Guest Posts on Dashboard Living

Are you interested in writing for Dashboard Living?

We’d love to hear from you, but let’s talk details

We get many inquiries each week from people interested in writing guest posts, and we are very selective with which posts we accept.

If you have an idea in mind, review our guest post submission process. Please read everything below because it is very obvious to us when you haven’t.

PLEASE READ: We do NOT accept guest posts from companies trying to solely promote their product or service. All guest post submissions of this nature will be deleted and you will not receive a response. If you are interested in directly promoting a product or service, submit a form on our Work With Us page and we can talk about a potential paid partnership (which is different than a guest post).

We delete all inquiries that do not meet our requirements.

What We Are Looking For

We’re looking for guest posts that will be inspiring or helpful to our readers. If you have an idea for a post we’d love to hear it, but these are the 4 types of articles we are most likely to accept:

1. Canada & USA-based content:  National Park guides, road trips and local guides to Canada & USA destinations are our top priority at the moment.

2. Outdoor & Foodie focused travel content: Right now, we are specifically looking for content related to foodie travel & outdoor adventure (for all abilities). If you can write about outdoor topics and/or food, please let us know in the submission form because these are topics on which we are likely to accept guest articles.

3. “Local Guides”: Tell us about your hometown or one of your favourite places in your own country. Who better to write about a place than a local?!  We particularly love “ultimate guides” that cover more than what you would find on a tourism website!

4. List Posts!!!  Our readers love hearing about unique things to do in specific areas.  For example, “12 Unique Things to do in Sydney” or “18 Ways to Get Off The Beaten Path in Peru”. It’s important that any guest post submission fit in well with the content we already have on our site. We want articles that will interlink nicely with each other and give our readers the best well-rounded information about a destination.

Important Note: While personal stories are great as anecdotes inside a larger article, we are looking for helpful, informative travel guides full of actionable details where the main focus is not on you, but instead on how you can help the reader plan their own trip.

Our website focuses on the following topics:

• unique things to do

• responsible travel

• millennial travel

• road trips

• foodie experiences

• travel hacking (points/miles travel)

• hidden gems (what won’t we find in a guide book?)

What’s in it for you?

1. Exposure: Our website gets 45,000+ monthly pageviews (and growing!). Plus, we usually share guest posts on our social media channels.

2. Backlink: You will receive one do-follow backlink in your author’s bio and a link to your social media.

3. Relationship: If you do a great job, we are happy to talk to you about working together in the future.

Important note: We reserve the right to edit, update, alter or remove any articles on our site at any time. We will of course contact you and let you know in this case.

Guest Posting Guidelines

1.  Come up with an idea (or a few!) and pitch them to us by email according to the following criteria:

• Original content ONLY!  The content must not be published anywhere else on the internet, now or ever.
• You MUST have original photos to accompany your article.  We do not use stock photography on our website, so all authors must provide their own photos.  Photos should be high quality.  Please do not pitch articles for which you cannot provide photos.

We are looking for unique topics that have not been covered on our website.  Familiarize yourself with our website and pitch a unique idea.  Either a place we have not yet visited, or a topic that you have a unique perspective on.

2. Wait for our response

We will try our best to get back to you within one week. We will let you know if we’re interested in your pitch. (If it is approved, you will follow steps #3 – #7).  If we feel the idea is a good fit, we’ll respond within 1 week with further details.

We’ll also set a deadline that works for all of us.

3. Submit first draft

When you are finished with your article, you will send us the following:

*PLEASE READ CAREFULLY* If the draft you sent us is not up to the quality or tone of our site, we will decline your article.

a) Draft that is free of spelling and grammatical errors in a Google Doc.

Please make sure you are paying attention to basic SEO and writing in a fun and informative tone. Familiarize yourself with the style of our site.

For the consistency of our site, please use American spellings of words.

b) We publish long-form articles and ask that your submission be at least 1,000 words (1,500 – 2,000 words is even better as long as it is informative and engaging).

c) You may link to your website once within the article (only if it is a natural fit). You will also receive a backlink in your author’s bio.

d) You may include other relevant and helpful links in the article (no affiliates), but it is up to our discretion whether or not we will keep them.

• For example, if you are describing a hike, you can link to the Parks website that explains trail conditions, however, an affiliate link to hiking boots would not be acceptable.

e) Quality and original* photographs to accompany your article.

• must be resized to 1200 pixels on the longest axis. (We would like for the majority of your photos to be HORIZONTAL.) The file size should be no larger than 300KB. You can control the image size in editing programs like Photoshop, or you can use tinyjpg to compress them.
• must be submitted in JPEG or PNG format (feel free to send them in a Google drive)
• *These must be YOUR original photos. We do not accept stock photos.  Acceptions are rarely made but if you have a case for stock photos, we can discuss it.
• Aim to have one photo per recommendation if possible. For example: “10 Unusual Things to do in Alberta” should have at least 10 accompanying photos, plus some general Alberta photos to be placed elsewhere in the article.
• Include an exciting cover photo that demands attention. We find photos of people against an epic backdrop work well. This is the photo that defines your article and should entice the reader to click on it.
• Please title your photos. For example: Describe the subject “Lake Louise” or “Banff National Park” so we know where in the article it should be placed.

f) A headshot of yourself along with a short bio (written in third person) and a link to your website and/or social media (if applicable).

• This is a do-follow link.

g) An SEO-optimized excerpt. This should be roughly 70-100 words and should describe your article. It must include keywords while still sounding natural and engaging. Below is an example of an excerpt for an article on Halifax. (Main keywords have been bolded, secondary keywords are italicized.)

“Halifax is a colorful and bustling city on Canada’s East Coast that is easy to fall in love with. With a vibrant nightlife scene, stunning architecture (hello Instagram!) and some of the best restaurants in the country, this city is well worth a spot on your Nova Scotia itinerary. We’ve visited this exciting city 3 times and are sharing the best things to do in Halifax, as well as our top tips, what to eat, and where to stay!”

4. Make edits

We will send back any overall edits we’d like made. Please note that we may edit the final draft to better fit our site if needed.

We will inform you of this before publishing.

Important Note: In the future, we might edit your article to keep it updated and to boost rankings. We will try to let you know of any major edits we make. However, small updates should be expected to keep it relevant. We will of course contact you and let you know in this case.

5. You’re Published, Share the News!

Once your final draft is submitted, we will let you know the publishing date.  We’d appreciate if you share on your website or social media to get a larger reach.  Guest posting should be mutually beneficial.

 

Important Note: We reserve the right to edit, update, or remove your article in the future. We will inform you of this.

READ FIRST: Before emailing us, please be sure you’ve read ALL of the instructions above carefully!

Once again, we DO NOT accept guest posts that aim to sell a product, and you will not receive a response.

Instead, contact us on our Work With Us page to discuss a potential partnership.

Email Us

With all of the above in mind, we are accepting email submissions to [email protected] .  Before you email us, though, ask yourself these questions:

• Will this topic be relevant to the Dashboard Living audience?
• Will this post offer solutions (that don’t require the purchase of my product)?
• Am I qualified to write about this topic?
• What insight can I bring to this topic that nobody else can?

We look forward to hearing from you!