Guidelines and Suggestions for Guest Posts at ProBlogger
Thanks for your interest in writing a guest post for ProBlogger.
To help you with your writing and me with getting your post ready for publishing on ProBlogger I’ve put together a few guidelines and suggestions for you below.
Please Note: what follows are not hard and fast rules. Ultimately I want people to write in their own voice. However the following might help your post to ‘fit’ better with ProBlogger and get the attention it deserves.
Topics
Posts work best on ProBlogger that are relevant to my overall topic - making money from blogging. Of course there is a lot of room to move in this overall topic - really anything that helps a blogger improve their blogging will be helpful for readers.
My readers love practical tips. Anything you can include that is a ‘how to’ or something that they can go back to their blog and try out immediately will be greatly appreciated. Even more theoretical posts that have something in them that readers can ‘do’ rather than just ‘know’ is good.
Voice
Some guest posters worry about what voice or style to write in. Ultimately this is up to you and I want to encourage you to bring your own voice to your post. My readers are used to my voice (I try to be personal and relatable) however it’s up to you how you approach it.
Sub Headings
I love to use subheadings in my posts. This breaks up the content and helps draw the eye down the post. If you have a sub heading in your post please rap <h3> tags around it.
Images
I love to include images in posts on ProBlogger. As my theme is fairly text oriented images add personality, break up content and grab attention. I find that posts with at least one good image in it get more attention than others. A few suggestions for images:
- images can be of any size - but the maximum width is 540 pixels (the width of my content area).
- please ensure images are able to be used in terms of copyright
- images can be illustrative (screenshots), descriptive (something that is more attention grabbing on the theme of the post), title images (an image with words/title that appear at the top of the post) or anything else that you’d like to include.
A few examples of how I’ve used images on posts previously are:
If you can’t find the right image for your post don’t get too stressed. I’m reasonably quick at finding them.
Feel free to either insert images using the WP uploader or by just pointing to a link on your own server or Flickr. I’ll then grab the image and host it on my server (so there’s no worries about me crashing yours).
Post Length
I am always asked how long posts need to be and my answer is always the same - as long as you need to convey your message.
I post a large variety of posts in terms of length and anything goes. Stick with your own style, voice and choose a length that sits well with you. I’m happy to post long and short posts - length isn’t a factor, but quality is.
Editing
Please note that I do edit posts that appear on ProBlogger. I rarely heavily edit them but it’s not unusual for me to change a title, rework an opening or conclusion or correct grammar/spelling.
Don’t be offended by this - I’m just trying to make it as successful a post as possible and know what generally works well with my audience.
Occasionally I’ll send a post back to you the author with suggested additions, omissions or changes. This is generally if I feel the post could be further enhanced in ways that go beyond some basic editing.
My hope in this is that we get a post up that hits the mark with my readership - good for you as the author, good for ProBlogger readership and as a result also good for the blog as a whole.
Exclusivity
Unless previously negotiated I’m assuming that the post you’re writing is exclusively for the use of ProBlogger. While you’re more than welcome to write on the same topic elsewhere - my hope is that posts that appear on ProBlogger don’t appear in the same form elsewhere.
Byline
As the author of the post I want to highlight you, your blog or any product or service that you have to offer. This should largely be done in a byline.
Bylines should be a sentence or two of who you are and what you do. Feel free to include up to 3 links in it. Some guests include a link to an RSS feed here - this can convert well. This byline will appear at the bottom of your post - but I’ll also write a short introductory sentence that will include your main link that will appear at the top of the post.
In post links - if relevant to the topic you’re writing you’re welcome to link back to your blog within the post. Keep in mind that this ‘relevancy’ is very important. Some guest posters have included too many links or irrelevant links back to their own blogs and have come in for criticism as a result. I don’t mind promoting you - but sometimes subtlety works best.
If you have any questions or concerns - please do contact me via the form below and I’ll do my best to answer them.
Thanks for your involvement with ProBlogger.
