Matt Cutts who is in charge of WebSpam on Google wrote a post which got many people confused and, a lot of question is still going on all over the internet till date about what he wrote about so, i decided to talk a little about it today based on my own understanding.
Matt wrote a post he titled: The decay and fall of Guest Blogging. Below is a little snippet of the post in question:
This update really got a lot of people who has been using guest blogging as their main source of traffic and link building confused but, has guest blogging really decayed? This is the question many people are still asking.
Some bloggers also wrote a fantastic post about this which you can find below:
1. Adrienne Smith: Guest Blogging Is NOT Dead Says Matt Cutts
2. Neil Petal: Guest Blogging and SEO: Still a Match Made in Heaven
In my own honest opinion, guest blogging is not dead and it won’t die too at least not now. It all depends on how you go about it. As Matt said, it has indeed become too spammy and people are just abusing it anyhow. If you’re a blogger then, you should be getting lots of emails on daily basis from link hawkers who are looking for links by all means.
They will pretend that they want to contribute and share a valuable article with your audience while they are after the link. When you finally accepted their post, you will find out that they linked to a company’s site that paid them for link building so, the guest blogging thing has indeed become a child’s play.
I myself have made lots of mistakes on the past about this but; I’m going to make amends now so that I will also be on the safe side.
Should we all avoid Guest Blogging then?
Of cause not, for the fact that Matt declared it done is not a reason to totally avoid guest posting instead, it’s time to be more careful on the way we go about it.
Even some well known bloggers like Brian Clack of copyblogger.com also raised some discussion about this on twitter. Check out what he said below:
As you can see, Brian is also saying that guest blogging is not dead provided you focus on quality instead of chasing links everywhere.
Guest Blogging is not Dead, Here is what Died Instead
Yes like I said above, I can boldly and confidently tell you that guest blogging is not dead but, what died is Guest Blogging for Link Building purposes. Tweet This
We all know that a lot of people see guest blogging as a good way to build backlinks but, that is going to change now. If you’re one of the people that rely on it as a link building method then, its time you start searching for other means of building links because, Google will soon kick your ass if you don’t.
Even Matt later made a little update on his post and edited the title: The decay and fall of guest blogging for SEO and he further went ahead to make the statement below:
It might also interest you to watch the short videos below to see what Matts suggested if you still want to be writing and accepting guest posts:
AND
Even Google’s John Mueller also gave his own suggestion as you can see on the screen capture below:
From the image above, John suggested that you make the links no-follow especially when the link is for SEO purposes but, some people will still not be happy if you make the links on their guest posts no-follow. I’ve gotten lots of emails on this issue before. There are some links i will see on a guest bloggers post and, I will no-follow it then, the guest blogger will start asking me to make his link do-follow. So, what should we do then? It all depends on you.
Conclusion
Guest blogging will still work for you or anybody once you do it in a non spammy way. Forget using it as a link building tool and, you will still get all the benefits it offers. If you’re guest blogging as a way to get more eyes on your blogs and services, boost your brand awareness, attract referral traffic and make some sales then, guest blogging is for you but, if you’re doing it just to boost your search engine ranking then I’m sorry because, you’ll be disappointed sooner or later.
I’m not going to tell you how to guest blog for a better result now because, a lot of articles have been written about it already.
If you read all the links I included on this post and also watch the video above, you will learn all you need to know about successful guest blogging in 2014 and beyond.
As for me, I will still be publishing guest posts on relevant sites and I will also be accepting guest posts on my sites but not from everyone. I must know you or, have connected with you somehow before accepting your guest posts on my sites. You must not also link to a non relevant site when writing for my blogs.
We all want to be in a safe hand so, let’s open our eyes so that we will not end up shooting ourselves on the leg.
As always, I will love to hear your own thoughts on this issue via the comment section below.
Naveen says
Of course guest posting is not dead and won’t dead, if we use it to connect with layman to experts to solve their most burning issues.
We do not limit it by 500 words crappy contents or publishing information diluted one for our laziness or not able to spend time to update the blog.
If we see popular blogs, people only use high quality contents that filled with user comments and social shares.
Actually what is going to dead is injecting SEO through guest blogging.
Thanks.
Theodore Nwangene says
You’re very correct Naveen,
Guest blogging can not die instead, guest blogging for link building just died and, if you’re guest blogging just to create more awareness for yourself and brand then, it will always work for you. Let’s just focus on quality and, we should be fine.
Thanks a lot for coming man and, happy new week.
Harleena Singh says
Hi Theodore,
Ah…yet another informative post on guest blogging and related to what Matt mentioned 🙂
Yes, guest blogging can never die, and I think the core of the whole thing is that if you follow the right ways and get the right people to guest post for you, you really don’t have to worry. I think because I invite my guests once a month, and they are only the ones who have been a part of my blog for a long time, I trust them, so nothing to fear. Regarding DoFollow or NoFollow, as you mentioned, can be left on your discretion, and after this update everyone would understand the reason for your decision too.
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Theodore Nwangene says
I trust you Harleena,
And, I like the way you’re going about your own guest blogging stuff and I’m sure, you will be fine with it if you continue doing it that way.
I pity the people that are using just to build links because, it will boomerang on them if they should keep doing it.
Thanks a lot for sharing your awesome opinion with us Harleena and, happy new week 🙂
Adrienne says
That’s a really great write up Theodore for what was announced last week and I appreciate you sharing my post as well.
I also agree with what Brian said and that’s if we freak out every time Google changes something then my goodness, your head would be spinning constantly. If you’re blogging for the purpose of sharing great quality information that can help your readers and building those relationships then you’re here for the right reasons and keep doing what you’re doing.
Also like John said, if the posts are relevant and natural linking out then you’re still doing the right thing by leaving them as dofollow. If not though then just add the nofollow tag to it. It should be about getting in front of the right people and making those connections in the first place, not link building.
Appreciate you sharing these other resources as well so thank you for that. Great job.
~Adrienne
Theodore Nwangene says
Your posts always deserves a mention Adrienne :).
Brian’s point is indeed the deal, if we always mind what Google says then one day, someone will get a high blood preasure. And like John rightfully said too, it all depends on where the link is going, this will determine if it should be do-or-no-follow.
Thanks a lot for coming Adrienne.
Ali says
Thanks for bringing this post
Theodore Nwangene says
You welcome Ali and, welcome to my blog
Robert Singh says
Hello,
That’s what I thought about this new update about guest blogging. Indeed guest blogging will never die and I think it’s best way to connect with bloggers but for SEO it’s dead.
Thanks
Theodore Nwangene says
I agree with you Robert,
Guest blogging for SEO is gone forever but, once you’re using it as a way to connect with others then, you should be pretty fine.
Thanks for stopping by
Amiti says
Hi Theodore,
I like and agree with the analysis that you have given on what he had to say, and agree that the main point he said it was to say what clearly said: “guest blogging for link building purposes died”. Content is what matters, keeping it fresh and unique, and if that means another blogger shares his/her opinions here and there, then so be it.
Theodore Nwangene says
Yea Amiti,
That’s the point. Guest blogging for link building and SEO is gone, what matters now is quality and that’s why we should all focus on.
Thanks for coming.
Sunday says
Matt Cutts’ statement last week caused a stir in the Internet marketing and blogging world and its still resonating today.
There is no big deal about it, only that many never get to understand that guest blogging should be more better quality than before.
The approach being applied by many, especially for link building and SEO is no longer acceptable by Google.
If one follows the webmaster guidelines of guest blogging then there would not be any worry about what Google or Matt Cutts says 😀
I have shared the above comment in the content syndication, aggregation, and social bookmarking website – kingged.com – where this post found.
Sunday – kingged.com contributor
http://kingged.com/guest-blogging-is-not-dead-as-matt-cutts-declared-here-is-what-died-instead/
Theodore Nwangene says
You’ve said it all Sunday and I agree with all your points. Let’s watch and see what happens next.
Jeevan Jacob John says
There was surely a lot of confusion (and discussion) about this (the initial title does confused people….then again, it’s a blog post – you are suppose to read it fully..not judge it based on the title, right?).
Anyways. I do agree with you. Guest blogging isn’t dead…guest posting for just links is (of course, links do matter…how many people are going to search for the blogs of guest authors on Google? We need those links, if we want traffic). But, guest blogging just for the sake of links is going to take a toll on the quality of the content.
Anyways, thank you for sharing this Theodore 🙂 Appreciate it!
Theodore Nwangene says
I agree with you Jeevan,
We all need those links and, we can also get them if we focus on quality. Guest blogging is still awesome and booming but no longer for link hawkers.
If you link out to your blog while publishing a guest post, there will be no issues provided the post you linked to is related to what you wrote about.
Thanks for coming back man and, have a great week.
Emmanuel says
What is all these back and forth with regards to whether guest posting is dead or not? To be honest with you I care less of all of these and let be sincere with you on this, I did not fully read the post because I just do see it that Google seems to be playing with webmasters but they need us the most but never give us respect!
Theodore Nwangene says
You’re very correct man,
Google are really playing with us but like you said, they need us more. Though, they will say that it’s for our own interest but, they fail all the time. If not, why should they sometimes penalize a site that did nothing and is clean?
Let’s just keep our fingers crossed and be watching them.
Thanks a lot for coming man 🙂
Mark says
I think I’ve haven’t been guest posting since a year now and there is no use of guest posting for me. Though I agree with your points listed above.
So once again a great way to build string backlinks method is dead. I wonder there will be use to link building in few months.
Thanks
Theodore Nwangene says
Guest posting can benefit you a lot Mark if you do it well,
And, you can still build backlinks with it provided you’re not linking to unrelated and irrelevant sites.
Thanks for stopping by Mark and, hope you’ll come again.
Shoukot says
Hi Theodore,
You intelligently mentioned the main point regarding guest blogging.
Good content always matters.
Guest Blogging can not die instead guest blogging for link building purposes will die.
Thanks
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks Shoukot,
I’m glad you agree with my points. Thanks for stopping by and do have a great week.
Vicky says
In any case most of the bloggers will stop accepting guest posts as I think most of them have used guest blogging as link building tool. Though I think there is no use of guest blogging now.
Thanks
Theodore Nwangene says
Guest blogging still have its benefits as before Vicky,
Ones you have a good intention of doing it then, there should be no cause for alarm. It will not mean anything again only to link hawkers but, if you see guest blogging as a way to gain more exposure then, it’s still good for you.
Thanks for coming and happy new month.
Daniel Cuttridge says
While I disagree with Matt Cutts that guest blogging is inherently ‘spammy’ I can see how some people have misused it. The web should always be about adding value and so long as I’m doing that I wont stop guest posting.
Do I care about the backlink? Not massively.
Honestly any half good bloggers should have a background in content marketing, far easier to learn and less fickle than SEO. When done right you can drive plenty of traffic to your blog without using guest posting as a link building technique.
Additionally there are creative ways to get around this so called ‘spam problem’ and not add in backlinks. Find a great blog to contribute to regularly and set yourself up as a contributor on your Google+ profile. Ask the webmaster to setup Authorship for you on the site and you’re still going to get people in your funnel to a degree.
Additionally focusing on having the link in the author section (while it passes less ‘juice’) is less likely to get any penalties for your site, as the vast majority are NoFollow. Guest Blogging still has its benefits when you’re not building DoFollow links. It can be a direct referral traffic source in its own right.
Theodore Nwangene says
You’ve just said it all in as more concise manner Dan and, I couldn’t have agreed more.
You’re points boils down to the issue of creating value as I said and if you do everything well then, you need not fear anything because, you’ll definitely be fine. I also love the point about being consistent on a particular blog and asking the webmaster to set up authorship for you, that’s what I will consider doing next.
Thanks a lot for stopping by man and, I do hope to see you around again.
Happy new month.
mvenkat K says
I opposed Matt Cutts, do you know it’s a spammy, in my experience many people miss used it, many sites banned by Google, now guest posting is very hard, people mentality become cruel, only some honestly writers write in correct way.
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks man, I appreciate your comment
Yashraj Kakkad says
Thank you, for clearing out our doubts! We were really confused whether guest blogging is dead or not…..
But, after reading your article based on your understanding, I can tell that we can still get traffiic by guest posting!
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks man,
I’m glad I could help through my post :).
SAJID says
BUt Theodore sorry to say i have had never any success with guest blogging….. I am really surprised to see why everyone focuses on it so much…. Google it self takes no action on some giant networks which are using foul seo techniques to rank higher which make new bloggers helpless.
Atif Mansoor says
Hi Theodore,
Agree with your point that guest blogging for backlinking will die.
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks Atif