Here I share some of my experiences as a guest post publisher
Guest blogging seems to be the number one strategy for promoting a website or blog. There are some very good reasons for this. Here’s a few…
- It is usually free to guest blog. Just costs you time.
- The links from your bio can gain you a burst of traffic if it is published on a popular blog.
- The links also give SEO benefits. Matt Cutts from Google has gone on record as saying that Google accepts the SEO benefits from guest articles. They just don’t like it when people get into tactics such as spinning and mass posting.
- If you post on a blog that is in your niche, you can attract some of their readers to become your readers.
When done right, guest blogging alone can change a blog from a barren desert into a thriving rainforest. I now accept guest posts here on Affiliate Help. With this experience I can tell you the thought processes I go through when deciding whether to accept or reject a post. This can help you to improve your chances of getting accepted.
Read ALL the guest post page
I find it a little insulting when someone cannot be bothered to read what my requirements are. Why should I be bothered to read their article? I have had people send me a 500 word article, when I clearly state that I require a minimum of 800. Then I have emailed them to say their article was not accepted and sent them a link asking them to read my requirements. What happens? They send another 500 word article! They are simply wasting my time and theirs. It only takes a few minutes to read the requirements and it can avoid a lot of wasted time.
Don’t play games
Do everything straight and upfront and allow me to trust you. If I don’t trust you then I won’t want to publish your guest post. An untrustworthy person may for example change the website that you link to and make it into a porn site, or publish the article elsewhere causing duplicate content issues. I value my blog, and don’t want to risk it by associating it with people who I think are untrustworthy.
I recently had one person who sent me a 500 word article and I rejected it. Then a “collegue” of hers emailed me a few weeks later to say she was ill, and sent the same article. I’m not stupid!
Don’t be lazy
Recently I received a pitch which I approved. I was a bit tentative as I had already rejected an article for him for being too short and badly written. So predictably I received another short and badly written article a few hours later. He asked me to review it so I was honest and said that it needs far more detail. I gave him a few examples of what he can expand on. He did exactly my suggestions, and no more, then asked me to review it again. I said it was better, but that it still needed far more detail, and another 300 words. We exchange quite a few emails, and he never got the article to a decent enough standard. After that I haven’t heard from him again. I honestly think I could have written a far better article than he did with all the time I spent reviewing and emailing him. Think about it from my perspective. I don’t mind pitches and reviewing, but you should also make the effort. Don’t try and make me do all the work.
Stick to the rules
Very recently I received this email…
Hello,
Thanks for addressing your requirement. You will find the content in the below attachment for your http://www.affiliatehelp.info/ site but it is not 800 words which is your requirement because we won’t stretch the content unnecessarily, if you will read the content you will get to know the feel of the content. I hope by considering this as a exceptional case you will allow it to go live.
Will be oblige if you will share the live url after posting.
Waiting for your quick reply.
This was from a person who has already sent me at least one other 500 word article which I have rejected. What reason is there for me to make this an exceptional case? I reminds me of a bunch of children crowding around one child who has sweets, all saying “Just give me a sweet”.
If the writing was exceptional then maybe I would have made it an exceptional case. The article was not up standard so why would I? In a previous email I said to him that I noticed that he wasn’t a speaker of English as his first language. I said I would help amend his grammar to a point. How many favours does one person want? If I was writing in a second language and wanted my post accepted, I would go well over the minimum word limit in order to make up for it.
It’s like he’s trying to grind me down by repeatedly sending me short articles until I finally relent. Not gonna happen. Just stick to the the requirements or don’t bother. If you can’t or won’t write an 800 word article, then why not just send your 500 word article somewhere that does accept them? There are loads of places that accept guest posts.
Don’t be demanding
This kinda overlaps with the previous one. I’ve had people write to me saying that they will send me a high quality 500 word article and just want 2 links in exchange. No, no, no! My rules, my blog! I state that I allow one link for an 800 word post. Now I don’t mind some negotiating, but it shouldn’t be take, take, take. They could for example ask me if they could send me a 1,200 word article and add 2 links in it. That seems a lot more reasonable than just demanding everything their way.
Also be polite in your emails. I don’t want my ass kissing, but I do like being civil and being civil back. I remember one person sending me a poor article telling me to let them know immediately the time when it will be published. It’s not “when”, it is “if”. This demanding use of language is not going to convince me to publish a poor quality post. If anything it will put me off more. When I send a guest post I usually thank them for taking time to consider my guest post.
Check this real example I received on what not to write…
Hello,
As per your permission i have sent you one relevant content on the said topic but just wondering after seeing no reply from your end. My ask is have you got my mail with the content, please share your acceptance conformation. If possible please share the live url after posting.
Waiting for your super quick reply.
(I received this only one day after receiving their article.)
Write quality content
This one is obvious – well it should be but it appears not. Put some time into your posts. The quality of your post reflects the quality of your business. Plus you end up spending more time than you saved pitching the article all over the internet, getting rejected. Spend some time on your article and get it posted to the top blogs. It is better to have one article on a top blog than it is 10 on poor quality blogs. Taking your time and writing your best content is actually far more time efficient when it comes to getting great results.
Also look at the standard of the guest posts that are already on a site, and ask yourself honestly if you can match that. If you can’t then go to a site where you can match the standard. There is no point wasting yours and there time with your content that is not a match for that site.
Final thoughts
Guest posting is a great way to get eyes on your blog or website. Don’t be tempted to cut corners. You end up wasting your own time, and other peoples’. Also give some consideration to the people who publish guest posts. They weren’t put on this earth solely for your convenience. Think in terms of providing each other with a benefit, not trying to take as much as you can and giving as little as you can. This doesn’t make you popular, and what does this say about your character and your business? Write as good material as you can. Think about the people who are going to read it. Give some value and blog owners will publish it, and readers will come flocking to your site for more.
Similar Posts:
- I Am Now Accepting Affiliate Marketing Guest Posts!
- Should You Accept Guest Blog Posts?
- Places That Accept Guest Posts
- Methods To Sell Affiliate Products
- Article Marketing Vs Guest Blogging
Jon Rhodes
I am a clinical hypnotherapist, musician, author, and internet marketer. Please stay in touch and sign up here for my newsletter.
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12 Responses to How To Get A Guest Post Published
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As a full time editor by day (as well as blogger by night) my biggest pet peeve is people who clearly have no idea about our publication. Even worse? The PR people who get in touch saying things like “Oh, I don’t know anything about you … never read you … would love to run some ideas past you and get your feedback!” Way to shoot yourself in the foot. Make an effort and do a little research if you don’t want your pitch ignored.
Yes agreed, at least spend 2 minutes on the blog and act like you know it well!
Great set of tips. Being courteous is indeed very important for this endeavor. Careful study of post history is the key to determine some other unrevealed specifications for approval.
Good tips. Guest posting is so important these days, and you have to provide your highest quality writing, or it’s not going to work.
Very true Matt. Many people they can palm off their lower quality content, but that’s what all these new people will judge them on.
Hi John, Thanks for submitting this article to my blog ‘s carnival event of Feb 2, 2013. You can check it under the “blog carnival” tab.
Stay in touch.
Just had a look. Thanks for accepting my post Susan!
Jon, a good read here – always good to see the way other people see guest posting and the experience they have with the people who submit posts to them.
I have mixed feelings about sticking to the rules because sometimes I come across websites that just have crazy guidelines – even to the extent that their own guidelines are going to hurt their site for example – being rather immature about linking out to relevant resources.
The other problem I see a lot is that some sites just throw too much into the guest post guidelines – but maybe that’s a good thing and can keep some of the riff raff away?
I think the worst part of your example (at least to me) was the flat out refusal to follow your guidelines .. if someone sends me a post and it isn’t what I’m looking for I’ll tell them, I don’t mind that and on a personal level when I’ve done guest blogging I always invite the site owner to let me know of any changes – I’m happy to do it and if I don’t then I’ll have wasted my time writing the article.
Not being demanding – that’s a big one for me and I chuckled at your example because I’ve had some similar emails too .. I do think follow ups can play an important part of scalable outreach .. but it needs to be done right.
People can’t be blasting follow ups out after a day and expecting a positive response. We’re only human though, and sometimes emails slip past us and we forget and other things happen .. I’ve been in situations where if I hadn’t of sent a follow up my post wouldn’t have been published so it’s worth doing at the right time.
Hi Adam, thanks for your comments. It’s just down to both parties respecting the other, and not just trying to be difficult and uncooperative. I will bend my rules a little, especially if someone deserves it. I just REALLY don’t like it when someone obviously doesn’t put any effort into their guest posts, yet act like I owe them something.
Guest blogging is a nice mutually benefical relationship when done right. The blog owner gets some content written for them that saves them time and offers a different perspective. The writer gets some recognition and a link to their site. However the writer won’t get much recognition if they write low quality content, and it won’t benefit the blog. This then doesn’t help either party. So for it to work for everyone involved, the content must be of a decent quality.
I love this post. I haven’t done any guest posting yet, but I hope to do it in the future. This is a great primer on guest posting and I’m sure it will help a lot when I do my first guest post!
Hi Nick. I’ve just had a look at your blog and it will definitely benefit from some guest blogging to get the visitors in. It is the best free wya to get your blog on the map. Also, if you don’t mind me saying, it would be a good idea to get rid of those ads in the left and right sidebars for a while. You won’t make hardly any cash right now, and they can put people off linking to, bookmarking, shaing etc. When you get more traffic, then it is worth having the ads.
Nice article Jon! Honestly, this is the first time I visited your site and I’ve already found some useful stuffs here.
Getting guest post published on the related authority site is not a easy task. You’ve to stick to the rules as you mentioned in the post. Another thing I could suggest is that if you’re not native English writer then you can outsource article writing job. In most cases writer will edit the article until the article completes with the requested demand.
Thanks again,
Anup