Is guest posting still a good idea?

[MarieHaynes]

Lately the changes in Google all revolve around reducing the power of "self made links".  We've seen blog networks devalued and low quality directories devalued.  We've also seen people penalized for unnatural patterns of anchor text.  With all of this in mind, I'm wondering how much time I should be putting in to guest posting.  It seems to me like the safest focus should be on creating great content and then promoting that content.  But it's so much easier to spend a few minutes writing an article for someone else and getting an anchor texted link back to mine.

To most, guest posting is still considered white hat.  But really, when you look at it, you are providing a webmaster content in return for a link back to your site.  But it is definitely not a natural vote for your website.  It is really just a self made link.

If I were Google, I think it would be quite easy to find ways to determine what is a guest post that was created simply to get a link back to a site.  And then I would devalue the links from those posts.

What do you think?  Do you still do much guest posting?

[eyepaq]

I think it works for now but since more and more will use it as a primary link building channel and more and more people will push it to the limit (already the case in some areas) this technique will be soon subject to more tight regulation from Google's side.

I remember 2003-2004 when forum posting was some how in the "beginning".  Some people from Google said - it's natural , it make sense then yes, it's aceptable - what about now ? Who things forum signature posting is a "good" approach to  link building ? Same with guest posting. I would say in the future you will need to have a no follow in those links since you should do it for the content, referral traffic not the link.

[inhouseseo]

Marie,

I think link building as a whole is in limbo right now. If Google really means any link building intended to affect organic results is a link scheme, then any "active" link-building violates Google's WG.

If you are an ecommerce site, these are hard times because avenues of link-building are being cutoff + Google is showing more bias to HUGE sites (i.e Amazon, Lowes, etc.).

[ProjectLabs]

Good question. I think that if a guest post creates value for readers is should continue to pass link juice to the author's site. An easy way for Google to determine if the guest post is valuable is to look at whether the guest post has earned any links and if it has social mentions. It is like most linkbuilding tactics - it can be effective as long as you don't go overboard with it. I have had a positive experience with MyBlogGuest. There are definitely a lot of junk sites but you can block them. I have found more quality opportunities on MBG than BloggerLinkUp. You also want to pitch your ideas to blogs that don't publish a ton of guest posts (as Rand has suggested in a WBF).

[JordanGodbey]

Marie,

Echoing what a lot of others have said, it's about how you use it. What's the difference between spinning a piece of content and putting it on someone's blog who will accept any piece of text (regardless of if it even makes sense!) vs spending hours on a well researched article and having an editorial team review and accept your content?

Both scenarios describe a) your piece of content, b) someone else's blog and c) a link back to your site.

However, Eric Ward talks about this a lot -- If you are doing things ONLY FOR THE BENEFIT OF SEO, you should stop and think about what you are doing.

Think about this scenario -- what If you could get guest blog articles placed on 5 very highly authoritative and highly trafficked sites, without a link, OR you could have 5 "ok" guest post articles on "no-name" blogs... but you get a link..

In the first scenario, you will most likely drive a lot of traffic via people searching for your name and your brand, and consequently could also trigger sales.

Isn't that what SEO is all about?? We need to remember.. SEO isn't just for the sake of "SEO" or being "#1"

If you can make a great ROI doing guest posts with no links... do it!

[SEODinosaur]

"I agree with many of the reasons EGOL often states for not guest blogging (why would you ever create a competitor for your keywords by giving someone your valuable content?)" Hmm this is an easy question... If you have a new company and you want people to find you, why would you advertise? lol

Think about it if you have no traffic on your site and there is an opportunity to share your knowledge/product/invention whatever. Why not publish a blog on a relevant site? It’s a win! win! You see you drive relevant traffic from relevant or interested areas on the web and it also helps you get found on the web SEO and I repeat "Give the people what they want, and Google will give you to the people."

You cannot compare spam-based site like BMR to a helpful networking site like MBR!

[AnnSmarty]

I have said it many times: it's not about guest blogging - it's how you are using it. So don't blame the tactic if you see someone abusing it.

The high-quality guest blogging will survive: because it's based on great content.

The low-quality guest blogging is not worth it, so it is probably being devalued right now.

[AnnSmarty]

Most of our sites have been accepting guest posts for ages. We have many members who grew together with us (they joined as very new sites and are now getting traffic, rankings and activity), so your observations are wrong.

None of our oldest and most established bloggers has been devalued so far, so I don't see any point in getting suspicious.

New sites are more active, true, just because they are new. So they might be easier to notice.

We are not doing anything wrong and saying "after MBG sites are all devalued" is also wrong. Let's talk about that if/when it ever happens. We have worked hard to be Google-friendly. We are doing our best to convince the members of non-link-building priorities. And most of our users do get that.

[JustDucky]

Marie - I share your concerns.

I looked at MBG  1 - 2 months ago and carefully looked at the age of the sites which were seeking guest postings.   The vast majority of these sites were launched right after BMR etc. got delisted.  This did not appear to be a coincidence.

There are a few quality sites with invitations to guest write on MBG.  For that, we should be greatful.  Most of the select sites have strict content requirements which appear to be highly selective. (Think the kind of product that could take someone familiar with the subject 2 - 3 days to do even with the running head start).  For a 50 - 60 site, a small author attribution and no key words in the text seems rather "pricey" in terms of author time.  But, I suspect the stricter blogs are more likely to be around and pass along some authority beyond the next 24 months or so.

I agree with many of the reasons EGOL often states for not guest blogging (why would you ever create a competitor for your keywords by giving someone your valuable content?)   An exception I see is where the content is a "one off".  If you market only residential real estate and there is a quality, high authority website that will accept a great article you wrote about commercial real estate, the trade off between the link and giving up the possible links to your own site becomes more attractive for those of us who are not over the hump and need opportunities for quality IBL's.

The remainder is a rant but I feel like venting my frustration today.

Whether we want to recognize it or not G is culling the heard of websites and will continue to do so for the next couple of years.  The cost of entry and wait required until a site is profitable has increased over the past 2 - 3 years and will continue to climb.  G's algo is weighed toward "high authority" sites written by content writers (not experts and seldom local) rather than weighed towards experts (why not favor blogs written by licensed experts in the searcher's local rather than "about.com" and the like?)

I fear that after G devalues the MBG sites (for whatever reason G makes up), any professional sites which allow others of the same profession to guest blog could easily be deemed an impermissible "network" and would not carry much link juice anyway.

Whatever Penguin is, I will bet many more people on these forums will be affected by the time it reachs Ver 3.5.   G sat on so many violations of its sacred "Terms of Service" for so many years, it would be deemed to have waived them in any private commercial transaction.

Perhaps another search engine which weighs authorship authority on more than "links" from the "abouts" of the www and even weighs in locality more will pick up market share.  I'm not going to hold my breath waiting though.   Selling ads in organic and social is far to profitable to give the traffic away to content providers who are unlikely to advertise.

[DanielH]

If you're an authority in your industry and share new data or strategies as a guest on another industry-related, high-quality, well-trafficked blog, the link in your author byline at the end will always count for a lot. You've earned a vote because you're an authority in your industry. The visits and social signals of people commenting on that post, sharing it etc., will indicate that to Google.

On the other side, if, like Geoff Jackson said, you're throwing together 500 words of rubbish to get posted on a spammy, low-readership blog, just for some exact match anchor text that you've used in links 100 times before, Google will discount that link's value, and might even penalize your site.

I guess my point is - excellent guest blog posting is still very white-hat, and always will be. As industry authority figures share their knowledge around the web on high authority blogs, the links back to their own content are great votes that they've earned.

I interpret what you're saying in your question to mean all guest blogging is bad and Google will eventually throw it all out. However, just as with anchor text, if it's done well then it still counts for something. Guest posting is still a great idea if you're a great guest posting helpful content.

[SEODinosaur]

Its up to you! as Geoff mentions above. Myblogguest is not a bad site and they have good intensions. They are helping people share content for each others audiences. Lets say I needed an article about helicopters for my boat site I can easily get content from myblogguest and the author deserves the credit.

However if it is used to manipulate or spam it wont help and might hurt. Just like everything in SEO.

Many tools out there can be used for good or bad however you are holding the wheel. "Give the people what they want, and Google will give you to the people." + Donnie Strompf

[MarieHaynes]

I agree...that's sort of my point.  If the whole point of guest posting is to gain an anchor texted link then it's just not right.

[zigojacko]

This is where many misconceive the concept of guest blogging. If time is spent chasing algorithms, manipulating search engines and following through any process in the hope to get a backlink, it is unlikely that a) you are doing it right and b) that you will really be rewarded well.

As with anything online, a content strategy should be thought through, you should understand your target audience and know how to address the readers and what content to provide within articles. If the only reason for writing a guest post to get a backlink, then the article is probably only low quality drivel and will subsequently only find a home that is equally the same.

I for one would much rather spend the time creating a fantastic, well researched piece equipped with imagery, citations and the like and be rewarded with placement at a high traffic authority blog with a link back to my site that sends targeted traffic that may convert rather than a bland, uninteresting 500 word article at a blog that no-one reads. Of course, I'm not saying that this is what you do however think of it like this:-

Why should Google devalue weight passed through a link from an article published on a blog that receives plenty of traffic, has significant social signals and a high level of engagement. Just because it's a guest post doesn't indicate that the content is any less worthy than anything else online.

Sure, if the same author bylines and anchors in links are used each and every time, then it's going to be pretty easy for Google to spot - but then, if you're doing this, then you're going about it wrong anyhow.

Write quality, unique content, identify awesome blogs to publish at, encourage audience engagement and maximise social potential. Google will never devalue your efforts if you are only thinking about your audience and customers, that's the bottom line and always will be.

You may find this useful: Link Building Due-Diligence: The Guest Blogging Checklist

[MarieHaynes]

It still works for now, but will it keep working?  We used to say that about buying anchor texted links - how will Google know?  And now, a good number of paid link networks are gone.

If I were Google I'd be looking through all of the sites linked to from myblogguest and blogger link up and the like and it would be pretty easy to pull apart the quality sites from the crappy ones.

Actually, that's what prompted me to write this question.  I was looking through the latest email from bloggerlinkup and deciding where I should put some guest posts.  I was browsing some of the blogs that were asking for guest posts and thought, "These are such poor quality!"  The majority were obviously quickly written articles with a few anchor texted links back to one site.

My thought is that links from sites like these that are littered with guest posts are not likely to be helpful.  Perhaps they may work now, but I'm not sure for how long!

[SEODinosaur]

Yes it still works. However, site has to be relevant and authoritative. Check out myblogguest.com