Guest posting is a common practice among bloggers and a smart move for driving traffic to your site, building brand visibility, and earning relevant exposure. However, it’s tough to get started, especially if you don’t know how to write a guest post pitch.
Fortunately, once you get the hang of it, nailing your guest post pitches will feel like second nature. It’s all about thinking strategically and knowing your audience. However, you’ll need to consider your audience as both the blog you’re submitting to and the target reader.
A quick note before we begin. We asked our friends at WordCandy to write this guide based on their in-depth experience with guest blogging. We figured that if we’re going to publish a detailed guide on pitching guest posts, we might as well get it done by someone who’s expert on the topic. Enter John:
At WordCandy, we spend a lot of time writing guest posts for other blogs. In our experience, when it comes to pitching ideas, appealing to everyone along the chain is vital for landing the gig.
In this article, we’ll discuss five key steps we at WordCandy have found helpful in pitching guest posts to other blogs. We’ll also include a simple template, a sample outreach email, and a few practical lessons we’ve learned from real pitches. Let’s dive right in!
📚 Table of contents:
- Choose your target blog
- Research your target blog (and reach out if necessary)
- Come up with one or more topic ideas
- Write a concise summary of each idea
- Submit your topic idea(s) to the target blog
How to write a guest post pitch (in 5 steps)
1. Choose your target blog
When you’re desperate for traffic, it can be tempting to rapidly send off guest post pitches to as many companies, multi-author content hubs, and individual bloggers as you can find. However, this strategy is not much different than throwing fistfuls of spaghetti against the wall and hoping it sticks.
The first step to a successful guest post pitch is to choose your target blogs carefully. This can help you avoid wasting time on publications that aren’t a solid fit for your style, content, and ideal audience.
A wise place to start is by looking at…
- The blogs you read.
- Businesses where you currently shop.
Chances are, your target audience may be into the content these entities produce, too. Plus, because you’ll ideally like the publication you’re writing for, you’re more likely to feel motivated to give them your best work.
What’s more, blogs and businesses whose audiences overlap with yours can be a source of long-term future relationships. This means your guest post pitch isn’t necessarily a proposal for a one-time deal. It carries an implicit offer of further work and could lead to additional guest posts or brand deals.
Apart from these types of publications, looking for other blogs that are similar to yours and also have a small following can be mutually beneficial. Chances are other new or small-time bloggers are also eager for a chance to guest post. Offering a post on your blog could help you land one on theirs, although it’s not something we do currently at WordCandy.
2. Research your target blog (and reach out if necessary)
Once you’ve crafted a shortlist of blogs where you’d like to guest post, it’s time to do some research. Even if you think you’re familiar with your target blog, this step is still key. You may know a blog as a reader, but that’s different from knowing it as a writer.
First, look around the site and see if there’s any information about guest posting. The blog you’re targeting may have guidelines you’ll want to follow if you want them to accept your pitch.
Next, check out their archives and be on the lookout for any gaps in their content you could fill. The best pitches will offer something to the target blog which that blog currently can’t offer – such as your expertise on a subject the blog’s audience is interested in. This is where being an authority within your niche could land you work.
Note information such as:
- Post length
- Image usage
- Tone
- Style
As a guest poster, you’ll probably be able to bring some of your own unique voice to your post. However, your target blog will still want your work to blend in well with their overall content strategy.
If you’re lucky, you may sometimes have sites reach out to you and offer you a chance to guest post. However, more often than not you’ll be the one who has to make contact. At this point, you should be ready to reach out and ask the target blog if they’re interested in working with you.
One quick but important note: guest posting should be approached as a brand-building and audience-building tactic, not as a way to mass-produce backlinks. If a placement is sponsored or part of a commercial arrangement, be transparent about it, and don’t assume every link should pass ranking credit. Likewise, overly optimized anchor text can make a pitch look spammy even before an editor replies.
3. Come up with one or more topic ideas
With any luck, your research will pay off and your target blog will respond to say they’re willing to hear your pitch. This means it’s time for more research – as such, you’ll need to pitch some topic ideas.
Some of the information you’ve gathered in the first two steps will be useful, such as gaps you found in the archives or other subjects related to your niche. However, there are additional features that make up a well-crafted topic idea, too.
For starters, don’t forget about search engine optimization (SEO). Choosing topics with high-volume keywords will show the target blog you know what you’re doing and may incentivize them to accept your pitch, as a well-optimized post will drive traffic their way as well.
Trending topics can also be solid material, provided you have a unique take on them. Stay away from repeating the same information readers can find anywhere on the web and instead put a fresh spin on it.
Unless the target blog has specifically asked you not to, it’s wise to come up with more than one topic idea to pitch. This way if they reject one, there’s still a chance they’ll take another. Three to five ideas is ideal, and any rejected ideas can form part of a ‘pull-list’ for future guest post submissions.
In our experience, broad ideas usually underperform specific ones. A vague pitch such as “content marketing tips” is easy to ignore, while a focused angle tied to the site’s audience is much easier for an editor to evaluate. We’ve also found that ideas that closely duplicate something already in the archive tend to get rejected fast, even when the writing is strong.
4. Write a concise summary of each idea
Once you’ve chosen the topics you want to pitch, you’ll need to write up a short description for each of them. This should include:
- The post’s headline or title
- An SEO keyword (optional, but potentially helpful)
- Suitable anchor text and URL, if relevant. This is optional, and should only be included when it’s genuinely useful and appropriate for the target blog.
- A summary of what the post will include
For the summary, you’ll want to keep things brief but also provide a comprehensive look at what your proposed post will include. Start with a brief explanation of what it will cover, such as “A guide to writing guest post pitches for bloggers.”
You’ll also want to mention any key brands, products, or services you intend to feature. This will ensure you don’t blindside the target blog with links they don’t approve of. Doing so can seem suspicious or potentially spammy, which is the last thing you want.
You might also consider including any key references you plan to cite. This is especially crucial for interview-style posts, for instance. While you don’t need a whole bibliography by any means, a citation or two can make you appear knowledgeable and reputable, and hint at the depth you’ll provide.
To make this more concrete, here is a simple format you can adapt:
- Headline: The proposed title
- Keyword: The primary search term, if relevant
- Angle: Why this topic fits the blog’s audience right now
- Summary: 2-4 sentences on what you’ll cover
- References or examples: A brief note on any experts, tools, or case studies you’ll mention
5. Submit your topic idea(s) to the target blog
You’re now ready to send your pitches off to the target blog for approval. Make sure they’re formatted in a clear, readable way to avoid confusion. We typically use a format like the following:
- First Headline. [Keyword]. [Anchor text]. A short description of the post, followed by any points of interest we plan to include.
- Second Headline. [Keyword]. [Anchor text]. The post’s short description, then a summary of any important aspects we plan to include.
It’s also considerate to include a little personalized thank-you to the person who will be reading your pitch. Showing that you’re agreeable and easy to work with can make you more desirable as a guest poster.
Finally, keep in mind that – especially on large sites – it can take a while to hear back from your target blog. Online content is fast-paced, so hopefully, they’ll respond to you quickly. However, they also likely have other responsibilities, which could delay their feedback. In short, don’t expect a ‘quick win’ unless you’ve made direct and personal contact with the person in charge of publishing.
If you’re wondering how this looks in practice, here’s a simple sample pitch email:
Hi [Editor’s Name],
I’ve been reading your content on [topic], and I especially liked your recent post on [related article or theme]. I write about [your niche], and I wanted to see if you’d be open to a guest contribution.
Here are three ideas I think would fit your audience:
- How to Write a Guest Post Pitch That Editors Actually Read. Keyword: guest post pitch. A practical guide to researching target blogs, finding content gaps, and writing concise outreach emails that feel relevant rather than generic.
- 5 Guest Posting Mistakes That Get Pitches Ignored. Keyword: guest posting mistakes. A post covering weak personalization, recycled ideas, spammy link expectations, and poor topic fit, with examples of how to fix each issue.
- A Simple Guest Post Pitch Template for First-Time Bloggers. Keyword: guest post pitch template. A beginner-friendly template with subject line examples, idea summaries, and a short follow-up script.
If any of these sound like a fit, I’m happy to expand an outline and tailor it to your editorial guidelines. Thanks for your time.
Best,
[Your Name]
A weak version of this email would be a generic note sent to dozens of sites with no personalization and only one vague idea. A stronger version references the blog directly, offers multiple relevant topics, and makes it easy for the editor to say yes to one of them.
As for follow-ups, we’ve had the best results by being polite and patient. If you don’t hear back, a short check-in after a reasonable wait is fine. Editors are busy, and one concise follow-up is usually more effective than repeated nudges.
Conclusion
Guest posting can help get your blog’s name out into your niche and drive traffic to your site. Learning how to write a guest post pitch is an important skill for bloggers looking to expand their reach.
In this post, we’ve discussed five steps we use at WordCandy to write top-notch guest post pitches:
- Choose your target blog.
- Research your target blog (and reach out if necessary).
- Come up with one or more topic ideas.
- Write a concise summary of each idea.
- Submit your topic ideas to the target blog.
Do you have any questions about how to write a guest post pitch that gets accepted? Let us know in the comments section below!
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