{"id":106510,"date":"2013-05-11T13:31:13","date_gmt":"2013-05-11T05:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seo-hacker.com\/?p=6510"},"modified":"2021-05-11T06:10:32","modified_gmt":"2021-05-11T06:10:32","slug":"guest-blogging-googles-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seo-hacker.com\/guest-blogging-googles-target\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Blogging: Google\u2019s Next Target?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Guest<\/a><\/p>\n

Google has been very clear about their feelings regarding unnatural links.\u00a0 Their recent actions resounded deeply within the SEO community and have inspired a higher level of discourse around things like content, quality and scalability.<\/p>\n

In the wake of Penguin<\/a>, most SEOs have abandoned their efforts with public blog networks, article galleries, link purchases, directory submissions and automated tools. \u00a0Most SEO advice now includes concepts like \u201clink earning\u201d and focuses on \u201ccontent marketing<\/a>\u201d as the preferred method of acquiring links. \u00a0Upon closer evaluation, however, these new buzzwords don\u2019t stand up to scrutiny.<\/p>\n

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Webmaster’s Note:<\/strong> This entry is a Guest Post by Jarrod Wright. Click here if you want to submit a guest post for SEO Hacker<\/a>.
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For one thing, content marketing is a concept that is fairly broad and can refer to a wide variety of implementations. Some use it to mean developing great onsite content in order to attract links, while others use it to refer to thin infographics or mass article distribution.<\/p>\n

As far as I can tell, most firms are simply relying on guest blogging<\/a> as a way to build links.\u00a0 There is a lot of talk of esoteric strategies and anecdotal stories of success, but my research suggests that the vast majority of SEO companies are doing little more than cranking out guest posts as fast as they can.<\/p>\n

The History of Guest Blogging* <\/b><\/p>\n

\"Guest<\/a>*From what I understand.<\/em><\/p>\n

Guest blogging started as a way to establish a following \u2013 a precursor to social networking.\u00a0 The concept was simple.\u00a0 Two \u201cquality bloggers\u201d from related \u2013 but not competing \u2013 industries would exchange content.\u00a0 They would both benefit from the cross promotion and exposure.<\/p>\n

As SEO evolved and the importance of backlinks became widely understood, the focus shifted away from simply gaining exposure.\u00a0 Guest bloggers were much more interested in the links that would accompany their article.<\/p>\n

Even with links being the primary motivator, guest blogging was widely considered to be a very respectable method of linkbuilding. Finding blogs that would accept your content was a bit of a challenge and the quality requirements of blogs was typically pretty high.<\/p>\n

Guest blogging was far too expensive and time consuming for fly-by-night SEO firms or low-quality affiliate marketers who, up until last year, could post hundreds of articles with the push of a button.<\/p>\n

Where Things Went Wrong<\/b><\/p>\n

The deindexation of the major blog networks and the release of Penguin comprised the highly telegraphed but somehow unexpected 1-2 punch that Google delivered last spring.\u00a0 Those actions instantly outlawed a whole host of previously effective activities, leaving a void that, in many ways, guest blogging has been cooped to fill.<\/p>\n

The millions of articles that were being poured into blog networks like buildmyrank.com (and article directories before that) are now being funneled into networks of individually edited blogs as \u201cguest articles\u201d.\u00a0 The tactic has changed and the workload has increased, but it\u2019s essentially the same model.<\/p>\n

Not only has there been an explosion of people pitching guest posts, there has also been a parallel surge in the number of blogs seeking guest authors. These blogs are springing up at an alarming rate. Many are the repurposed blogs of disassembled link networks.\u00a0 Others are built atop expired domains in order to simulate a history of authority.<\/p>\n

As the manager of a dozen blogs that accept guest posts, I have to say the dynamic is pretty great.\u00a0 Turning some of my old affiliate sites into guest blogs has worked really well so far.\u00a0 As the webmaster, not only am I no longer struggling to develop decent content, but I\u2019ve also been able to virtually abandon link building for those sites. Most decent bloggers share and build links to their articles once they are posted. Modify the articles just enough to throw in a couple of internal keyword links and I\u2019m off to the races.<\/p>\n

In doing this, however, I have learned a few things\u2026<\/p>\n

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  1. Everybody is doing this. Even the firms who claim they don\u2019t.<\/li>\n
  2. Many (probably most) SEO companies are still offshoring their writers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I have, on many occasions, rejected articles written for fortune 500 firms because of obscenely broken English or ridiculous grammar. I have to assume these large companies are using fairly well known firms to do their bidding. \u00a0\u00a0The low quality issues are not just something the \u201cspammers\u201d are causing.\u00a0 From what I can tell, almost everyone is on the guest blog train and many of them are trying to push barely worthwhile content.<\/p>\n

    Things around guest blogging have become so systemized and automated that it is starting to feel reminiscent of this time last year \u2013 before Google dropped the hammer.\u00a0 Most SEOs seem to agree things won\u2019t last as they are. The question is: will Google be as punitive as they were with Penguin? Would it even be possible for them to duplicate the precision they demonstrated with Penguin?<\/p>\n

    How to Do it Right<\/b><\/p>\n

    As is the case with just about everything Google does, there is a bit of uncertainty regarding their feelings on the topic.\u00a0 Basically, it boils down to this:\u00a0 if done \u201cright,\u201d Google supposedly won\u2019t give blog owners or writers too much trouble.\u00a0 However, that begs the question:\u00a0 what is \u201cright?\u201d<\/p>\n

    Some of the only guidance we have on this matter comes from of the following videos Matt recoded for Webmaster Central.
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