Posted by admin at 25 December , 2011
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kpwerkerGuest blogging is a big deal in the blogosphere and it's proven an incredibly effective method of attracting attention to your site and the site your guesting on. It's important for bloggers to have open lines of communication and stay active in the community in order to remain relevant to readers. Survey companies, like Survey Head, do very similar things that allow you to take the pulse of the readers and better understand what people are interested in. It's just as important to understand that guest blogging can have downsides. If you're thinking about taking this approach to revive your blog first you should understand the cons of guest blogging.
You can break this down in to three simple categories: the blog owner, the guest blogger, and the reader. These three individuals are the primary parties that are positively or negatively affected.
Owner:
As far as the owner is concerned, having someone post on your own blog you have to be very careful. Knowing the mood and temperament of your following is essential in the selection process. You don't want to allow someone to post content on your blog that differs too greatly from your perspective. You don't want to create an environment of groupthink, but you also have to keep in mind that your readers follow your blog because they want to hear what you have to say. Plus, you have to make sure that a guest post has the same standards and quality that would stand up to your own original content. You obviously have the final say-so over what goes on your site, but you have to be rigorous in you reviews of the content before its posted because, if not, you'll risk loosing readers.
Guest:
There are more benefits it seems, for the guest blogger. Although the owner's responsibilities are somewhat lessened, their gain is quite minimal. The guest blogger is getting a lot of attention and free promotion and advertising. The downside comes when you're splitting your attention between several sources. If you're not updating your own site regularly and you're active on someone else's site, this could turn readers off. You have to keep both quality and regularity high on both fronts and this demand, at times, can prove far more costly than it's worth.
Reader:
For the reader, when viewing guest blogs they have the benefit of getting a fresh approach, but they are also the ones that will suffer the least but have the greatest impact. There's far too many sources of information on any one topic that, if a blogger strays from their approach, it's really easy for a reader to simply seek out a new source. You run the risk of losing readers either because the content isn't up to par or perhaps it's too good and a guest blogger will steal a reader.
It's best, if you are or thinking about hosting a guest blogger that you walk the fine line of content control. Blogs are a dime a dozen, and if you don't remain in control of your reputation and message, there's always someone else out there that will do it. Guest blogging can be incredibly beneficial, but it has to be undertaken with responsibility.
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