Wanna Write a Guest Post for Aurajinn?
Thank you for your interest in writing for the Aurajinn blog. We are eager to read your content and share it with our audience. New advice from experts in various niches helps us and our followers maintain a fresh perspective on the latest trends in our industry. Here’s what you need to know before you send us a pitch.
Acceptable Topics
Aurajinn is an eCommerce and technology website, and we cover topics that our target audience (Shopify store owners) are interested to read. All topics must be niche-specific. We welcome you to pitch topics that reasonably fall under the umbrella of one of the following categories:
- Dropshipping
- Managing Orders
- eCommerce Operations
- Page Enhancements
- Product Display
- Shopify Payments (Including PayPal & Stripe)
- Online Store Design
- Online Store Development
And, if you have another creative idea that you think our readers would like, feel free to throw it our way.
Rather than write a topic that’s likely to have already saturated the blogosphere, try to give us a unique angle. Write about something you know about. Better yet, write about something you’re an expert at. Keep in mind that you’re sharing this information with other business people who are already at least somewhat familiar with the subjects we write about.
You may want to share insights about conversion optimization or product marketing — these are fairly hot topics. BUT… rather than share something like, “How to Optimize Your Online Store for Conversion,” we would rather you write something super specific like, “How to A/B Test Your Shopify Landing Page Button CTAs the Easy Way.” In a nutshell, keep your topics centered around online sellers.
*Backlink Disclaimer*
You’re going to get some link juice from a guest post, for sure. But, if you are only writing this to get a link to a product page with pre-determined anchor text, the Aurajinn blog isn’t a good fit.
There are a couple of ways to get your post instantly rejected:
- Any of your links look forced or bring no value to the reader. We prefer links to helpful content — blog posts, case studies, research, etc.
- Your content doesn’t contain any gems of wisdom that could make a reader think, ‘ah-ha! — now I have a new weapon to add to my arsenal!’
For link builders, it’s not all doom and gloom here. Perhaps, instead of a direct link to a sales page, you can include second-tier links to that same landing page… In the simplest terms, we just want you to bring something valuable, well-written, and fun to our readers (they don’t care about the “SEO consultant in Maryland” or “content marketing experts,” so DO NOT try to force it down their throats).
What to Do Before You Pitch
Before you pitch your topic, do a quick Google search and make sure you can write something that provides at least as much value as the first three results you find. We want your guest post to be sincerely helpful for our readers and we want our content to rank.
How to Pitch Your Topic
We do have a contact form on our website and we read everything that comes in. But, unless you already have a contact at our company, it may be quicker to send your ideas directly to hello at aurajinn dot com. Let us know what you want to write about and why our readers might like to read it — don’t be afraid to boast… but just a little bit. Please include links to other articles you’ve written.
Editorial Standards
Word Length: 1,500-3,000 words (we’re pretty strict on this)
Proofreading: Make sure to proofread your post before you send it over. Some minor typos can be corrected by our editor, but we want to see that you have taken the time to ensure that your post is well-structured. Start with spellcheck. Grammarly or Hemingway Editor might help (if you haven’t heard of them, look ’em up!).
Tone: Your piece should be conversational, engaging, and straightforward. Content needs to be informative, solution-driven, and easily digestible. We appreciate clever humor, but please don’t include anything too cheesy. (If you are having trouble with creativity, check out Copy.ai).
Keep it SEO-Friendly – MUST INCLUDE:
- Keywords: Use at least one (long-tail) keyword that you might have a chance to rank for. Check out Google to see related keywords and relevant questions people are asking — try to answer those questions (We might require that you answer specific questions anyway, and will let you know before you start if this is the case)
- H1 Title that contains your focus keyword or a close variant.
- Meta Description around 150 characters that contains your focus keyword.
- Focus Keyword in the first paragraph/ first 100-200 words.
- Answers to the most frequently asked questions about your keyword when they are relevant (see the “people also ask” section in a Google search). Consider an FAQ section if you want us to add schema markup.
- Bulleted and numbered lists should be used when they are helpful.
- Header Tags (H2/H3) are a MUST to break up sections.
- Sections should not exceed more than 300 words.
- Focus keywords should be used in some header titles where appropriate.
- Content under each header should directly address the header topic.
- Links to reputable sources (expert quotes, industry insights, data, etc).
- Again, Do Not include promotional links to your website homepage or another landing page in the body of your article.
If you include links to your website content (blog posts, videos, etc.), make sure it is hyper-relevant and helpful for the reader — Never throw in a link to your website just for another backlink (See above).
Relevant images/screenshots should be included in the article – when sending over the finished piece, please also include a link to a Google Drive folder containing your images as well as their source.
Submitting Your Draft
Here’s what to include when you submit:
- A link to your GDoc with edit access.
- A short bio –- just a few sentences. You may include a link to your website homepage in your bio.
- Your Gravatar email address (important).
- Links to social media profiles.
What to Expect
Once your draft has been approved, you should hear back from us within 72 hours. If you’ve waited a few days and haven’t heard anything, we probably missed your email or it’s been buried in the abyss — it’s okay to follow up. We try to publish posts in a timely manner. Once your article has been approved, you shouldn’t have to wait more than a week for it to go live.
If you would like to choose the publication date of your article for promotional purposes — social media scheduling, etc. — please let us know in advance (in the body of the email when you send your draft). Once your post is live, please share it on social media to help spread the word, and we will do the same.