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Guest Blogging Question

by Gary M.
16 replies
When guest blogging, does the article have to be unique? Is it usually not okay to publish the article submitted to a good blog on my own site and in article directories?
#blogging #guest #question
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Gary M. View Post

    When guest blogging, does the article have to be unique?
    Whoever owns the website which is publishing material gets to make up the rules, just as you do on your site, I do on mine, and so on. So the answer to this question, in any individual case, is for the blog-owner to decide.

    Originally Posted by Gary M. View Post

    Is it usually not okay to publish the article submitted to a good blog on my own site and in article directories?
    I've done quite a lot of guest blogging without ever being asked for or offering "previously unpublished content".

    All the guest blog posts I've ever done have previously been published on one of my own sites (I'm not giving away initial indexation-rights: I need those for myself, collectively, as we all do.)

    Most of them haven't yet been published in any article directories, though. (Article directories - specifically EZA, in my case - are always the very last places I submit my work, after getting it published as widely as possible elsewhere).

    Most people will disagree with all of this, I think: I remember the last time this question came up, by the time I posted, the thread was already full of posts from others saying "Yes, guest blog posts have to be unique". That perspective made very little sense to me then, as indeed it does now. Still, at least I got in first, this time.

    I should perhaps mention that many of the people for whom I've done "guest posts" were people who've syndicated one or more of my articles from an article directory (which has often been how I've "met" them) and therefore already known - like countless others - to accept content originally published elsewhere.

    Since I posted this reply, I see you've added a "poll", Gary ... but there's an apparent slight mismatch between the question asked in your poll and what you ask in your post: one relates to the publisher's perspective and the other to the author's. So I'll add that if I were publishing a "guest post" on one of my blogs, it would make no difference to me - in principle - whether it had previously been published elsewhere.
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    • Profile picture of the author Amitywill
      When I allow guest posts on my websites I'm looking for
      good content that hasn't been posted anywhere else.

      If the content is good but has already been posted all over the
      internet then most of the time I don't want it.

      I want exclusive, good quality content and that's it.

      Will
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    • Profile picture of the author andrewm
      Alexia,

      Do you distribute your articles via of an auto responder to your publishers? Or do you send individual emails to each one.

      In other words, if you contact a publisher do you ask them to opt-in to your autoresponder so they can receive new article notification?

      Andrew


      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      Whoever owns the website which is publishing material gets to make up the rules, just as you do on your site, I do on mine, and so on. So the answer to this question, in any individual case, is for the blog-owner to decide.



      I've done quite a lot of guest blogging without ever being asked for or offering "previously unpublished content".

      All the guest blog posts I've ever done have previously been published on one of my own sites (I'm not giving away initial indexation-rights: I need those for myself, collectively, as we all do.)

      Most of them haven't yet been published in any article directories, though. (Article directories - specifically EZA, in my case - are always the very last places I submit my work, after getting it published as widely as possible elsewhere).

      Most people will disagree with all of this, I think: I remember the last time this question came up, by the time I posted, the thread was already full of posts from others saying "Yes, guest blog posts have to be unique". That perspective made very little sense to me then, as indeed it does now. Still, at least I got in first, this time.

      I should perhaps mention that many of the people for whom I've done "guest posts" were people who've syndicated one or more of my articles from an article directory (which has often been how I've "met" them) and therefore already known - like countless others - to accept content originally published elsewhere.

      Since I posted this reply, I see you've added a "poll", Gary ... but there's an apparent slight mismatch between the question asked in your poll and what you ask in your post: one relates to the publisher's perspective and the other to the author's. So I'll add that if I were publishing a "guest post" on one of my blogs, it would make no difference to me - in principle - whether it had previously been published elsewhere.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by andrewm View Post

        Alexia,

        Do you distribute your articles via of an auto responder to your publishers?
        No, I wouldn't dream of asking a publisher to "opt in" to anything. I want my relationship with them to feel as "individual" as possible to them. Article marketing is a relationship-building business.

        Originally Posted by andrewm View Post

        Or do you send individual emails to each one.
        In principle, yes. There are some niches in which I'll send an article out to several at once using "the bcc trick", when I know none of them minds if I do that, and it's a formality that they're probably going to publish it anyway. It depends who they are.

        When I've been doing this for as long as Paul ("myob") has, one way or another I'm going to need a different answer to it from the one I have now, I think.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheZafraGroup
    It depends on the rules of the blog owner. As for the ones I guest blog for, they are pretty strict with your post to be on their site only. If you decide to post it elsewhere, some may remove the links that go back to your site and will remove your short bio. It's pretty important to know the rules first. The blog owners usually have a page for that. If not, they will give you the details.
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Originally Posted by Gary M. View Post

    When guest blogging, does the article have to be unique? Is it usually not okay to publish the article submitted to a good blog on my own site and in article directories?
    Gary, you have two different questions here, at least it appears that way to me.

    Does a guest post/article have to be unique? No. But given the choice between one that is all over the Internet and one less-widely exposed, I'll take the one less widely exposed if all else is relatively equal.

    As for the second question, that varies by blog owner. Maybe it's a double standard, but I have no qualms about publishing an article that has already been published elsewhere, while I have a negative reaction to a guest post submitted as original (not previously published) and later spread far and wide. That might not seem rational, but it is what it is.

    If you establish beforehand that you will be republishing your content, and I still accept it, that's a different story...
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  • Profile picture of the author AmandaT
    I prefer unique content, though if it hasn't been widely published I may accept it, provided they add something to it, maybe some extra insight for my readers.

    I've accepted guest posts that have been posted on a few places, but not something that has been plastered everywhere for backlinks. I like to provide a good experience for my users which includes blog posts they haven't already read elsewhere.
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  • Profile picture of the author Skywriter
    I definitely prefer guest posts on my blog to be unique. I might consider one that isn't if I was particularly impressed with it and felt it was right for my readership, but I do this very, very seldom.
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    Check out my homepage at www.mywritingblog.com!

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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Meaney
    If the article is published elsewhere I won't take it.

    I used to, but not anymore.
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    • Profile picture of the author Lance K
      Give me unique content with exclusivity for 90 days.
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      "You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want."
      ~ Zig Ziglar
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Lance K View Post

        Give me unique content with exclusivity for 90 days.
        I will if you pay enough, perhaps ... otherwise, please don't take it the wrong way, but it obviously makes far more sense for me to give it instead to 10 other people none of whom asks for or expects it to be unique: you can appreciate that it isn't a very difficult decision for me? If you (I don't mean you personally, obviously: I don't even know what your niches are) really have many thousands of very highly targeted readers/visitors/subscribers in my niche, whom I simply can't reach any other way, that might be a different matter, I admit - but it hasn't happened yet, that I know of.
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        • Profile picture of the author Lance K
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          I will if you pay enough, perhaps ... otherwise, please don't take it the wrong way, but it obviously makes far more sense for me to give it instead to 10 other people none of whom asks for or expects it to be unique: you can appreciate that it isn't a very difficult decision for me? If you (I don't mean you personally, obviously: I don't even know what your niches are) really have many thousands of very highly targeted readers/visitors/subscribers in my niche, whom I simply can't reach any other way, that might be a different matter, I admit - but it hasn't happened yet, that I know of.
          Completely understand. My comment was geared toward the people I don't have a relationship with that ask to be guest contributors. I completely respect the "you must be crazy, no thanks" response, just as I completely respect those who attempt to build a mutually beneficial relationship prior to asking to be a guest contributor. As with most things, the answer largely depends on who is asking.
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          "You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want."
          ~ Zig Ziglar
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  • Profile picture of the author johnben1444
    Just like Mis Smith first said, the blog owner makes the rule.

    On the other side, if your content is HOT and haven't been published all over the internet for back link purpose then i will be ok for me.

    However, the Panda update changed things, most guest bloggers now prefer Copyscape Passed content, this allows them to kill two or more birds with one stone.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
    Banned
    It's a case by case basis for me. If I was looking, the article needs to be great to be published, and amazing to be syndicated.

    I'd be open to non-original work though. My traffic strategy depends on syndicated work, why not return the favor?
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  • Profile picture of the author honestim
    Hey Gary,

    These are my thoughts and I am certainly not an authority on the subject. To answer this I thought to myself what value does it add to the blog owner if his guest blogger posted an article that can be found on many other sites on the web. I personally cannot think of any, therefore I do not see the reason why a blog owner should accept an article without exclusivity. So if I was the blog owner I would want exclusivity to the article, would not even let you have it on your own website. But having said that I would not claim that it is written by me and give you all the due credit in your bio and links back to your website or business.

    Cheers
    HonestIM
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by honestim View Post

      I thought to myself what value does it add to the blog owner if his guest blogger posted an article that can be found on many other sites on the web. I personally cannot think of any
      Please excuse a dissenting voice, but I really do find that very, very hard to believe.

      Why/how on Earth would the value of a subject-specific article to your subject-specific readers somehow be changed by the fact that it happens previously to have been published somewhere else?!
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