The Do’s and Don’ts of Guest Posting for Major Blogs

What do Mashable.com, BusinessInsider.com and Huffington Post all have in common? For one, each blog captures thousands of unique visitors and tens of thousands of page views in a single day. Second, they all accept contributions from guest authors, creating the potential to drive massive amounts of traffic to your website with just a single guest post.
But there’s got to be a catch. You’ve probably got to be a big name blogger with a huge audience like ProBlogger.com’s Darren Rowse to be eligible for publication on major blogs like that… Right?

No Name? No Audience? No Problem.

Believe it or not, you need neither name nor audience to get published. I used to think you did until I began to look more critically at the bylines of the writers listed on authority websites like BusinessInsider.com, currently listed in the top 500 most popular websites on the internet according to Alexa.
What did I discover upon closer examination? BusinessInsider.com publishes a lot of content from guest authors, most of which is from unkown writers you would not know, don’t have audience or fancy qualifications like an advanced degree from a prestigious school.
Best of all, these websites need a lot of regular outside contributions from guest writers. How much? Enough to dedicate a category
of the website just to content exclusively provided by writers/bloggers referred to as “Contributors”. None of the writer’s listed here are on the BusinessInsider.com payroll.
So if you don’t need a big name or any specific qualifications to contribute to these major blogs, what’s preventing you or me from getting our content published on behemoth blogs like this? That’s the question I posed to three regular contributors of BusinessInsider.com–Frank Gullo of RavenWeb.net, Hillel Fuld of TechnMarketing.com, and Sudy Bharadwaj of JackalopeJobs.com–to get a sense of what the average blogger/marketer should do to be considered for publication on a major blog.
While you’re probably not familiar with the writing or names of the writers I interviewed for this piece, collectively these three have been published on the biggest blogs with names you do know including the Huffington Post, Mashable and Gigom in addition to BusinessInsider.com.

What separates these guys from the rest of us?

I emailed each of these gentlemen to pick their brains and get advice on how they were each able to be featured on these blogs. Fortunately, for me (and you) they were generous with their expertise and provided a simple outline of do’s and don’ts that if followed greatly increases your odds of getting published on these sites.
Interestingly, but not surprisingly, each of the blogger’s I interviewed shared creepily similar recommendations for getting content published. There do’s and don’ts have been summarized below and edited slightly for readability purposes:
When submitting guest content to major blogs, do the following:
- Read and Follow Submission Guidelines to the Letter: Big blogs have much stricter requirements for what they can and can’t publish. Make sure the content you submit to these blogs aligns with posts that are regularly published by the blog both in content and style. Many of these blogs provide information about how to submit guest posts or contributions on a contact or contributor page.
In the case of becoming a contributor to BusinessInsider.com, all you need to do is to submit an email (contributor@businessinsider.com)
stating that you’re interested in writing for them.
- Respect the Editor’s Time: When you submit guest posts to major blogs, they’ll need to be reviewed by an editor or writer before they can be published. Again, make sure you have formatted your posts correctly, do not have any spelling errors, and provided a high-quality piece of content that can be published. The more time an editor must spend rewriting your post, the less likely it is to be published.
- Keep Communication Short: This related to the previous point. Don’t write long emails explaining your story ideas to editors or your career highlights. Keep pitches concise and to the point.
- Be Persistent: The folks that work at these blogs are extremely busy and being emailed, Tweeted, and instant messaged by people just like you all day, every day. As a result, it’s typical that at some point your message could be forgotten about or looked over. If an editor doesn’t respond to your request after 5 – 7 days feel free to send them a reminder. If you still don’t get a response, move on and try contacting a different blog or editor.
When submitting content to major blogs, don’t do the following:
- Don’t miss a Deadline: This is a deal breaker for most editors. If you say you’re going to get an article out
to them by January, 17th, stick to it. Miss one deadline and you won’t get a second chance with many editors.
- Don’t complain if you’re article is rejected: Believe it or not, even strong writers have their content rejected from time to time. If you’re article is rejected, simply ask how you can improve it or suggest writing a new article on a different topic. If you believe the rejected article is valuable, you can always submit it somewhere else later.
- Don’t Pester Editors: While you need to be consistent and occasionally send followup emails regarding the status of a post, don’t be a pain. Do not contact editors via social media daily much less hourly. A good rule of thumb is to provide at least 5 – 7 business days of breathing room between messages to an editor.
While you may not need a big name to contribute to today’s most popular websites, you will need to closely follow the editorial guidelines of each particular website and stick to the do’s and don’ts outlined in this article to get published on the biggest blogs.

This article originally published here
The Do’s and Don’ts of Guest Posting for Major Blogs

Google’s Stance on Guest Posting

Google has always been purposely vague about which backlinks are good and which are bad. Sure, we have “quality guidelines,” Penguin information, and Google’s Webmaster Central Blog, but there’s nothing definitive out there from G that gives guest posting a true green light.

The search giant has been clear about rewarding sites in the SERPs that sport backlink profiles full of high-quality websites; this much we know. The definition of “high quality,” however, is constantly shifting. It’s a moving target, and keeping up with the changes can make or break your website in the search results.

In a lucky turn of events for those of us in the world of SEO, Matt Cutts released one of his infamous Google Webmaster Help videos on YouTube, and in this one, he finally tackled the issue of guest posting for links. In particular, he addressed whether the practice helps websites climb the SERPs or instead earns them demerits from Big G.

What the Heck are “High Quality Writers”?

Matt Cutts made some comments about what exactly constitutes “high quality writers” in the video, and he noted that you should be happy to host content from these types on your blog. But who exactly comprises this elusive group of people? Well, first let’s look at what he said, then we’ll take it apart. Here’s a quote from the video:


“Say you wanna give a shout-out to Lisa Barone, or someone like that. She’s at a conference, she’s blogging, and maybe she wants to do a guest blog on some other blog… that blog should be happy to have her. You know, Vanessa Fox, Danny Sullivan, these sorts of people who write something [on a] different blog… in general, you should be happy to have them write an article for you. Because they’re bringing a lot of insight [and] knowledge to that.”

Sounds confusing, but if you read into what he’s saying, it’s actually not. The examples he gave are all respected leaders in the SEO industry. They’re well known, and Google knows that, so articles they write will have an Author Rank signal that will help them show up in the SERPs more readily than their lesser known counterparts.

But how does Google’s algorithm know they’re people who matter? Googlebot is still just a computer at the end of the day, so there are signals here that it takes into consideration in combination with PageRank. Check out these snippets of all three of the people Cutts mentioned in his quote as they appear in search results:

The first attribute I noticed right off the bat was the number of Google+ circles that each person was in – they number in the thousands… and, in Danny’s case, millions! It seems to be a major factor in authorship status. If you click on the “More by…” link in each result, you’ll find a list of other places around the web you can find authors. I noticed that each author penned articles for a handful of websites in their respective niches as well.

In essence, this means that Google defines a “good writer” as someone with their hands in many different (well-respected) pots. This must be a ranking signal, so take note, and make diversity a key part of your guest posting strategy as well.

Guest Posting No-Nos
In the video, Cutts dispelled some long-held beliefs about article marketing. He specifically pointed to the practice of submitting the same post, regardless of quality, on many different websites. It’s a no-no, and yes, it will count against you.

I found this extremely interesting given all the advice I’ve read over the years about the power of submitting one article to multiple websites. Cutts is stating here that the practice is bad and it will not help you – regardless of the quality of your content. Debate this all you’d like – his message was pretty clear, and I’m inclined to trust the source on this one.

Cutts also specifically condemned the practice of trying to “turn the crank” by churning out a barrage of similar (i.e., slightly reworded) guest posts as quickly as possible for a number of different websites. Make sure to submit different guest posts for every single website that agrees to host your content. Even if the topic is the same, strive to approach it from a different angle and include fresh new insights in each piece you write.

Here’s some other (more obvious) practices to steer clear of when you guest post. First, don’t submit spun content. At best, you won’t rank. Worst-case scenario: the bad content will count against your website. This one’s a no-brainer, and even if you tried to submit spun articles to respectable websites at this juncture, you’d be laughed all the way out the virtual door.

The news that guest posting is a go, when compounded with the fact that many other backlink-obtaining options are off the table, is creating a climate in which webmasters of established sites are swatting away guest post inquiries right and left. That’s why high-quality posts that rise above the rest are the only way to stay in the game if you want your content considered for publication.

More for You to Chew On
Your guest posts should have a unique angle. You can use news, evergreen topics, or industry info to your heart’s content, but whatever you do, strive to infuse everything you write with a one-of-a-kind perspective. Bring something to the table that readers won’t be able to find anywhere else.
It merits pointing out that Cutts made some clear remarks about word count for your guest posts. He said anything in the 200 – 400 word range was considered the “bare minimum” and it would not do readers much good. He didn’t give exact numbers, but he left viewers to infer that longer was better. I’m guessing something in the 800 – 1000 word range is likely the sweet spot. Don’t write to fill the page, however. Every sentence you write should be a tool religiously working toward one goal: adding something valuable and unique to the larger conversation.
Now we know that guest posting is a good thing – if you do it right. Thank god. For a while all that was coming out of G’s camp was “write it and they will come.” This isn’t Field of Dreams, here – it’s the Internet, and the competition is cutthroat. It’s nice to know we have Google’s blessing to add guest posting to our arsenals.

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Nell Terry from SPN

Guest Blogging: Google Says Yes, But Is Your Ranking At Risk?

I don’t know about you, but I was certainly holding my breath when I saw the title of Matt Cutts’ recent video: “What is Google’s view on guest blogging for links?”
My immediate reaction was, “Oh, no! Now what?”
Not to worry, though, Cutts says using guest blogging to build backlinks is perfectly acceptable in the eyes of the Google gods. But, it’s what he didn’t say that concerns me.

In his video published Oct. 9, 2012, Cutts says, as a blog owner, you should be happy to accept guest blog posts from “high-quality writers” who can bring unique insights to your blog. Cutts went onto discuss how some guest bloggers might not be as well-known or as knowledgeable as their “high-quality” counterparts but, generally, their guest blog posts should be welcome on your blog, too.
Then Cutts switched gears and talked about it from the guest blogger’s perspective. According to Cutts, many bloggers who use guest blogging to build backlinks are spinning their submissions and treating them with the same lack of concern for quality as they do their other link-building activities, like the articles they submit to directories for example. From my own personal experience, I have to agree.

Over the last five weeks, I’ve been studying the URLs and content on one particular blog. (The name is irrelevant and I wouldn’t share it anyway, so don’t ask.) This blog is a Google PR6, it’s about three-and-a-half years old and it has well over 1,000 posts, a good percentage of which are guest posts.
Most of those guest posts are poorly written. The grammar is atrocious, and most contain no fresh or unique information — they simply regurgitate the same old content you find all over the Web. None of the guest bloggers could be considered “high-quality writers” by any stretch of the imagination. It’s obvious these posts are being submitted for the backlinks.
Now, here’s where blog owners need to start reading between the lines and putting two and two together.

In his video, Cutts says: “Just be mindful that (guest blogging) can absolutely be taken to extremes and, in the same way that some practices which make a lot of sense when you think about it with high-quality people, when you’re just doing it as a way to sort of turn the crank and get a massive number of links, that’s something where we’re less likely to count those links.”

If Google is less likely to count those links, what does that say about the blog those links are coming from? In other words, are you risking your ranking by accepting those lesser-quality guest blog posts?
Until now, discussions on guest blogging always focused on how it benefits both parties and what you can do to have your guest posts accepted. But there’s never been a discussion on what it does to your blog if you’re the one publishing the guest posts. With the proliferation of guest posts popping up all over the Web, maybe it’s time to have that discussion.

Are You Risking Your Own Rankings When You Use Guest Bloggers?
The blog mentioned above is PR6 but, if you saw it, you’d know that ranking has very little to do with the quality of the content. The owner is a master at keyword research and SEO techniques. Nearly every single URL on his blog ranks No. 1 on the index.
However, at least one-third of those URLs are poor quality guest blog posts and the only reason they’re at the top of the index is because they focus on non-competitive, irrelevant keywords — because they’re written by guest bloggers who are just out for a link.

As it stands, this is a win-win situation for both parties. The guest blogger gets a backlink from a high ranking blog and the blog owner gets more URLs indexed which improves his ranking across the entire site. The question is: How much does publishing this poor-quality content hurt his integrity with his readers? And, more important: Now that Google is talking about guest blogging, could he potentially be risking his rankings?

Take A Look At Your Internal Linking Structure
One reason this blog has a high page rank is because of the internal linking structure. Every single post on the blog is within two or three clicks of the home page. Everything is linked together, which is exactly what Google wants.
But what if one-third or more of your internal links were devalued? Even worse, what if they were also de-indexed? Remember, Cutts just said, “… we’re less likely to count those links.”
It would seem like a no-brainer: If you’re a blog owner, don’t accept poor-quality guest blog posts. Yet, I see it every single day, on blogs in all niches, all over the Internet.

Look at it From Your Readers’ Perspective
A lot of blog owners accept guest blog posts to “pay it forward” and help a new blogger get some exposure — and that’s wonderful. But, aside from the fact that you’re not really helping them if you let them believe their poor-quality work is acceptable, you need to take a look at it from your readers’ perspective.

Your readers come to your blog because they respect you and look up to you as an authority figure, someone they can learn from. When you introduce them to no-name, poor-quality bloggers who are just out to get a link, then they’ve got to wonder how you got to be such an authority if you’re hanging out with these “lesser- quality writers” — aka: Spammers.
Think about your favorite talk show host. What kind of guests do you like to see? Usually, the guests who bring in the largest number of viewers are those who out-rank the host in some way. Oprah is famous herself but when she interviews someone even more famous, like Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks, her ratings skyrocket.

I already have several blogs that I no longer visit because they’ve basically turned into article directories. They accept guest blog posts from anybody with a pulse. People land on article directories as a result of an organic search. But they don’t go back when they
need more information. They do another organic search and go somewhere else. And that’s definitely not the way you want to run your blog.

I know some blog owners are vocal advocates of guest blogging so they accept every guest post that comes their way. But you need to ask yourself if it’s worth it. Do those guest posts really bring in that much additional traffic? If they do, does that additional traffic
convert into subscribers and/or increased sales?

Do your regular readers read those blog posts, leave comments, and share? Do your followers think those guest blog posts fall into the “quality content” category? If not, you may be watering down your blog, at least as far as your subscribers are concerned.
More important, in the not-to-distant future, you may be risking more than your reputation. You might be risking your ranking with Google.

Don’t Just Accept Guest Blog Posts, Ask For Them
I think a lot of blog owners are under the impression that their only options are to either accept guest blog posts or reject them but you have a third option. Why not ask for them? And not just from any Tom, Dick or Harry who happens to need a backlink and sees your “We Publish Guest Posts” banner. Why not ask those “high-quality people” Cutts is talking about?
Which bloggers do you look up to? Who do you turn to as your own source of information? These are the guest bloggers you want.

These are the guest bloggers who will add value to your blog. These are the guest posts that will survive the updates if Google decides to start penalizing blog owners for posting poor-quality guest blog posts.

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Donna Anderson Post from: SiteProNews