The community blog: your new source of low-cost, high-quality content

Original: https://twosided.io/p/the-community-blog-your-new-source

Content has always been a big game at MentorCruise. Even earlier on, we had certain blog pieces that alone would surpass the rest of traffic of the website.

Plus – they were and are a huge SEO boost. We actively saw other landing pages being pushed up when linked to from our blog, up to the point where many of them rank highly on Google now and make up our #1 traffic source.

So yes, content has always been something I liked as a growth source. When it comes to writing however, I much prefer the free style of this Substack, rather than trying to hit the SEO checklist items.

And so, once MentorCruise started making enough money, I hired writers. First on the freelance market, then using agencies, until I landed with Julian at Embarque.io, where I found a great fit and high-quality writing at scale.

But – the more content the better, and content is expensive. For 5 high-quality blog posts including the SEO research I’m paying about $1,000 (and that’s a great price!).

So, enter the newest addition to MentorCruise: the community blog.

When you think about it, the concept is great and incredibly aligned: Your suppliers need exposure, that’s your incentive as a marketplace. You increase exposure by giving your best suppliers higher rankings, giving them special statuses and benefits – and now in exchange for content, they will be featured on your blog!

Guest posting has always been a thing at MentorCruise, but having a real “community blog“ where people can submit their blog posts in a self-serve manner opens up more folks to the idea.

In fact, just a week after launching this, we received 8 guest posts and published 4 (all that work would be well worth over $1,000).

So, the idea of a community blog for suppliers is a win-win. Especially compared to other marketplace alternatives, like paying for exposure, content often has a lot more value for your business long-term than a $8 exposure boost.

As added value, if you are running an expert-based marketplace, these posts also provide huge value in sending more recognition to your experts and making them more desirable.

Win-win!