How to blog with HuffPost UK

The guidelines below are sent to all new and prospective bloggers from the outset. They are designed to help you understand what works best on our platform and to know what won’t work.

How to write the best blog

Bloggers can submit a blog on a topic of your choosing, but we ask and encourage all bloggers to write on subjects they have personal experience of or demonstrable expertise in. Always ask: why does the HuffPost audience needs to hear this from me, and why now? We want to offer readers trusted, authoritative voices on the topics that matter to them, so please do consider whether the subject you’re blogging on will be relevant to HuffPost’s audience before you submit. If in doubt, we would recommend that you have a scan of huffpost.co.uk/blogs before you upload a post to make sure you’re blogging around a subject we know our readers will care about.

As a HuffPost blogger, you’ll have the ability to submit blog posts as and when you like. It could be as often as once a week (our recommended max), once a month, or once a year - whenever you feel like you have something important and authoritative to say. Our experience shows that blogs that are passionately written, relating to a personal experience or to the news agenda resonate best with our readers. Always ask yourself: why should the HuffPost audience read this now? Make sure your language is engaging, persuasive and written for a wide audience. Blogs must be in the first person, and be opinion-led, persuasive and geared toward a UK audience.

Editorially, bar typos, house style or legal issues, we will not edit your argument or point. We will, with your permission, change your title for SEO or clarity reasons. We recommend pieces are between 500-800 words, and please do bear in mind that we expect you to submit a post as you would be happy to see it live. We will aim to publish either within 24 hours of submission or when we feel your post will be most likely to capture our readers, but please bear in mind we do not work evenings and on weekends. With a small team and thousands of bloggers able to contribute to HuffPost, sometimes it can take longer during busy times and news events. If you already blog elsewhere, you are more than welcome to cross-post with us at the same time as you publish yours online or a few days later, and you can link straight back to your site at the bottom saying it first appeared there. We will not cross-post pieces that are old or no longer relevant to our readers. We encourage bloggers to embed photos and video within your posts but please make sure you have permission from the copyright holder and credit any images, else your post will be declined.

What won’t we publish?

Anything too niche, too introspective or diary-like or that are airing personal business that won’t be of relevance to wider readers. We do not accept interviews, straight travel reviews or reviews of locations, activities, products, films, music or events. We will, however, accept blogs that critique pieces of media and talk about the wider social issues raised. We won’t accept anything from bloggers that endorses a product or reads like a publicity post. We will ban bloggers who breach this guideline.  As bloggers are not employees or representatives of HuffPost, we will ban bloggers who use the HuffPost name to obtain access to events, people or products. We retain the right not to publish pieces that fall below our quality expectations or that we, in our experience, know there won’t be an audience for.

Blogging FAQs

What are the best practices for a perfect post?

Blogs should be between 500 and 800 words and, where reasonable, incorporate images and video for a multimedia experience. Clear, descriptive headlines work better than puns or short, vague titles - think about what kind of title would stop you scrolling on your phone. The headline should tell readers what your post is about, and why they should read more. Here are some examples:

• How The Conservatives Can Win The Votes Of Young People

• Six Ways to Turn 'The Voice' Into a Really Good TV Show
• Why I Ghosted My Best Friend
• A Letter To Anyone Who’s Ever Felt Bad About How They Look

Blogs should be written in an informal, shareable tone - keep in mind that it’ll need to be persuasive and catch the eye of readers who won’t know, or even care, about what you’re talking about.

What can’t I blog about?

We ask bloggers not to submit anything that is too niche, too introspective or diary-like, or that are airing personal business that, in our experience, won’t be of relevance to wider readers.

We do not accept interviews, straight travel reviews or reviews of locations, activities, products, films, music or events. We will, however, accept blogs that critique pieces of media and talk about the wider social issues raised. Here are a few examples.

We won’t accept anything that endorses a product or reads like a publicity post. We will ban bloggers who breach this guideline.

As bloggers are not employees or representatives of HuffPost, we will ban bloggers who use the HuffPost name to obtain access to events, people or products.

We retain the right not to publish pieces that fall below our quality expectations or that we, in our experience, know there won’t be an audience for.

Why isn’t my post featured on the front page/section pages?

Unfortunately, given the volume of posts published each day, not all posts can be featured on the front page. However, your post is published and available to readers on the site and can always be found in your author archive and our blogs homepage, huffpost.co.uk/blogs.

We encourage bloggers to drive readers to your piece through your own networks. You can increase the chances that it will be featured by our editors by posting the link to Facebook, Twitter, an email list or any other way you communicate with friends and colleagues.

Why hasn’t my post been published?

We try our best to publish posts within 24hrs of being submitted, but this can vary depending on the volume of blogs submitted to us on any given day.

As above, we won’t publish posts that are not of direct interest to our readers or too niche.

We would also remind you that, as per the blogging terms and conditions, posts will be declined if it contains promotional links, or there are financial incentives behind a post.

Can I cross-post a piece I’ve already published somewhere else? Can I re-publish my HuffPost blog posts elsewhere?

Yes! Cross-posting from other platforms or outlets is not only allowed but encouraged, as long as you have the rights to do so and the post isn’t more than a week or so old or out of date. HuffPost bloggers retain all rights to their work and are free to re-publish their work elsewhere.

When should I use a hyperlink to cite a source in my post?

Any time you use a secondary quote, you should attribute the original source and link to the story or study from which the quote originates. This is true even if you are paraphrasing the original source. Any time you include a fact or statistic that has not been gathered by your own research, you should link to the study or article that supports that fact/statistic. You should also link to a study, finding, or news article when attributing a conclusion to a group such as “Psychologists say...,” “Most doctors feel...,” “Scientists believe...,” “Research shows...,” etc. These citations should come from reputable news publications, government studies, or studies published in peer-reviewed journals. If your sources are not on the web, and you are unable to hyperlink, you should provide numbered footnotes at the bottom of your post.

We will decline a post if it is not fully backed up by evidence. Proper sourcing will make your pieces more credible to readers and increase the chances of HuffPost editors promoting your work on the site.

Can I co-author a post with another HuffPost blogger?

Yes. If you’d like to co-author a post, simply publish the post as normal using the first author’s account and add a placeholder “Co-authored by [author name]” at the top of the post. An editor will add the second byline to the post from our end as soon as possible. If the co-author has never blogged before, please contact us before uploading the post so we can create a profile.

Can I see traffic stats for my post?

Not yet. We can supply general information on the readership of HuffPost UK, but data on individual blogs is not available at this point.

Can I write in another language?

This platform currently supports our English language site, so please only write in English. If you publish posts in another language, we will not be able to properly edit and publish them.

Technical FAQs

How do I add an image to my post?

To add an image, hover your cursor over the purple '+' and click the “Photo” button.

How do I make sure my post will have an associated image for social media sharing?

The first image you add to the body of your post will be used as the featured image on social media.

Why can’t I upload my image?

If you’re having trouble uploading an image, please make sure that its file type is .jpg, .jpeg, .png or .gif, and that it is no larger than 12MB.

How do I embed a Tweet, Facebook post, or Instagram photo within my post?

Hover your cursor over the purple “+” and then click the “Social” (#) button. Paste the URL of the desired post into the field and then click the “Load” button.

How do I embed a YouTube (or Vimeo) video to my post?

Hover your cursor over the purple “+” and then click the “Video” button. Paste the URL of the desired video into the field and then click the “Load” button.

How do I add a hyperlink to my post?

After you’ve entered a section of text, highlight the word(s) where you’d like the hyperlink to appear. Click the “Insert/Edit Link” button in the toolbar and you’ll see a pop-up box appear. Paste the web address you’d like the link to direct to into the URL field. Click OK.

How do I preview my post?

At the top of the page, next to the publish button, there are two icons. Clicking on the mobile phone will give you a preview of your piece on mobile, and clicking on the computer monitor will give you a preview of your piece on desktop. Make sure you have all pop-up blockers and ad blockers disabled, as they interfere with the preview function.

How do I edit my post after it has been published?

Bloggers are unable to edit posts after they have been published. If you require a change due to a significant typo or factual error, email us at ukblogteam@huffpost.com and we’ll respond as soon as we can.

Can I post a ‘guest’ blog?

We do not allow blogs to be posted on behalf of others on your account - if the person needs setting up as a blogger, email ukblogteam@huffpost.com.

Can I publish my piece on one of HuffPost’s international editions?

All pieces submitted to the platform are published to the UK edition of HuffPost. However, they are available for our international editors to feature on their sites at their discretion.

How do I remove a blog?

We are only able to remove blog posts in extraordinary circumstances, such as where a post contains major factual errors or where there are legal issues with the post. Please be triply sure that you are happy with a post as published before you submit.