Help! I’m getting lots of traffic from guest blogging, now what?

So you decided you wanted to get your blog noticed. You responded to one or two guest blogging opportunities. You wrote kick-ass blog posts and you now have the scheduled dates that your guest posts will be live. Awesome! But now what? Are you prepared for a traffic spike?

What preparation? I already have a blog!

Well, guest blogging is like running an advertisement. You share your story with someone else’s audience and they come through to your blog to find out more about what you’re offering.

Usually, you get an influx of traffic coming through on day one, two, three and perhaps for a long, long time  — depending on the topics of your guest posts and their calls to action.

Knowing that you could be receiving additional traffic… what do you have to offer them on your blog?

I know that we don’t all blog as often as we should, but if you’re guest blogging, you should keep your blog fresh. Even if you choose to only publish to your own blog during the week that you’re guest blogging.

OK… but prepare my blog with what?

When people click through to your website, what do you want them to see?

An old post?

A grumpy or cranky post that could throw people off? Sometimes cranky is good, but think about whether you want to welcome new readers with a cranky post.

Or should you write your best story, ever… for a brand new audience?

Even a Wordless Wednesday post with some beautiful and interesting images isn’t a bad idea.

One of the things many bloggers forget about is what people get to see at the other end of the link they’re placing in their guest posts. If you ask me, it’s often a wasted opportunity and you could be sending people to what to them would seem like a dead end. Think about what could you prepare for your new visitors.

Here are a few ideas of some blog posts you could write and publish before your guest post goes live.

Blog posts you could prepare for targeted traffic

If you have more than one guest post in a week and you only blog once a week, then you could publish your blog post on the Sunday or Monday.

Solve a common problem

People are ALWAYS looking for tips and tricks to use to solve their problems. What can you offer as solutions to some of their problems? Think about the blog you’re guest posting on and the typical problem their audience could be facing. Remember, you’ll be having two sets of audiences — your readers and those coming from the guest post.  So write about something to help both audiences.

How to Hire a [someone who does what you do]

— great if you’re offering a service, e.g. How to Hire a Copywriter

That’s Not How You [something people be bad at]

— this style is good if you can use trending keywords, e.g. That’s Not How You Ask Someone to Be Your Valentine

Ditch That Ugly [something], [related verb] This Instead

— how to for anything else, e.g. Ditch That Ugly Jumper, Knit This Instead

Present a case study that ended badly or Hollywood style

People like stories about what worked, what didn’t and why. They also want to know about what happened behind the scenes. Again, thinking about your two audiences, find some stories you could share. If you’re blogging about your personal life and adventures, think about ‘cases’ you could share with others.

How We Helped [client] Improve Their [whatever]

—  e.g. How We Helped Our Favourite Restaurant Improve Their Menu

How Many [who] Does It Take to [what]?

—  e.g. How Many Men Does It Take to Drop a Piano?

[What] Helped [who] Raise [dollar amount]

—  e.g.  My Crappy Flyers Helped My Son Raise $500 For His School

Run a contest or sell something to your new visitors

Who else wants more people participating in their contests? I don’t really recommend sending readers directly to your giveaways, but I do recommend sending them to your blog when you’ve got an active giveaway.

Perhaps mention in your fresh blog post (on your own blog) that your visitors have the chance to win something while they’re there. If you have a product to sell or a PDF to give away, this is your chance to also put something on the sidebar or somewhere else where visitors can find them.

Examples could be:

• Stationery items or books for those visiting from a blog about poetry
• Makeup, accessories or clothes for those visiting from a fashion blog
• Recipe templates for other bloggers who are visiting from a food blog

Final thought…

As long as you’ve written a great guest post for a good blog, you can expect an influx in visits to yours. What you do to convert or inspire the new readers is critical. You have to be prepared to show new visitors your “stuff” and why they should come back whenever they see your posts on social media.

Spare some time to make an impression on your own blog and give new visitors an enjoyable experience while they’re there. Guest blogging is not just about getting traffic, it’s mostly about making them stick around and come back for more. To do so, you have to give them the good stuff.

Want more tips? Read my post on Essentials of guest blogging etiquette for small business and steal some tips from my 101 phrases to use in brand storytelling.

Do you have any guest blogging tips to share? Fire away! 

 

freedigitalphotos.net image by David Castillo Dominici