Guest Blogging: Is it Still Relevant in SEO?

A recent blog message by Matt Cutts, the head of the Webspam Team at Google stated that guest blogging was no longer an effective method for improving visibility and using this as a tactic for search engine optimization is now redundant. If this was true it would become a major problem for SEO professionals as guest blogging is considered as a useful method for improving visibility and generating leads for a particular website.

Further, when Google penalized MyBlogGuest for spamming, it seemed that they were pretty serious about taking action on guest blogging websites. In order to fully understand the impact of this situation and the future of guest blogging in SEO, it is important to understand the relationship between content, SEO and Google.

Today we took action on a large guest blog network. A reminder about the spam risks of guest blogging: http://t.co/rc9O82fjfn

— Matt Cutts (@mattcutts) March 19, 2014

Additionally, as a website owner it is important for you to understand that while you may not have much control over the SEO tactics and Google policies, you can definitely filter the type of content that goes into your website.

How does content impact SEO and Google Rankings?

It is said that CONTENT IS KING. This statement has been proved to be true time and again as content directly affects the visibility and ranking that a website receives from Google. In order to better understand this, consider this, what is the main and primary goal of Google? Yes, creating an enhanced and improved user experience is critical to the company but also like other organization, its main aim is to make money as well. In order to do that effectively it has to create a base of users that are loyal and who trust the quality and content of the searches on the site. If this does not happen, they will venture to other major search engines like Yahoo! and Bing. That is why Google takes very strict action against any kind of spammed material as it drastically reduces the quality and uniqueness of the content. So original and unique content is important for websites because if Google wants to create an enhanced user experience, it has to give top priority to good and unique content. So in short, this message by Matt Cutts is a warning to those websites who use low quality and unoriginal content in order to create back links for their websites and thereby contributing to spamming.

So what should website owners do?

1. Focus on writing content that has very high quality and is original in nature at all times. Carefully scrutinize the articles and content that are showcased on your website at all times.
2. Do not use the same content on multiple sites, it can lead to your website getting penalized.
3. Do not accept spam (write-ups) from other authors and publish them on your website. This can affect your website or blog ranking in a negative way.
4. Do not allow anyone to be a guest blogger. If the same blogger publishes the same content on different websites, then your website will be penalized as well. In short, be sure to accept content only from trusted sources.
5. Don’t rely only on guest bloggers to create link for your website. Try other authentic link popularity methods.
6. Use plagiarism checker to ensure that content is original and unique.

Moreover, this is not the end of the road for guest bloggers in any way. As long as you produce content that is good and of high quality, and what people want to read, Google will always respect it and ensure that it reaches your target audience.

So what should guest bloggers do?

1. Write content according the blog requirement. Always think about relevancy before you start writing.
2. Always try and work with websites that are socially engaged. It will help getting more traction on your piece of writing.
3. Exceed expectations and be creative with your writing at all times.
4. Establish yourself with a credible portfolio of your work.
5. Focus on quality writing and always give credit for the sources that you use.
6. Don’t associate yourself with website that create spam or have been penalized by Google.

In conclusion, remember that good and original content will always be given prime importance from Google at all times. If you continue to create content that is original, unique and of good quality, Google will always ensure that you get the best ranking and the best possible visibility. Also for website users who use Guest blogging only as an SEO tactic, then it is time for them to review their strategy. So ensure that you do misuse guest blogging but use it to connect to new customers in a new and enhanced manner.

So, What do you think – Is Google right in saying that this is the end of the road for them? Feel free to comment below.