How to Submit Blogs for Guest Posting
Published September 24, 2022
If you’re a newbie blogger who wants to build a reputation for yourself online, guest posting is one of the cheapest and most efficient ways to do so. It not only exposes your work to a wider audience but also helps you build backlinks for your blog.
Guest posting, however, is not as easy as it sounds. One common concern that most aspiring bloggers have is how to submit blogs for guest posting.
You see, submitting a guest blog isn’t that straightforward. For one, not all sites accept guest posts. Besides, many of those who do tend to have very strict guest posting guidelines.
So before you go around wooing editors and submitting blogs that aren’t up to standards, we made this quick guide on how to effectively submit blogs to guest posting sites. But before that, you first need to understand the concept of guest posting.
What is Guest Posting?
In a nutshell, guest posting is when a writer or blogger creates content, like articles and blogs, for another website. Think of it as a form of a content partnership between two bloggers or that of a writer and a website owner. As such, in most cases, the writer doesn’t get any monetary compensation. Though they get a byline as the author of the article and possibly a few links to their own site.
By submitting blogs for guest posting, you are allowing readers to discover your content through other platforms. It will also allow you to reach out to new audiences and have more people know about your work.
Guest posting, however, benefits not only the guest poster. It also benefits the site hosting the guest post. With content contributions from other bloggers and writers, guest posting sites get to have new content for their site at no additional cost. Besides, if the guest post writer shared the guest post on social media and on their own platforms, it can create exposure for the guest posting site too.
The guest posting process usually starts with the writer or blogger reaching out to the site they want their work to appear in. If that site is interested in their pitch, they’ll usually ask for a content outline or more content ideas from the writer. Though, some sites will also provide content topics that the writer can write about.
Once the draft is completed, the editors will check it against the website’s content guidelines and may require revisions if necessary. After the editors deem it suitable for publication, they’ll typically notify the guest post writer when their post will go live.
(Related: Is The Blogging Industry Doomed?)
How to Submit Blogs as Guest Posts
Now that you understand the basics of guest posting, here’s a quick step-by-step guide on how to submit blogs to guest posting sites.
1. Identify Your Target Sites
Obviously, you can’t make any guest posting outreach if you don’t know who you’re reaching out to. So the first thing you need to do is make a list of the sites you want your blog or article to appear in.
Ideally, you should target sites that:
- are authoritative. The more authoritative a site is, the more likely its content will appear on search engine results pages. They also tend to have a wider audience. Besides, getting published on these sites will lend more credibility to you as a blogger and writer. It means your work is good enough to pass through their rigorous editorial process. If you’re not sure whether a site is authoritative or not, you can check its domain rating (DR) or domain authority (DA). The higher their DR and DA are, the more authoritative that site is.
- are topically related to your niche. If you write about SEO and digital marketing, then guest posting on a health and wellness site won’t probably do you any good. For one, these niches have two very different audiences. Even if your pitch is accepted, that site’s audience won’t probably have much incentive in visiting your site.
- allows guest posts. If a site only publishes in-house content, they rarely accept guest posts. So if you’re just starting out, focus on sites that allow guest posts to avoid wasting your time and effort. Sites that accept guest posts usually have a “write for us” page where they detail their guest posting guidelines.
It doesn’t have to be an elaborate list. You can just put them in a spreadsheet along with the necessary links and contact details.
2. Generate Contact Details
After identifying your target guest posting sites, you need to find their contact details so you can start reaching out to them. Sites that have a “write for us” page will usually list down ways on how to contact them too. In most cases, they’ll list down an email address. Though some sites will provide you with a link to their contact forms where you can submit your pitch.
3. Reach Out to Your Identified Sites
Once you have chosen a publisher you would like to work with; you can go ahead and contact them and express your interest in working together.
Be careful when reaching out to guest posting sites though. Always remember that you’re not the only one looking out for guest posting opportunities. Editors typically have to deal with hundreds of guest post pitches every single day. So make sure to keep your outreach email brief and polite but still cover the basic points you want to communicate.
Start by introducing yourself, what you do, and a link to your site. Then tell them about how you came to know about their site and why you are writing to them. Don’t forget to include links to your previous work. They can be links to blogs published on your site or guest posts published on other sites. Most guest posting sites require at least three previous work samples.
Due to the huge number of pitches they have to deal with, it’s sometimes inevitable that the editor will miss your message. So if you don’t receive a reply, you can send a follow-up message after a few weeks. Avoid messaging them every day or every few days as that will only annoy the editors and lessens your chance of getting a reply from them.
You also need to take into account the guest posting guidelines of each site. Some sites will require you to submit a draft at the initial outreach. While others will require you to submit at least three content ideas together with your outreach message.
4. Submit Your Pitch
After the initial outreach, the guest posting site will typically ask you to submit a pitch. This is where you’ll send them a content idea or a list of content ideas that match the kind of content the site puts out.
As such, you need to carefully scan through the site and take note of the kind of articles they’re posting. This will help you get a feel of the kind of content they want, thus increasing the chances of your pitch getting approved.
Once you have a content idea, make sure to check that its not covered by the site yet. Obviously, they can’t post about the same topic twice. So if they already covered the topic, your pitch will most likely be rejected.
There’s an easy way to check if the site has written a post about the topic before. Just go to the site’s homepage. Then in the URL box, type the word “site:” before the site’s URL and the topic after it. For instance, if you want to check the Correct Digital site for an article about online marketing, the URL box should look like this: site:https://correctdigital.com/ online marketing.
5. Write the Draft
Once the guest posting site approves your pitch, you can now start writing the draft keeping in mind the site’s guest posting guidelines.
Some sites require a minimum number of words. While others may not care about how long the article is as long as it covers everything that needs to be covered. Some also have specific guidelines on what sites you can only link to and how many links to your site you can add to the article body. Most sites also don’t allow affiliate links so you need to avoid that too. Or if you do, make sure to disclose it to the editor.
6. Make Necessary Revisions and Resubmit the Final Draft
It’s quite rare for a draft to get approved for publication at the initial stage. Most of the time, it will require some revisions. The editor will tell you which parts to edit and which to delete (if necessary). These revisions will help bring your post up to the site’s editorial standards so make sure to follow the editor’s suggestions.
Once the required revisions are done, you can resubmit your final draft and wait for the editor’s feedback. Sometimes, a draft will require multiple revisions before they’re approved for publication.
7. Thank the Guest Posting Site
After your post is published, don’t forget to thank the guest posting site for the opportunity. This not only builds goodwill but may also open up other partnership and collaboration opportunities.
What You Need to Remember
It will take some time and a lot of effort to have another website publish your work. You mustn’t lose hope and keep working hard to make your work known to many. Success in the freelancing and writing industry does not happen overnight. As long as you remain patient and follow our guide on how to submit blogs for guest posting, your hard work will eventually pay off sooner than you think.
(Related: Backlink Pyramid for SEO: What Is It and How Does It Work?)
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About The Author
Judy Ponio is a professional writer and SEO specialist based in the Philippines. She works hard to cross check reputable sources to ensure her work uses accurate facts. She is the lead author for several prominent websites covering a variety of topics including law, health, nutrition, and more.
