Is guest posting still a viable SEO strategy to invest in?

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In 2014, former Google engineer, Matt Cutts, wrote a post in which he pronounced GUEST POSTING for links was OVER.

He was talking about guest posting done to drive a campaign of quick and cheap link building. That’s never successful. What works is: honest, genuine, and relevant link building. 

Expert providers of guest posting services knew the nuances of Matt’s message, but most others didn’t. 

The post got everyone wondering, “Is guest blogging dead?” 

The answer: No. Guest posting is still a viable SEO strategy and you should invest in it. 

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How?

Because there is a wide gap between what Matt meant and what people understood. 

What Matt meant: SEOs who are using paid, low-quality guest posting to get rank benefits are wasting their time. Google will ignore and devalue those links. And the users of such link-building tactics will get penalized. 

What people understood: Guest posting isn’t any good. It is best not to do it.

A little clarity about that came when John Muller from Google took to Twitter in 2020. 

His tweet answered three questions:

• Is guest posting effective or Is guest posting good for SEO?

Google devalues links from guest posts. So they aren’t doing any good for you from a ranking perspective. 

• Can Google identify guest posting links?

Google has enough data to algorithmically identify guest post links. 

• Is guest posting bad for SEO?

Because the algorithm makes sure guest post links don’t help anyone rank, Google isn’t planning on any manual reviews or penalties on guest posts. So, it isn’t bad for SEO. 

For SEO, it means: While guest posting isn’t a link-building tactic worth their time, it can still be used for other purposes. 

Do you know the reason why editors publish guest posts?

It includes sharing fresh, unique, and expertise content with their audience?

If your guest post is for any of these purposes, you can use it for brand building and referral traffic.

In fact, it is seen that guest posting increases organic and referral traffic by 80%. 

As for brand awareness and audience extension, guest blogging is seen to have shown a 174% increase in the metrics.

Guest posting also brings 3 times more leads close to conversion. 

All this is enough to prove that… 

Guest Posting Is A Gem That You Should Invest In

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Guest posting for backlinks isn’t viable. It yields no results. (No penalties either).

But it is far more valuable than just a backlink. 

As is already visible from available data, guest blogging is good for brands and brand owners.

To explain how it helps in SEO, consider the following example.

Suppose you have a car wash center in California. Now you want local Californians to know that you offer the best car wash services at the most affordable rates. 

And for that, you decide to publish a guest blog on a local automobile insurance company. The post could talk about how timely car washes can help in car maintenance, which would further help people negotiate better premiums. 

Now provided you don’t scrape content off other sites on the Internet and provide real insights based on your domain knowledge and expertise the users will benefit. 

Here’s what will happen next:

• People will find your post informative and they’d visit your blog for more content. (Referral traffic? Check.)
• Now that people know that the service you are offering is good, they’d want to avail of it. (Higher conversions? Check.)
• Even if people don’t immediately book an appointment for car washing, they know your brand now. 

(Brand awareness? Check.)