SEO experts had a difficult time recovering from the algorithm changes that Google introduced in 2012. Many traditional SEO strategies died and had to be replaced by new techniques.
This is how guest posting came to replace old-school link building. Websites that relied on low-quality links from directories got penalised. Guest posting came as a viable alternative. Bloggers benefited from high quality content and in return, they published a link to the author’s website. Is guest posting still alive, however, and can it contribute to a successful SEO strategy?
How was Guest Posting Born?
As already mentioned, guest posting came as an alternative to traditional link building.
Google began penalizing all the websites that relied on low quality directory links. Link building lost a lot of its previous power. Emphasis was placed upon well-written, unique content.
To address the changes, website owners figured out that both parties involved in guest posting would benefit from the technique. Unfortunately, some website and blog owners began abusing the rules. Bloggers started accepting content against a payment, even if the quality was inferior. Such shady practices jeopardized guest blogging as a SEO strategy and diminishing its efficiency.
Is Guest Posting Still Alive?
Guest posting is still alive but many SEO experts predict a decreasing efficiency of this technique in 2013. Google is becoming pickier in terms of content and link building is turning into an inferior strategy. Guest posting can still deliver results but it has to be done correctly.
According to the Search Engine Journal, guest blogging will fail when taken to the extreme. In this niche, quality is much more important than quantity. Google introduced a new term called authorship and each author (or website owner) has a particular reputation. The reputation can be maintained solely through the creation of high quality content, even if the piece is written for another blog or website.
Guest posting will survive but the strategy has to be modified in order to deliver SEO results.
Major Guest Blogging Mistakes
According to BasicBlogTips, guest bloggers commit a number of grave mistakes that render the strategy inefficient.
The submission of spun content is one of the most lethal mistakes. Google’s 2012 updates killed content spinning, affecting negatively the ranking on all the websites that relied on such articles. In the world of guest posting, spinning remains a major mistake.
Submission of low quality content to many websites is another major mistake. As already mentioned, Google has put a lot of emphasis on the quality of the articles. Poorly written, duplicate content will harm both the recipient blog and the author of the piece. To benefit from guest posting, you have to spend some time coming up with useful, unique and well-written pieces.
A low word count is the third major mistake. It demonstrates that the piece was put together quickly, just because of its link building potential. The longer the article is, the higher its SEO value becomes.
The final mistake involves paid submissions. Blogs that accept articles against a payment will be willing to upload any kind of content. You certainly want to distinguish yourself and put emphasis on quality.
Non-SEO Advantages of Guest Blogging
Many SEO experts that claim guest posting is dead forget about the non-SEO internet marketing advantages of the technique. Guest blogging can deliver a lot in terms of reputation establishment. Why think purely in terms of SEO anyway – focussing on just one channel marketing is not sustainable.
Guest blogging will translate in a traffic increase, especially if the article is submitted to a very popular website or a blog. If people like the content and find it useful, they will be willing to follow a link and find out more about the topic.
Additionally, guest posting is of uttermost importance for reputation and brand establishment. In the world of web, being recognised as an expert inside a particular niche will be determining for website and company popularity. This is one of the best ways to beat the competition and to establish yourself inside a particular niche.
Guest posting is alive but it has to be performed correctly. Moderation and quality are keywords of tremendous importance. Thinking about it and delivering well-written content will definitely increase the efficiency of the strategy.
About Guest Author
Rebbeca Adams is a PR Executive at SEO Brighton one of the south coasts leading SEO & PCC companies. She enjoys vintage clothing, shopping and cycling along the promenade. Catch her on twitter blogging about SEO.
Guest Posting says
I completely agree with you that guest blogging generates good amount of traffic, but my question is how to get quality blogs as many good blogs don’t allow us to post as a guest blogger. What technique are you using to search blogs ?
VISHAL VERMA says
You can search for Guest Blogging on Google by simply typing seo blog “write for us”
manahil says
thank u for this informative stuff , but how we can search that which are good sites or blogs for guest posting?