Guest Blogging Is Not Dead – 10 Reasons Why You Should Do It

Everyone went crazy when Matt Cutts talked about Guest Blogging being dead for SEO.  I’ve been warning about the same thing for years like in this post where I warn Mommy and Product Bloggers to change their media kits and stop selling links as part of their reviews.  Even though the majority of the requests I get (and I’m sure many of you get) fit into Matt’s category of spammy requests and crappy articles, Guest Blogging is not dead for SEO or for many other reasons.

10 Reasons You Should Continue to Guest Blog.

10.  You get a backlink.  Whether it is do follow or no follow, it is still a back link and can still pass authority or create a solid backlink profile and ratio when you guest blog.  What you do with the post and with the link is up to you though.

Sometimes I’ll point the link from the post to another post that I really want to rank well to build the authority of that post and then pass the authority into a client site, or sometimes even another post that the second one links to the client’s site.  If the post can rank for a term that drives sales and has a link, I’m going to build that authority and then pass both the juice and the targeted traffic to my client.  Other times, depending on the site I’ll link into a client’s site or my own site with the link from the post.

The thing you need to remember is that you have to write quality and informative content.  The content has to be unique, not spun and actually give the visitors something of value to take with them.  The backlink you take from it should be a way to enhance the post or benefit the end user.  Not just be placed because you want a link.

9.  Guest blogging can build your credibility and your brand.  If you work your way from smaller sites by writing amazing content to larger sites, you can build credibility for yourself on your way up.  Once you hit the big sites and they let you write and submit when you want, all of the sudden your guest blogging and content sharing has helped to make you an expert within your niche or field.  By being featured on and writing for these large and established sites, you get credibility from within your community and it helps to build your brand since you are a resource that people now go to and resource.  That is a huge benefit to guest blogging and why you should continue to guest blog.

8.  Driving sales with Guest Blogging – Guest blogging on a site that has a good following can drive sales.  Even if guest blogging wasn’t a solid way to get backlinks, especially off of products or categories, if the site has a following and you know they can and will shop, I don’t think Google would argue that the link isn’t relevant or isn’t there to benefit the readers and show your site as a proper resource for more information or to buy a product to provide a better user experience or solve an issue.

7.  Ranking for other terms to knock out competition with authoritative sites – If I’m moving into a slightly competitive niche or a very competitive niche where there is a ton of competition, especially for short or long tail keyword phrases, I’ll write high quality and well optimized posts using proper coding and schema with the goal of ranking that post for the variations I either rank somewhat high for, my clients don’t rank for yet, or where our competitors dominate so we can knock them out.  If you find an authoritative or old site and it is very content relevant to that niche or the keywords you want to rank for, use the authority and age of that site with a properly written, tagged, etc… post to knock other sites out of the top ten positions and give the traffic to the site and your client through the links within the guest post.

6.  Writing a great guest blog post can build other links and get other bloggers to reach out to you – If you are writing quality content that is informative, gives the reader actionable items to use and is not spun or fluffy, other bloggers can find these posts and either link to the post, link to your site or even better, ask you to guest blog on their site as well.  It doesn’t matter if the site is huge or not, make sure you always provide amazing and high quality content when you are guest posting because you never know who will read it and either ignore you or want to work or partner with you.

5.  Guest blogging builds exposure for your site – If someone pitches you a solid guest post idea and gives you a really good article, chances are they will share it as well.  This gives you great articles for your readers that you can optimize for the search engines and you don’t have to worry about coming up with a topic for that day.  Because many guest bloggers will share the post they write, you now have exposure to all of their followers and fans.  This can help to grow your newsletter, readership and customers.

4.  Guest blogging builds businesses – When I’ve guest blogged on a few other sites that had a good following, I have been able to drive leads in for my business or had Affiliates who want to know what Affiliate Programs I manage so they can join.  By writing non promotional guest posts that add value and show your knowledge or how you do business, you can inspire others and hopefully encourage some of the people who find the post to contact you for partnerships, to come on as clients or to become partners within your Client’s Affiliate Programs helping both you and your clients grow.

3.  Building relationships with complimentary companies – One thing that I do a lot with guest posting is find complimentary companies and use them as a resource with a backlink or mention.  If my site or client is about a topic and there is a very similar merchant or site that has the same type of user base, same price points and is not a competitor, I’ll make sure to tie in a backlink to their site or mention them if it is a high traffic volume site that I know can send a lot of traffic and sales.

After the post goes live and they start getting hit with traffic, I’ll call the marketing department and show them other work I’ve done to help them for free including other mentions and posts I’ve written.  I’ll also talk about my client with them and see if they would be interested in doing a cross promotion with their customer base.  This usually results in a huge win win and an instant boost in sales for both companies or both sites.

2.  You get feedback – Feedback is vital for everything.  By guest posting on another site with a solid readership or large site you get feedback from an audience that doesn’t know you.  This helps you to know or learn to write better for other audiences, helps you to know if you write at to high a level, if you write at to low of a level or if you really don’t know enough about a topic to begin with.  Getting this feedback isn’t always fun or easy to read when it isn’t what you want to hear, but it is a huge part of being able to grow as a professional and to help grow your company or your own blog.  You can use the feedback to know to write at a higher level, a lower level and also use it to find out why these people don’t go to your site.  By getting their feedback you can make small changes and now create a resource great for them as well.

1.  It is a great way to network and gain exposure all at once – There are a ton of amazing and smart people who never go to conferences or tradeshows or who are too afraid to speak at them, but should.  Guest posting is a way for them to be able to give a presentation or session, teach a topic and gain exposure to an audience without having to give an actual presentation at a conference.  This gives the Guest Blogger a chance to show off their knowledge, have a Q&A with the readers in the comments section and network with all of the readers of the site at once.  If the post is good enough and the site is large enough, it is like going to a tradeshow and networking all at once and without having to leave home or give a presentation in public.

Guest posting is in no way dead and you should continue to do it.  It can help build your brand, build followers or fans and can also drive revenue or new clients to your company or business.  Guest blogging helps you learn what you are good at, can provide you with feedback about your knowledge or writing styles and can help you grow professionally.  You can get backlinks to your site, customers and revenue and build a personal brand by sharing your knowledge.  Guest posting is a form of PR and Branding and something that will never die, even if Google doesn’t like it.  It should not be your entire SEO strategy, but it should be part of your marketing plan.