When our SEO team started our guest blogging initiative a couple months ago, I felt a bit like I was taking a step into the dark. We were confident that guest posting would help us to grow our blogs and give us good opportunities to reach a broader audience, but I was still a bit unsure as to what, exactly, I would be doing. And I certainly didn’t know what I needed to do to be successful.

But over the last several weeks, I’ve learned a lot about guest blogging. And when I saw that one of my guest posts was listed on the MyBlogGuest “35 Inspiring Guest Articles by MyBlogGuest Members” list, I realized I had come a long way. If you’re looking into guest blogging as a marketing possibility, here are a few things I’ve learned that might come in handy.

Be communicative.
Blog owners who accept guest posts spend a lot of time corresponding with guest authors, so do everything you can to make their job easier. Keep e-mails concise and send them promised materials before the deadline. If you have to ask a question, offer a possible solution to show you’ve thought things through before asking. Blog owners will appreciate how easy you are to work with and will be more likely to invite you to post in the future if you don’t add to their workload. If you want to be a successful guest blogger, be the solution to the blog owner’s problems, not the cause of them.

Choose great topics
If you’re writing for a well-established blog, chances are all the basic topics have already been covered. Before you contact a blog owner with ideas for your post, take time to read through recent posts to see what’s already been covered. Take a unique angle on a topic the audience will find interesting, then be sure to contact the blog owner before writing it. I’ve found that giving blog owners a short list of possible topics is generally appreciated and will give your post a better chance of being published.

Follow instructions carefully.
Every blog is different, and everyone will want their posts submitted differently. Some blog owners will ask you to include a bio while others will want nothing but the text. Some will want the file containing your guest post attached to an e-mail while others will want it included in the body of an e-mail or submitted through an online form. Be sure to pay close attention to the blog’s requirements and follow them closely. I recently wrote for a particularly picky blog, and I got an e-mail back shortly thereafter thanking me for following the instructions so well. In fact, they even invited me to write another post for them in the future. In short, put yourself in the blog owner’s shoes. When you’re choosing which posts to publish, you will be more likely to choose those that have provided everything you need in a timely way. So if you want to be a successful guest blogger, be the one who does it right.

Do your best work.
When you’re writing for your own blog, you can afford to let a less-than-ideal post sneak onto the screen once in a while. But when you’re guest posting, take your job seriously. Someone else is allowing you access to their hard-earned readers, so write a post that they will be proud to have on their blog. Give readers something interesting to think about and make sure your post is free of grammatical and spelling errors (even if you use a casual tone). This will set you apart from other guest bloggers and help you drive traffic to your blog or website as people come appreciate your valuable content.

Obviously, there is no secret to perfect guest blogging. For the most part, it takes a lot of trial and error to find exactly what works for you. But as is the case in any field, hard work, communication and excellent content will always be rewarded. As you venture into the world of guest blogging, I say, “Good luck!”