Why You Should Have Rules of Acceptance for Your Guest Blog
Allowing guest blogs on your website is a great way to generate high-quality content, improve your site’s SEO and offer a fresh voice for your audience. It can relieve the pressure of always having to create new content, provide valuable backlinks to high-ranking sites and encourage new audiences to visit your site. Done well, guest blogging is a powerful marketing strategy.
However, guest blogging can backfire if not managed properly. Poorly curated content can harm your site, dilute your brand message and even damage your reputation. That’s why it’s crucial to have a clear guest blog strategy and a set of rules for acceptance that contributors can easily find and understand.
Why You Should Have Rules of Acceptance for Your Guest Blog
It’s important to always vet content submitted by third parties, even if they’ve contributed before and you trust them. Ensure the content is relevant to your site, aligns with your brand, is well-written, and doesn’t contain anything inflammatory or inaccurate that could harm your reputation.
Here are some key guidelines to include in your guest blog acceptance rules:
1. Insist on Original Content
Duplicated content can damage your search engine rankings and plagiarism is unfortunately common online. Your acceptance rules should clearly state that all guest blog content must be original. Let contributors know that their content will be checked using plagiarism detection tools like Copyscape to ensure it’s unique.
2. Are Images Copyrighted?
It’s easy to copy an image from the web and attach it to an article, but this can land you in hot water if you don’t have the proper rights to use it, especially on a commercial site. Guest bloggers should either own the images they use or provide proof that they have the appropriate licence to use them.
3. Include Links to High-Quality Sites
External links can boost the credibility of your content, but only if they lead to reputable sources. Make it clear that you only accept links to high-quality websites, such as mainstream news outlets or industry experts. Avoid linking to low-quality sites or blogs that could damage your site’s reputation.
4. Ensure High-Quality Writing
Guest blog content should be well-written, with correct grammar, spelling and factual accuracy. Your site might require a specific style of writing—perhaps shorter, punchy sentences or more detailed, technical jargon, depending on your industry. Make sure you communicate these style preferences to potential guest bloggers so they know what’s expected.
5. Avoid Controversial Content
Most business websites should avoid inflammatory or controversial content. Clearly state that your site won’t accept articles that include offensive, derogatory, racist or unlawful material. However, you can still encourage strong opinions and lively debates, as long as the content is well-written, respectful and factually sound.
6. Retain the Right to Edit or Refuse Content
Make it clear that you reserve the right to edit or refuse any guest blog submissions. Your website reflects your brand, and you should feel comfortable with every piece of content published. Establish this rule upfront so contributors understand that you maintain editorial control.
7. Make Guidelines Easy to Find
Ensure your guest blog rules are easy to find on your website. This will give contributors a clear understanding of what is expected before they submit content. Keep the language simple and make sure you cover all the essential points to encourage the submission of relevant, high-quality content.
Why You Should Have Rules of Acceptance for Your Guest Blog
Having a clear set of guest blog acceptance rules is important for ensuring that any content posted on your website aligns with your brand’s ethos and standards. This will help you maintain the quality of your blog and protect your reputation, while still benefiting from the added exposure, SEO improvements and audience growth that guest blogging can bring.
If you have any questions regarding guest blogging, would like to write an article for The Last Hurdle blog, or want us to contribute a guest article for your website, feel free to contact us via email at hello@thelasthurdle.co.uk. Just be sure to review our Rules of Acceptance for Guest Blogs first!
