The Guest Post Scam - Better Watch Out and Do Your Homework

After having several sites penalized from blog network links (FYI these were all small private networks) I've been trying to find a good guest posting service to get high PR niche links that aren't ridiculously expensive...and wouldn't you guess there's a bunch of crappy, scammy services out there.

Here's what I found:

• Many people are using the same list of sites.
  
• Many of these sites are not real sites.
• Many of these sites are nothing but networks of sites owned by a few people.
• Many of the sites are autoblogs. :headache:
• Many of the sites are recently registered dropped domains.
• Many sites I found had the same "posted by XXXXX" on them. No that's not a huge footprint! That's when I thought to start checking whois and IPs.
• Many sites are run on cheap SEO hosting.
• Many sites have external links in every post...Hello link farm!
• Many sites had the same links on them around the same time...Hello footprint!
• Some websites selling guest posting services don't even have working contact forms or email addresses!

I'm not going to out any services here on BHW but it's not just here that I've found the problem. Other forums and websites selling guest posts are doing the same thing.

I'm starting to wonder if it's one service that multiple people are promoting as guest posts. I've even seen a couple using the same sales page graphic. I haven't looked into if there's some master service that they're buying from but I wouldn't be surprised if there was.

Now these links still hold value so don't think I'm completely writing them off but putting a buffer between your site and these links is recommended.

Right now I'm weeding out guest posting services in hopes that I find a good one at a good price. I've even been forced to buy services from other forums that I swore that I wouldn't use anymore. :10:

So far the few cheaper services that actually find sites aren't doing the best job. Since most of my niches are not hugely popular I'm sure it's harder but after 2 months one guy has only been able to post to 3 sites all of which were PR1 or PR0. Not gonna be using that service anymore.

A word to the wise...do your homework before buying.

NO I totally disagree you SHOULD out those services.

People running blog networks and advertising them as Guest Post services are actually committing fraud. A Network post is fine if that is what you are after but people buying a guest post are under the impression that the people providing the service are contacting blog owners.

If they simply are just posting on their or other peoples networks this is blatantly dishonest and should be called out. Also if you can find this, shame on BHW (if this is true) with their resources to allow people to defraud their site visitors.

Again, assuming this is true.

-Jericho- said:

After having several sites penalized from blog network links (FYI these were all small private networks) I've been trying to find a good guest posting service to get high PR niche links that aren't ridiculously expensive...and wouldn't you guess there's a bunch of crappy, scammy services out there.

Here's what I found:

• Many people are using the same list of sites.
  
• Many of these sites are not real sites.
• Many of these sites are nothing but networks of sites owned by a few people.
• Many of the sites are autoblogs. :headache:
• Many of the sites are recently registered dropped domains.
• Many sites I found had the same "posted by XXXXX" on them. No that's not a huge footprint! That's when I thought to start checking whois and IPs.
• Many sites are run on cheap SEO hosting.
• Many sites have external links in every post...Hello link farm!
• Many sites had the same links on them around the same time...Hello footprint!
• Some websites selling guest posting services don't even have working contact forms or email addresses!

I'm not going to out any services here on BHW but it's not just here that I've found the problem. Other forums and websites selling guest posts are doing the same thing.

I'm starting to wonder if it's one service that multiple people are promoting as guest posts. I've even seen a couple using the same sales page graphic. I haven't looked into if there's some master service that they're buying from but I wouldn't be surprised if there was.

Now these links still hold value so don't think I'm completely writing them off but putting a buffer between your site and these links is recommended.

Right now I'm weeding out guest posting services in hopes that I find a good one at a good price. I've even been forced to buy services from other forums that I swore that I wouldn't use anymore. :10:

So far the few cheaper services that actually find sites aren't doing the best job. Since most of my niches are not hugely popular I'm sure it's harder but after 2 months one guy has only been able to post to 3 sites all of which were PR1 or PR0. Not gonna be using that service anymore.

A word to the wise...do your homework before buying.

Click to expand...

Out them... if providers on BHW are misleading buyers then do us a favor and tell us who it is. I am also fed up with the quality of the service providers here.

For every 1 decent provider there are 6 that are selling pure crap and 3 that are so so.

You waste your budget going through services that you think we deliver quality work and end up selling you crap.

I'd ask them for a refund if I were you.

I think most of these people genuinely believe they're selling guest posts. My guess is that's what they're told and they resell it. I went through one list yesterday it had multiple of the same domains. So I know for sure they haven't even audited their own lists. I'll bet that they haven't checked out the sites either outside of getting PR and PA/DA.

I also said most sites. There were a few that looked like they could be legit but it was a very small percentage.

Getwhatchuwant said:

NO I totally disagree you SHOULD out those services.

People running blog networks and advertising them as Guest Post services are actually committing fraud. A Network post is fine if that is what you are after but people buying a guest post are under the impression that the people providing the service are contacting blog owners.

If they simply are just posting on their or other peoples networks this is blatantly dishonest and should be called out. Also if you can find this, shame on BHW (if this is true) with their resources to allow people to defraud their site visitors.

Again, assuming this is true.

Click to expand...

I've only bought one service from here for guest posting but I've asked several to see a list of sites and/or example posts.

How I initially figured it out was that I was getting the same domains from people when I requested it for a specific niche.

My guess is that all but a couple of service providers are using the same lists. Bottom line, I probably won't be buying anymore guest post services from BHW unless some new service providers come along with a better service. The expensive ones might be legit but in my opinion they're overpriced.

IamNRE said:

Out them... if providers on BHW are misleading buyers then do us a favor and tell us who it is. I am also fed up with the quality of the service providers here.

For every 1 decent provider there are 6 that are selling pure crap and 3 that are so so.

You waste your budget going through services that you think we deliver quality work and end up selling you crap.

I'd ask them for a refund if I were you.

Click to expand...

The safest bet is to reach out to site owners directly. It takes time, BUT you:

A) Know exactly what you are getting

B) Have complete control

C) Sleep better at night lol

We tried so many guest post services also (on throw away sites) - and they were all crap. They are mostly fake sites. Zero organic traffic. With real guest posts on real sites you not only get the link benefit - but you get traffic also. Well worth the time.

I agree.. you need to out them.

netmoney1 said:

The safest bet is to reach out to site owners directly. It takes time, BUT you:

A) Know exactly what you are getting

B) Have complete control

C) Sleep better at night lol

We tried so many guest post services also (on throw away sites) - and they were all crap. They are mostly fake sites. Zero organic traffic. With real guest posts on real sites you not only get the link benefit - but you get traffic also. Well worth the time.

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Yup, actually doing the work yourself is always the best policy. Unfortunately for me it's a time sink that I just don't have the time to commit to.

The other option is hiring a VA to find them for you and you do all of the followup to checking if they're legit or not. Problem is everyone is just so lazy or incompetent. That goes for service providers too.

It's too bad it's so hard to find good service providers for SEO.

I used to provide a guest posting service for $185 per published article and even at that price it was nearly impossible to do and make a profit. There is so much time and hassle involved when you are actually doing it right.

I get contacted by people offering guest posts nearly every day and they're all the same, basically just a low quality blog network. I was disappointed when one girl from New York called me on the phone offering a guest post service for $225, I hired her to do a few and it was exactly the same as the other junk despite her knowledge and assurance on the sales call.

-Jericho- said:

Yup, actually doing the work yourself is always the best policy. Unfortunately for me it's a time sink that I just don't have the time to commit to.

The other option is hiring a VA to find them for you and you do all of the followup to checking if they're legit or not. Problem is everyone is just so lazy or incompetent. That goes for service providers too.

It's too bad it's so hard to find good service providers for SEO.

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Yup. The old saying, "If you want it done right do it yourself" is on point.

I'll shoot you a PM with something that I just started testing...but could work for you as well.

Thanks a lot i wanted to use guest posts too .

Now i really dont know what to do i have bad experience with blog networks here

And now also guest posts are crap?

Well, what exactly can we buy from BST to rank our sites?

Like you've already said, a lot of people misunderstood the concept of guest posts and what they really are. Just like with pretty much any other SEO term that you know - website authority comes in my mind right now. It only takes for some dude to mention the term in the sales section and from there on, it pretty much goes down the drain because everyone else will start using it to get a sale.

Moreover, owners should not ask any kind of money to post your article as that would be, well, a paid post. Filling their website with quality, niche related content, should be just enough for them as they earn money through other systems in place.

Secondly, if you browse the marketplace, there are literally dozens of service providers that offer something like five or ten guest posts for only $25. If I'd own a popular 'health' blog I would not accept your $5 to guest post an article written by God knows who. Even a paid post costs more than that.

The same goes with what web 2.0's used to mean at the beginning. Now they're somewhat a dime a dozen.

Real stuff costs money.

But just because something is expensive it does not mean it is quality...the truth is somewhere in between

I used to provide a guest posting service for $185 per published article and even at that price it was nearly impossible to do and make a profit.

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Yeah, people don't understand this, they're like "But I have link on PR7 site for $25"....And then I take a look at that site, and you see that

1. That site ranks for nothing
2. Have 10 visitors per day
3. Most of these visitors are guest posts resellers
4. PR is faked or boosted

Forgot to say that we wrote a huge post on SEO scammers and fake bloggers http://nenadseo.com/fake-bloggers-seo-scammers/ , have a blast

I for one refuse to believe that those offering services "THINK" they are offering Guest Posts when in fact they are simply offering blog network posts.


In order to Guest Post you have to do outreach, most blog networks dont even provide emails to reach out too, so that means they are sourcing these blog networks on purpose. That is my opinion.

Before I did what I do know I worked for a company that does online education as an SEO Specialist, my job day in and day out was outreach, outreach, outreach! I would get maybe 4 or 5 bites per week in about 40 hours of work, but the results were worth it.

Now I dont have that kind of time, I am the writer/ Outreach/ and link builder at the company I am with now.

But back to my original point, it is nice to give the benefit of the doubt but when we try to promote this board as the most knowledgeable yet have people with approved BST's selling services they are not giving due to "ignorance", I find that a bit concerning.

We need a better system for determining "legit" packages, when a mod samples the service and then approves it BHW is for all intents and purposes endorsing the service. With that endorsement I am under the impression that the mod did at least a basic level of examination. Like you mentioned in your post.

• Many people are using the same list of sites.
  
• Many of these sites are not real sites.
• Many of these sites are nothing but networks of sites owned by a few people.
• Many of the sites are autoblogs.
  
• Many of the sites are recently registered dropped domains.
• Many sites I found had the same "posted by XXXXX" on them. No that's not a huge footprint! That's when I thought to start checking whois and IPs.
• Many sites are run on cheap SEO hosting.
• Many sites have external links in every post...Hello link farm!
• Many sites had the same links on them around the same time...Hello footprint!
• Some websites selling guest posting services don't even have working contact forms or email addresses!

Click to expand...

A lot of that can be checked with 15 minutes of work before approving the thread and saying "Service approved" its a disservice to the rest of us on here buying these services and not finding out until later that we have been had.


For some its nothing but for some of us this can cost us money when our sites get slapped.

I am very disappointed right now at the screening process.

Getwhatchuwant said:

I am very disappointed right now at the screening process.

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I would be fully against this. Mods are volunteers and they shouldn't be the ones to decide if a service is worth they money or valuable.

If you can't figure out if a service is legit you should ask for details from the provider. If I get hosed it's because of my own fault, the way it should be. Nobody to blame buy myself.

Take responsibility for your own actions and don't expect to be spoonfed.

white_wolf said:

Like you've already said, a lot of people misunderstood the concept of guest posts and what they really are. Just like with pretty much any other SEO term that you know - website authority comes in my mind right now.

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Don't even get me started on website authority. The PA/DA indicator that everyone likes to use now is just as useless as PR. The only thing it helps you do is weed out sites that are total crap. PA/DA is just as easy to manipulate as PR if not more.

Don't get me wrong I still use both but it's a starting point not an ending point.

Pretty sure I was contacted the other day by a guy with the same list. Just looking through 99% of them, I could tell they were garbage. Most of them, all you have to do is get past the featured content, which is usually scraped from other websites and you got some of the worst written articles you will ever see. Caveat Emptor.

Another rule of thumb is, never ever pay these guys up front. Even if you find someone who has some quality sites, always pay on delivery. There are tons of scammers out there who will sell you some BS, take your money to never be heard from again.

FYI - Darrin - hit me up if you want to compare lists

that's not even important on a guest post link You're doing it for the anchor referrer traffic.

there are a lot of platforms where you can buy/exchange guest posts or write for links... one of the "master" services is blogdash... expensive as hell but I'm guessing a lot of people resell real guest posts from there while the guys doing guest posts at 2$/pop are obviously selling PR network links...

no website decent enough will charge you 15$ for a guest post so how do you go about finding 100 of them ?

SkyrocketSEO said:

4. PR is faked or boosted

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Getwhatchuwant said:

We need a better system for determining "legit" packages, when a mod samples the service and then approves it BHW is for all intents and purposes endorsing the service. With that endorsement I am under the impression that the mod did at least a basic level of examination. Like you mentioned in your post.

Click to expand...

With you on that one. It's a double edged sword though for BHW. On one side the owner needs to make money and not exclude a ton of services and on the other side they need to make sure the quality isn't total crap.

There should be a couple of resident SEO gurus that maybe puts them into tier levels or something or at the very least the service needs more transparency.

But you need to remember they're not making money off of the people who know SEO, they're making it off of newbies who don't.

I'm a cheap bastard but I know my stuff fairly well and I will spend a lot of money monthly on services that work. It's hard though to get me to be a loyal customer though without proving your worth.

If I were a huge company I'd probably be using someone like netmoney1 for my SEO but he's just too pricey for me

lmxftw said:

that's not even important on a guest post link You're doing it for the anchor referrer traffic.

there are a lot of platforms where you can buy/exchange guest posts or write for links... one of the "master" services is blogdash... expensive as hell but I'm guessing a lot of people resell real guest posts from there while the guys doing guest posts at 2$/pop are obviously selling PR network links...

no website decent enough will charge you 15$ for a guest post so how do you go about finding 100 of them ?

Click to expand...

There's a lot of sites out there that are weekend bloggers writing about a passion that you can get links from. Although they tend to be lower PR sites.

If you want links from authority sites you're going to have to work for it. Some may let you post for free some may let you post for a price. Some even have a page where you can join as a contributor. I've had many people email me to post content to my sites. It's a numbers game.