Khaleej Desk accepts guest posts from people who know their subject firsthand and can explain it to readers living and working in the UAE. We publish practical explainers, guides and grounded opinion on business, technology and everyday life across the seven emirates.

The people who write for us best are practitioners. A property consultant explaining off-plan payment plans, a teacher decoding school inspection ratings, or a founder walking through a free zone setup: that’s the work we want to edit and publish.

At a glance
Who should write	Practitioners, specialists and experienced writers with a UAE angle
Topics	Business and real estate, technology and marketing, lifestyle, health and education
Length	900 to 1,800 words
Payment	Unpaid, and free to publish
Links	One nofollow author bio link, plus source links
Languages	English or Modern Standard Arabic
First reply	Within 5 business days
How to start	Email a pitch, not a finished draft

Everything below explains each line in that table, starting with the topics we publish.

Topics We Publish

Every pitch needs a clear UAE angle: a local law, market, institution, place or everyday experience our readers will recognize. A strong general article with no local context still gets declined.

Business, Real Estate and UAE Explainers

Analysis and how-to pieces, not breaking news. Examples: choosing between mainland and free zone company setup, what UAE corporate tax means for a small business, Golden Visa eligibility, buying off-plan in Dubai, and how rental disputes move through Dubai’s Rental Dispute Center. We especially want to hear from accountants, lawyers, founders and property professionals.

Technology, Digital Marketing and SEO

Hands-on guides and grounded opinion: AI adoption inside UAE companies, cybersecurity for SMEs, e-commerce operations, fintech, compliance with the UAE’s Personal Data Protection Law, and digital marketing or SEO for bilingual Arabic and English audiences. Generic tool roundups rarely make it.

Lifestyle, Travel, Fashion and Beauty

Experience-led pieces: weekend trips to Hatta or Jebel Jais, modest fashion, skincare that holds up through a Gulf summer, dining, fitness and sports culture in the UAE. Show us you’ve been there or done it.

Health, Education, Family and Home

Health insurance choices, mental health and wellness, choosing a school using KHDA or ADEK inspection ratings, university admissions, parenting, pet ownership, and home improvement for UAE apartments and villas. Health articles must be written or reviewed by a qualified, licensed professional, named in the byline.

What We Don’t Accept

Gambling and betting, adult content, crypto trading signals or investment tips, CBD and cannabis products, essay-writing services, dating sites, loan promotions, and anything written mainly to promote a product. Those topics get declined without a reply.

Guest Post Guidelines

Drafts that meet these standards go straight to editing. Drafts that miss them come back to you first.

• Length: 1,200 to 2,500 words. Opinion pieces work best at 1200 to 1,500.
• Originality: unpublished anywhere else, including your blog, LinkedIn or Medium. Wait 60 days after we publish before sharing it elsewhere, and add a canonical link back to Khaleej Desk when you do.
• Experience: use real examples, numbers, anonymized client scenarios or lessons from your own work. Advice anyone could write gets declined.
• Sources: link every statistic, law or figure to its primary source, such as the official UAE government portal, a federal or emirate authority, a regulator or a published study. Include the year for every data point.
• AI use: AI tools are fine for research and proofreading. The ideas, examples, structure and final wording must be yours. Drafts that read as mostly AI-generated get declined.
• Structure: a specific headline, an intro that states the point in the first two sentences, descriptive subheadings, short paragraphs, and a practical takeaway at the end.
• Language: plain English for an international readership, or Modern Standard Arabic. Flag Arabic in your pitch.
• Images: optional. Only images you own or have a license for, at least 1200 pixels wide, with alt text and a credit line.
• File format: a Google Doc with comment access, or a Word file.

The links inside your draft follow their own rules, covered next.

Our Link Policy

Links help readers check facts or go deeper. We follow Google’s search spam policies, so we don’t sell or trade links, and guest posts never come with “dofollow” placements.

• Author bio: one link to your professional profile or company homepage, marked rel=”nofollow”.
• Article body: link to primary sources, research and official pages that support your points. A link to your own business stays only if it genuinely helps the reader, and editors may mark it nofollow or remove it.
• Anchor text: describe the destination in plain words. Keyword-heavy anchors like “best travel agency Dubai” get rewritten.
• Not allowed: affiliate links, URL shorteners, redirects, links to the topics we don’t accept, and changes to links after publication.

Editors make the final call on every link. Want to promote a product, service or launch? That belongs on advertising with us, where sponsored content is clearly labeled and handled separately from guest posts.

UAE Content Standards

Every article we publish must comply with UAE media law, including Federal Decree-Law No. 55 of 2023 on Media Regulation and the content standards set by the UAE Media Council. As the publisher, we’re accountable for what appears on Khaleej Desk, so we check every draft against these rules first.

Your article must:

• Respect Islam, all other religions and their symbols.
• Respect the UAE, its leadership, national symbols and institutions.
• Avoid content that could damage the UAE’s relations with other countries.
• Present no rumors or unverified claims as fact.
• Contain no defamation, insults, or private details about real people without their consent.
• Contain no hate speech or discrimination, and nothing that promotes violence, crime or drug use.
• Stay suitable for a general audience, including younger readers.
• Disclose any financial or professional interest in what you write about.

This list summarizes our editorial rules; the law and the Media Council’s published standards are the full reference. If your topic touches legal disputes, religion or regional politics, say so in your pitch and our editors will advise before you start writing.

How to Submit Your Guest Post

Pitch first, write second. A five-minute pitch saves you from drafting 1,500 words on an angle we just covered.

1. Email your pitch to jameslrocha@gmail.com with the subject line “Guest Post Pitch: [Your Headline]”. Include the headline, a three to five sentence summary, a rough outline, why you’re qualified to write it, and links to two published pieces.
2. Get a reply within 2-3 business days. We’ll approve it, suggest a sharper angle, or pass. No reply after 10 business days means it isn’t a fit this time.
3. Send your draft within 1 weeks of approval, following the guidelines above.
4. Work through edits. Review usually takes 2 to 5 business days, with comments and suggested changes in your document.
5. Approve the final version. You see the edited article before it goes live, and we confirm the publish date.
6. Share it. We send the live link so you can share it with your network.

One pitch at a time, please. Pitches without a UAE angle or writing samples won’t get a reply.

Rights, Edits and Removals

You keep ownership of your article; we get permission to publish it. By submitting, you confirm the work is your own, doesn’t infringe anyone’s rights, isn’t defamatory, and complies with UAE law.

• License: you grant Khaleej Desk a non-exclusive license to publish, edit and share the article on our site, newsletter and social channels for as long as it stays online.
• Edits: we edit for accuracy, clarity, length and legal compliance. Changes to your core argument need your approval.
• Updates: when facts change, such as a new regulation, we may update the article and show the revision date. Send corrections anytime.
• Removal: articles normally stay live. You can request removal for a genuine reason, such as a change of employer or a safety concern, and we may remove content for legal reasons, uncorrectable errors or a breach of these guidelines.
• Disclosure: tell us about any financial or professional interest in companies or products you mention. Undisclosed interests are grounds for removal.

The questions writers ask most are answered below.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you pay guest writers?

No. Guest posts are unpaid and free to publish. You get a byline, an author profile and professional editing.

Do guest posts include dofollow backlinks?

No. Author bio links are nofollow, in line with Google’s spam policies. If a backlink is your main goal, Khaleej Desk isn’t the right fit.

Can I promote my company or product?

Not in a guest post. Brand promotion goes through our advertise category as clearly labeled sponsored content.

Do I need to live in the UAE?

No, but your article needs a real UAE angle and enough local knowledge to be accurate. Writers from the wider GCC and abroad are welcome.

Can I write in Arabic?

Yes. We accept articles in Modern Standard Arabic. Mention it in your pitch so we assign an Arabic-speaking editor.

Can I send an article that’s already published?

No. We publish original work only. You may republish your Khaleej Desk article 60 days after it goes live, with a canonical link back to us.

Can an agency pitch on behalf of a client?

Yes, if the named author is a real person with relevant expertise who has reviewed and approved the article. We don’t publish under invented names.

How long until my article is published?

Usually three to six weeks from pitch approval, depending on how quickly drafts and revisions come back.

Can I become a regular contributor?

Yes. After two published pieces, contributors whose work fits our readers well may be invited to pitch regularly.

Send Your Pitch

If you do the work and can explain it clearly, UAE readers want to hear from you. Email your headline, summary, outline and two writing samples to jameslrocha81@gmail.com with the subject “Guest Post Pitch: [Your Headline]”, and expect a reply within 3 business days.