Write For The Digital Branding Institute

Thank you for your interest in writing for the Digital Branding Institute! We are looking for unique input in the form of great guides to provide our audience with detailed, actionable content. This content should help them develop their digital identity, visibility, or credibility to grow their digital brand. If you are a talented writer, passionate about digital branding, read on to learn the steps you’ll need to take to write for Digital Branding Institute.

Getting Started

We receive numerous pitches, many of which don’t get accepted.  If you want to set yourself on track for getting your pitch accepted, review these key tips before clicking submit.

First, read through the entire process. Our guidelines let you know what we deliver to readers and what we expect from you. Please review the guidelines before submitting your pitch. Pitches that do not meet the outlined submission criteria will not make the cut.

Second, do your research and make sure your topic hasn’t been covered previously.  At DBI we pride ourselves on providing fresh content for our readers. Take a look around the site to review topics and categories that are relevant to your intended pitch.

Browse categories by hovering over the menu options.

Digital Branding Institute menu options

You can also use the search box to search topics we’ve covered.

Digital Branding Institute search field box

Third, only submit original content. The biggest mistake you can make when it comes to submitting to write for DBI is trying to publish content that has already been published. We do not accept unoriginal or recycled content.

Deliver your submission on time. After your pitch is accepted, a member of our editorial team will communicate the due date for your article. We understand priorities sometimes have to shift so if you need an extension, let us know in advance. If you miss your deadline prior to requesting an extension, your article will not be published.

You will hear from us if we accept your pitch. We are always busy cooking up digital branding goodness at the Institute. If we like your pitch, we’ll let you know within a week.

Why Should You Write For the Digital Branding Institute?

Sharing your expertise and industry experience with an engaged audience of like-minded professionals is both rewarding personally and a great way to improve your profile in the marketplace.

The Digital Branding Institute provides a fantastic platform for you to connect with a thriving community of passionate individuals. We have a large and growing audience eager to hear what you have to say.

By contributing to DBI, you can expect to:

  • Increase your exposure and brand awareness.
  • Establish your credibility and expertise
  • Grow your social media following.
  • Build domain and search engine authority.
  • Share a personal bio containing business and social media profile links.

Who Are We Looking For?

If you have a track record of producing well-written articles that are engaging, educational, and provoke discussion, then we would love to hear from you.

Guest authors for DBI have a deep understanding of the topic they are covering, as well as, digital branding as a whole.

Our ideal guest author will be passionate and insightful with the aim of teaching the audience about the subject at hand in a manner that is both clear and engaging.

What Are We Looking For?

We have earned our readers’ trust through our commitment to producing detailed, helpful, actionable content.  DBI guest authors must share the same commitment.

We welcome many writing styles and are particularly drawn to writers with a strong point of view and a voice that helps them connect with the reader.

All articles for DBI should be comprehensive. We expect readers to walk away with a thorough understanding of the topic and information that they will be able to put into practice immediately.

The ultimate goal is for your article to be the most valuable piece of content available for your topic on the web.

When pitching, keep these four things in mind:

1. Topic: Your topic must be relevant to our target audience.  We accept topics that fall under the following categories:

2. Research: Be sure to support your claims with data and statistics. Include links to reputable sources in your article. All facts and figures must be cited and linked.

3. Keyword: Align your chosen keyword with the search intent behind your topic.  This keyword should appear in your title and throughout your article without “keyword stuffing.”

4. Comprehensiveness: Cover your topic completely, and exhaustively.  Accomplish this by making sure there are no holes in your logic.  If you are outlining a process, be sure to include all steps.

  • Guides are expected to be instructional in nature and clearly outline how to perform a task or complete a process; think templates, checklists and step-by-step approaches, etc.
  • Articles mentioning best practices should include methods, techniques, or strategies that are proven to be effective.
  •  Articles that profile a specific tool/technology should offer advice on how to best leverage the tool. Please note we do not accept guest posts that are intended as a marketing tool for other products or posts that contain affiliate links.

What Do We Avoid?

Our requirements are simple:

  • We do not accept posts that have already been published on any other site (including your own). No topics we’ve already covered unless you have a different angle.
  • No clickbait.  Your article must follow through on the promises made by your headline.
  • No affiliate links. We do not accept posts that are intended as a marketing tool for other products or services.
  • No posts that are strictly self-promoting. Save the great article including your client case-study and the CTA to book your services for your personal website. Feel free to link back to your own blog but only if the page you are linking to is relevant to the content.  Serve readers first.
  • No old posts.  Your post should be written for us after, and only after, we’ve approved your pitch and deadline.

We also avoid:

  • ‘News’ type articles and press releases of appointments, contracts, awards and new products. Our readers look to us for education and inspiration.
  • Guest post/blog submissions where the author offers to write about any topic we want. Our readers expect to hear from experts in specific fields.
  • Guest post placement for clients. If you submit a post, you will be shown as the author.

Submission Requirements

Submissions lacking any of the following requirements will not be accepted. To contribute to DBI, you must:

1. Cover a relevant topic that is of value to our readers (see above).

2. Write an informative article in a personable voice with a clear takeaway.

3. Submit an article that is at least 2,000 words.

4. Submit an article containing original content that is previously unpublished. Your post must be exclusively for us.  Once we’ve published it on our site, it cannot be published elsewhere.

5. Cite your sources and include relevant links.

6. Include a target keyword.

7. Include images, screenshots, or diagrams that provide visual cues for readers, showing them how to complete a process from A to Z.

8.Your final post has to follow through on what you pitched.  The topic you pitch is the article we expect to receive.

9. Keep your pitch focused. Don’t pitch more than one topic.

10. If your post is published, please follow up on comments for the first seven days after it’s posted.

Style Guidelines

How you present your information is just as important as the information itself. While we don’t limit guest contributors to a formal style guide, here are a few things we expect.

Make sure your article is clearly organized or formatted to grab reader attention.

We encourage writers to use subheadings, bulleted lists, and bold fonts to highlight key concepts and action items.

For how to’s, include numbered points followed by labeled screenshots or screen captures. Here are a few tools to capture screenshots.

Try to include links to other posts on the DBI blog. You may also include up to two back to your own site.

Readers prefer shorter paragraphs with no fluff.  Break up dense material and keep your material to the point.

As soon as the subject or focus changes, start a new paragraph.  Sometimes your paragraph is 2 or 3 sentences long.  Other times it’s 5 or 6.  Either way, keep your paragraphs focused.

Technical Guidelines

If we accept your pitch, we have some guidelines on submitting your post.

  • Use Google Docs.  This is the only format we will accept.
  • Include any images and screenshots for your post in a zip folder.
  • If your article requires any charts, graphs or screenshots, please supply these at the best resolution possible.
  • Make sure the screenshots aren’t very small.  They should be at least 700 pixels wide.
  • Use H2 and H3 header styles

9 Article Writing Tips

  1. Your headline matters! Make it engaging, intriguing and relevant. Keep it short and ‘shareable’!
  2. Make it useful. Include practical information that can be implemented.
  3. Use of photos, diagrams, videos, screenshots and other visual content is strongly encouraged (provided they are relevant, vendor neutral and you have the legal rights to use them).
  4. Articles should be engaging, interesting to read and flow in a logical manner.
  5. Make it ‘Tweetable’ – Look to include a few short ‘quote-worthy’ statements through your article.
  6. Provide some level of new insight in building a business around a brand, or add credible support for current ideas. Our audience doesn’t want to read a regurgitation of what’s already out there.
  7. Whenever possible, include real-world or easily relatable examples to demonstrate/reinforce your statements.
  8. Use subheadings and/or bullet points to organize the flow of the article, making it easy to read and highlight key concepts or action items.
  9. Last but not least – ensure your article is thoroughly reviewed for proper spelling and grammar.

When Will I Hear About My Post?

Due to the volume of submissions we receive, we operate our editorial process over a weekly cycle – you may need to wait a few days to a week before you hear back from us.

Tips For Pitching Post Ideas

We want you to submit a successful pitch. Follow these tips.

  • Complete every field in our guest pitch submission form.
  • Write a detailed pitch.  Communicate exactly what you plan to include in your post.
  • Come up with a new approach or find a unique angle we have not previously covered.
  • Read the DBI blog to get an understanding of the look, feel, and style of content we publish.

Send Us Your Pitch!

You’ll reach a large and growing audience and establish yourself as an authority in the industry through the Digital Branding Institute.  We look forward to receiving your pitch!

Submit Your Pitch Here!

Written by
Juntae DeLane

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