5 Ways to Blow Your Guest Post Pitch

Guest posting can broaden your blog’s reach and build quality backlinks to your site. But as with any popular technique, abuse is on the rise. I manage guest posting campaigns for clients and have written a few guest posts myself. And even though I don’t provide a contact us form on this blog and I don’t solicit them, I get a number emails pitching me on guest posts for WebEnso, which I usually don’t accept.

Here are 5 reasons why:

1. Typos and awkward English in the pitch email. For example, from a recent email that I got: “hereby suggesting you topics”. I get that the outreach process is time consuming and people like to outsource it. But I strongly recommend you at least review the pitch or personally write it yourself. A template that can be customized can work well for volume outreach. A well written pitch reassures me that I will get an article that an English teacher would like.
2. Telling me you will write on any topic. So you are an expert on everything? Nothing? This makes me think I’ll get some rehashed post if not an outright duplicate.
3. Pitching me on the wrong topic. I write on WordPress, SEO and Online Marketing. So I’m not interested in consumer topics such as The Top Ten Mobile Apps even if it is about technology. Read through my blog and see what might fit, if you pitch me on a Social Media or Local SEO topic my finger might hesitate on the delete button.
4. Offering to pay me for the guest post. Paid guest posting is against Google’s guidelines. So as a white hat SEO, of course I’m not interested. However demanding payment for publishing a post is a rising trend, especially among the mommy bloggers.
5. Not sending a pointer to the site you want to link to in the bio. If you want a followed link from this website, even if you are doing me the favor of writing a well crafted relevant post for my audience, I want to know up front what I will be linking to.

Now that you know what not to do, here’s a few tips

• Tell me a little bit about you. Part of guest posting is establishing relationships with other bloggers, so make sure I don’t feel like I’m dealing with an anonymous person by sharing a bit on who you are and what your expertise is.
• Read my blog, including the About page. By reading 5 posts or so, you should be able to figure out what I’m strong in and what I might consider a gap in my blog and would welcome a guest post on. Try to find a topic that is relevant but not the thing I write on the most (like WordPress SEO). I’ve given the examples of Social Media and Local SEO, but other topics that could work are Analytics, Conversion, Email Marketing.
• Write a short and compelling pitch. Your pitch needs to be perfect. Get to the point quickly, pitch the topic and tell me why you think my blog would be good fit. Be persuasive. The more unique the topic the better (avoid me too posts). Reassure me that the article will be unique. Lists (5 Ways to …) often work, although personally I think they are a little overdone. It’s Ok to send more than one topic idea in a pitch.

Of course you should read and follow the guest post submission guidelines. And sending pointers to your writing is a good idea too.