How to create guest post guidelines? (PDF)

A guest post guideline is a comprehensive document that outlines the standards and requirements for submitting a guest blog post to your website. It’s like a roadmap for guest bloggers to create a blog post.

Though it’s not a formal document, having a guest post guidelines is essential if you’re engaging in guest blogging.

Without further ado, let’s understand why having guest post guidelines is important and how to create one.

Why is having a guest post guideline important?

Creating a guest post guideline is crucial because it sets clear expectations and standards for both your hosting website and guest bloggers.

This document can act like terms and conditions. It should specify what is acceptable and what is not and provide a clear framework for the content creation and submission process.

In case a guest blogger fails to follow a rule outlined in the guest post guidelines, you have the right to decline hosting the guest article on your site.

For example, if you explicitly write in the guest post guidelines that promotional copy, such as self-promotion, is not allowed, you can remove the copy or simply reject the article.

Moreover, to maintain consistency on your site, it’s important for guest bloggers to understand your branding, written language style, visual requirements, etc. This ensures consistency in style, tone, and formatting, reducing the need for revisions and minimizing back-and-forth communication.

How to create a guest post guidelines?

Creating a guest post guideline is essential for maintaining the quality and consistency of content on your website. Here are the key components to include in your guideline.

1. Choose a tool to create the document

You can use tools like Notion, Canva, Figma, or a simple Google Docs to create a PDF to send or make it available online without edit access.

2. Explain your domain or product

Provide an overview of your website, product, or company. This helps guest bloggers understand your brand and come up with the type of topics are relevant to your audience.

3. Indicate your target readers

Specify who your target audience is. This will guide the guest blogger in using the appropriate language, whether it’s technical or general. Outlining your target readers helps guest bloggers write content that engages your readers effectively.

4. List your target keywords

Provide a list of target keywords that guest bloggers should incorporate into their posts. This helps in maintaining the SEO consistency of your website.

5. Include currently available topics

If you have topic ideas that should be written, you can include the available articles so guest bloggers can write for you. Alternatively, you can also give example topic ideas.

6. Explain your internal linking process

Outline your internal linking practices. You can write down the each keyword that a page targets.

This will help guest bloggers to include links to other pages on your website within the guest post with the right anchor text.

7. Give writing style guide

Specify the writing style and tone of voice that guest bloggers should adopt. For example, you might prefer a conversational tone or a more formal style. Also, clarify where to use italics, where to use bold, and if camel case is part of your branding.

8. Outline requirements for media files

Detail the requirements for visuals, such as images, infographics, templates, and videos. Specify the preferred dimensions, resolution, and any branding guidelines.

9. Explain the submission process

Explain the submission process clearly. Include details on how to submit the post, the review process, and the expected timeline for publication.

For example, you can require submitting guest posts only in Google Docs to give comments and suggestions.

10. Summarize the general guidelines

In this section, outline all the details regarding the link exchange, word limit, formatting, readability rules, and other essential guidelines for guest posts. This can serve as a checklist for guest bloggers to ensure their submissions meet all the necessary requirements.

Guest post guideline example (PDF)

Here, we’ve created guest post guideline example for an imaginary digital agency.

You can view, download, and use them as a template to write similar guidelines tailored to your own rules and preferences.