This is a short post about how to guest post — or, rather, what NOT to do if you want a guest post published on a blog. I wrote this initially on another blog but moved it here when I decided to consolidate.
Table of Contents
Intro: How to Guest Post (or Not to Guest Post)
Today, I answered ten inquiries about guest posting. I answered these with canned responses, for which I feel no guilt.
Some were just spam, but others were not and were submitted via the contact form on the website. None of these inquiries showed evidence of being aware of the blog’s subject or tone or having read the clearly posted writer’s guidelines on the site. If they had, I would not have been getting these emails at all.
So I felt inspired to write a rant but, instead, decided to turn it into something useful on the subject of how to guest post — or, rather, some simple things to do to improve your odds of getting a guest post published.
This actually applies to writing for offline publications as well. You might say, “But these are just common sense!” One would think so, but I can tell you that they’re not often followed. Would that change if the blog was a major website? I doubt it! I’d likely just get MORE of these emails.
Know the website’s content
Look through the website and know what topics they cover. If they post solely about bicycles, do not offer them a list of 10 article topics about household detergents or Ginsu knives!
Look for the writer’s guidelines, read them, and FOLLOW THEM
Many websites will have a FAQ section or a page specifically about posting on the website. If it says they do not accept guest posts, don’t bother them!
If they do accept guest posts, you will likely be able to find a section with writer’s guidelines. On many sites, this will be on its own page, often called something like, “write for us.” READ THAT PAGE.
The writer’s guidelines for a blog will tell you whether they want pitches, article lists, whether they pay for guest posts, whether they offer sponsored posts for payment, and what their policies are on “following” links.
If they say they “nofollow” links, don’t bother them by asking what they charge for a “dofollow” link. If they say they want a pitch emailed, email them a pitch. If they have an online form for submitting guest posts and want full posts submitted instead of a list of topics or an idea pitch, use their form and submit a full post. If this is not a blog but a magazine, their website will often tell you that they only want a query letter or that they want a full manuscript mailed to them in hardcopy — or something else.
The point here is to DO WHAT THEY ASK. Show that you’ve read their writer’s guidelines as well as their publication, and send that cycling website your gripping account of your cross-state ride and not your suggestions for the best automatic kitty litter box!
Write in good English (or in the primary language of the blog)
Learning a second language is a challenge, I know. Which is why I would never submit an article anywhere in French. If you’re submitted a post to an English-language blog and English is your second language (in which you’re not proficient), you may want to have someone who is proficient proofread your post and also make use of some of the many grammar suggestion tools (like Grammarly) we now have. They’re not always right, but they’re a help in most cases.
This also applies to guest post pitches.
If I receive an email like:
i am represent SEO company. I need guest post on this website (insert site here). Tell how much u charge 4 10 dofollow link insertion please.
I am going to take that as indicative of what your guest post might just be like.
Follow the blog’s general formatting structure for posts
In general, every SEO plugin you use will want you to write in headings because it’s good for SEO. It helps those search engine algorithms discern what the post is about.
I recall that, some time back, I followed a popular blogger on what was then Twitter, who started to complain about people submitting posts to her blogs without formatting them into headlines.
I made a comment that, while I understood that using headlines was beneficial for SEO, they often seemed clunky and were not always appropriate, depending on the types of content.
Another Twitter person added, “Yeah..they are clunky. A blog post is not literature.”
Where am I going with this? Look at the posts on the website in question. Are the posts mostly informational content that works well with headings? Use headings!
If the blog accepts essays or poems, you might not need (or want) to use headings. For this website, for instance, I would want most guest posts to have headings. But if someone wanted to submit an essay or poem? Not necessarily.
Do you like this post about how to guest post? You can read other posts about writing here. Want to actually submit a guest post on THIS site? We have a writer’s guidelines page and a FAQ page!