How to Get Rejected As a Guest Blogger

Have you ever wanted to guest blog for someone?

Do you know how to go about it?

Well, what you are about to read is how not to do it.

Why guest blog?

For many people, writing as a guest blogger is a great way to raise their profile. They are motivated by wanting to add value to the blog in question and its readers.

Very noble.

For others, guest blogging is all about links and promoting their products and services.

How to kill your chances

The best way to screw up any chance of getting your guest post accepted is to:

1. Send a spam pitch

You should always email the blog owner to find out if they are open to the idea of accepting a guest blog post.

But many people send something that is obviously being sent to numerous blog owners in the vain hope that one of them will bite.

If you want to stand a chance of being accepted, make your pitch personal. Show them you’ve studied their blog and understand their audience.

2. Get the name wrong

There’s nothing more infuriating than getting an email addressed to Sammy when you’re name is Sally.

Using the wrong name is another great way to get rejected immediately. But if you want them to consider your proposal it’s a good idea to do a bit of research and address your email using the right name.

3. Waffle

Don’t worry about the length of your email; the blog owner is bound to have loads of time to wade through your ramblings.

But if you want them to take you seriously it’s wise to keep it short and sweet and just come right out and ask.

4. Don’t research

This one is great for guaranteeing a rejection. You don’t have time to read through all those blogs to find the one that’s best suited to your writing and subject. Who cares if you write about insurance and you offer your post to a home furnishings blog?

Mind you, if you did want to get it published it might be a good idea to have a read through the blog so you can get a feel for the type of thing its readership wants.

5. Lashings of soft soap

Starting your email with loads of flannel about how amazing the blog owner is, how amazing their writing is, how amazing they are as a person…is bound to work. After all, who doesn’t respond well to flattery?

Mind you the only thing they want to know is that you’ve researched their blog and are offering a post that would enhance it. So maybe the grovelling should be forgotten about.

How to get rejected

We’ve looked at how to kill your chances of being asked to guest blog, now let’s take a look at how to get your post rejected.

The following 5 tips will ensure your post gets rejected:

1. Stuffed links

Most blog owners are happy to provide a link to your website in your author bio or maybe even one in the body text.

So if your post arrives stuffed to the rafters with links it will be rejected.

2. Typos

The blog owner will read your post before deciding whether to publish it or not. Sending it in full of typos is a pretty good way of getting it thrown right back at you.

3. Bad information

Writing inaccurately or about, shall we say, dodgy content (such as promoting black hat SEO techniques) will get you rejected.

4. Poor quality

The blog owner isn’t stupid. If you’ve written the post purely to get back links it’s going to be obvious. Your writing has to be of a high quality otherwise – you guest it – it’ll be rejected.

5. Bad fit

Researching the blog you want to write for is more than just taking a quick peek at one post.

If your article bears no relation whatsoever to the general subject matter of the blog it’s going to be rejected.

 

So there you have it – if you write badly, fail to research or are motivated purely by back links, you’re unlikely to make it as a guest blogger.

But if you want to discover how to write guest posts and how to get asked back you might want to take a look at this post.