The thing is that many of us started writing guest posts and tried to figure out the approach on our own. But it is always better if you have a clear direction for where you are headed.

Thanks for the article, it just makes sense.

I do think that for doing Guest Postings it’s also important to have some kind of clear Content Strategy that makes it possible to write Guest Posts and a Bio that is in alignment with such a Strategy. For example on my – Home Business Lifestyle – Blog I now already do have some kind of Strategy offering readers Tips & Tools for Blogging and doing Affiliate Marketing.

So I might be ready for looking for Target Blogs now,
Dailyblogtips? Mmmmm. need to think about that one…,
You also need to make time for it….,

@Jakk, great addition. And really, that advice goes for any blog post — but I agree with you that it’s especially crucial for guest posts.

I’ve seen too many people get their post rejected because it didn’t fit with the other blog. Always check if the site has guest posting guidelines before you start typing away.

On a totally different note, I am doing the reverse of this. I am encouraging guest writers on my blog, but I only prefer sites and topics that is relevant to my website though.

I agree entirely with everything you have said and you also have some great points but you missed something, and what you missed is this:

If you are guest posting on a website and providing claims or statistics, you need to always provide sources back to your research if at all possible in order to add credibility to any numbers, figures or quotes within your guest post.

The upsides to this are that it adds credibility to your writing and is also fair to any source which helped you write it.

Now this does not require external links within the main body of your guest post, you can see an example of what I do at the bottom of this comment below a fictional BIO as if my comment was a guest post.

Anyway, thanks for the write up :).

Author Bio: Jakk Ogden is a technology blogger and professional marketer. In his spare time you’ll find him tormenting his cats with any soft toy.

Source/s: Source 1, Source 2, Image Credit

If I’ve already posted articles on my site, is it appropriate to offer them to other sites as guest posts? Or is it assumed that guest posts will always be original content that I have not already posted?

Thanks for the help.

I have seen many fantastic guest posts, that have had a lot of thought(work) put into them.

On the other side of the coin, there are also a number of guest posts that should NOT have been submitted. They were not only riddled with spelling and grammar issues, but seemed to be all over the place, making it hard to get the full gist of the article.

You can add tags to your blog posts by selecting that corresponding word and clicking “link” button which looks like a hyperlink mark in the WordPress tabular box.

Ali, your post on first guest post is awesome like always with simple language 🙂 Thanks for the tips

I think the hardest part of guest blogging is finding the right blogs. You need to guest post on blogs that fit your target market but also find blogs that have good rankings and offer you the highest potential for bringing you quality traffic. So your advice to find a blog that is large, on-topic, and accepts guest posts is spot on.

Thanks,
Liz