WordStream Author Guidelines

Hello, potential WordStream author! The WordStream blog has been a go-to resource for online marketing and advertising for over 12 years…and we’re pretty dang proud of that. Here are some things to know to get acquainted with it!

About the Wordstream blog

• Our audience: Marketers, advertisers, business owners, or students looking to learn and improve in the digital marketing and advertising space. Particularly for small to medium-sized businesses and marketing agencies.
• Our tone: Our blog is authoritative and informative but friendly and fun to read. Conversational writing is our style—think approachable expert.
• Our topics: B2B, content, copywriting, ecommerce, landing pages, lead gen and conversion, marketing ideas/strategies/psychology, organic social media, PPC (search, display, social, cross-channel), SEO, website content (we do not cover topics related to app/website development).

• Our posts: We publish a wide variety of post types, including (but not limited to!):
  • New or different angles on common topics.
  • First-hand accounts of experiments/strategies/tests
  • How-to guides/cheat sheets for techniques and platforms.
  • Lists of tips, tools, or compelling strategies.
  • Industry trends, data, and insights.
  • Vertical-specific advice.
  • Creative ideas and real examples.
  • Examples/templates.

Post requirements

Here’s what we want!

• Sufficient length: 1,500 words minimum
• Short intro: ~150 words. Introduce your topic and then tell the reader what the post will cover.
• Friendly tone: conversational, not corporate!
• Depth: useful, fluff-free content that reflects internalized knowledge on the topic.
• Actionability: tips and suggestions should be realistic, with concrete examples and ideas.
• Skimmability: logically organized with headings, subheadings, short paragraphs
• Authenticity: stay away from generic content. Add voice! Personality! A unique format, approach, or style that you can ‘t find in other blog posts on the topic.
• Images: screenshots, graphs, charts, concept illustrations. NO STOCK IMAGES. one or two memes is okay. you can recycle images from existing WordStream posts. If an image is from another site, hyperlink to source via “Image source” anchor text under each image.
• Backlinks: no more than 3 per post
• Short bio: 1-3 sentences, can include links to your website or social accounts.

FAQs

How frequently would I write?

This is all flexible, depending on your bandwidth and our calendar needs. Some of our writers contribute monthly while others reach out sporadically when they have the bandwidth. We can start with this one post and then play it by ear from there.

What are the deadlines?

We’ll determine a loose deadline and if anything changes, that’s totally fine, just let me know so we can adjust accordingly.

Can I link to my content in my posts?

Sure! We do, however, ask that you limit it to two links in the post itself. Your bio can have social handles and a website link as well).

How do you determine topics?

We’ll stick with topics you specialize in or are interested in. For the most part, we’ll provide the keywords we’re looking to target and a loose outline (if needed/wanted) but we’re always open to ideas/suggestions you have!