rate of 10% success in guest posting! 90% won’t even get passed the owners approval because of fluffs and some nonsense in the article. Remember blog owners expect articles that are even better than what they are writing, so they expect you to write ‘scholarly’. Put fluffs and prepare to be criticized!
- Direct them to your front page – Ok here’s an example. On normal days this blog gets 150-250 uniques a day. On days where my posts on some blogs are published, I get 250-350 uniques. A 100 increase isn’t that high eh? Yes it isn’t (or it is depending on who you are), but on normal days my blog gets 700-900 pageviews and on ‘guest posting’ days it gets over 1500-2000! Why? Simply because of the use of landing page. LP is simply a page where the visitors land. Here’s my landing page for instance. The page simply contains an explanation w/what your blog gives and what your best/helpful posts are. To be honest when reading a new blog for the first time using their LP, I usually subscribe after getting to read their best posts! It can increase conversions up to 50% depending on how you carve out your own.
Over the past years I think I have improved a lot in terms of making a guest post. Guest posts are really beneficial in such a way that it can simply bring you a lot. I know some of you have also your own ups and downs with guest posts so feel free to share your thoughts (or critique!).
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Discussion: 22 Comments
22 Responses... What Say You?
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Daily News About English : A few links about English - Thursday, 21 May 2009 21:25 - 22nd May, 09 05:05am
Best CSS Gallery
- 22nd May, 09 09:05am
Good tips presented in a very interesting way. Thanks for the post
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Charles @ Big Idea Blogger
- 23rd May, 09 03:05am
Wow your landing page tip is really good, I’ve never thought of it before, thanks Melvin!
Just a comment on point number 5, I feel it’s not really about writing better than the blog owner. You do not need to write as well as the blog owner, but rather write content that will add value to the blog readers and indirectly add value to his blog.
I don’t know whether I write as well as John Chow, but he accepted my guest post simply because he feels it will add value to his readers.
Anyway, thanks again for the landing page tip!
Charles @ Big Idea Blogger’s last blog post..Proven Money-Making Ideas – The Big Four Categories
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Melvin Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 12:56 pm
well that was my opinion… In guest posting, owners nevertheless expect superb content. And by saying superb, they don’t want to see the ‘crapiness’ that usually even themselves are showing.
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Simon | Teenius
- 23rd May, 09 11:05am
Cool post, Melvin
I’ve done a few guest posts on other blogs now (around 6 I think) and all of them went pretty well. I do agree with all the points you’ve made, but especially the bio box. You should basically try and write the post as if it’s your own blog, and you wouldn’t spam your own readers with that crap, so why do it on someone elses blog? The bio box is just for just that: a short biography… it’s not a space for advertising.
Simon | Teenius’s last blog post..Five Unconventional Ways To Market Your Blog
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Rahul
- 23rd May, 09 12:05pm
i feel bloggers who dont respond is biggest negatives of the blog. this is like sunken ship..
Rahul’s last blog post..Make Money With Crapy Content
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Harish
- 23rd May, 09 01:05pm
Your idea of the landing page is great melvin. And I love your present logo. Simply awesome. :> Better than the old one.
Harish’s last blog post..32 Things To Do For Bloggers
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Melvin Reply:
May 24th, 2009 at 12:32 am
thanks. actually i, myself is not sure if the logo would look better than the former one…
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LithiumMind
- 23rd May, 09 02:05pm
I have the same problem with grammar as well, that is why i proof read my post a couple of time before I publish it. Just wondering if you offer guest post on your blog?
LithiumMind’s last blog post..Revisiting The Basics Of Google Adsense
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Melvin Reply:
May 24th, 2009 at 12:31 am
LOLz, actually the days of me going to a long hiatus is coming closer and closer so the answer is yes!
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Tom - StandOutBlogger.com
- 24th May, 09 06:05am
I hate it when guest bloggers promote their blogs in the post. I mean the author bio is fine, but I hate it when they try to link to themselves a couple of times from the post as well.
Tom – StandOutBlogger.com’s last blog post..Your Twitter Questions Answered!
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Agent 001
- 24th May, 09 12:05pm
Nice article. Nice welcome page. I think I should build one too.
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agentmango
- 25th May, 09 04:05am
Nice and interesting post but why would someone choose to be a bad guest poster? hehe.
agentmango’s last blog post..Profile/Photo Deleted: Are you sure?
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catering supplies
- 25th May, 09 08:05am
Really interesting article.It is nice welcome page, but I had not think about it.
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Paul Ubiadas
- 25th May, 09 08:05am
that are a great tips.
Paul Ubiadas’s last blog post..Miscellaneos Ramblings
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bbrian017
- 25th May, 09 02:05pm
@agentmango maybe they don’t know if the blogger is poor at writing… but again maybe they should check their blog for writing style! I’m not sure but a decent question non the less!
Great read Melvin! I should use these tips to help build more attention to our guest blog at blog engage!
bbrian017’s last blog post..Thai-Eyes Thailand Lifestyle Blog
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Sarah
- 26th May, 09 08:05am
This is a very unique post. I have often read about how to be ‘great’ at something and now I get to read something opposite which is refreshing.
Sarah’s last blog post..How Do You Know Your Freelance Writing Career Is Expanding
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francis
- 26th May, 09 10:05am
A very informative post. thanks for sharing I’ll keep those things in mind in order to have a successful guest post.
francis’s last blog post..The World Ends With You NDS Review
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Jake / Webjourney
- 4th Jun, 09 09:06pm
Thanks for the ideas from a different perspective. I especially like the landing post idea. Hopefully, I will be able to implement it.
Jake / Webjourney’s last blog post..Google Friend Connect?
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elmot
- 10th Jun, 09 02:06am
hahha! nice post bro…when everyone posting about “how to make a good guest post” and stuffs, you made a post on this topic on a totally different perspective. nice!
elmot’s last blog post..Juggling Work, Thesis and Blogging This School Year
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infopediaonlinehere
- 8th Mar, 10 10:03pm
different perspective on guest posting
infopediaonlinehere´s last blog ..Google App Engine technologies, Google App Engine SDK, Google cloud computing google app engine
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Murlu
- 14th Jul, 10 12:07pm
Excellent suggestion with the landing page. Come to think of it, it would be silly to point to your home page because people won’t know where to start. If you can hit em with a sign up and best posts as you have on your blog it will easily translate to higher pageviews because so many people would be opening everything in new tabs.
Murlu´s last blog ..Write 10 Articles A Day- Market Yourself And Avoid Burn Out
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