Is This The Beginning Of The End For Guest Posting?

Is This the Beginning of the End for Guest Posting?

Ah, guest posting. In the wake of Google Panda and Penguin, guest posting has emerged as the most reliable and effective way to get links from quality sites and to boost a site in the eyes of Google. In the past we would simple try and swap links with all and sundry, or we would post countless articles onto eZine Articles sure; but since those algorithm changes made it abundantly clear that Google only wanted us to build high quality links on highly relevant sites, that’s no longer really viable (and eZine is a mere shadow of its former self).

Guest posting then makes a lot of sense. You write some good content, you e-mail the owner of a well-respected blog in your niche, and in exchange for your writing you get a link and better yet a testimonial from a blogger that has a large and loyal following. It’s a great deal and it has served as a life-line for many an SEO in difficult times. But could all this be coming to an end? Could the paradigm be shifting once again? Early signs suggest that it may be so…

Unwanted Guests

While it may be a bit early to start writing any obituaries, it seems that there’s a growing trend among bloggers to abandon their guest posting ways. Over at Pro Blogger for instance a recent update told visitors that the site would no longer be accepting guest posts because they don’t tie in with their ‘new strategy’ (though they’re quite vague on what that strategy might be). Reading between the lines it seems as though they’d rather seek out the posters they want on their site and claim that it’s partly because ‘it’s much easier to find, connect with, and even meet other bloggers in and beyond your niche.’. You can hear it from the horse’s mouth here: www.problogger.net/archives/2013/01/19/the-problogger-evolution-our-halt-on-guest-post-submissions/

Then there’s Daily Blogging Tips where blogger Daniel Scocco has recently stated he won’t be accepting guest posts for 2013 because he wants to write all the content himself. Explaining that he had had complaints from visitors who felt the site was diluted with filler when really they only came for his writing, he has decided to post a lower quantity of content but with hopefully a higher quality. Either way it will all be his work, which should strengthen the ‘voice’ of his site. Check it out here: www.dailyblogtips.com/an-experiment-no-more-guest-posts-and-a-focus-on-quality/

What Does This Mean?

So is this the beginning of the end? Or just a blip? Either way, it shows that guest posting certainly isn’t a bullet proof method (nothing is) and that you shouldn’t be completely reliant on just one strategy. For now though, there are still plenty (I mean plenty) of sites that do accept guest posts – and I guess pedal to the metal if you want to make sure you get onto as many of them as possible.

And what should you do if the web does start to give guest bloggers the cold shoulder? Well for one you could always take the other route and start offering your posts on your site by mentioning that you will provide guest posts. This way you’re letting the bloggers come to you – though of course you’re going to have to write a very high quality of post for that to work (and probably accomplish a certain amount of success as well). You could always try networking with bloggers in other ways too, be it through social media or even in person. Rather than just e-mailing people out of the blue you can this way build up a relationship with a webmaster and earn their trust – and that way you can then help each other out by sharing traffic.

Generally, to future-proof your business plan make sure you’re using other strategies in your link building too: social media marketing, link baiting, creating multiple blogs and posting in forums are all still viable methods and if the guest blogging opportunities dry up you can focus more attention on those areas. Only a fool would assume the face of SEO won’t change again.

The other question of course is whether those blogs are right to stop accepting guest posters – and whether or not you should follow suit. But really the question should not be about who wrote the articles, but rather whether they’re high quality and fit for your site. If Daniel at Daily Blogging Tips were to only choose posts from writers who offered a similar quality and style to his own writing, and if he were to use those posts sparingly, then I’m sure he wouldn’t have received the complaints.

Featured images:

•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source

William Branson is a web design specialist, who likes to express his views on various topics related to the web.