On 19th March 2014, Google’s Matt Cutts, announced that the search engines would be penalizing a large guest blogging network on twitter. On the same tweet, he put up a link which redirects you to his blog about guest blogging.
In the blog he provided some insight illustrated by an example of spam mail he received that asked him to publish a “guest-blog” in exchange for some “compensation.”
In his blog, he embedded two of his videos where he talks about guest blogging by replying to the queries made by two individuals.
He pointed out, that guest blogging, in the past was considered to be respectable and prestigious. But as they say, anything that can be used easily can be misused easily.
Nowadays, guest blogging has acquired an infamous image because of the people who used it to increase their ranks. What they were looking for was more quantity and word twisting on things that have already been written. This is called article spinning, where a good article is twisted to look like a new blog post and then stuffed with bad links and backlinks.
One should understand that blogs are still considered as works of literature in the academic world and not a source to get as much revenue one can get by publishing rubbish.
I loved a phrase that Matt Cutts used in his video, where he says, and I’m not quoting it but just putting in the essence to what he said, – If one has to contribute something which is original, they have a message. One sweats over it. They have a perspective that they really want to get out there. And then there are some blogs where it’s just like, “Okay, This was 300 words and the bare minimum to get by.”
So to examine and summarize what exactly is he trying to say. It’s pretty easy and basic. Do what is right. One knows when they are doing something wrong out here. I can bullet point it out for you as everyone likes things to be mouth-fed. But the fact remains: USE YOUR OWN DISCRETION. You know when you are twisting up phrases from a different blog and are wrapping the same object with a new gift wrapper.
But to make it clear, here are some points you need to keep in mind. (And I will pretend as if you don’t know all of this.)
Things you should NOT do under any circumstances:
According to Matt Cutts:
- Don’t Build links on commercial anchor text
- Don’t submit your posts on those blogs built for guest posting only
- Sites should be highly relevant to your article and link
- Don’t use any automated guest posting services
- Don’t submit low quality and promotional content only
- Don’t forget checking, indexing status of blogs before pitching
- Don’t spam others websites by Word spinning, keyword stuffing and Link-Shoving
- Don’t chuck out your ethics, aesthetics and sanctity of a blog posts as they are highly rich resources for knowledge.
Understand where people are getting stuck and going wrong. If you have the solution for a problem, go ahead and provide your expertise. Make sure that the explanations are detailed. Try to resolve their issues. If you want to share some ideas which might impact people and the way things work, go ahead.
I have seen people say, I have written five blogs today on different topics which have not been written before. But my question was, even if it is original, does it have enough flesh? Does the content provide new insights? Any breakthroughs? If you can produce five articles everyday with extremely insightful content, and sticking to being original, I must say, you are an extra-ordinarily gifted person.
Guest blogging by established and well known bloggers is seen as a tradition where we tend to see two superstars come together to discuss upon a point, or simply to exchange and project ideas.
Even after what happened with MyBlogGuest, people are ignorant about the guidelines and are still persistent about using guest-blogs to juice out views and links. What they might think is that it’s not going to affect them in anyway as they are not well-known. That’s where you are going wrong.
First, let me ask you a question. Your motive behind stuffing keywords/ spammy links and to spin words among other things. What is your reason for doing this? Gaining visibility, right? So how do you expect, that when you gain visibility, you won’t be noticed? You have to realize that it is quite perilous a thing to do.
Understand, the reason why Ann Smarty’s blogging site MyBlogGuest came under the knife, was because her blog was starting to become famous.
She wasn’t expecting it as she was at Pubcon New Orleans. She read about the update, but didn’t think her site would be hit because her site was not “network” that advocated payment for guest posts or links.
Still, her site was penalized.
Remember some points which you can follow without stepping on the immoral zone.
1) Don’t display your site publicly on any guest bloggers’ outreaching platform such as myblogguest, bloggerslinkup, guests and others.
2 ) If you publish unnecessary and spammy external backlinks on your website with commercial anchor text then beware Google can hit you with Unnatural Outbound links penalty.
3) Do guest blogging the way you should, with respect. Guest blogging is not something which Matt Cutts doesn’t approve of, he just clarified some things in the following statement:
“Certainly not all guest blogging is bad (e.g. valid reasons for guest blogging include exposure, branding, audience, community, expert opinions, etc.). We just see a lot of spammers exploiting guest blogging and innocent site owners as an SEO tactic, so I wanted to make it clear that we reserve the right to take action where we see abuse.” Source
3) Use conventional techniques and pitch to good bloggers. If you want to write for a blogger who is really good at it (or is famous), or vice versa, interact via email. Don’t join forums and definitely don’t OFFER/TAKE money for the guest post.
4) Focus on referral traffic and branding instead of focusing on anchoring text and backlinks. Write blogs the way you would like to read. There is no need to fret over nofollow. Insert nude links instead of maliciously disguising them.
5) When readers will see you on various blogs, eventually they will start noticing your blog and if you deliver quality you will strengthen your brand. Asking other bloggers’ to recommend, share your posts, follow you and your blog is shallow. So abstain from doing that. If they will like it, there is no way possible that they wouldn’t share it.
A brainstorm, before I conclude.
You are a chef at a restaurant. You want people to know you. What would you do? Prepare Cauldronful of Slimy broth which would be distributed in high quantities to customers despite of it, tasting disgusting, or become a gourmet and prepare the most delicious delicacies, which will leave the customers asking for more, and after going out, they’ll spread the word eventually fulfilling your dream.
Just remember, give people what they desire.
The post Impacts on Guest Blogging Strategy After MyBlogGuest appeared first on Weblogbetter.
