Guest blogging today is an accepted way of saying – you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. In the vast world of the Internet where back links and SEO are important if you want to push your page rank up and divert more traffic to your website, you need to keep coming up with new ways to ensure that your blog retains its popularity and that your readers keep coming back for more. To do this, you need to keep your blog current and relevant with regular and timely posts.

But if you’re pressed for time, the best way to ensure that your blog has something new on it every few days is to invite or accept posts by guest authors who are experts in certain niches and/or who could bring a whiff of fresh air to your blog with their view of things.

There are both advantages and disadvantages to having guest authors on your blog.

On the plus side:

• You can take breaks from your blog if you have other pressing matters to attend to or if you’re not in the mood to write.
• You bring in new content and a different point of view for your readers to enjoy.
• You build valuable relationships with other bloggers.
• You can use their blog to post your articles with a link back to your blog, thus boosting your popularity and increasing your readership.

On the down side:

• The quality of the writing may not be to your standards – you may have to edit their language or tweak a few lines so that the post suits your blog.
• You may tend to get lazy and start neglecting your blog if you bring in many guest authors.
• Your regular readers may not like the guest posts as much as they do your writing.
• You have to worry about plagiarized content and spend time checking out the post before you put it up.
• Your guest bloggers may not meet your deadlines and schedules.

As you can see, there are times when the advantages of guest authors turn out to be disadvantages as well, like the fact that some readers may welcome them and others not so much. The key to making a success out of guest blogging is to find the right people to guest author your blog, ask them to make a few changes if the posts don’t exactly suit your blog, and continue or persist with them based on reader reactions and comments.

This article is contributed by Susan White, who regularly writes on the subject of Internet Service. She invites your questions, comments at her email address: susan.white33 (at) gmail.com

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