Guest Posting Guide

Flying V Group Guest Posting Guide: The Information Gain Standard

Purpose

This guide governs all guest content submissions to Flying V Group. Every piece published under our editorial umbrella must pass an information gain threshold — meaning it must contain specific, useful, and well-sourced insight that a reader cannot assemble from the first page of Google results for the target keyword. Rehashed listicles, thinly veiled link-building plays, and “top 10 digital marketing tips” posts will be rejected without review.

We publish content that teaches something. If it doesn’t, we don’t run it.

What Is Information Gain?

Information gain is the difference between what a reader can already find with a quick search and what your article teaches them. Content with zero information gain restates the obvious. Content with high information gain introduces:

Practitioner-level specifics: Real campaign numbers, named tools and workflows, platform-specific nuances, failure modes, edge cases — detail that comes from doing the work, not summarizing someone else’s blog post about it
Strong sourcing: Industry reports, platform documentation, case law, regulatory filings, academic research, trade publications — not just other marketing blogs citing each other in a circle
Original analysis or case studies: Data you gathered, campaigns you ran, tests you conducted, results you can show
Contrarian or corrective framing: If the top 10 results all repeat the same advice and it’s incomplete or outdated, say why and back it up

If your draft reads like it could have been written by someone who Googled the topic for 20 minutes, it doesn’t meet our standard.

Who Should Apply

We accept guest contributions from:

Marketing practitioners with hands-on experience in the topic they’re pitching (SEO, paid media, content strategy, web development, analytics, CRO, email, social, etc.)
Agency owners or team leads who can speak to real client outcomes and strategy decisions
Specialists in adjacent fields (UX, data science, sales enablement, branding) whose expertise intersects meaningfully with digital marketing

We do not accept contributions from:

Anyone whose pitch is clearly a vehicle for a backlink with no real editorial value

Application Process
Step 1: Complete the Contributor Questionnaire

All applicants must answer the following questions. Incomplete applications are automatically rejected.

CONTRIBUTOR QUESTIONNAIRE

Section A: Who You Are

Q1: What is your full name, professional title, and current company or practice?

What we’re looking for: A real person with a verifiable role. We’ll check LinkedIn and your company site. Freelancers should name 1-2 recent clients or projects in the relevant vertical.

Q2: What is your area of professional expertise and how long have you been working in it?

What we’re looking for: Direct experience in the topic you want to write about. Writing about SEO topics requires SEO experience, not just content marketing experience about SEO.

Q3: Link to 1-2 published pieces that show your depth in this subject area.

What we’re looking for: Evidence you’ve written something substantive before. Portfolio pieces that are mostly surface-level advice will count against you.

Section B: Your Pitch

Q4: What is the specific topic and proposed working title?

What we’re looking for: Specificity. “SEO Tips for Small Businesses” is a pass. “How Local Service Ads Are Cannibalizing Map Pack CTR for Home Services Keywords” is a conversation.

Q5: In 2-3 sentences, what will a reader learn from your article that they won’t learn from the current top-ranking content for your target keyword?

What we’re looking for: Your information gain thesis. This is the single most important part of your application. If you can’t name what’s new, the article doesn’t have a reason to exist.

Q6: List 2-4 sources you plan to reference. At least 1 should be something readers are unlikely to stumble on themselves (industry report, platform documentation, academic study, regulatory document, internal data, etc.).

What we’re looking for: Proof you know where real information lives. If every source is a blog post from another agency, we’ll likely pass.

Q7: Does your article contain any of the following? (Check all that apply)

Original data or results from campaigns/tests you ran
A documented case study with specific outcomes
Expert input from named professionals (not “experts say”)
Platform-specific or regulatory detail sourced from primary documents
A correction or update to commonly repeated but outdated advice
Niche, vertical, or regional specifics not covered in general marketing guides

What we’re looking for: At least 1 box checked. If nothing is checked, the article is probably a rewrite of existing content.

Section C: Links & Transparency

Q8: How many external links do you plan to include to your own site or a client’s?

What we’re looking for: We allow 1 contextual, non-promotional link in the author bio. Body links must serve the reader and point to legitimately useful resources — not your homepage dressed up as a citation. Attempts to sneak in promotional links will result in rejection.

Q9: Is this submission sponsored, compensated, or written on behalf of a brand or client? If yes, disclose the relationship.

What we’re looking for: Transparency. We may still accept commercially motivated content if the information gain is real, but undisclosed intent is an automatic rejection.

Q10: Is this article original to Flying V Group, or have you published or pitched it elsewhere?

What we’re looking for: Original content only. Syndicated or lightly reworked articles are not accepted.

Step 2: Editorial Review & Content Requirements

If your questionnaire is approved, you’ll receive a content brief. All approved guest posts must follow these standards:

Content Architecture

Opening Hook Place the primary keyword in the first sentence. Orient the reader to the specific problem or question your article addresses. No throat-clearing. No “In today’s fast-paced digital landscape” preambles. Get to the substance within the first 100 words.

Paragraphs must not exceed 5 lines. Keep sentences direct and scannable.

Heading Structure

One H1 (article title, exact or near-exact keyword match)
H2s function as chapter headings — each introduces a distinct subtopic
H3s for sub-sections when an H2 covers enough ground to need subdivision
Every heading should be descriptive enough that a reader skimming headings alone gets the article’s full argument

Information Gain Section(s) Every article must contain at least one section that delivers insight not available in the top-ranking competing content. This might look like:

A data table or comparison drawn from primary sources or original analysis
A documented process from real professional experience (not a reworded version of existing how-to guides)
A sourced correction or update to widely repeated claims
Vertical-specific, regional, or platform-specific detail that general guides miss

Sourcing Requirements

Minimum 2 external sources, at least 1 of which should be a non-obvious authority (platform docs, industry reports, government data, academic research, trade publications)
Factual claims must be hyperlinked to their source
Do not cite content farms, AI-generated roundups, or unsourced “ultimate guides”
Named expert quotes must include the expert’s full name, title, and organization

FAQ Section

5-6 questions sourced from Google’s “People Also Ask” or similar for the target keyword
Answers should be 50-100 words each
At least one FAQ answer should contain a data point, citation, or practitioner insight not covered in the main body

Internal Linking

Include 3-5 internal links to existing FVG content (we’ll supply eligible URLs with your brief)
Anchor text should be keyword-relevant and read naturally

Word Count

Minimum: 1,700 words
Optimal: 1,700-3,000 words
No filler. Every paragraph should earn its place.

Writing Standards

Voice and Tone

Write in plain, direct language. Short sentences preferred.
Do not use filler phrases: “It’s important to note that,” “At the end of the day,” “In today’s digital landscape,” “When it comes to,” “It’s worth mentioning”
Do not use the word “actually”
Limit em-dash use to one per article
Avoid “it’s not just X, it’s Y” constructions
Write with authority, not like a sales pitch

What Gets You Rejected

Generic content that restates what’s already ranking
Unverifiable claims or unsourced statistics
Promotional copy disguised as editorial
Hidden or excessive outbound links to commercial pages
AI-generated content submitted without substantial human rewriting and expert review
Any attempt to game the link policy

Step 3: Submission & Revision

Submit your completed draft as a Google Doc with suggesting mode enabled. Include:

A completed Source Log (template below) listing every source cited, its type, and where it appears
Your author bio (2-3 sentences, one link to your professional site or profile)

Expect one round of editorial revisions. We may request additional sourcing, restructuring, or cuts. Publication is not guaranteed upon submission.

Contact

Send completed questionnaires to . Subject line: Guest Post Pitch: [Your Proposed Title]

We respond to all applications within 5-10 business days.