How To Write Cold Emails That’ll Open Doors To New Guest Blogging Sites
How to write cold emails
When done right, cold emailing can open a world of opportunities. Cold emailing can open the door to guest post opportunities. However, it’s easy to make mistakes when running a cold email outreach campaign. First of all, you are sending an email to someone with whom you have no previous contact. Secondly, the people you are mailing receive hundreds of pitches a month.
That means that the chances of prospects reading your emails and giving them attention are slim. However, these challenges should not stop you from sending cold emails. Read on to find out why.
Why You Shouldn’t be Afraid of Sending Cold Emails
Without a doubt, there are many hurdles to sending a cold email. But you shouldn’t be afraid to hit send to that cold email. For starters, you have nothing to lose. Even if your email recipient doesn’t respond to your email, it will be part of your learning curve. You can review the email and make changes as necessary.
Sometimes you may receive a rejection email. That also can be a blessing in disguise, especially if the email outlines why your guest post has been rejected. You can use that insight to make subsequent emails better.
Besides, if you do cold emailing right, there’s a high likelihood of receiving positive responses. Those responses are likely to kickstart your guest blogging career and make you a publishing star in the long run. As Marie Curie put it: “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” That goes for cold emails too.
6 Tips for More Effective Cold Emails for Guest Blogging Opportunities
Once you understand the principles of sending cold emails, the process becomes more comfortable and more fulfilling. While there are several strategies to getting results with your cold emails, here are six that are sure to get you in the good books of any prospect.
Target the Right Websites
Finding the right website is the first step to successful guest posting. Find excellent sites in your niche that can help you build your reputation and authority. A good target website should look something like this:
- Domain Rank (DR) or Domain Authority (DA)
- Niche
- Monthly visitors
- Trust flow
Let’s examine each of these pointers.
Domain Rank (DR) measures how well a site ranks in SERPS. The higher the DR of a site, the more valuable the backlinks and the more impact you can make with your guest post. For instance, a website with a DR of 80+ is probably seven times one with a DR of 40.
Ideally, for your guest post efforts, go for sites with DR of 50 and above. Thankfully, there are several ways to find sites with high DR rankings. From Ahrefs to Ubersuggest, several platforms allow you to explore guest post websites and find the ones with the right DR.
Let’s take Hubspot as an example. You can find the site’s DR by going to Ahrefs and typing the URL or domain name.
The Domain Rating for Hubspot is 92, and it has a considerable number of linking websites and backlinks. In order words, Hubspot is a perfect place to consider sending a guest post. With the paid version of Ahrefs, you can do so much more. For instance, after entering the domain URL, click “referring domains.”
When you do that, you’ll have access to a long list of similar websites with high domain ratings. Create a spreadsheet and copy and paste the URLs and DA of the sites. Use this strategy for a few more websites, and in no time, you’ll have a ready list of high performing websites where you can send your pitch.
Getting a list of websites, however, is not the end of your work. You have to make sure that those websites are in your niche or accept guest posts in your niche before crafting your email. Although many websites take a variety of content across a broad spectrum of niches, you’d be better off going for websites that are the best in your industry.
Also, consider the monthly visitors your guest post website has, on average. This will help you gauge the number of people that are likely to see your post. A few years ago, Ahrefs ran an experiment to discover the best platform that gives detailed metrics on websites. After the study, SimilarWeb came out tops.
The website gives data on total visits, pages per visit, average visit duration, and bounce rate. These details let you know how the website is performing and how your post is likely to perform.
Find the People in Charge of Content
After deciding on the websites that can host your guest post, the most critical step is finding the right person to contact. Go through the guest post website and look for the content manager or editor. Sometimes the head of marketing is the person to contact. Once you find the person in charge of their content, look for their official email address.
Many websites list an email address like [email protected] for guest post queries but sending your email to that address is not usually effective. If there’s no email address listed, you can guess from other executives’ pattern of emails.
For instance, if all company executives have their company email as [email protected], your editor’s email is likely to be the same. Use LinkedIn to find the editor’s email address. Search for them on LinkedIn and send an invitation to connect.
Alternatively, use an email finder service. All you need is the company’s domain name and the decision maker’s name. The great thing about such a service is that there are several integrations and enhancements to scale your outreach efforts.
Perform Keyword Research the Right Way
The smartest way to get editors’ attention is to pitch a guest blog that has not been covered. To do this, you need to get your keyword research right. Keyword Planner can help you. In the Keyword Planner tool, enter the URL of your target website.
From the results, you can decide on the relevant topics to pitch. Once you spot these keyword gaps, you can go ahead to craft your content. Alternatively, use tools like Buzzsumo and Zest to help you decide on the best topics for your target website.
Establish your credibility
Remember, you must quickly establish your credibility. If you have credentials or accomplishments in your field, don’t hesitate to let the editor know. Explain why you would be the best person to write about the topic. Additionally, use social proof to reinforce your message.
Add your CV, LinkedIn profile, and any other relevant information. Your previous guest posts, especially on similar sites, are another excellent way to enhance your credibility.
Offer something of value.
Guest posting sites do not exist for writers; they exist for their readers. So, the best way to get the buy-in of an editor is to help them see what value you can offer to their readers.
How will your content help their readership? How can they leverage their expertise to help their readership grow? Are there any networking opportunities?
Always offer something of value to the person or organization you are sending the guest post to.
Get personal
Would you hand over something precious to you to a total stranger? Certainly not. The challenge with cold emailing is that you are reaching out to someone who doesn’t know you and is not expecting an email.
A general email blast may only leave your email in the Spam or Promotions tab, and you won’t receive any response. That’s why you should personalize your cold emails. Mention your recipient’s name in your email and refer to some of the guest post website content. That immediately shows the recipient that you are not a total stranger – at least you are familiar with their work.
Bottom line on writing cold emails
While some have said that guest posting is dead and gone, nothing could be further from the truth. Guest posting is a proven way of building your reputation and authority in a niche while getting exposure. As long as you apply the right principles, you’ll get good results.
Don’t expect a positive response from every email. Some people will tell you to try again later. Other people might reject your pitch or fail to respond. But if you keep at it, tweaking and fine-tuning your strategies, it won’t be long before you are staring on top sites.
