Hey guest posters, you’ve got a big target on your back.

At least that's what everyone assumes, and to be honest, I can’t say it’s not a possibility, but I’m also not ready to give up an excellent content marketing and link building strategy just because everyone is writing about how it’s toxic. You can still do it, as long as you're doing it with a high level of care and skill.

With that said, as someone who is on both sides of guest posting, requester and requestee, I’ve seen my fair share of great guest post requests and I’ve seen some truly awful ones. The truly appalling requests get thrown out right away. Identifying these types of posts is pretty easy, so easy that I can scan through an email and usually label it trash within a few seconds.

Here are six things to avoid when sending out guest posts requests if you don't want your request landing in the trash:

1. Obvious Signs You’re Automating the Process

Hey *http://myblog.com* I really like your blog. Your recent post on *Random Guest Post Title* / *http://myblog.com/-random-guest-post*. I was hoping to write for your site.

Have you ever gotten a guest post request where your blog information was filled in between a pair of asterisks, or possibly a pair of backwards slashes? Well, there's a good chance that there is a script behind that request that is auto-populating URLs and random blog titles from your website.

This is a clear indication that this guest poster is running some kind of low quality, high volume content campaign and has actually never read my blog, or even cares what it’s about.

The thought process behind automating guest post outreach makes sense in theory. The bigger net you cast, the more fish you'll catch. This might have been a useful strategy in the past, but in the world we live in today, it's better to use a targeted, personalized approach when reaching out, rather fishing with dynamite.

How to avoid this pitfall? Don’t auto-populate fields in your guest post request emails, or at least do it better. I know this will slow down your workflow, and reduce the number of requests you can send, possibly to just a fraction, but trust me, any site that isn’t filtering these types of post isn’t anywhere you want to be in the first place.

2. Not Following Directions

We use specific email addresses for content contribution requests, so any email that comes to that address we assume is a guest post request of some kind. A good way for us to filter out spammers is to put some kind of specific instruction on our “write for us” pages where the contributor email is located, like a specific subject line to use. Something as easy as,

When you contact us about contributing to our site, please use the subject line CONTENT CONTRIBUTION REQUEST:

This way, any request that comes through that doesn’t follow this format can be assumed was written by someone who isn’t reading our contribution page before contacting us. If you can’t take the time to read the rules and follow directions, you’re in the trash.

How to avoid this pitfall? Just read the directions and follow them. Again, this will slow you down, but the effort is worth it in the long run.

3. Including a Finished Guest Post When Emailing Me for the First Time

How many times have you gotten/or sent a guest post request that included an already completed guest post attached to it when you haven’t ever communicated with this person before? I know I have (received, not sent), and they almost always instantly go in the trash.

Why? Well, we clearly say in our rules to NOT send guest posts without contacting us first and that they will be ignored. But beyond our specific rules, I have to ask myself, is this writer sending this post to 100 blogs and doesn’t care how many of them post it, regardless of duplicate content or what neighborhood it lands in? Those aren’t the types of writers we want to work with.

How to avoid this pitfall? Again, read the rules, but also don’t just assume because you attached a guest post already that it’ll save me time and I’ll go ahead and post it. Regardless of how shallow our relationship will be, reach out to me first and let’s talk about the post before it’s finished.

4. Not Telling Me Up Front Your Linking Intentions

For the sake of saving you and I time, please just be honest about your linking intentions. We both know that the point of this guest post is to get a link, and while that is okay with me, don’t try to mask that fact by “slipping a link in” to a site that you know I won’t want to link to.

We have specific rules about where we can and cannot link, so if you’re link wont’ fall in line with those rules don’t bother trying to hide it.

The problem with not being upfront about your links is that now if I’m interested in the opportunity I have to email you back just to see if your link is going to cause an issue that will prevent this from ever happening.

How to avoid this pitfall? Just be honest and up font. If you’re working for a website and you know where you’re going to link to, just write something like,

I’d like to write about bamboo kitchen utensils and include a link to verycoolandawesomebamboountensils.com where readers can purchase the tools I am going to talk about.

At least now I know where you want to link to and if it works then my next email can be confirming or rejecting the request, instead of me asking where your link will be to.

5. Sending Automated Duplicate Emails

If you operate a number of sites within a certain niche you might have experienced this phenomenon of receiving duplicate emails from the same guest poster using the exact same emails. Yep, in one case I received three of the exact same emails at nearly the same time for three different sites.

In the trash.

This is obviously an automated guest post request campaign and not something I’m interested in.

How to avoid this pitfall? Easy, don’t automate emails. Take 10 minutes and write a unique request. Streamline another part of your guest post campaign, like how you find the blogs to save time, but don't cut corners when it comes to communicating with websites where you want your content. Regardless of if it’s two sentences or three paragraphs, it’ll get you further than an automated form email.

6. Not Approaching Me With a Specific Topic in Mind

When I get a post request that goes something like,

I am capable of writing about any topic you like, just tell me what.

I won’t be contacting you back for a couple of reasons. First, we specifically ask you to approach us with a topic in mind and mention it in your first email. Second, if I already know the exact topic I want, why do I need you to write it? I am looking for guest posts because I want opinions or insights from someone who is an expert on a topic, not just a for-hire writer to write a sub-par article on a topic they might not be experienced with. I can do that on my own.

How to avoid this pitfall? Come to the table prepared and ready with a topic you'd like to cover. Don't worry if you're not sure if it would work for our site, at least now we have a point to work from.

Putting a Bow on It

Having your guest post requests avoid the trashcan is pretty easy when you think about it. Approach it with care and time. Follow the rules and don't waste my time or yours.