How To Ask To Guest Post, The Wrong Way

Guest posting for those of you who don’t know what it is, in simple terms, is the act of providing content (if form of an article, video, infographics, etc.), to a website or blog that belongs to somebody else. The numerous advantages of guest posting can be found all over the place and with all the recent changes that “search engines” have been doing to rank sites on their results, this form of “link building” is getting out of control.

Why Is Guest Posting So Popular?

The real benefits of guest posting, is primarily to gain exposure and build credibility. It is a win/win scenario for both the blog owner and the guest blogger. That’s my humble opinion. A guest blogger needs to know how to do things right, and on the contrary, the blog owner does have some few ethical standards to apply when accepting guest posts. It does work both ways you know?

However, and as I mentioned earlier, search engines, in their quest to provide the best user experience, has devalued and will continue to do so, many link building techniques. The main reason for that is because many link building tactics are done solely to manipulate results. Link building is an important SEO factor, but only if they are of good quality. Quality here translates to getting back links from authority and relevant sites, naturally and preferably from an editorial content. This is best achieved via guest posting.

With that said, here is where the problem starts to happen. Link builders, spammers, and the likes, have been going crazy sending request to blog owners for guest posting. There should be a “guide” out there circulating the sphere that is the “ultimate, blah, blah to link building”. It probably even provides “templates” of how to approach a blog owner to submit a guest post.

MyBlogGuest, in case you have not heard about it yet, is a free community that connects guest bloggers to blog owners. Since this is a community that is tailored to help bloggers connect with each other, they have an extensive experience on how to do all things guest blogging, properly. Recently, they have published a video, that reflects exactly what is going on at this moment. Take a moment to watch it as this is exactly what will get you slammed away from blog owners, apart from other bad side effects it may cause you. It is even humorous actually..

WRONG Ways to Ask for a Guest Post

Here’s another example of an email I received today (one amongst the dozens).

Hi Admin,

This is xxxx. I am an experienced writer interested in writing about web development, social media, wordpress and mobile application development. I wish writing for your blog for free. It would be great to hear back from you! I just want some linking to my website if approved.

Thanks,

Need I say more? I think that the message on that video is self-explanatory. Even if you are a link  builder, there are always some “creative” ways to go by. Here are some few pointers:

• Do actually visit the blog and browse through it
• Take the time to get familiar with the blogs topic
• Take the time to read the guest posting guidelines
• Show that you are credible by providing some examples of your previous writing
• Be honest and tell the blog owner that it is part of a campaign outreach, they will know anyway
• Above all, submit a guest post that is worth the “salt”. Refrain from general, broad, what to do’s and instead, give how to’s, actionable step-by-step guides, real and well researched stuff, the whole shebang.

How To Guest Post, The Right Way

I won’t really spend too much time talking about this. There are a lot of great tips and advice out there. Following are some recent articles that can help you understand the benefits, advantages, how to do things, the right way, and a list of authority blogs that accept guest post:

• Guest Blogging – Special Guest Blogging Edition (speedlink)
• Ultimate Guide: How To Choose a Publishing Blog
• The Best Sites For Guest Posting Opportunities
• How to Evaluate Guest Post Opportunities
• You Are So Wrong About Guest Blogging

How about you? Have you experienced this sudden flow of request from someone lately? What do you do when this happens. Ignore it, or do you go the extra mile of actually communicating with them?