How To Create Content That Engages and Drive Traffic As a Guest Blogger!

{This is a continuation of our series on guest blogging strategies that was halted because of the unpleasant occurrence that led to this blog being down for over a week. Now, that we are back it's proper that we continue with it and bring it to a conclusion! 🙂 }

Let me quickly refresh our minds by saying that so far we have covered:

1. The Secret to Getting Hordes of Endless Free Traffic as a Guest Blogger! – Here I talked about the need for a strategy built on a defined purpose if you want your guest blogging venture to pay the right dividend!

2. The Essential Element that Will Lead to Woeful Failure as a Guest Blogger! – In this article I mentioned that focusing only on your desired goal in your guest posts will only lead to failure since “every guest post you’ll ever write is not about you but about your target audience.”

and then,

3. How to Guarantee a Continuous Flow of Traffic with Your Guest Posts! – This post showcased one secret that empowered some of my guest posts enabling them to stay afresh as they have continued to pump free organic traffic to my blog 3 years after they were published.

Now, if you have not read any of these posts, I encourage you to do so. They will not only help you better understand the flow of this series but you'll definitely gain a whole lot of knowledge from them!

Inculcating the 3 Most Vital Elements of Good Content in Your Guest Posts

In this article my focus is the actual writing of your guest post – what you need to craft a guest post that will both engage your readers and drive targeted traffic to your offerings. Let me quickly say that you don't need a degree before you can write good valuable guest posts.

However, like every other content marketing tactic, writing a guest post goes beyond putting your thoughts into words. Your guest posts should be able to capture the attention of your readers and pique their interest.

It will interest you to know that there are actually 3 vital elements of good content that will help you do this. These are compelling content, focused content and refined content. Once these elements are in your guest post your dream of driving the right traffic will definitely be fulfilled! Compelling content is what will hook the reader’s interest and guide them to do your bidding.

As a blogger I know one of the things you do every day is creating content for your blog. But that not minding, a little more effort must go into your guest posts if they are to accomplish your purpose.

Here’s how you can inculcate the 3 vital elements of good content in your guest posts:

1. Write To Interest Your Readers

Whatever the topic you are handling, create your post to pique the interest of your readers. You should understand that people like to read “light” stuff most of the time. When people log on to the internet, they are not only looking for information – they are also looking for information they can obtain easily and in a relaxed manner. So, to attract more visitors with your guest posts, it is very important to add a human touch to your articles. Use humor by adding funny comments in your articles where suitable.

2. Write To Entertain, Educate And Excite

There have always been arguments on how long or short an article should be. Many argue long posts are boring and will never be read. However, it bears down to knowing your target audience. If you have taken the time to study the host’s blog articles (we mentioned this earlier ) you will know the direction to take.

Nevertheless, no matter the length of your guest post, you can actually make it a hit if you can find a way to entertain, educate and excite your readers with it. The powerful way to ensure that your reader stay glued to your article is to, use your guest post to anticipate and answer all of his questions and overcome all objections that pertain to your subject matter. Of course you don’t need to throw in everything you can think of under the sun. You only need to include as much information as you need to excite your reader.

3. Write To Be Scanned

Your use of the space available to you is very important. You want your post to look inviting and refreshing to the eyes. In short, you want your prospect to stop whatever he’s doing and read your guest post to the end.

However, if there are no breaks in the text, no white space, and no subheads; if he sees a page of nothing but densely-packed words, do you think he’ll be tempted to read it through?

Not likely.

But if you do have ample white space, short sentences, short paragraphs, subheads, and an italicized or underlined word here and there for emphasis, it will certainly look more inviting to read.

Here’s something worth noting:

When reading your guest post, some will start at the beginning and read word for word. Others will scan through your, noticing the title and the various subheads strategically positioned throughout the post. This will help them decide whether to read the entire thing. And, some may never read the entire post.

You must write for every one of these prospective readers. Write interesting and compelling long copy for the studious reader, and short paragraphs and sentences, with enough white space and subheads for the skimmer.

4. Write To Get Attention

On the internet attention span is a fraction of a minute. As a result of information overload people will only be ready to take a second look at your articles if only they perceive there is something for them in that article.

But how can they perceive that value?

90% of the time, it’s through your TITLES!

It is a confirmed fact that five times as many people read the title than the body of your post and so making the first impression with your titles is important. One way you can do this is to write the title as an ad for the post. Use the title to promise a benefit plus some news. This is because people won’t stop their busy lives to read your guest post unless you give them a good reason to do so.

5. Write To Have A Conversation

Your readers want to connect with you. They want to be treated as humans. They don’t want speeches. And so, stimulate a conversation using your guest post. Write the post as if you’re having a conversation with a personal friend. This will make your reader take you more as a friend rather than a person of higher authority simply to be listened to!

Besides, you should understand that people connect more easily with people they like, people they empathize with. So let your personality shine through in your guest post as this could spark some curiosity in your readers and naturally they would want to know as much about you as the information you’re offering them.

6. Write To Tell And Not To Sell

It is unfortunate that many guest bloggers misunderstand the promotional and marketing value of guest blogging. Yes, guest blogging is a content marketing tool. However, one sure way to kill the effectiveness of that tool is to write your guest post purely with monetary value in mind.

Instead of focusing on the immediate financial gains of your guest post, write to leave behind content that transforms. Content that speaks to your readers. Content permeate the deepest cellars in their hearts. Let your content fill them with a vision and prompt them to action.

Instead of using your guest post as a medium of selling use it as a medium to help your readers. Provide helpful expert tips.  Use your knowledge to create the content that specifically answers a pressing issue.

Freely give of your expertise, knowledge and skills in your guest post. As you do this more of your readers will readily click on your links to receive more from you. Of course they would reason that if you can offer so much free information in your guest post then you definitely have more to offer on your own site!

Guest Blogging Takeaway: Guest blogging like every other form of here will readily build your online visibility and improve your brand loyalty. However, you need first of all to provide high-quality, relevant, and valuable information to your target readers and prospective customers.

Implement the above essential elements of good content in your guest posts and you'll be able to attract, engage and acquire the right traffic that will achieve your objectives.

So, what you do think of this post? As usual I’d love to connect with you in the comments. So share your views with us in your comments.