The majority of the information on how to write a guest post is written for the wrong audience. It is targeted at the author - the one sitting at the computer, pounding out an article they hope will get published. But the act that counts is one carried out by somebody else: the editor who looks at the pitch email, skims the opening paragraph of the proposed post and decides in less than two minutes whether to read the rest. Until you get inside that process you are writing in a bubble.
This article turns the process around. This article begins with the perspective of what editors see, not what contributors write, and the weight of the stream, the flow, the flicker of the eye that sorts the 80% of pitches that go to the bin from the handful that make it through. Knowing the editor's desk is the best way for anyone to approach guest post writing so you can land on sites worth writing for.
Whether you are a beginner following guest blogging tips, or an enterprise publishing dozens of guest posts per month, the takeaway from this article is the same: a clear definition of quality at each step along the guest post chain, from the title of the pitch, to the last line of the post.
DEFINITION
What is a Guest Post?
Writing a guest post is creating an original piece of editorial content to be published on a platform you don't own. It's an article contributed voluntarily or by invitation of the editor and features the author's byline and usually one or more links back to the author's website. The key difference between writing a guest post and authoring content for your own website is that all editorial decisions, including content format, tone, and the value proposition to the reader, must be made with the host publication's audience in mind, not the author's. The bar for quality is set by the editor, not the author, which is why the best input to a guest post strategy is to understand the editor's requirements.
What Editors Read in the First 90 Seconds
To understand the problem with so many guest post pitches, it's worth understanding the workload faced by editors. At any publication with a significant readership, the contributor mailbox receives a dozen pitches every week. Many receive hundreds. Editors aren't reading the entire pitch - they are prioritising for the cues that say a pitch is worth more than 30 seconds of the editor's time. They are making a series of decisions on whether to read or not, and most pitches are forgotten at stage one.
Time
Stage
What the Editor Is Considering
0–15 sec
Subject line scan
Is this right for the magazine? Is there an angle mentioned? We delete generic topics.
15–45 sec
Sender credibility check
Who is this person? A byline, a website, a LinkedIn? Namic or naminic pitches are never read.
45–90 sec
Pitch quality read
Is the writer good? Is there a thesis? Have they read our magazine? Here most pitches die.
90 sec+
Full consideration
Only those pitches that get past the first three steps are read. This is where the article idea is weighed up.
What this means is that the skill of writing a guest post is not in writing the article but in writing the pitch. A bad pitch obscures a good article. If the editor rejects your pitch at the subject line level, she won't know the article was any good. The pitch is the earliest draft of your editorial pitch - and it's the weakest.
How to Write a Pitch: The Pre-Work to the Article
The pitch for a guest post is a distinct, teachable genre, rather than a cold email. It is not for you to establish your credentials or introduce yourself. It's purpose is to convey one thing as succinctly as possible: I have an idea for an article, I know it will benefit your audience, and I can deliver it. Anything else is signal that makes it less likely to be answered.
A successful pitch is composed of four parts and it should be read in less than a minute. The first is a subject line that states the headline of the article - not "Guest post inquiry" or "Content collaboration" but the headline itself. The second is a brief (one-sentence) explanation of timeliness: why this is a topic of interest to the particular audience of this publication. The third is the thesis statement - the one debatable point the author will claim in the article, or the one question that the article will answer. Finally, the fourth is a one-sentence, confidence-inspiring note about the author's credentials. Not a biography. A single sentence that addresses the editor's question: why is this author the right author to write this article?
The easiest way to pitch failure is a body describing the topic of an article rather than the thesis. Good social media for B2B brands is a topic. An article about how LinkedIn newsletters have overthrown email as the best-converting organic B2B SaaS channel in the post-2025 algorithmic world is a thesis. Editors commission theses. They are offered topics every day and most are rejected.
Research: The Reading Before the Writing
The essential step in preparing to write a guest article for any publication is to read the publication's existing content. There are two reasons for this. First, it tells the contributor the voice of the publication - its degree of technicality, sentence structure, the relative proportions of data to narrative, the examples that its readers connect with. Meeting these criteria in a guest post submission is one of the most effective ways of demonstrating to an editor that the author has done their homework. Second, it reveals the gaps. An idea that seeks to cover an angle already well-covered in the publication in the previous 12 months will be turned away, even if it's a good idea. Uniqueness in the context of the publication is a must.
Ahrefs' Content Gap tool can help with this in identifying which areas a publication already ranks for organically, and which areas they don't (a research approach which simultaneously identifies editorial opportunities and confirms the topic's relevance to the publication). The Moz Link Explorer can be used to identify which of the publication's current articles receive the most external links, a good indicator of the types of articles that its readers find most valuable and trustworthy.
The Structure of Editors' Favorite Guest Posts
Guest posts that are accepted have a structure that is neither arbitrary nor formulaic. It is the natural structure of a logical editorial argument - the same structure of well-crafted journalism, useful long-form articles and credible thought leadership. Knowing it takes the guesswork out of writing.
The Opening: The Pass-Of-All-Passages
The opening paragraph of a guest post is the equivalent of the pitch subject line - it decides whether the editor, and by extension the reader, will read on. The one thing that's most likely to send a high-quality guest post back for revision is an opening that starts with a definition; a question to which the reader is not yet committed; or a statement so general it says nothing. Editors at high-authority sites have seen thousands of guest posts that begin with "In the digital age" etc. The reflex is deletion.
A compelling opening will do one of two things: it will make a particular, unexpected point that compels the reader's interest, or it will place the reader in a specific context that sets stakes in place. A guest post's opening is a promise - it is what the reader will win by reading the article and it is a guarantee that they will win it. If you could put a guest post's first paragraph at the top of any article on the subject, it hasn't done its job.
The Thesis: One Debatable Point, Up Front
Good guest posts make claims. They don't overview, explain or describe something, they make an argument, assertion or put forward a particular reading of evidence that will be backed up in the remainder of the article. This thesis should be written in the first 150 to 200 words, and should be specific enough to be argued against. If you can't disagree with a thesis, it isn't a thesis; it is a truism, and truisms do not get the attention that editors want from a piece.
In articles on guest blogging tips, how-to articles and expertise, the most common types of contributed articles, the thesis is often the specific trick or tip the article will teach. "Here is what most people do wrong," or "Here is the key element that determines whether this strategy will work" are two examples of thesis statements that create a reason to read. They make it clear to the editor that the article is advancing towards a goal, rather than repeating content the reader has seen.
The Body: Proof, Organisation and the Politics of Authority
The body of a guest post is only worth its word count if it is highly substantive in each paragraph. It should move the argument forward, provide evidence, or inform the reader in ways that the previous paragraph did not. Paragraphs that simply reiterate the previous paragraph, or transition with vague phrases ("first, second, third," etc.) or even exist mainly to reach word count are the paragraphs that quality editors edit out - or the reason they don't accept a piece for publication in the first place.
Evidence in a guest post can be in the form of original data your author has gathered with their own work or website, third-party research that your author has cited, case studies or named examples with measured results, or step-by-step knowledge they have gained through hands-on experience. What isn't evidence is assertion - the confidently stated assertion without proof. In 2026, with more AI-generated content coming online and the bar now set for the confident assertion of information, editors are understandably on the lookout for signs of real expertise. Data and experience are the two things that AI cannot provide, and that editors increasingly view as the key ingredient of a publishable contribution.
The Conclusion: Leave the Reader with a Specific
The purpose of the conclusion of a guest post is to give the reader something they didn't have before. That something should be specific, useful, and actionable - not simply a reiteration of the article's opening argument or a vague exhortation. Great conclusions push the argument further, drawing out a specific lesson implicit in everything the article has said and turning that into an actionable recommendation or insight for the reader. Editors read conclusions because they tell them whether or not the argument of the article leads anywhere useful or just peters out.
The Difference Between Approved and Rejected
The difference between a guest post that is immediately accepted and a guest post that is rejected or sent back for extensive revision is seldom about ability. It is always a matter of specific craft choices, either made or not made, by the contributor. The table below shows those choices at each step in the guest post.
Element
Approved Version
Rejected Version
Pitch subject line
"Why the 90-day SaaS onboarding rule is wrong (and what the data says) - guest post"
"Guest post submission / Collaboration opportunity"
Opening paragraph
A factual statement or example with data that will keep the reader reading
The definition of a term with which the reader is already familiar
Article thesis
An arguable point that the article will prove, in the first 150 words
A nebulous discussion of a generic topic with no clear ending
Evidence and examples
Original research, cited research, named examples or personal experience
Banalities without source
Links and sources
One or two links to relevant, valuable resources
A range of links to the author's commercial sites throughout
Tone and voice
An authorial voice that suits the publication and is expert
Corporate speak, passive voice, AI writing templates
Word count
Meets or just exceeds the publication's minimum word count with meat to fill it
Diluted to meet a word count with repetition, summaries and throat-clearing
Conclusion
A clear, relevant take away for the reader
A summary that repeats the introduction without adding anything
What Editors Reject in Guest Posts, And How Often
The most useful guest blogging tips include understanding the most common rejection patterns, because this turns the editor's decision-making process from an unfathomable black box into a diagnostic with predictable variables. Rejections are not necessarily a reflection of the contributor's talent - they are the result of an avoidable mistake. These are the patterns that explain the vast majority of rejections of guest posts at reputable publications.
Rejection Reason
Frequency
Fix
General pitch - no evidence of research into the publication
Very High
Cite a recent article and how your pitch relates to it
Lack of thesis: the article is not about an idea
High
Make a debatable statement in your pitch and verify it will be proven by the article
Advertorial pitch - sounds like a product placement
High
Take product and brand mentions out of the article, into the bio
Not unique content: the subject matter is a duplicate
Medium
Look for the gap, not the overlap, in the publication
Poorly written pitch
Medium
Consider it a writing sample; treat it as such
Too many, or irrelevant, links - multiple links to commercial sites
Medium
Link to own domain only once, and make it helpful
Ignoring word count or format guidelines
Low–Medium
Read and understand the contributor guidelines
AI-generated writing with no proprietary insight or data
Growing rapidly
Provide proprietary data or experience that AI doesn't have access to
10 Guest Blogging Tips That Will Get You Published
There are many things that can make the difference between good writing and writing that gets you published on a good publication. These are the canary elements that editors learn to watch for.
Rhythm and Paragraph Length
Editors in quality publications watch for monotony at the sentence level. Guest articles that treat every piece of information as if it were of equal importance by presenting it in sentences of a consistent length - long and complex, or short and declarative - are fatiguing to read, and the reader cannot pinpoint why. The most readily digested editorial writing uses a variety of sentence lengths, with shorter sentences to get to the point, and longer sentences to explore nuance. This is a matter of craft, not taste, and its absence is as noticeable to an editor as a spelling mistake.
Attribution and Source Citation
All empirical statements in a guest post must be sourced, and the source of the information is a measure of the article's, and the author's, authority. Credible trade publications and blogs cite primary sources - original research, data sources, peer-reviewed studies - not secondary aggregators or posts that cite other posts. Ahrefs publishes original, well-documented and highly cited research on ranking factors. Moz's Whiteboard Friday and research blog are examples of this. To cite them, with proper attribution, is to demonstrate to the editors that the author is working at a standard equal to that of the host publication.
Placement and the One-Link Standard
The impulse to provide multiple links to one's own domain in guest posts is unhealthy from an editorial standpoint and unhealthy from a commercial one. Good editors restrict the number of outbound links in the text of an article to those that are relevant to the reader - not the author. One, contextually relevant link to a page on the author's domain is the norm. Three, four or five links back to the contributor's domain denotes immediately that the author's primary interest is in securing links, rather than providing value to readers, which is the type of mindset quality editors are charged to filter out.
The Author Bio: Credentials Without the Resume
The bio that appears at the bottom of a guest post is the one place where the author's credentials and a promotional link are required by the editor. It's purpose is to signal the author's authority and offer a means for the reader to follow up. A bio that sounds like a sales pitch, including listing credentials in superlative terms, containing multiple links, or marketing a service or product, erodes the editor's voice that was established by the article in the first two thousand words. A bio that states the author's title, and their relevant experience in one sentence, and that includes a single link to the author's primary professional website or publications delivers the necessary information without compromising the editorial tone of the article.
Beyond the yes: optimising the SEO and relationship value of published posts
Guest post work doesn't stop once the editor has given the green light. The work that takes place in the weeks and months after a guest post is published affects the long-term value of the placement, both in the form of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and by the author's ability to place content at other high-quality sites.
From an SEO point of view, checking the live link in a backlink tool right after the post is published ensures that the link is there, pointing to the specified destination URL and using the specified anchor text. Repeating these checks at thirty days and again at ninety days confirms the link is still in place - not an uncommon development at publications that regularly update their posts. Google Search Console offers the clearest picture of the influence that the link has on the target page's impressions and ranking positions for target keywords.
If anything, the accepted guest post is only the start of the contributor relationship. Editors who published a single post are much more likely to publish another one from the author - if the author is sufficiently professional in their follow-up, rather than just sending another pitch. A simple thank-you, interaction with the post's comments or social sharing, and a second pitch two or three months later that expands on the first published contribution is the natural rhythm of a relationship. The authors who succeed in getting published in the highest-authority publications are virtually never those who are cold-pitching at scale. They're the ones who see each guest post as a stepping-stone to the next.
What All Guest Posts Have in Common
Broadly speaking, every guest post that receives instant approval by an editor has the same property: it respects the editor's audience. Not the author's search engine optimisation, not the author's personal brand, not the author's word count quota - the audience. The structure of the post is designed to meet the audience's expectations, the evidence presented is chosen to support claims the audience will accept as true, the style is pitched to the particular audience's expectations of the publication, and the post ends with something useful for the audience.
When this is achieved, editorial approval follows with little more than a nod. The article has already cleared the only hurdle. All of the guest blogging tips, all of the writing tips, all of the structural suggestions in this article are aimed at this one goal: writing that a given editor's target audience will appreciate. All else stems from that.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many words for guest post?
Most serious websites will specify a minimum word count in their editorial guidelines, usually 1,000 to 2,000 words. The short answer is that a guest post should be as long as it takes to prove its point - no more and no less. Editorial guidelines are as forgiving of being too short as they are of being too long. If the word count is 1,500 words, write 1,600 good words, not 1,500 words followed by 200 words of recap and summary. Good editors count content, not words.
How should I pitch a guest post?
The best guest post pitch is brief, specific and targeted. It mentions the publication's target audience explicitly, names one idea for an article with a specific theme rather than a broad topic, and includes a one-sentence pitch for why the author should be qualified to write it. It should be read in less than a minute. The subject line should include the article idea, not "guest post submission" or "content partnership". An article submission that could apply to any site will be perceived as a mass pitch, which it very likely is.
How many links are allowed in a guest post?
Most quality publications accept one or two body links, and one link in the author bio. Body links should be to resources that are helpful to the reader, not just the author's commercial sites. Having four or five links in a body, all pointing to the author's own site, is one of the primary reasons that articles are rejected or asked to be revised at editorial sites, as it suggests the author is more interested in links than in the value of the content for the reader.
Can I write a guest post using AI?
AI can be a helpful tool for research, planning and editing, but entirely AI-created guest posts are increasingly detected and filtered out of quality sites. By 2026, editors at reputable sites are familiar with particular patterns that AI-generated content exhibits, including the absence of an original point of view, reliance on generic content structures, the lack of original data or personal experience. More importantly, Google's Helpful Content algorithms favour expertise. A guest post that AI could write based on what's already on the web is generating less and less value in search engines, no matter where it appears.
Where can I guest post in my niche?
There are three ways that work best. One is to use the backlink analysis of the top websites in your niche with Ahrefs or Moz to find publishers who have published editorial content from authors in your niche. Second is search engine optimised queries - "write for us" and your target keywords - that reveal publishers actively seeking guest authors. The third is using a publisher marketplace that has verified over 50,000 publications by niche and domain authority, so you can search by your target criteria and save time in researching sites for regular outreach.
How do I write an approved guest post introduction?
The first paragraph should make a specific claim, put the reader into a specific scenario with clear implications, or offer a counter-intuitive point that creates a need to read more. It should not start by defining a familiar term, making a general statement about the rapid pace of change in the field, or asking a rhetorical question that the reader hasn't yet become invested in. The opening paragraph should earn the second paragraph (and each subsequent paragraph should earn the next). An opening that any reader could have written using Google will not grab the attention of the editor.
What should be in a guest post author bio?
The guest post author bio should include just three things: the author's name and title in one line, a single sentence that demonstrates their authority in the field, and a single link to the author's main professional home or work of published material. It should not feature product endorsements, multiple links, superlative statements, or the company pitch. The author bio should be used to establish authority and offer an organic opportunity for readers to engage further; not to prolong the sales pitch the main text has taken pains not to make.
How should I follow up a guest post submission?
One polite follow-up email to the editor, two weeks after the first non-responsive submission, is standard. Be succinct - one sentence confirming you are following up on the article - its title - and one sentence asking if there's anything else they require. Do not publish the article elsewhere until it has been accepted for publication, unless the publication's terms and conditions state that it is acceptable to submit the article to other publications after a certain period of time. After two emails in total, silence is golden. Move on to the next publication.
References
Ahrefs. (2024). Content Gap Analysis: Finding Editorial Opportunities. ahrefs.com/blog/content-gap
Ahrefs. (2024). How we calculate Domain Rating. ahrefs.com/blog/domain-rating
Moz. (2024). Link Explorer and Domain Authority. moz.com/link-explorer
Google Search Central. (2024). Creating People-First Content
Google Search Central. (2024). E-E-A-T: Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/quality-ratings-insights
Google Search Central. (2024). Webmaster Guidelines and Link Spam. developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies
