5 Areas to Research Before Writing Guest Post

When writing a post for your own blog it’s straightforward. You know what type of people read your blog, you know what topics you’ve covered previously, and you can write in your normal style.
However, things are a little different when it comes to writing a guest post. You’re stepping into the unknown so it’s important to do some homework, with 5 areas to focus your research on before you start writing:

1) The Choice of Topic

For your own blog this is easy. You think of a topic, assess how well it links in with any previous articles you’ve written, before simply sitting down and writing the article.

With guest blogging there are more factors to consider. In particular always research what’s been covered previously - writing a similar article to a recent post is the biggest giveaway that you don’t follow the blog you’re writing for, and as a consequence is a sure-fire way to irritate the blog’s readers.

Have a look through the archives and try using the blog’s internal search to see what topics have been covered previously. If any related posts do come up keep these in mind… you may want to refer to them in your guest post.

2) The Target Audience

Who are the regular readers of the blog you’re guest posting on? Find out as much as you can about them:

What do they do?

What are their interests?

What are their goals?

What beliefs do they have?

Try to hit the key characteristics of your audience. Focus on their interests (i.e. choice of topic) and relate this to their goals, whether that’s developing a A-list blog, making money online, or some other goal.

The area of beliefs is particularly important. People inherently like to hear and read views which reinforce their beliefs. Anything which challenges these beliefs creates friction, which is why at times being a guest blogger can be a risky job.

If your readers are new bloggers attempting to grow their blogs, deriding their achievements such as reaching the 1,000 subscriber mark or hitting the front page of Digg for the first time is not likely to go down well, as one blogger found out the hard way.

3) The Right Tone

Every blogger has their own tone, their own unique style of writing. Some are more conversational whilst others are more formal. Some write with short, sharp sentences… others prefer longer fully-explained content. Some use humour, others steer clear of this.

When writing a guest post you want to develop a balance between your normal style and that of the blog you’re writing for. The best approach is to simply approach bloggers which have a similar writing style to you, although sometimes these opportunities aren’t always available.

In general, you’ll just want to stick to a reasonable match. If a blog’s posts are all conversational try to put that element into your post as well, whilst not varying too far from your natural style.

4) Formatting

If readers are used to reading content which is broken up with sub-headings, quotes and pictures, the last thing they want is to be hit by solid blocks of text from a guest blogger.
Similarly, if a blogger frequently writes bullet-point lists, highlights key lines, and links out to other articles you’ll probably want to do the same.

You want to start off on the right footing with your new audience - using similar formatting allows you to achieve this.

5) Length of Posts

Take a look through the blog you’re guest posting on and assess the usual length of blog posts. Aim for a similar number of words or perhaps a slightly longer post. Avoid writing a brief post - this will give your audience the impression that you’re there for a quick win… post, get the link and a few visitors, before returning to your blog.

Take Maki’s blog over at Dosh Dosh. If you were given the opportunity to guest blog for him you’d certainly want to write an very in-depth piece of content. Anything short or less than comprehensive probably wouldn’t be accepted, but if it was the reaction would almost certainly be negative.

Writing a similar number of words works in the same way to formatting - it allows you to stay aligned with the expectations of your audience. First impressions are just as important online as offline… getting these factors right gives your audience a good first impression of you.