Guest posting is one of the most effective ways to build links, grow your brand and drive sales. I myself used to try to do five guest posts a week, and it did wonders for my business. It was actually our third biggest lead generation channel, right after SEO and pay-per-click.
It’s become such a mainstream method of marketing that bloggers are becoming inundated with guest posting requests, which is causing them to ignore the requests.
Since January 1st, I’ve received 931 requests for guest post submissions on quicksprout.com. Out of the 931 requests, do you know how many I’ve accepted? 0!
It’s because all of the pitches I get are either spammy or just terrible. Here’s an example of the type of emails I’m getting on a daily basis:
Dear Site Owner
I want to know do you offer guest posts on your website? Can you please tell me discounted price? http://www.quicksprout.com
I will provide you very high quality and 100% unique article. Looking for your reply.
Regards Ambrose
When I see emails like the one above, there is no way I’m going to accept the post. I will reject the post because the sender:
- Didn’t bother to fix grammatical errors.
- Didn’t personalize the email.
- Didn’t tell me what he was going to write on.
- Offered me money, which means I would be selling a link.
If you want to start leveraging guest posts as a marketing channel, you need to first avoid the four mistakes above and then follow the steps below:
Step #1: Do your homework
You should never approach a blogger with a guest post submission unless you’ve done your research. Sure, you could try the rapid-fire approach by just blasting out hundreds of guest posting requests, but no popular blog is going to accept you.
Here’s the type of homework you need to do before approaching any blogger:
- See if they accept guest posts – the obvious way to see if a blog accepts guest posts is to see if they’ve published any in the past. If they have, look for a web page that may outline their guest posting requirements.
- Read their blog – don’t just read their last few blog posts. Read at least ten of them. Look for patterns on what their readers like and don’t like as well as the type of content that performs well. You can easily do this by looking at social share counts…typically, the higher the number, the more successful the post was.
- Read comments – the best way to figure out what people like is by reading the comments on the blog. This will give you a quick understanding of what the readers respond to and what they are looking for.
- Analyze their writing style – from formatting look to writing style, analyze everything. This will help you determine how you need to write your guest post. For example, on Quick Sprout, I only accept guest posts that are written in a conversational style and contain an introduction, body and conclusion.
Now that you’ve done your homework, you are ready to write.
Step #2: Come up with a topic and write
You know what the blog owner likes and what the blog’s readers want, so write something that pleases both of them. If you can write an awesome piece of content, you’ll increase your odds of it getting accepted.
When I write a guest post, I, first and foremost, make sure that it contains an awesome headline. If your headline sucks, no one will want to read your content…no matter how good it is.
Jonathan Morrow from Copyblogger actually has a great tactic in figuring out if a headline is great. He goes to his local bar and pitches headline ideas to random groups of drunk people. If he can get them all excited and laughing about a headline, he knows he is onto something.
Once you have a headline, start writing. Make sure you write a really detailed post…something so great that they’ll not only accept it, but they’ll want you to come back and write again. That’s actually why Kristi Hines is so successful at getting guest posts. You see her name all over the blogosphere because she goes above and beyond with her first submission, which prompts the blog owner to ask her to write again.
Lastly, when you write your post, make sure you include images. They need to be royalty-free or bought so that the blog doesn’t get into trouble for using them. The images need to be formatted to fit within the blogs design.
Step #3: Send off your email
Now that you are done writing the post, you need to shoot off an email to the blog owner. Here’s an example of a template that I’ve found to be effective:
Subject: you should blog about [insert your guest blog post topic]
[insert their first name], as an avid reader of [insert their site name] I would love to read about [insert guest blog post topic], and I think your readers would as well.
Your content on [insert existing post from their website #1, insert existing post from their website #2, and insert existing post from their website #3] is great, but I think you can tie it all together by blogging on [insert guest blog post topic].
I know you are probably busy and won’t blog on it, so I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse.
How about I write it for you? Don’t worry, I’m a great blogger and have had my posts featured on [insert previous guest post URL #1] and [insert previous guest post URL #2].
Let me know if you are interested. I already know your blogging style, plus I understand what your readers love as I am one.
Look forward to hearing from you,
[insert your name]
If you look at the template above, you’ll notice two things. The first is that it is very personalized to the site owner. Even though it is a template, it won’t work without being customized.
Secondly, you’ll notice that the email isn’t formal. Typically, a formal email, such as the one Ambrose sent me, is rejected. Bloggers see formal emails as sales pitches, which is why they ignore them. Casual emails are typically from readers, which is why most bloggers at least read them.
Lastly, before you send out the email, use a free software like Yesware. Yesware plugs into Gmail and tells you if someone opened your email. This way, when you send emails to bloggers to see if they accept your guest post, you’ll at least find out if they opened and read your email. If they aren’t opening your email, it could be because it’s going into their spam box. In that case, you may want to try sending it again from another email address or using a different subject line.
Step #4: Follow up
Hopefully, your guest post has been accepted by now, but chances are you’ve been ignored. Most bloggers will open your email, but they won’t take the time to respond to it.
What you’ll want to do is to send them a follow-up email every week to see if they are interested in publishing your guest post. Keep the email short, casual and to the point, like this template:
[insert their name], I just wanted to follow up to see if you were interested in publishing the guest post I emailed you last week.
Cheers,
[insert your name]
Until you get a yes or a no, don’t stop emailing. Sooner or later they’ll have to respond.
Step #5: Promote
If your post gets accepted, you want to ensure that it does well. If your post gets a lot of traffic, social shares and comments, the blog owner will most likely accept guest posts from you again. Plus, you can use that post as a reference when pitching other blogs.
Here’s how I ensure my guest posts do well:
- Leverage the social web – I promote my posts through all of my social media accounts. From Twitter, to Facebook to even Google Plus, I share them on every social site I have an account on.
- StumbleUpon – for ten cents a visitor, StumbleUpon can drive thousands of visitors to any blog post within 24 hours. Check out their Paid Discovery plans if you need a bit of help.
- Don’t forget your friends – ask all of your friends to share your post via Twitter and Facebook. The more social shares you get, the better.
- Respond to comments - to get the maximum engagement out of the post, you need to encourage comments. The easiest way to boost the comment count is to reply to every single comment on the post. And don’t leave short comments like “thanks”; write thoughtful comments that help people out.
Conclusion
Guest posting is a new form of marketing that has been taking off over the last year or two. It works extremely well if you are willing to put in time and energy.
The one thing I’ve learned over the years is that you can’t just get one or two guest posts published and expect them to do miracles for your business. You either have to do them on a consistent basis or you have to crank out 20-30 of them in a short period of time to make a big splash.
Do you have any other tips that will help your guest posts get published?
This amazing course will teach you, step by step, how to double if not triple your traffic over the next 30 days.
I think whenever possible get to know the person first. Have a few interactions with them, be it through social media or email. This way the person knows who you are and they can distinguish your email from a spammy request.
I also get a ton of guest post requests and one of the first things I notice is whether I know the person in some way. If I know you I’ll definitely open the email.
Glen, I do the same thing. If something is personalized and catchy I am more inclined to open it.
Yeah, when I have a good post in hand…I contact my friends to get it published on their blog….they know me and they know my work…..
Awesome!
Great post Neil! Guest post on a site which is relevant or mainly talks about what the business does helps one get lot of brand exposure, quality click thru traffic and the bloggers influence also passes through if authorship markup is done.
Great points!
Fantastic article, Neil. I think many people trying to get into guest posting will learn a lot from this. The template is a great starting point as well. Well done!
Scott, glad I could help
I was wondering if you ever considered changing the layout of your site?
Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
But maybe you could a little more in the way
of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful
lot of text for only having 1 or two pictures. Maybe you
could space it out better?
Neil,
Lot’s of great information in here. I think similar to guest posting, interviewing people in your industry is a great way to boost you traffic levels (you’ve mentioned this in a post before).
If you can land a popular figure in your industry who has a lot of Facebook/Twitter followers and they post the interview to their page you are looking at a TON of quality content. This was one of the tips you’ve posted in my opinion!
Brodie
Brodie, you are spot on. That is definitely an added advantage to getting more quality content.
Neil,
Thanks so much for this post, I was just looking for a way to learn how to pitch guest posts before I found this article on my news feed.Wonder job done here man and I am sure to make very good use of these tips when pitching guests posts.Thank you
Tojola, glad we could connect. Thanks for reading and let me know how it goes with these strategies.
Great post. I’m always trying to learn new things and read about people’s experiences with guest posts as that’s my #1 source of backlinking and getting my content out there.
Like you mentioned, personalization and knowing the community of the person’s site is the most important from my own experiences.
-Amir
Amir, great points. Personalization is def key!
Wow…absolutely informative and to the point. I hope more marketers read this and understand that marketing is much more than spamming!
Glad you enjoyed it. I hope so too
Neil your template is gorgeous as it helps simplifies the brain cracking process. I agree with you that there is need for remodelling as per the site you want to guest post on.
Point 2: Developing a relationship with the blogger you intend to guest post quite incredible as it helps simplify the guest posting process.
the reason I say this, is assuming your guest post falls below standard, it easier to correct your mistakes, since, you’ve developed a relationship with the blogger.
How?
The blogger in question would easily tell you your mistake, so that you can prime up the blog post for for subsequent submission.
And my advice is if the blogger is willing to help-do something to blow the mind of the blogger.
Whats That?
Over deliver as Kristi Hines over delivers in her articles
Peter, looks like you are an excellent blogger. Love the way you outlined these points. Thanks for the additional tips!
Neil, Am just getting off the block hope to get there soon. Thanks for the compliment
Excellent post Neil.
I’ve gotten so many terrible guest post inquiries that I actually put up a disclaimer on my contact page. While it’s lowered the number of spammy requests, I still haven’t gotten a legitimate one in months.
The fact that you can’t take a few minutes to craft a personalized message says a lot about your writing. I would never tarnish my brand for an extra article.
Nick, that’s unfortunate to hear. You bring up some great points.
Now tell me will you accept a guest post that meets all the above criteria? If you mention that here then it will be useful for the guys who submit the next “931 requests”.
Mahesh, definitely
Personalization is the key to effective Outreach having placed content with some of the giant websites on the Internet I’ve learned that short and personalized emails work the best.
Salmaan, definitely. Personalization is key if you really want to reach an audience..
Hey Neil,
The part where you have written
“Read comments – the best way you can figure out what people like is by reading the comments on the blog. This will give you a quick understand of what the readers are like and what they are looking for.”
You have written “understand” in the second last line, I guess, it should be “understanding”.
BTW, a great post for the beginners like me who are just starting to get hold of guest posting!
Utkarsh, thanks for pointing that out. I’ll have to go back and change it. Great points you bring up as well !
Aw, this was an extremely nice post. Taking a few minutes and actual effort to generate a really
good article… but what can I say… I put things off a
lot and don’t manage to get nearly anything done.
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Hi Neil,
I think your template is going to save the time for me whenever I decide to go in for guest posting.
Thanks for this great share.
Sapna
Sapna, glad I could help.
Great article Neil. I get so many guest blog requests myself and I would love to have people guest blog on my site but just from the initial email I can tell its just a copy and pasted email.
I’m going to direct every copy and pasted email to this article from here onwards.
Thanks
Saj, thanks for the help
Thanks for the mention Neil! Also, great template. That forces potential guest bloggers to do a little research on a blog before pitching an idea. Definitely a much better template than the 100% copyscape ones out there.
Kristi, anytime
As we both know personalization is key!
So Neil, I am back again. No matter, where I am I want to be closer to quicksprout :). Great piece again. Really ‘Dear Blog owner’ can really suck. I would not want to read from there any more. And then, ya one needs to have a good understanding about the blog where he want to do guest post. Should read its blog post as much as one can.
For me, until and unless, I gain confidence of blog owner, I would never want to be guest, even for a post.
I am saying it again, I’ll be coming back.
Regards.
Koj, thanks for reading and for the extra pointers and tips
This advice is so helpful, Neil. I’m planning to start a new blog in the near future, and I want to get it right. Interestingly, I’ve been told to “just follow conversations for a long time before you try to say anything.” I was wondering how long is “a long time”? How do I know when I’m ready to say anything? Moot point, because here I am posting a comment.
Brenda, touche.. Thanks for reading
Great, great post again Neil.
I guess point#4 is often forgotten or ignored by bloggers from non business backgrounds. Most just shy away for fear of being accused of nagging… but if only they knew how much follow up goes on to complete most deals in the business world.. only thing is to not over do it.. like you said, once a week should be ok.
Once again, thanks for the info and also for that gmail add-on link. Gotta check it out.
Vinod, following up can do wonders. Persistency is key
Excellent post Neil.
I’ve found that people respond best when you focus on how you can help them.
Most bloggers are focused on what’s in it for them but they aren’t trying to assist the blog that they want to write for.
The goal should be to write the BEST article the site has ever seen.
At least that’s what I try to do when I guest post.
Focus on their most popular articles try to beat all of those.
Darnell, great insights once again. You always provide such positive feedback. Thanks for reading
Great post, pretty obvious common courtesy though. What was MUCH more interesting for me was taking a look at some of the site owners who had commented – what a refreshing mixed bunch!
A breath of fresh air…
That spoke volumes for you and your followers!!
Joan, thanks for the kind words and for reading
@Neil & @Vinod, the point #4 is key.
Not an example from blogging but I eventually hired a guy who followed up with me at least a dozen times about some job opening. No answer doesn’t necessarily mean NO. The blogger could have been so busy that he or she never read your email until 5th follow up. And then they are simply curious, what the deal is with this guy who sent 5 follow ups. Persistency will give you an extra credit! Just keep it on a sane level without over doing as post mentioned. Awesome stuff, Neil!
Vadim, right on! You sound like an effective salesman.. you just have to follow up in a acceptable manner.
This is timely, pertinent advice! It astounds me how often a person sends out an email blast without thinking about how obvious it is that the message has not been personalized.
In fact, in any professional encounter, it usually helps to put yourself in the other person’s shoes – to understand their wants and needs as well as to gauge how you come across to them.
Guest posting has attracted a lot of interest lately – and for good reason. Unfortunately, some people will always look for shortcuts – and then wonder why their approach hasn’t yielded the results they were hoping for!
Nigel, right? It is astounding but we must make sure not to make the same mistakes..
Hi Neil,
Thanks for a great post! It sounds like if we follow all your steps, the chances of rejection are minimized, but I’m wondering what you would do with the content if your intended blogger didn’t accept it.
Would you publish it on your own blog or try to make some edits and get it published elsewhere?
Melissa, great question. You are spot on.. try elsewhere. Worst case, post it yourself
hahah Neil!
i cannot imagine how people can do anything like this… do you think it is just mass emailing?
good (bad) example of dear site owner email
best regards!
Probably…
I partnered guest post with expert interview. When I pitch a guest post on someone’s blog. I ask him If I can have an interview with him. This way, I don’t stop the connection with him.
Connection and personalization is the key to an effective blogging and outreach.
Thanks for this post Neil!
Good idea venchito….I will ‘swipe’ it and use it for my blogs
Thanks
Let me see the results of that strategy soon!
That is a solid strategy. I have been approached for interviews in that manner before.
hey neil, excellent post on guest posting. The above personalized mail can be written only if a website / blog hasn’t mentioned about guest posting acceptance.., what if the blog owner is accepting guest post via link saying “write for Us”, “become a contributor”., DO we need to be so personalized even for them?
And one more thing, i sent an blog post to a website owner for guest posting, he hadn’t contacted me again..but he used article and posted in another blog with his name.., what can be done to avoid this?
if any grammar mistakes please ignore it..
thanks,
Personalization is always key. So yes, I would say make sure it is personalized. As for your guest post request I would say wait it out.. the person may have a long line of people waiting to post..
Guest post is really an important task for internet marketing but I am feeling fear about Google Algorithm update!!! I thing may be in future Google applies penalty on Guest Post!!!
David, we never know. However, for the time being we are safe
Thank you Neil for a great post.
Additional way to get the blog owner to remember you , is to comment on his posts for 2 weeks before submitting the guest post request. You will get more chance to be recognized and to receive a reply to your email.
Ron, thanks for the pro tip
Again Great Post Neil, I am a regular reader of your blog and you know every time I visit your blog due to the reason that it will be something new and helpful.
anyway I am not a blogger but I learned new thing here which I will use in my email marketing.( personalized message to specific customer).
thnaks
well said “vijay”, this article is helpful in more than one way.
great work Neil.
Vijay, glad I could help. Keep up the great work
Great read. As a blogger, I also like it if the proposer points out step 5 to me, especially if they have a good following of their own.
John, great point. Thanks for that!
I was hoping you would write a dedicated post on guest posting sooner or later!
One thing that I am still a little uneasy about is finding new stuff to write. Some niches seem a little “dry” – it gets that way both with product descriptions and with blog posts.
Shabbir, that is definitely a challenge. You just have to see what works and go with it..
Thanks Neil for this wonderful insight. but my question is am I suppose to post the guest article on my blog first before sending it to the guest blog? since I will be writing so many articles.
Aghedo, you should always check to see if the article is valid before posting.
It’s an awesome piece of writing in favor of all the web people; they will obtain advantage from it I am sure.
Thanks Neil for this wonderful post .
Glad you found it helpful
Yesware is an awesome reco! A wonder tool really!
Nandan, thanks for reading
Hey Neil, I’ve been saving your emails so I can get back to them when I have time to read them. I get this blog..it’s great. I’ve done a little bit of guest blogging and funny enough it is one of my bigger traffic sources. Good point!
Tracy, awesome! I am glad we could connect
Such a wonderful Tips Neil. Once again you have proved that you are a great blogger. I really like this. Cheers!!!
Mark, thanks for the kind words and reading
Thanks a lot for the great post as well as the template.
Glad I could help
Awesome post Neil,
Thanks for a wonderful post. I am a new reader of your article and really it helped me a lot and i will keep all those above mentioned tips in my mind. As i want to carry out my career as a role of a “Blogger” your tips are going to help me a lot…..
Looks for much more helpful posts by u.
Thanks
Nikhil, glad I could help. Keep up the great work and let me know if you need anymore tips
I used to be really happy at the prospect of opening up guest posts. I made a page announcing I was accepting them (not on my current site) and eagerly awaited responses.
My excitement ended at the first submission. It wa so poorly written that it took me hours to edit. Clunky sentences; Grammar errors everywhere. By the time I was done, I’d pretty much re-written it.
I could’ve said no, but I didn’t have the heart. So I stopped taking guest posts.
Jonas, it is definitely tough and I agree with you. You just have to find the ones that are worth accepting..
Neil, I’m surprised to not here a mention of trackbacks and how to repost your “guest post” on your own site correctly.
Corey, I’ll have to dedicate a post to that sometime..
Guest blogging is a win-win situation for both bloggers involved. It helps to grow traffic for both blogs and strengthens blogger relationships. Don’t be afraid to ask for guest posts from bloggers whose content you enjoy and who you think can write a post relevant to your blog’s audience or to ask if you can write guest posts for them. Great article Neil!
Anika, great points. I think guest posting is something that is definitely beneficial to both parties..
Agreed guest posting is needed irrespective of what others say and thanks to second this opinion. I thought I was the only one in this dilemma. Thanks Neil for the excellent insight.
Shilpi, glad I could help
Hey Neil It helped me a lot,, my guest post are now published.. Keep rocking..
Amar, keep up the great work
I love this wonderful topic, thanks for sharing this great information with us.
Glad I could help
I’ve had good luck with guest posting and it is a strategy I plan to use more and more to get my name out there and build my brand. Interacting a little with the blogger before pitching them a post is huge. We all get bombarded with guest post offers that are really ads in disguise and most of them go right in the trash. It’s easy for a legitimate guest post to get mixed in with the garbage.
PS – thanks for the Yesware tip…never heard of that before!
Mike, great points. Guest posting definitely has to be used with the caution and with a great strategy in mind..
Hello Neil,
That was extremely vital information you have provided right there. I myself have recent started a blog on startup businesses and technology. The guest blogging was on the top of my list to drive tons of traffic and your blog post gave me exactly what i needed to make it work.
Thank you for the information.
Best Regards.
Chirag, I am glad I could help you. Best of luck
This is some of the best advice I’ve seen on this sort of thing Neil so thanks. It’s a common problem that people have when they are trying to get their work published externally and I find it strange that some are still attempting to do this in the way that you personally see every day. Hopefully your advice will change this.
Chris, glad I could help
neil i don’t have writing style, So how i could do gust post?
You should just continue writing..
Hey Neil, Thank you so much to sharing wonderful information.
Glad you enjoyed it .
Recently I have get a job about gust posting. So I Search it in google. then I found this article. I can know many thing from this. Thanks for shearing.
Glad you found it helpful. Thanks for reading…
Well written! I like your points very much neil. Thanks for sharing this useful information with us.
Andy, thanks for reading. Glad you enjoyed the post.
Some of the pitches I see from time to time are rather stunning. Not even the slightest bit of personalization (generic greeting, for crying out loud!). And when I ignore one, I get another generic follow-up. And some of these emails are so incoherent they read as abstract poetry.
I can only wonder the quantity of these that you get…
Tyler, very true. Some people have no idea how to provide unique great content. Thanks for reading!
Neil,
Just wanted to thank you for a really helpful post. In the next few months I hope to start some guest blogging, but was a bit intimidated about the process. Thanks for the hand-holding.
Also, another simple comment–I just love the overall look and feel of your site. So friendly…almost like a nursery or kid’s classroom. I feel very comfortable on your pages, thanks! Inspiring!
~Barb
Barb, glad I could help. I think the design should be very welcome, thus the feel of a classroom
I started posting gust blogs but after reading your post i come to know that i was making bid mistake. Now your tips will help me to be a good guest blogger. Thanks!
Prashant, glad I could help. Thanks for reading
Neil this is great inspiration for me. and I know what you mean about generic ones – I even got generic offers through comments and then one proceeded to pitch her stop smoking guest post on my life coaching and personal development/empowerment site???
As for helping me personally – Last year I went mad on guest posts and wrote over 14,000 words in two weeks but it was incredibly unsustainable. I’m hoping this new format of proposing them will give me fresh inspiration and motivation to start properly again because It does require some extra milage to go and will create a quality post at the same time. Any tips for getting into the habit of doing this regularly/keeping up the drive?
Rebecca, you just have to maintain a consistent regimen. I don’t feel like I’ve accomplished anything in a week if I haven’t written at least 4-5 blog posts and put together some drafts for blog posts.
Great and creative ways to increase the success rate! Nevertheless, speaking from my own experience, the content is the main reason that increases the chances of having a guest post accepted by other blogger. Thanks !!
Anderson, you are definitely right. Content that is unique always converts best!
Definitely agree with Anderson’s Answer. If you want to get a backlink for your site, you have do some effort. If you want your guest post published, make a nice write. .
i totally agree with you guys its a to good for generating traffic thanks
Awesome. Thanks for reading!
Valuable article. like it..
Thanks for reading!
This is a great article. I’m surprised some of this isn’t self-explanatory for people, as i would just seem so obvious. Maybe I misread, but when you send the template, do you include the blog post attached as well?
You don’t have to include it attached, but you can if you would like.
hi Neil,
my name is Hayden roy am a guest author and in this month of April i wrote 23 articles and 19 got published remaining got rejected by the site owners, i don’t know why?,they are not intimating the reasons for rejecting the article,if really if they are not interested in guest posting then they can usually tell us in our first approach itself when we send the article title to them that we do guest posting for your site.
I just want you to tell me if there any sites which accepts guest posting on the relevant niche of entertainment ,travel and fashion, will you please tell me how to search for guest posting in the search engine .
Your ratio isn’t bad at all. Most people get a lot more rejected.
I don’t know blogs in your niche that accept guest posts, but through Technorati you can easily find them.
Thanks for the article and thanks for the email template!
I have been looking for easier ways to locate blogs to contribute to and have looked at paid opportunities as well. It’s a huge challenge to find quality blogs and it’s hard to get responses from sites as well.
I recently used blogsvertise.com to find some blogs, however I think there are way too many blogs on there that are sketchy.
If you have any resources or tips to find quality blogs in a particular niche it would be greatly appreciated.
Chuck, glad I could help. You should check out some Hubspot courses on how to create email templates that are visually appealing and have great headlines.
Thanks Neil! I will definitely check it out.
If you make that decision to start a business blog, its a commitment. Make sure that you consistently update it with fresh and interesting content. Great suggestions here.
Oliver, thanks for reading
Hi Neil
I am read your post and i am get great information about guest posting convincing power. But please give me some more help to find High PR Blogs for request them for doing guest post. please give me some idea.
I would suggest checking out some more resources within my blog or just reaching out to other bloggers.
awesome post neil. your suggestion help me in guest posting. I
Jennifer, glad I could help. Best of luck moving forward!
Neil is just the best
Charles, thanks for the kind words but I am just an ordinary guy
Oh man, thanks for writing this, Neil! I’m trying to get started with guest blogging and this is kind of the ultimate 101. Bookmarking … now!
Tori, best of luck. Let me know if you need any help
Hey,
Thanks for telling us the strategy to get the guest post published.
Regards,
Jannie Taylor
Jannie, glad I could help. Best of luck!
Great tips man
Thanks for reading
Hi Neil,
Love your in depth understanding & clear explanation. Its like a found the holy grail of seo!!
Thanks
Satish
Satish, glad I could help
Sometime I think it takes real gut to follow the processes you have shown above. Well, I am personally shy about offering someone for guest posting. But I believe you and I will do it with my absent mind.
Cheers!
Shah, try it out. Let me know how it works
Always love your templates Neil! Thanks for including them.
We’re just starting our guest blogging adventures, and so far we’ve got 2 pieces accepted. Here’s hoping for another 15 in the next 5 weeks
Alexandra, awesome. Best of luck moving forward!
Hey Neil, quick question…
Do you think adding UTM parameters to your domain links in the guest post is a good idea from SEO perspective?
And if not, how can one track the success of their complete guest posting campaign?
UTM variables don’t hurt SEO. You can use them as much as you want. In most cases your analytics should be able to give you the data without you having to use a UTM parameter.
Awesome post neil
Thanks a lot for the great post as well as the template.
Lalith, glad you found it helpful. Please let me know if you need help with anything
wondrous post Neil. simply loved the way you explained. This will help me to improve my writing skills. Moreover with this information I can change myself into a famous blogger. thanks a ton.
Zarapatrick, glad I could help in that regard. Please keep me posted on your progress
Its more helpful for me.My guest posting skills further improve.Thanks for nice one sharing.
Bilal, glad I could help. Please let me know if you need help with anything
Thanks for this post, Neil. I’m new to blogging and have been promoting our blog posts through Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to drive traffic back to our site but guest posting on other blogs is an entirely new idea to me. I’ll have to look through your blog to see if you’ve done any other posts as a sort of introduction to this concept, but I’m wondering does our blog need to reach a suggested number of unique visitors before we start offering to guest post on other blogs? Also you mention first writing the guest post article before you send an email asking to be a guest blogger. Do you include the article as an attachment when you contact the blog owner? Or does that give too much away?
Carrie, you can start guest blogging on day one…it really doesn’t matter.
I wouldn’t give the article in it’s entirety right away. Talk about the topic and the potential opportunities that you can provide by offering your post.
I struggled with getting my blog posts accepted when I first started.
But now, I do not really face any of those challenges anymore.
Guest bloggers should just keep their posts simple and straight to the point.
Thanks for sharing Neil Patel, I really do enjoy visiting your blog.
Kenneth, glad you are doing well. Thanks for sharing
Hi, Neil. This is an absolutely fantastic post. Actually, i am going to for guest blogging and i have created few posts. But my problem is that i have never done guest blogging and i don’t have any evidence guest post except my own blog. So, for the first time, how should i get in touch with blog owner i am going to guest blog to. Thanks & waiting for your reply.
Michelle, what an exciting time
I would suggest just reaching out and being sincere with the webmaster/blogger
Hi Neil-
How do you go about finding the blog owner? This is quite simple if its a small time blog, but what about a larger site?
For instance, I want to do a guest blog on realtor.com. I see dozens of guest posts yet, I can’t find the email contact where to send it.
Thanks
Hi ,Neil.Thanks for Sharing the Do’s required for Guest Blogging as most new bloggers don’t have an idea as to where to Start off and what to avoid.
Shubham, glad I could help. Let me know how it all works out
well said “vijay”, this article is helpful in more than one way.
nice job
Hi,
My name is Neha Vasandhani and i`d like to write a guest post for you.
I have a team of skilled writers and we are ready to make a research and provide a quality article that will go down well with your readers and give them some useful information.
It would be great if you could allow me to place a hyperlink in any part of the article (one link in article).
Please let me know if you are interested.
Hello Neil
I really enjoy reading your articles. They are very well explained and really helpful. I even started to use the advices from your article.
Right now i have sent a follow-up email to a blog where they haven’t reply to me like 3 weeks ago. So now i am waiting for the reply.
Quick question: Can i have around 10 guest posts published in a week? Or it is too much? Is there any number or limit in guest posting?
Thank you!
Elena, I would practice moderation and go for quality over quantity. With that being said focus on results
Thank you very much..I will apply your advice
Have a great day
Thanks Neil!
I have been trying to be more aggressive in pitching guest posts lately and these tips will really come in handy. I especially like the templates you threw in. They are practical and look professional. I will definitely use them for my next pitch.
Hopefully, they will work on you when I finally get the courage to pitch for Quick Sprout.
David, I am sure it will. Let me know if you need any help along the way
This is wonderful information. Thank you Neil for a great post
Alex, glad you liked it
Neil,
Great work as always. One thing I do to gain guest posting opportunities is share my previously published work. In my case, I’ve been fortunate enough to be published in the Huffington Post, which carries a lot of weight. Making mention of this brings a lot of credibility to me when I approach people, and doesn’t give them much room to say “no.”
Tim, great points!
i think that the guest post is the most ethical way to get more exposure and get audience for the blog. it has 2 benifit,first is building online reputapion as a wrtter,promotion and traffic for blog and second is backlink as well. so i think we should go on writting guest post.thanks for sharing your views.
Rishab, glad you found them helpful. Looking forward to hearing more from you
Really no matter if someone doesn’t understand afterward its up to other
visitors that they will help, so hede it occurs.
Excellent post. However, I would like to ask for example you’re trying to outreach bloggers but you’re not a vivid writer, or you have a writer on your team and you’re the one contacting the bloggers, what’s the best approach?
George, I think the best approach is to be as open and honest as you can, it’s how we approach our outreach. I spend the majority of my time marketing the business, talking to people online, sourcing new opportunities etc whilst my colleagues are the ones with the skills and expertise on the subjects we want to talk about.
Try using terms like “we’ve bounced a few ideas around the team an come up with…” or “…when discussing your site with a colleague, , he came up with a few ideas on topics that he’d be more than happy to write about for the site. I thought I’d run these by you to see what you thought…”
Hi Neil,
Nice article.
Can you please suggest which is the best site to find guest bloggers.
Thanks
Nancy, I always suggest doing manual outreach for people within your niche.