Sometimes your guest post is going to be rejected. That’s a fact.
The following tips are designed to support you to write the best possible article to be published on someone else’s blog, making sure all the different aspects of etiquette are completely covered to give you the ideal opportunity to get your online identity cemented through a really positive network of contacts and new readers…
Don’t be afraid
It takes courage to write your first guest post – but be brave. The blogosphere is a pretty friendly and accommodating space, and most people will be delighted to read something you have produced as a guest blogger. Go for it!
Ask what is needed, and write for it
Guest posting is about answering a need on someone else’s blog – and no-one can identify this need better than the owner. Remain open to possibilities, and ask your blog host to let you know the kind of article they are looking for – and then deliver it in line with their needs.
Proof it carefully
When you guest post, you need to give your article more love and attention than you would for your own blog – it’s an honour to post on someone else’s pitch, so make sure what you submit is worthy of the chance to increase your readership. Submitting an article with errors is disrespectful – make your writing so good, your host will be proud to feature it.
Don’t do direct selling
Nothing turns off a reader more than being sold to. If you don’t make a habit of direct selling on your own blog (which is good practice), then don’t decide that a guest post is a great place to do it either. When you write a guest post, you’re doing all you can to offer the site owner something which is relevant, interesting and pertinent to their industry – flogging your own wares will very rarely fit in to these categories.
Don’t diss your competitors
It may be ok to run down your competitors offline, but never bring this rivalry to a guest post. Readers don’t want to read about other people’s incompetency – it’s much better to write a guest post from a neutral perspective, choosing a subject which can teach your readers something new, or offer up an opinion which is inoffensive but interesting about your chosen subject. Keep criticism of others offline, and you’ll stand a much greater chance of inviting new readers to your own blog through your guest article.
Keep to the schedule requested of you
If you offer to write a guest blog for someone, make sure you ask them when they want it to be delivered by, and stick to that schedule. There’s a certain etiquette involved with sticking to your promised deadline, so that people can plan their own publishing schedule around your submission and make sure they can publish your article at the right time to suit their needs. Being late not only looks unprofessional, scuppering any future plans for networking, but it also puts the blog owner to inconvenience if they haven’t produced an alternative article to cover your late response.
Answer all comments
There is nothing worse for someone taking the time to write a comment on a blog than to have their feedback ignored. Make sure you check in with your guest blog post often after it has been published, so you can respond promptly to any comments that have been posted up in response to your article.
Even if you do all of the above your guest post could still be reject. If so, ask for some feeback.
Nice post. It sucks when your post is being rejected, but hey, that’s life. These tips will help boosting your succes rate though.
the best thing to do is write three articles and submit them to three different websites that way if one of your articles is rejected at least you have another two that have been submitted elsewhere.
The worse Thing to have happened is to submit one guest post and wait two weeks and then it’s rejected. It’s a total waste of time
I adopt a simple strategy-if even a single blog rejects my post, I believe it is not good enough for other blogs and i publish it in my blog
Tushar
If the blog post is not good enough to be published elsewhere – why do you think it is good enough for your own blog?
You should be aiming to publish the best you can!
Andrew
You have to remember that You could have a good post but it may not fit within the theme of the website you are trying to get post for.
I rejected a guest post that was talking about social media advertising even though my site is about SEO, blogging and social media.
The article just didn’t fit
Robert
I understand what you say but when Tushar said ‘not good enough’ – I took it as being not good enough to be published…not it was not a good fit.
Andrew
Hi Andrew
Simple message but highly effective,Now a day i found that every blogger attraction toward guest post and some post are not approved,But by doing these great correction in post which you show here every guest post easily will be easily approved.
Bhupendr
I would not say ‘easily’ but you do improve your chances.
Andrew
By following the points mentioned by you one can minimize blog rejection rate. We should always follow the instructions or guidelines set by the bloggers for whom we are writing.
Jane,
You make a good point in saying, “follow the instructions or guidelines set by the bloggers for whom we are writing”.
Andrew
Good advice – the best thing to do when your stuff is rejected is to dust yourself off and try again. It helps if you use rejection as a motivational tool to improve your skills and up your game for the next submission. Anyone who earns their living from writing will be familiar with rejection – the key is to learn from it and not to let it bring you down.
Totally agree, Alex.
And if your post is rejected ask for why – so you can learn.
Andrew
“Ask why your post was rejected” that is so simple but never even thought about that before LOL
The simple things are the best!
Andrew
I was told a long time ago not to knock the competition and it’s good advice, not many people want to hear negativity, they want to hear something new and positive and find out what you stand for.
I think it’s clear that if your article is rejected it’s time to check again everything from the scratch.
Sometimes waiting a couple of days can let you have a different point of view on the topic and write a better post.
Manuel
Yes – true…take a break from the post, reflect and re-write!
Andrew
You have to deal with it by acknowledging that it’s a numbers game. That’s how it goes in blogging in general, not just when you’re guest posting. For some a 10% approval rate may be good, so to me there’s actually no reason to feel bad about it, unless perhaps when you’re hitting zero per cent approval for an extended period.
crfis,
And if you get zero per cent approval…that might be the time to hire a writer!
Andrew
Corinne
Never be concerned about turning someone down. Remember it’s your blog…it’s your business!
Andrew
Don’t knock the competition seems so obvious to me, and yet many people need to hear it. How often does a political campaign turn you off because all they do is tell you about how horrible the other candidate is. The same is true here – focus on positives, not negatives.
Hi Andrew,
I’m wondering what’s the best course of action if the article is rejected. I mean, is it better to submit it to other blog owners? Or maybe it’s better off if you will re-write it.
Thanks
Gary
I would try and get some feedback as to why the article is rejected befoe making any decisions.
Andrew
It is a common mistakes by most guest blogger that they submit without proof reading the content and try to sell their or someone’s services directly (affiliate marketing) which is not ethical. Guest blogger should maintain the ratio of 80:20 i.e. 80 percent of an article should be informative and rest 20% of an article should be indirect selling.
Michael
Personally I don’t want to see any selling in a guest post I receive. Just a link back to their site.
Andrew
Once my guest post was rejected by some blog owner and I checked it, that was all right. Then I applied the same article to other blog and get approved. You have written some really good points what we should consider about guest post if it got rejected.
Prakash
We are all different – including different blog owners. Some will accept your gest post…others won’t.
Andrew