Is guest posting really a safe long term strategy?

[pitbully]

I have a new project (new to me, but old site) that is meant for the long term and I'm not doing any type of "artificial" link building techniques for it.

That said, how safe is guest posting? Everybody is saying it's a solid long term plan, and yes when you do it properly it's contextually related and appropriate, but ultimately it's still a semi-obvious sponsored link(s) that G good begin to punish at some point. I'm assuming that G's ultimate goal is to eliminate as much artificial linking as possible so that rankings are based on natural links only, so couldn't this potentially be seen as buying links and warrant a punishment somewhere down the line?

 

[MafiaBoss]

i don't thin guest posting is considered as spammy link building technique, as long as you do it nicely.

 

[thedorf]

Yea but what a friggin boring way of building content for someone elses website. Just saying, gotta be a better way to scale.

 

[pompano]

Yea but what a friggin boring way of building content for someone elses website. Just saying, gotta be a better way to scale.

You may be building content for someone else's site but if they have a lot of traffic they are returning the favor back.

 

[johngray32]

I would try to avoid those sites that actively ask for guest posters - other than anything else they are looking for free content which you can't blame them but hey...

I think fixing up arrangements privately by emailing others in your niche is more the way to go but time consumming if you are working on your own. IMO better to start your own small blog network if you can and use the guest posts on your own site

 

[pitbully]

I would try to avoid those sites that actively ask for guest posters - other than anything else they are looking for free content which you can't blame them but hey...

I think fixing up arrangements privately by emailing others in your niche is more the way to go but time consumming if you are working on your own. IMO better to start your own small blog network if you can and use the guest posts on your own site

I like your idea of reaching out to people. You're right it would be time consuming but the links would seem more authentic and would probably be more powerful as well because the sites in question would likely have a lot less outgoing links and other spammy-ish features if they aren't actively seeking guest posters. Simple but nice, thanks.

 

[RightInTwo]

Link comments are a great way to get some good referral traffic. Even if you look at Matt Cutts, he leaves blog comments all the time. I think the fine line you have to watch out for is not using it in the name field and making sure that the links are in the comment itself. Also, if you focus on it being a referral rather than helping with rankings, it will bring you some decent traffic.

 

[Getwhatchuwant]

This does not often come up on a BH forum but yes this is a viable and (relatively) safe method of link building. This is why blog networks tend to be so powerful, its a contextual ink on a site with lots of content.

The difference between a network and an honest to goodness guest post is a guest post is (usually) free, its on a REAL site with REAL visitors that is continuously growing, usually there are social mentions etc...

I used to work with a company that represented MAJOR US universities and 90% of their link building efforts surrounded providing quality content to real bloggers in exchange for a mention. Even now I go back and check how they are doing with rankings and they continue to grow despite sticking to this one major strategy.


It is boring, it takes time but a good link from a good site not only gets you ranking improvements it gets you targeted traffic. I know BH guys dont want to hear this but the truth is this is one of the most reliable and safest ways to go about backlinking your money site, if you care about long term stability.

 

[america it]

hey it works great for link build as long as the site u doing it on have some kind of pr don't go out there and do this on site that not doing nothing I built one of my site of that and if u do it right u really get a site off the ground fast .first u have to understand why this help u reply back and I will help u understand this

 

[SEOShine]

It should be only one weapon of the large SEO arsenal you have. Don't relay on it and build links from diverse sources - bookmarks(still powerful if done properly), social signals(increasing important), file sharing(specific niches), etc. Even the forum profile links may be effective if they are from relevant source, the profile has larger description, etc. Be creative as all the methods are effective if performed in the right manner.

And yes, solid guest posts were and are effective if are done right - forgot those private networks who tend to create "guest blog post" page and advertise themselves as authority websites.

 

[bertbaby]

Ask Matt Cutts, the rules seem to change monthly!

 

[pitbully]

Link comments are a great way to get some good referral traffic. Even if you look at Matt Cutts, he leaves blog comments all the time. I think the fine line you have to watch out for is not using it in the name field and making sure that the links are in the comment itself. Also, if you focus on it being a referral rather than helping with rankings, it will bring you some decent traffic.

I've been thinking about concentrating on referral traffic from links as opposed to seo benefits, but the thing that keeps stopping me from going ahead with that strategy is the inevitable punishment for it that will come at some point down the road. Nowadays I like sticking to methods that can't be proven as being "unnatural".

At the end of the day, even if you aren't trying to get organic search traffic as your goal, you don't want to be sandboxed and taken out of the game completely either.

 

[pitbully]

This does not often come up on a BH forum but yes this is a viable and (relatively) safe method of link building. This is why blog networks tend to be so powerful, its a contextual ink on a site with lots of content.

The difference between a network and an honest to goodness guest post is a guest post is (usually) free, its on a REAL site with REAL visitors that is continuously growing, usually there are social mentions etc...

I used to work with a company that represented MAJOR US universities and 90% of their link building efforts surrounded providing quality content to real bloggers in exchange for a mention. Even now I go back and check how they are doing with rankings and they continue to grow despite sticking to this one major strategy.


It is boring, it takes time but a good link from a good site not only gets you ranking improvements it gets you targeted traffic. I know BH guys dont want to hear this but the truth is this is one of the most reliable and safest ways to go about backlinking your money site, if you care about long term stability.

Thanks for the input. I agree that guest posting definitely seems safe compared to many other methods being used, but something about it just seems obviously artificial. I like the idea of combining guest posting and reach out to people by email who aren't actively seeking guest posters and therefore the post/link on their site will seem more legit.

 

[pitbully]

Ask Matt Cutts, the rules seem to change monthly!

Exactly. This is why I get nervous to buy links with long term projects. SEO is frustrating for me as a semi-beginner because I've always done PPC stuff and SEO seems like the rules evolve so much that it's almost impossible to artificially boost rankings for the long term.

 

[EMP1R3]

Yea but what a friggin boring way of building content for someone elses website. Just saying, gotta be a better way to scale.

I have written many articles for other sites.. Depending on WHICH SITE, it leads to traffic, opt-ins, subscribers, writers for YOUR site and MUCH more.. So it has to be done CORRECTLY.

Just because it may have failed for some of you, doesn't mean it fails if done properly.

I highly suggest this method if you are in dire need of unique content for YOUR site as well as gaining exposure for YOUR site on OTHER related niche sites.

- EMP1R3

 

[ButcherBoy]

If guest posting is real it will benefits your site for sure!
If your site guest comments are thousands unrelated - most probably it will hurt your site...
But this is theory, in practice only Google knows

 

[john1444]

I have a new project (new to me, but old site) that is meant for the long term and I'm not doing any type of "artificial" link building techniques for it.

That said, how safe is guest posting? Everybody is saying it's a solid long term plan, and yes when you do it properly it's contextually related and appropriate, but ultimately it's still a semi-obvious sponsored link(s) that G good begin to punish at some point. I'm assuming that G's ultimate goal is to eliminate as much artificial linking as possible so that rankings are based on natural links only, so couldn't this potentially be seen as buying links and warrant a punishment somewhere down the line?

Guest posting is never for SEO and it will never be!

Aside the pains you take to find, accept blogs that is ready to allow you publish your content on their site, you have to write or hire someone to do the writing and even worse your published content goes live on a PR0 page giving you no link juice.

Do you want to say you will start building tier links on other people's site and making them authority over yours.

If you are doing guest blogging for traffic then it's understandable..

 

[Getwhatchuwant]

It should be only one weapon of the large SEO arsenal you have. Don't relay on it and build links from diverse sources - bookmarks(still powerful if done properly), social signals(increasing important), file sharing(specific niches), etc. Even the forum profile links may be effective if they are from relevant source, the profile has larger description, etc. Be creative as all the methods are effective if performed in the right manner.

And yes, solid guest posts were and are effective if are done right - forgot those private networks who tend to create "guest blog post" page and advertise themselves as authority websites.

If you guest post on the right site you get all the other links as a result. For instance say you break a story on your site about a new gadget then you guest post on a big time gadget blog, next thing you know you are getting likes and shares and bookmarks and what not organically.

I have written many articles for other sites.. Depending on WHICH SITE, it leads to traffic, opt-ins, subscribers, writers for YOUR site and MUCH more.. So it has to be done CORRECTLY.

Just because it may have failed for some of you, doesn't mean it fails if done properly.

I highly suggest this method if you are in dire need of unique content for YOUR site as well as gaining exposure for YOUR site on OTHER related niche sites.

- EMP1R3

Yep, write for the audience not for SEO, I apologize if that sounded Cutts like but for guest posts this is the case.

Guest posting is never for SEO and it will never be!

Aside the pains you take to find, accept blogs that is ready to allow you publish your content on their site, you have to write or hire someone to do the writing and even worse your published content goes live on a PR0 page giving you no link juice.

Do you want to say you will start building tier links on other people's site and making them authority over yours.

If you are doing guest blogging for traffic then it's understandable..

You are right and wrong at the same time. Good sites often generate organic backlinks. I have articles on sites that started as PR 0 pages that inside of a year became PR 3 and 4 without building a single artificial backlink myself. So you may not get an immediate SEO benefit over time the benefit grows as the domain your link is on grows stronger and the page your article is on grows stronger.

 

[pompano]

Guest Posting is awesome if you find the right people but remember them right people are going to be ultra strict about the content. Technically they are doing you a favor for allowing you to post content with a link.

Example, I allow guest posting but I treat it as a privilege for that person to post on my site. If they hand me content that my editor says sucks then I will say no.

Whoever feels it's providing that "Dumbass Blogger" free content is the actual Dumbass for not realizing how powerful the technique can be if you do it right. It's like me going to article sites with high PR back in the day and calling them a dumbass for allowing content but we all knew it worked well.

A lot of blogs flow pagerank well internally and that Guest Post you make will become very powerful over a short period of time..

 

[aseohosting]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with guest posting. As with everything else in SEO, it is all about doing it the right way to have a lasting impact. Don't be spammy about pitching potential partners. Make sure that you know what there site is all about and how you are going to be able to add to it. Make sure that your content is top notch, because if you're in it for more than a link, guest posting gives you a chance to build your authority on another site within your niche. This will lead to real and meaningful traffic that can convert. Check out this post we did on how to properly structure a guest post. Hope it helps. http://www.aseohosting.com/blog/2013/07/structure-corporate-blog-guest-posts-like-a-pro/