Need Readers for your Travel Blog? Be a Guest Author!

If you’re a Travel Blogger with your own travel blog, you should not only take advantage of any invitation that you receive to submit a guest post to other travel blogs or travel related website, you should also be actively seeking such opportunities, and offering to write for other travel blogs as well.

I can hear bunches of you all asking the same question – “Why should I do that?”

Simple. It’s like any other type of networking – by writing for another travel blog you’re exposing yourself (in a good way, not that “scare-the-kids-and-get-carted-off-to-jail-in-handcuffs” kind of way) to that blog’s readers, thereby helping to grow your audience, and in the process, by promoting (on your travel blog) your Guest Post on the other travel blog, you’re letting your readers know about that site and helping them to grow their audience as well. It’s “win/win” for both of you.

A good quality Travel Blog should give guest authors – at the very least – a link back to the guest author’s travel blog as part of the article’s meta data (author info at the end of the post), and often they will allow additional author info such as a photo, biography, and social media links so that you can get new Twitter followers and/or Facebook friends and fans.

Tips for being a Good Guest Author
If you’ve been invited (or are offering) to submit a guest post, be sure to do the following:

• Do your homework – read some of the posts of the travel blog you’d like to write for to get a feel for what types and styles of articles they normally publish. If they have guidelines for submitting articles, read them;
• Ask if the blog owner has a specific topic in mind for your Guest Post, and offer a couple of topic suggestions in case they don’t or are just open to ideas;
• Ask how many words they would like, and if they’d like you to provide images as well (be sure the images are your own or are royalty-free);
• If you have a really good video to go with your post, offer it as well, but make sure that it’s been edited to look nice, isn’t too long, and any credits thank your hosting travel blog also;
• Understand that your blog host may do some light editing (usually only styles such as bolding and italicizing words and phrases, adding paragraph breaks, etc) but if they do wind up correcting things such as spelling and grammar, be grateful – if keeps you looking good!;
• Ask if you should provide a bIo, photo, and other social network links besides your own travel blog link to be included;

Tips for being a Good Guest Blog Host
If you’ve invited someone to submit a guest blog post to your travel blog, try to keep this advice in mind:

• If you have a specific story topic or perspective you’d like, say so. If not, be open to suggestions;
• Keep your readers in mind – what would interest them? Realize that sometimes it’s good to break outside of your normal realm;
• Try to keep your copyediting to a minimum – after all, every travel writer has their own “voice” and you don’t want to stifle that;
• DO make corrections if you find spelling or grammar errors – you want your guest authors to look good to your audience – but it’s nice to ask beforehand if your guest author minds such edits;
• Incentivize guest authors! Give them the ability to draw readers to their own travel blogs by displaying a link to their site in your post meta section, and if your WordPress Theme has an Author Template (author.php) use it to your Author’s advantage by including their photo, bio, and additional links. Want an example? Check out one of our Author pages by clicking on the Author name on any of our posts on this site (just below the date at the top of the post);

The Travel Blogger community is one of the strongest and most supportive out there, and a Guest Author relationship benefits both the Author and the hosting travel blog, so take advantage of it!

By the way, we have an open invitation to all experienced travel bloggers to write for our site – read this page on Guest Travel Blogging for more information.

~Trisha

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