ADS Marketing and Consulting Firm |web design |seo |internet marketing: 2014 Oscar For Worst Guest Post Outreach Goes To…

Email outreach is an intrinsic part of SEO and whether you are looking to promote your latest article or are looking for guest posting opportunities, crafting the perfect outreach email should be a key part of any internet marketer’s skillset.

Unfortunately, there are lots of ways to suck at outreach and this particular gem (from a guy called Daniel) popped into my inbox yesterday.

Let’s take a look at the email first and then discuss: -

Where he went wrong

What he should have done

The Offending Email

Hello Sir/madam,

I visited your web site earlier today and just wanted to congratulate you on a well presented, and informative web site. I have a site which has content relevant to your site. I am interested to do Article Post on your site as par Google update we all known that unique and relevent content is more important for a site. So i want to submit my SEO , Web Design , Technology , Computer , Printing, Electronic Product related article or post on your site, I also have good sites to post your. So if you are interested please inform me soon.

Thanks & regards,

Daniel

There are so many things wrong here…

Let’s break them down.

Say My Name…

Ok, firstly, he kicks off with the dreaded: -

‘Dear Sir/Madam’

It should be pretty obvious to anyone who has actually been on my site that my name is David McSweeney. All the articles say ‘by David McSweeney’ at the top, my g+ box is on the sidebar and the about me page is (funnily enough) all about me.

The only thing worse would have been ‘Dear webmaster’.

What He Should Have Done

Either ‘Hi David or ‘Dear Mr McSweeney’ would have been just fine.

If You’re Going To Try And Ego Bait Me…

Then at least throw me some sort of bone.

Generic statements, i.e…

‘I visited your web site earlier today and just wanted to congratulate you on a well presented, and informative web site.’

… just scream ‘I am throwing a load of mud at the wall and waiting to see what sticks.’

What He Should Have Done

Nothing wrong with ego baiting – people like to be complimented – but at least try and pick out something specific.

You might point to a recent article: -

‘Loved your post about the price of fish in Indonesia. Who knew that carp was so expensive!?’

Or…

‘I really like that default wordpress theme you’ve got going on…’

A little joke at my own expense there… ;-)

Starts Bad, Continues To Be Bad…

‘I have a site which has content relevant to your site.’

Really…

What He Should Have Done

Be open. Something like…

‘I run a site all about Indonesian wines (indonesianwinesareamazing.com). It’s at the early stages, but I’ve been working hard on my content and building up my audience’

Gets Worse…

‘I am interested to do Article Post on your site as par Google update we all known that unique and relevent content is more important for a site.’

I’m guessing he means ‘as per’ and relevant…

Erm… which google update are you talking about here? The one where they (totally unjustifiably) hammered my blog guest and made everyone twitchy about guest posts? That’s not exactly going to make me want to post your article.

Are you talking about google panda in 2011? Not exactly recent…

You don’t have a clue do you (and you’re hoping that I don’t either).

What He Should Have Done

He didn’t need to say anything about google updates. It’s just annoying.

Plumbs New Depths Of Low

‘So i want to submit my SEO , Web Design , Technology , Computer , Printing, Electronic Product related article or post on your site, I also have good sites to post your. So if you are interested please inform me soon.’

Em… which one is it?

Post my what?

I’m not interested.

What He Should Have Done

How about something like…

I’m trying to spread the word about my site and noticed you accept guest posts. I have an idea for a post (already started on it!), which I think would be well suited to your audience. The title is: -

The 5 Tastiest Wines To Accompany Fish In Indonesia

If you’re interested I can go ahead and finish up the post and of course you can cast your editorial eye over it before publishing!

You could also add something like..

‘If you’re not accepting new guest posts at this time I’m going to finish writing it up anyway and post on my own site, so if you could help me out with any shares that would be great.’

There is an argument that you shouldn’t give an opportunity to say no, but on the flip side if they don’t accept your article there is a good chance they will share your post and may even link to it, so it’s up to you.

Build Relationships… Not Links

Outwith taking the time to actually craft a decent email and being transparent, he could have increased the chances of me accepting his article (or at least engaging with him) if he had developed some sort of relationship with me first.

Actually getting your email read is sometimes half the battle and if you’re anything like me your inbox will be bombarded on a daily basis. I tend to scan my emails and ignore most of the obvious spammy requests.

If he had taken the time to introduce himself first on social media, or been a regular commenter on my blog I would be much more likely to listen to what he had to say and consider publishing his guest post.

Difficult to build relationships though when you are sending out hundreds of emails and just looking to build links, which sadly is exactly why we are where we are with guest blogging.