Our Guest Post Guidelines and Policies
If you’re interested in guest-blogging at the clinic, we’d be pleased to give you the opportunity.
Guest-blogging presents a great opportunity to reach new readers, and can draw some of them to your own blog/website. So we think it’s as important for you, as it is for us, that you put your best foot forward when offering a guest post for publication.
Obviously, we do have some standard criteria that must be met before your post is published.
Discount Code: Doc2011
Doc Sheldon’s Clinic is primarily focused on SEO-SEM, but that doesn’t preclude posts on peripheral topics, such as coding, blogging, Adwords, Adsense, software and hardware reviews… basically anything that’s internet related.
Solutions to common problems are always popular, but every post needn’t be instructional. Tools, tips and comparisons are also great. Some opinion posts may even be acceptable.
Here are a few tips on how to get the most benefit from your blog post:
- Create a catchy title. Most folks will not take the time to see if a piece is of interest to them, if the title doesn’t catch their eye. Be inventive, and draw them in. Then set the hook in the first paragraph.
- Don’t bother writing about the same topic everyone else has been blogging about all week, unless you’ve got something new and convincing to say. People get tired of hearing the same subject over and over, and are harder to attract, because of it. If you do have a new angle, your title had better sell that.
- Write like you talk. Don’t try to impress anyone with flowery language. People will identify with you more, when they’re comfortable with your writing style.
- Write about something you’re passionate about – it’ll show in your writing, and passion is contagious.
- Plan your post, write it, review it and sleep on it. Then review it again.
- We’re picky about what we put on our blog. Posts need to be written in proper grammar with correct punctuation. Use your spell check, and double check for typos. We’ll check it too, and make minor corrections, but if it needs a lot of work, we’re not going to re-write it for you.
- Don’t get bent out of shape if we make some minor changes to improve the readability. We’re at least as picky about what shows on our blog as you probably are about yours. Don’t take it personally.
- Use good structure and formatting. Sub-headers and bullet points or strong impact statements make your post more readable. Block quotes are sometimes helpful to call attention to important points.
- Close your post with a strong conclusion. Summarize your points, and leave the readers with no doubts. You’ll find you’ll get more comments that way.
- Write up a brief bio on yourself – a couple of paragraphs, max. What’s your background, experience in the field, special qualifications. Include up to two links in the bio (no affiliate links allowed).
- You can include up to three links in the body of the post, provided they are relevant to the content. Again, no affiliate links permitted.
- Normally, we’ll provide graphics or photos to accompany your post. However, if you have a photo or graphic that you feel is especially appropriate, you may forward it, along with attribution. If we’re comfortable that there are no copyright issues, we may use it.
- Please submit your post in Word .rtf format, using HTML code for links.
- Please credit all your sources.
- Your work must not have been published elsewhere before, and should not be published elsewhere after appearing on our blog. It should be your own, original work.
- If we accept your post, you grant us full rights to use the entire article, or any portion thereof, for which we will always credit you, as the author.
and last, but not least…
- Please check back often and respond to comments on your post. Readers are just like us… they like to be acknowledged. If you can’t do that for them, then I may pull your post, or at the very least, your links.
If you’re interested in submitting a guest blog, contact us at submissions@docsheldon.com
