Are you guest blogging? If so, stop! Despite what everyone has told you, it’s horrible!
Well, okay, now it’s horrible. In Google’s never-ending quest to drive internet marketers crazy, as it turns out the once widely touted practice of guest blogging for link building purposes is now considered taboo. In Google’s own words, guest blogging now falls under the “little or no original content” section.
What Caused this Change?
Exactly what brought this change about is still officially a mystery, but most signs point to the fact that Google has been going after webscrapers and other duplicate copy for quite some time now. Guest blogging should have seen this coming, but then again, who knows what evil lurks in the heart of Google!
The bottom line is that Google is on a quest for completely original content, even if the links are canonical. Just try to stay away from anything that can be considered “little or no original content.” Article spinners, beware! Your days are numbered as well!
What Does this Mean for Guest Blogging?
As of right now, Google is penalizing guest blogging networks pretty heavily. This seems to be where the brunt of Google’s ire is falling right now, but the “weak guest blogs” by lone guest bloggers are also feeling the heat. Just like a fire starts at the bottom and burns upwards, you can expect this heat to rise closer and closer to the top, soif you are in any way, shape or form guilty of weak guest blogs, we suggest cutting some ties pretty quickly if Google’s penalization worries you.
Of course, some people will still guest blog and some might get away with it, but risking a Google manual penalty isn’t worth it in our opinion. That’s up to you but let us just remind you what happens when Google gets you in its sights: you show up on page four of the search engine result pages even if someone types in your exact website. So, what can you do instead of guest blogging?
What Can I Do Instead of Guest Blog?
Instead of guest blogging, fall back on the timeless classics of internet marketing. Content marketing is still the big dog, just think of guest blogging as a flea on that dog that’s been removed.
There are still plenty of hairs for you to scratch off including:
– Creating extra-awesome content for your own blogs. Why do you need to be on other people’s blogs in the first place (yes, we know, for traffic). But still, the point remains: if your content is that good and interesting, people will come to your blog. Focus on making your blog the best it can be and make your site a place where people say, “Man, if only we could still guest blog, I’d want to guest blog there!”
– Community and niche participation. If you still feel that the best way for you to move forward with your marketing efforts is to branch out laterally into the bigger communities and sites in your niche, instead of guest blogging, start becoming active in the forums and on the posting boards. You can always leave links to your own blog on a topic in the commentary section. Just because guest blogging is gone doesn’t mean your presence outside of your website has to disappear.
The bottom line here is that if you have been guest blogging, sorry. You’re going to need to find some more creative ways to market yourself into an existing audience. If you haven’t been guest blogging, great, don’t start.