How to write a guest post that will be published with pleasure and for free on top sites

Bringing new visitors to your site, gaining backlinks, and increasing brand trust are the main goals of guest posting. To get the most out of this tool, you will need to do a bit more than order copywriting from a good performer. We explain how to attract the attention of editors at top platforms so they will publish your material.

Let’s start with a definition: what is a guest post? It is a way to promote a website, blog, or personal page of an expert on an external site. There are only two mandatory conditions in this case: the owner of the external site places a link to your resource, and you share useful content for their audience. So, it’s always a win-win situation where you mutually benefit each other.

If you have already compiled a list of authoritative platforms where you want to publish your guest posts, you can confidently move on to the next steps.

Choose a Captivating Topic

Carefully consider what to write the post about: how to use ChatGPT in your niche, what to expect after the next Google update, or even share an interesting case in the style of “who’s great — I’m great.” The publication should be interesting not only to you but also to the audience of the guest platform, and it should also align with the theme of the site: marketers are unlikely to be inspired by a story about the subtleties of flower bouquet arrangement, and copywriters — about diversification in cryptocurrency. You can always bring ready material, but it’s better to offer the editor a few topics to choose from or ask what currently attracts their audience the most.

At the same time, the ready article should align with your business goals — to obtain a quality backlink, a certain number of visits to your site, or registrations via a referral link.

Write Expert Material

Forget about guest posting for the sake of backlinks: you are expected to provide quality material that will be beneficial. You can share a solution to a problem that specialists in your niche often face, compare several tools, or provide examples of their use — there are always many options.

Pay attention to the presentation of information: on one hand, readers should see you as an expert, and on the other hand, they should read the text written in a clear language and in a friendly manner. Don’t be afraid to use slang and specialized terminology, but know the limits — an editor will help you with this. And it’s okay if after reading the guest post they want to slightly change the title or rewrite the introduction, as they know the tastes of their site visitors much better than you do. Just ensure that the meaning and key accents are preserved, although experienced editors will definitely not have any issues with this.

Regarding the size of the article, there are various opinions: some experts insist on publications of at least 1000 words, while others recommend limiting it to 500 words to increase the chances of being read. However, the optimal option is to choose the length of the post based on other texts on the guest platform and the volume necessary to cover the chosen topic.

Illustrate the article

Let it not only be practical examples but also a unique visual array. Although the creation of the latter can confidently be entrusted to generative artificial intelligence (for example, Midjourney or Leonardo), do not neglect “live” photos where you promote yourself as an expert or can visually illustrate the results of your work.

Quality infographics work wonderfully — they help to “tell” complex things simply and engage people who prefer visual information. Moreover, infographics are often saved or shared with other users. Use Canva, Figma, and other similar services to make images truly interesting and useful.

Try to overcome your inner “impostor”

This recommendation applies not only to beginners, as even experienced authors often have a fear of publishing their material. Use the knowledge gained about how to spark the editor’s interest and properly convey the value of your material to them. At the same time, remember that the editor needs expert content, which also shapes their reputation, so write to the best of your ability.

Here are a few short working recommendations that will help make your guest posting experience successful:

• familiarize yourself with the guest platform in advance using publicly available sources;
• read the guidelines for guest posting on the site before the first contact with the editor;
• do not advertise, but be a source of unique or at least useful information;
• introduce yourself briefly and provide only real information about yourself, your website, or blog;
• write expertly and correctly to make a good impression on the visitors of the guest platform;
• do not neglect formatting to make the text easier to perceive.

Writing and publishing a quality guest post online for free is quite a quest, but now in the form of this text (by the way, also a guest post) you have received instructions that will help you move in the right direction and benefit your business.