Guest Posting - Would you say yes? Poll yes/no - Vote

[gooderpoker]

I have been trying some time now to find some websites to allow me to guest post. It seems some niches have a better chance of success than others, but still my conversion rate is low. For every 50 emails sent I would say i get 1 aceptance each time.

I was wondering if guest posting is not widly accepted, and if my rate of success is good.

What type of content would you hope to receive from a guest poster?
What would you look for in a guest poster?

[Michael Martinez]

I think the SEO community has burned through guest posting pretty badly. I've come across bloggers lamenting the practice of reaching out for opportunities to guest post going back to 2010. It seems the number of complaints are increasing in recent months.

I suspect that the search engines will do something about guest posting for links in another year or so. Too many "guest posters" are only in it for the links. They write short, crappy articles that say nothing and contribute no value to any Website.

Regardless of the vertical I was in, if I were to accept unsolicited guest posts I would want them to be:

• At least 1,000 words long
• Entertaining and informative (no mushy generalizations)
• Generous in linking out to OTHER Websites (not just the guest poster's site)
• Focused on creating value for MY visitors

As long as people only look as guest posting as a means of obtaining links they will screw themselves and the blogs that accept those shoddy posts; and other bloggers will have no interest in accepting that kind of content.

Don't just ask other sites to give you value (in terms of links) -- create REAL value for THEM.

[wjb316]

I'm with you... it's tough to find places for guest posts. I think the problem is two-fold:

1. There are a lot of people who submit crappy content (like MM stated) and that turns off webmasters to the whole idea. There are just not very many people capable of writing/willing to write high quality content.

2. A good number of webmasters are still afraid to link out for some sort of misguided SEO reason

[thefarang]

I get a lot of emails from people wanting to guest post on my site. I would say that I end up rejecting 9 out of 10 submissions. I'm to the point where I often just tell people not to even bother submitting a sample if I get even a whiff that they're not a serious poker person. As I say on my contact page, the point of a guest post is to bring value to my readers, not supply you with a backlink.

The problem is that most SEO oriented people seem clueless that people don't want to read a bunch of keywords. Their submissions are mostly spun content cleaned up by a human.

I've had a few successes but the waste of time dealing with all of the failures is making me reconsider whether or not I just delete guest post requests. Maybe the sites that you're targeting have reached that threshold already.

How are you approaching them? Cold emails? What's your script look like? Is it a basic form email that pitches all the SEO benefits without mentioning how valuable their readers will find it?

Another thing to keep in mind is that you win major credibility if you post a few brilliantly articulated thoughts in the comments before you ask to guest post. Even if we disagree, I'm more than happy to present different points of view when someone demonstrates the ability to share an intelligent perspective.

[yeahfree2]

let's be honest also here, i mean, why would i give away my best piece of content to another site instead of putting it on my own site?
i can only think on extra exposure for the author (which could be something, based on coming authorRank) or for getting extra exposure for my sites

[thefarang]

let's be honest also here, i mean, why would i give away my best piece of content to another site instead of putting it on my own site?
i can only think on extra exposure for the author (which could be something, based on coming authorRank) or for getting extra exposure for my sites

But that's exactly what you should want out of it. You're trading the site owner your content for the exposure they can give you. Their site didn't become popular posting a bunch of keyword stuffed crap so they're not going to want to post that $20 article you just bought that uses the phrase "online poker" 30 times in a 200 word article.

I've written for several different poker industry publications over the years. Most of them approached me but the model usually was that they would ask me to write a version of some piece of content that I had written on my site. So let's say I wrote a 2000 word article on poker affiliates after Black Friday. They might ask me to write a 400 word version for their print or online magazine.

I'm more than happy to write that article regardless of their back linking policy because I'm going to link to their article from my original article to build up my authority (not necessarily authorRank). When people read my version they'll see that I have also written for a publication they likely already trust. Since they know that the editorial standards are higher for an industry media source than just some random blog, whatever I say in my article picks up instant credibility.

And, guess what, readers on my site find the article and post about it on Twitter, Facebook, or mention it on their sites. Even if the publication has a no-linking policy I still end up getting a huge spike in traffic, newsletter signups, and Twitter followers without a single link back from the article I wrote.

And isn't that the point anyway? What's the point in ranking well in Google? To get targeted traffic. So if you can bypass Google and get that traffic in some other way, why wouldn't you?

Like I said, it's unfortunate but too many people think only in terms of making money. Not that there's anything wrong with making money (in fact, I'm a huge fan of making money) but like you said, why give away your best content? Well, because my supply of great content is endless. I can give away an article and write another one. If your problem is that you only have one or two pieces of killer content in you, well, maybe that says a lot about your viability as a long-term business.

[yeahfree2]

And isn't that the point anyway? What's the point in ranking well in Google? To get targeted traffic. So if you can bypass Google and get that traffic in some other way, why wouldn't you?

my response was too short minded (and too much focused on the rankings maybe ). Especially for getting traffic in any other way i totally agree with you.

[pokeraussie]

The problem is everyone has jumped on the guest posting bandwagon and their submitting rubbish content just for the links and bloggers are coming to realise that instead of getting some great free content for their site that they don't have to write themselves they're likely to get utter crap that is either spun or highly promotional just to promote a site. Once a SEO tactic starts getting abused it becomes less effective.

[thefarang]

The problem is everyone has jumped on the guest posting bandwagon and their submitting rubbish content just for the links and bloggers are coming to realise that instead of getting some great free content for their site that they don't have to write themselves they're likely to get utter crap that is either spun or highly promotional just to promote a site. Once a SEO tactic starts getting abused it becomes less effective.

Case in point: Someone just sent me a completely unsolicited article that starts off with a line saying that Texas Hold'em is called the Cadillac of poker. My blog readers are highly weighted with affiliates, execs at the poker rooms, pro players, etc. An article at this level would be insulting. The person who submitted it obviously took no time whatsoever to get a sense of the what would fit in with my site.

And, I get several of these a month. How long does it take you to get to the point where you just expect crap? :-)

[cernus11]

I love guest posting and content solicitation - if you create one high quality article for each blog that accepts and you make sure the blogs are of a certain standard you can't really lose. Some general rules I have learnt :

- Women typically get a better response rate
- Don't pitch a pre written article - offer topic ideas and write to their specifications/ideas
- Provide examples of previous high quality guest post articles you have written
- Personalize the email where possible
- Make sure the post written is high quality and unique.