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Dealing with poor guest blog posts

Have you got some low quality guest posts for your blog? Hopefully you understand that quality content less often is better than frequent content that is not always very good.

Last week, I described some aspects of low quality blog posts so they are easier to spot even if you have little confidence in judging people’s writing abilities.

But what if you have accepted some poor guest blog posts or have a regular guest blogger who is providing low quality posts for you to use?

Your options as the blog host

The most important thing to remember is that it is your blog so only you can set the standard and make the rules.

  1. Reject the post
    If there is nothing good about the post, you don’t have much choice but to reject it. That could mean sending it back to the author with a ‘no thanks’ message or just deleting it from your blog or emails. It’s up to you if you give reasons or reject them from future consideration – having clear policies* can help you make and enforce such decisions.
  2. Request an amendment
    If the post has potential (for example, it has some great ideas but is poorly written or doesn’t explain ideas very well) it may be worth asking the author to change the post and resubmit it. If you request this, you will get better results if you make your expectations very clear.
  3. Edit the post
    Again, if the post has potential you could make some changes to the post yourself. This is simpler than asking for an amendment in that your standards will be met but there are other complications* – remember the guest blogger’s name is on the post. I believe this is perfectly acceptable if you are just correcting a typo or two but needs care for larger changes.
  4. Accept the post
    You obviously have this choice but it can damage your blog’s reputation so why risk it? If you feel you have to post it because of an agreement, make sure it is clear in your blog that it is a guest post (not the host owner or regular contributor) and adjust that agreement as soon as possible. If you have an ongoing or desirable relationship with the blogger this may seem tempting but it isn’t really doing him or her many favours either. Better for you both to let them know their posts are not at a suitable standard so they can learn from their mistakes.

How have you dealt with low quality guest posts you have received? What reactions did you receive?

 

* I’ll cover editing others’ posts and setting up your policies over the next few weeks.

Quality content for guest blog posts

Guest blogging can be a great tool for both the hosting blog and the guest writer, and helps generate more content in the blog community.

However, if the content of guest posts is only average, the benefits are reduced; if the guest posts are low quality they can actually do more harm than good.

I have seen a number of examples of poor guest posts lately and I end up frustrated with wasting my time reading them when I could have been reading some great posts elsewhere. Such posts on an otherwise good blog is even more frustrating.

As a host blogThe globe and people connected via computers and internet

Imagine if the first post I read on your blog was a low quality post by a guest blogger. I am busy so it is likely I won’t come back to your blog because I only want to read information that is useful and easy to grasp.

If I already trust and value your blog, I will be disappointed but will probably give  you another chance. However, I certainly won’t share that post on social media and am less likely to leave a (constructive or positive) comment.

Whatever the reason for accepting guest posts in your blog, you want the post to be an asset in your blog, with the ultimate aim of attracting more readers. If you add in low quality posts, you are failing your readers and therefore your blog.

As a guest bloggerFingers at a keyboard and mouse to share information

Would you accept a low quality post from someone else in your blog? No? Then it’s safe to assume that a low quality post is more likely to be rejected by any host blog you may approach.

Especially if you are approaching a high-ranking blog that probably has many would-be guest bloggers to choose from.

Even if your low quality post was accepted, is it going to work for you?

As a guest blogger, I want to showcase my skills and knowledge to a broader audience – it builds credibility for me and develops my SEO which hopefully leads to additional traffic for my site. If you read my guest post and like it, you may visit my blog; if you think my post is poor, you won’t click through or share it and may even ignore future links or recommendations to me.

Make the posts you offer to other blogs some of your best posts and you will get results – low quality posts need editing or deleting.

* Low quality may mean the actual content is poor or the writing is poor and therefore hard to read. Worse, it could be poorly written and offer no value in the content either.