Guest blogging is all the craze in today’s digital landscape. It’s an incredibly popular choice among clients looking to reach new audiences and bring traffic to their sites, meaning there’s an abundance of opportunities for copywriters to channel their content creation skills and drive revenue.
If you’re a freelance copywriter thinking about venturing into the lucrative world of guest blogging, you must understand the benefits and drawbacks to determine whether it’s the right avenue for your business. Dive into this article, where we reveal the most significant pros and cons of guest blogging, to help you make an informed decision for your business.
What Is Guest Blogging?
Guest blogging is when a guest writer is hired by a brand to create one-off content for a third-party site. The intention of guest blogging is to drive traffic to the brand’s website, through backlinks.
The Pros of Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is an excellent opportunity for copywriters looking to branch out within the digital landscape and showcase their skills. Here are the top pros presented by guest blogging:
#1 Increased Exposure
Guest blogging gets your name out there, exposing your work to a diverse range of audiences. It empowers you to tap into existing niches on new platforms, while showcasing your skills and overall expertise, ultimately increasing your copywriting business’s exposure and helping you attract potential clients and discover new opportunities.
#2 Portfolio Enhancement
Guest blogging serves as an opportunity for portfolio enhancement. Because you’ll write for many unique brands and niches, you’ll be encouraged to adapt and improve your writing skills, including your tone, style, and language, ensuring it’s tailored to the preferences of different audiences — this translates to a diversified skill-set!
By showcasing your varied writing range on your portfolio, you’ll successfully demonstrate your professional capabilities and respective expertise which will undoubtedly attract new clients and elevate your job opportunities.
#3 Networking Opportunities
Guest blogging offers you new opportunities for industry networking. If you successfully ‘wow’ your clients, they’ll be more inclined to re-hire you for future content, and even recommend you to other brands! This will enhance your reputation as an esteemed copywriter and support the ongoing growth of your copywriting business.
The Cons of Guest Blogging
Although guest blogging presents several attractive advantages for copywriters, it has some drawbacks. By comparing the pros and cons of guest blogging, you’ll be able to determine whether it’s the right path for your career. Here are main cons to be aware of:
#1 Competition
Because so many brands are seeking guest writers, the copywriting industry is saturated with eager professionals advertising their services. While the high volume of competition might make it more tricky to attract clients, it’s not impossible!
You can make your copywriting business stand out by building a unique portfolio, forming strong client relationships, and tapping into niche categories.
#2 Lack of Content Ownership and Authorship
Because you’re creating one-off content on behalf of a brand, you don’t have ownership or control over content updates and modifications. You may also lack authorship of your guest-written work, as many brands will credit the content to their own brand or in some cases, another author — this is known as ghostwriting.
You can avoid these instances by clearly communicating that you want co-authorship or acknowledgement of any guest blogs you produce. You can also negotiate agreements of content ownership with clients before they book your services.
#3 Risk of Rejection
If a client isn’t satisfied with your work, it might get rejected, leading to frustration and wasted effort. However, this can easily be avoided by ensuring you thoroughly review client guidelines and briefs, research audiences, and apply best copywriting practices, such as proofreading, grammar and spelling editing, and so forth.
FAQs:
How Do I Find Clients for Guest Blogging?
You can find clients for guest blogging in many easy ways. You can let clients find you by creating a copywriter profile on freelance sites like Fiverr, Up Work, We Work Remotely, and LinkedIn Marketplace.
If you want to take a more direct approach, you can try connecting with potential clients through your professional social media profiles, such as your LinkedIn or Instagram business account.
Is Guest Blogging Easy?
Creating guest blogs for clients is certainly an easy way to increase the exposure of your copywriting business. However, to ensure your success as a guest writer its key to ensure your guest blogs align with your client’s needs and expectations.
Familiarising with your client’s brand, thoroughly reviewing client briefs, conducting audience research, and creating structured style guides and writing templates are all best practices for successful guest blogging.
