Some bloggers are tempted to save their best writing for their own blog. After all you want your blog to feature your most scintillating content, right?

Well… not exactly. If you are serious about guest blogging as a way to get traffic, your goal is to write posts for blogs that are far bigger than your own. That means your work will be read by many more people. What will entice those people over to your blog?

Stellar writing.

That’s why you actually want to put your best work out in your guest posts. You may spend twice as long to write your guest post as you do writing one for your own blog. And this post should be polished and edited to perfection. One typo can earn you a rejection from a big blogger who receives several guest post submissions per week.

Writing Like A Blogging Pro

Several components distinguish experienced bloggers from their amateur counterparts: content, organization, style and meticulous editing.

Content is still King

• Be sure you choose a winning topic that will engage your target blog’s readers. Revisit How To Brainstorm Guest Blog Topics to refresh your memory on what sorts of posts are winning formulas.

• Review the types of posts that regularly appear on the blog, and model yours after that style.

• It’s a blog post, not a dissertation. Stick with one topic and avoid trying to squeeze in everything you know on the topic.

• Good content will engage the readers’ emotions. Use powerful words and phrasing that appeal to universal longings. Provide valuable information that solves a problem for these readers.

• Leverage the element of surprise. Find a new twist on an old subject, and say something that will make your reader want to share.

• End with a compelling call to action – once again, think about engaging your readers on an emotional level. If your story is compelling enough, your readers will be inspired to do more than just surf to the next blog. Cheer them on, give them a challenge, show some passion.

Good Organization Streamlines The Process

• A blank page and a blinking cursor can be intimidating and demotivating. Use an outline system to get your thoughts onto that blank slate before you worry about crafting perfect sentences.

• Try writing out a simple list to get the ball rolling. Then you can go back and flesh out the details for each item.

• Start with the ‘hook’. This is the first paragraph that will reel the reader in. A good way to do this is by either describing the problem the reader is facing in detail, or describing the resulting pleasure once he or she implements the solutions you will offer.

• Another simple structure for outlining comes from Danny Iny of Write Like Freddy fame. Write a sentence or two for each of the following: headline, hook, problem, root of problem (why haven’t they solved it yet), solution, how to implement solution (steps etc.), engagement (a call for comments. perhaps), byline. Then go back and fill each in with a paragraph or two.

Style: Write for Online Readers

• Writing web copy is light years away from the typical academic writing most of us are trained in. Forget the instructions of your 8th grade English teacher and dive into the conversational style of writing that succeeds online. Readers like to feel like you’re talking to them. Grammar & punctuation matter less than tone and fomatting.

• Use super short paragraphs – no longer than 2-3 sentences for online reading. The first paragraph should be no more than two sentences.

• Use subheads and bolding to make important points stand out and to increase ‘scannability’. Get creative with your subheads. Good ones will make your reader curious. Use the same tactics to come up with subheads that you use when crafting a headline.

• Study the posts on your target blog and imitate the style and number of subheads.

Edit, Edit, then Edit Again

• First, edit for content, look for good transitions – sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph – draw the reader down the page.

• Cut the flab. Attention spans are short. Be stringent about getting rid of unnecessary words and repetitive phrasing. But keep in mind that word count is less important than value of content. Of course if the blog you are pitching averages 500 words per post, you don’t want to write a 1500 word post. Again match your post to the style – including length – of the blog you are guesting on.

• Spend time proofreading carefully. Don’t rely on spell-checker.

• Read your guest post out loud to catch missing words.

• Show your post to a friend if possible – it’s hard to catch typos in your own work.

It takes focused attention and some time to produce a stellar guest post that gets noticed. By paying careful attention to these steps, you’ll notice a marked improvement in your post and in your process.

Author: A-List Team