How to Submit a Guest Post? : A Complete Beginner’s Guide (Updated 2024)

If you have some idea about link building, you know guest posting is one of the most effective methods to strengthen your backlink profile and level up your SEO. But not all of your guest posting outreaches will be successful because it’s not so easy.

You have to be very convincing and offer something really good in order to secure valuable backlinks from high-authority websites. That means once you learn how to find guest posting sites, you have to master how to submit a guest post.

Here we will cover every aspect of guest post submission – from preparation to promotion.

SEO Benefits of Guest Posting

Let’s look at some stats right off the bat. 60% of bloggers write up to five guest posts per month while 3% write over 25! This shows how popular guest blogging is today!

Guest posting benefits you in many ways. Here’s how:

• When you gain inbound links from an authoritative site, it passes link juice or link equity to your site, which is a small share of its authority. So, you can say that your site authority depends on your guest posting approaches too.
• This is a great way to have more referral traffic – users who visit your site without even searching for it. This happens when you’ve written such an informative and topically relevant guest post that visitors from the other site start rushing into yours for more information.
• One of the most organic ways to improve your brand awareness is guest posting. When you guest post on another website targeting its audience, your brand gets more exposed. Also, it builds trust as they get to know about your business from an already established and authoritative site.
• SEO and social media marketing take time to generate results. With guest posting, you can target a more relevant and specific group of people who are genuinely interested in your product, and get quality leads in a short period of time.

How to Submit a Guest Post? Step-by-Step Tutorial

Here we covered every step of the way – starting from choosing the right site for you to promoting your post after submission. We also shared some tips along the way to make things easier for you.

Step 1: Define Your Guest Blogging Goal

It’s important to set realistic goals for your website and your business overall before starting out on this journey. Don’t fantasize about a grand success overnight. Be patient and practical.

Generally speaking, your primary target should be gaining more dofollow backlinks from credible sites in your niche. New leads and referral traffic are never guaranteed. In fact, guest posting is not the only factor here. Your overall SEO and content marketing strategy also matter.

Step 2: Find Relevant Guest Posting Sites

Research your niche and find out which sites are giving out more guest posting opportunities. You can write for either a generalized or a specific audience depending on your strategy.

A simple Google search can help here. In order to find available sites offering guest blogging opportunities, just search for your target keyword with some specific strings like “guest post”, “guest post by”, “guest article”, “contribute to us”, “write for us” and so on.

For example, if the topic is “AI in data science,” add an extra string “write for us” when you google it.

You can also analyze your competitors’ backlink profiles with an SEO tool like Moz or Ahrefs. Not all the sites providing backlinks are going to allow guest posts but it’ll be easier for you to go through the list and see if they’re interested.

A reverse image search can work too. Just use an image of a popular guest blogger in your niche to search and list out the places they’ve published so far and go for them yourself.

If you want to know more about this approach, read how to find guest posting sites.

Step 3: Analyze the Quality of the Target Sites

All your efforts will go in vain if the site you’re writing for has no real value. Things you should be looking at are-

• Relevancy: Make sure you’re posting on a relevant site in your niche. Create keyword-friendly anchor texts and use them smartly so they go with the rest of the content and accurately represent the link you’re adding there.
• Authority: Low authority sites can’t provide you significant link equity no matter how good of a blog you write. So, check their domain authority and how trusted they are in the niche.
• Organic traffic: There’s a chance that even the authoritative sites may have no organic traffic coming in. This may be because of some black-hat SEO practice that got them penalized or inconsistency in content quality. Only choose if the site has a decent amount of organic traffic.
• Link profile: Analyze the backlink profiles carefully. You should avoid associating with sites full of spammy and low quality links.
• Spam score: Moz and similar SEO tools give a spam score that determines the percentage of similarity between the target site and sites that have been penalized by Google. If the spam score exceeds 10% for a site, you should avoid that site.
• PBN for guest posts: A private blog network or PBN is a group of websites created just to provide low-quality backlinks in exchange for money. If you notice that you have picked a PBN site or one that allows guest posts only for money, stay away from them.

Step 4: Find the Prospect’s Email

Sometimes, it’s hard to get an email address of your chosen website.

Look into the most obvious places first; i.e., the “About us”, “Contact us” or “Author Profile” pages.

You can use free Google Chrome extensions like Tomba, Hunter.io and GetProspect to quickly search emails of any website.

If you still can’t manage it, try to reach out to them through their LinkedIn profiles or social media pages.

Step 5: Choose a Topic Related to the Niche and Audience

Webmasters nowadays care more about your credibility and popularity than the content itself.

Also, publishing content on a good website is impactful but if the content has nothing to do with your niche or audience, the chances of link juice passing or referral traffic coming in drastically go down.

Carefully go through the guest posting guidelines right after you’ve selected a site. Many make the mistake of totally avoiding site policies. The result is obvious. If your content doesn’t even fit into the prospect’s parameters, why would they allow you to post on their site?

The next task is to generate ideas for your topic. Research the target site and its blogs to see what actually interests its audience and decide on the topic. You should have a clear idea about what you’re about to write.

You can choose a pillar topic and then break it down. For example, if your topic is “guest blogging,” do some keyword research and filter out the available content. Then think about unique information from your own expertise that aligns with the marketing strategy of the target site as well as yours.

Step 6: Pitch Your Idea

You’ve got the mail address and you’ve got the topic in hand. Should you send the mail immediately?

Not yet. There is some polishing to do.

A generic email won’t work at all. The editorial process of authoritative websites is usually highly demanding. If you want to make a good impression, start by writing a compelling email.

Again, remember to read their submission guidelines first. Dot every i’s and cross every t’s. Follow the format they’ve recommended and avoid the topics they’ve specifically mentioned as unacceptable.

Write the mail in your own words. Lead with a catchy subject line or hook. Let the other know right away why you’ve chosen them and why you should be taken seriously.

Don’t beat around the bush with your pitch. If you’ve researched well enough, you should be able to convey your ideas in a precise yet effective manner. Your portfolio should speak for you.

Speaking of portfolios, if you have some convincing materials you can include, do attach them in the mail. These samples will serve as your ticket to the next guest posting opportunity.

If allowed, pitch multiple topics and give the other website options to choose from. We recommend this so you can showcase your expertise in your niche.

Here’s a template email for your outreach campaign-

Hi {{First name}},

I’m [[Your first name]] from [[Your company/blog/brand]]. I just found out that you had published a couple of guest blogs from several industry experts in the [[Target niche]] over the years. I was wondering if you’re still accepting guest posts for your site anymore!

If you do, I have a couple of ideas for you to look at-

[[Topic 1]]

[[Topic 2]]

[[Topic 3]]

I’ve been writing a number of articles regularly for high-authority sites in our industry for many years. Since your audience is interested in this type of content, you’ll hopefully find mine relevant here:

[[Article 1 | Search Ranking]]

[[Article 2 | Search Ranking]]

[[Article 3 | Search Ranking]]

You can see that I write content with thorough research and dedication that also ranks well because of the informational value I provide. 🙂

Let me know what you think. I will be looking forward to your response.

Best regards,

(Your Name)

(Brand/Site Name)

If you’re a startup with no link building experience, you can still make this template work.

In that case, you have to link to your own content or guest posts from somebody else in your company to show the skill set of people you are associated with.

Step 7: Send Follow-up Mails and Negotiate

All you have left to do now is wait. Don’t be surprised if all of your pitches are turned down. You need to be patient or you might lose the game after the first few rejections.

In some cases, you may not even get a reply. Some editors completely ignore pitches and don’t bother to reply though they may change their mind later. So, wait for a month at max and move on if you haven’t heard anything.

There’s another possibility where you may get a callback months after pitching your idea. It takes time for some content to get relevant to the ongoing trends. So, keep an eye out for them as well.

You can also consider sending a follow-up email. Just let them know that you had sent a prior email. Send in the same mail thread as before to make it easy to find.

Still no answer? Leave them alone and try somewhere else. If they didn’t like your idea, they would definitely not like you spamming their mailbox as well.

The real challenge begins once you’re accepted as you have to conform to their submission guidelines. Make sure you’re transparent about your requirements. For instance, mention how many links you’d like to include and their attributes (e.g. dofollow, no-follow), where the links are going to be (in-text or author bio), and so on.

Some websites charge an editorial fee. See if you can afford that. If not, try to negotiate with them – calmly and smartly. If it doesn’t work for you, you can always look for other options but don’t overpay for a single guest post.

Step 8: Write Killer Posts

Finally, write a captivating blog to make sure that the audience can connect to it emotionally. This is an essential part of learning how to submit a guest post because only then you can expect increased organic and referral traffic.

This step should be easier for you since it’s your pitch and you’re passionate about this.

Just convert your idea into an engaging blog. If you’re doubting yourself, consult with a topic expert and get your confusions cleared out before you write.

If you think your writing is going below the standard of the other site, have your sample revised by an editor if possible.

Here is a blueprint for a striking guest post:

• Follow the guidelines: You will probably find the blog guidelines on the site or the editors may help. Strictly maintain the standard to increase your chances of getting published. Get familiar with their style of writing and convince the webmasters that you’re one of them.
• Write original content: Don’t just rewrite info from other blogs. Give your own inputs – whether a unique perspective or a more tutorial-like comprehensive guide.
• Be informative: Make your topic well-researched and don’t leave information gaps. Write confidently, include data, quote some experts, and prove yourself as an authority in your industry.
• Add visuals: Include original and unique images in your content. Don’t add generic images collected from the internet with almost zero value. Take your own screenshots or design your own infographics. The editors may not keep them at all but it’ll show your creativity and eagerness to make it the best possible content for your audience.
• Link your own content: This is exactly why you took up guest posting in the first place, right? Be strategic when linking your content. Your link has to stay relevant to the post you’re writing. Otherwise, you’ll only seem like a spammer.

You can link to your homepage if it’s in your author bio. In the post, you should only link your content that goes with the guest blog so readers are naturally inclined to follow it to your site.

The best course of action is optimizing your anchor text. Make the anchor text keyword-friendly and coherent with the rest of the blog.

You can also mention your brand the same way and get yourself exposed to a new audience.

• Build internal links: This is to prove your sincerity to the target site and its audience. They’ll know how serious you are when they see you interlink their pages to develop quality content.
• Build external links: Link to other authoritative sites to show how open-minded you are about learning and distributing knowledge. This will also give people some idea about your research methodologies and how far you can go to fetch information.
• Structure your content: Make your content easily readable with headers, subheaders, bullet points, etc.
• Minimize errors: Check your grammar and spelling before submission. Don’t let anybody question your abilities as a writer, or in this case, a guest blogger.
• Don’t forget about your goals: You have to tailor your content as per the target site guidelines but keep in mind what you’re here for. Are you looking for backlinks? Or is it referral traffic and leads? Make your content a gateway for people to start trusting you.

Step 9: Submit Your Article and Wait for the Feedback

In this part of knowing how to submit guest blog posts, we’ll talk about the submission process. Every site has its recommended method that you have to follow to submit your post. Some may ask you to send through emails while some may want you to fill in a submission form.

Whatever it is, follow the guidelines and complete your submission. When done, do a follow-up outreach and wait for the editor’s or the site owner’s feedback.

The feedback is necessary to improve your performance and prove yourself to the new domain and its audience. This is to ensure that your content has lived up to the standard and is ready to go live!

Be well-responsive during this communication phase. Stay respectful to the suggestions they make and change whenever necessary. Comply with their quality of standards and get your post published in no time.

Step 10: Promote the Blog

Congratulations on your publication as a guest blogger! It’s time to promote your post and in the process, help your own site too.

Your social media platforms are the best options to share your work and gain more referral traffic.

If you have a content marketing team, you can also opt for a more classic strategy – email marketing. Just send your subscribers a friendly mail with the link to your guest post.

There’s another way though and it’s a bit tricky.

Link back to your guest posts from other guest posts. Most sites allow only one or two outbound links to your site. But you can link to other authoritative sites as much as you can. Use this flexibility to your advantage.

When writing the article, try to link out to your other guest posts on authoritative sites. This has many benefits.

For one thing, your blogs are going to expose your brand to a more varied audience. On top of that, since you’re linking to guest posts that are already linking to your site, the referral traffic will increase and so will your domain authority.

The ultimate goal of publishing a guest post is for it to rank well so your site gets organic traffic. You can wait for Google to index your post naturally at its own pace. But if the desired result is not there on time, you can try manual indexing techniques as well. Know more about how to index backlinks faster.

Submit your guest post following this step-by-step guide and see the result for yourself!

Common Guest Blogging Mistakes You Should Avoid

Publishing a guest post is no easy feat as you might’ve realized by now. It’s a lengthy process and novice bloggers are generally prone to some common mistakes that might take away this golden opportunity.

Here’s a list of mistakes you should steer clear of if you’re pursuing guest posts for your business-

• Having no fixed goal: You shouldn’t waste your resources if you don’t even know what you’re after. Without a goal, you’ll have no strategy either and the entire campaign will be useless. So, set your expectations and strategize accordingly.
• Targeting wrong sites: A clear goal should help you choose the right space for your blogs. If you’re looking for a new audience, a similar blog in your own niche shouldn’t be your target. You have to network a little better and find a unique audience you can cater to through your expertise.
• Poorly written pitches and e-mails: Pitches and e-mails serve as an introduction to you and your brand. If your pitch is plagiarized, unoriginal and too formal, your chances of acceptance will drop. Same goes for the emails. If this is how you usually make a first impression, you should revise your plans.

Bring forth some brilliant ideas on your own. Don’t be shy when presenting them. Swing for the fences with all you’ve got. This way, even if you don’t get the job done, you’ll know what went wrong and how to improve on it for your next pitch.

• Breaching blog guidelines: The editors and managers feel at ease when they find like-minded individuals for their blogs. To determine that, they check whether the bloggers strictly follow their guidelines or not. So, if you want to make it to the top of their priority list, start abiding by every rule they’ve written in the guidelines.
• Duplicate content: When you’re pitching ideas that are already there, you can’t expect to see a green signal. Also, blog guidelines explicitly mention some topics they don’t want to include. So, avoid them when preparing your pitch. If you forget to read the guidelines, you might as well forget about any future with guest posting.
• Low quality content: Content quality still matters even when you’re writing on a different site. If you ask us, we’ll say it matters more since you’re here to impress a whole new audience as well as the niche authority itself. So, put in the time and effort to do some magic and eventually, get your desired results.
• Failing to link: What’s the point of investing resources into guest posting if you can’t even manage some quality inbound links back to your site? Don’t hurt the quality of your blog by adding irrelevant links to the point where editors may even decide to cut it. So, stay on topic and add relevant links. You can take advantage of blog guidelines by linking other guest posts as we’ve suggested above.
• Not thinking of new audiences: This happens when you’re not familiar with user intent. Since you’re on a different domain, try to research more and find out what its audience looks for in blogs. Your content and style of writing should be on par with that specific user demand.

How LinkBuilderPros Can Help You Obtain High-Authority Guest Posts

Guest posting requires an extensive amount of labor for each department in an in-house setting. You can personally develop a system too but it will take longer than the standard timeframe before you can even submit a single post.

In case you’re at a disadvantage of time and manpower, you can rely on us here at LinkBuilderPros.

We have been a full-fledged link-building agency for over a decade now, specializing in white-hat SEO practices. What sets us apart from others in the industry is our proven track record of customer satisfaction and extremely successful link-building and SEO campaigns maintained by an experienced team of specialists.

If you are struggling with your guest posting strategies or looking for an agency to take care of this for you, get in touch with us for an expert opinion and effective results.

Final Thoughts

Here we have shown you how to submit a guest post.

Decide why you need guest posting in the first place and get to work! Follow our step-by-step guide and make the best out of your guest posting opportunity.

If you don’t have the luxury of time and resources, get in touch with us here at LinkBuilderPros and stay relaxed!

FAQs

Q. How long does it take for a submitted post to be reviewed?

Ans. Depends on the publisher. Usually, it takes about 2-3 weeks to review, edit, feedback and finally publish a blog.

Q. What format should my guest post be in?

Ans. You should follow the format recommended in the guest blog guidelines of your target website or blog.

Q. Is there a preferred word count for guest posts?

Ans. For guest posts, write a long-form content consisting of 800-1,500 words. Although the number is not fixed, keep it between this range and focus on the quality at the same time.

Q. Can I submit previously published content?

Ans. Almost all the high-authority blogs only allow original publication for guest posting. However, if you can add a unique perspective and value to the existing articles, some of the sites may reconsider.

mothasim

SEO & Growth Manager

A distinguished SEO and Business Development Consultant with a proven track record of helping businesses achieve outstanding results in the digital landscape. Throughout his career, Mothasim has worked with a diverse range of businesses, from startups to Fortune 500 companies.

His strategies are characterized by his meticulous attention to detail, data-driven decision-making, and a deep understanding of search engine algorithms. In his personal life, Mothasim enjoys hiking, photography, and volunteering in his community. He believes in giving back and is actively involved in mentoring aspiring SEO professionals. LinkedIn .