As a strictly white hat SEO professional, when the powers that be (i.e. Google and Bing) declare that a particular link building technique is black hat, I stop doing it. Take link exchanges for instance. A few years ago link exchanges were an incredibly useful form of link building. I give you a link, you give me a link and everyone goes home happy. One day Google decided that link exchanges were nothing more than a glorified link scheme and attempt to con the algorithm. They labeled them black hat and I haven't looked back since, even if some other grey hat and black hat SEO practitioners still use link exchanges.
It used to be that I would get a dozen emails a day asking for a link exchange, but in the last few months I';ve noticed a growing trend in the number of e-mails I'm getting from bloggers and site owners asking if they could write a guest blog post on my SEO blog and in exchange I'll be allowed to write a post on their blog. So instead of a link exchange, it's basically a blog exchange. Here's the thing; I don't accept guest posts on my blog, and I never have in the 4 years I've been writing it. I might decide to open it up to guest bloggers one day in the future, but I will cross that bridge when I come to it. And while I am always on the lookout for new places to write guest posts, most of these emails are coming from spammy, low quality blogs that I wouldn't want links from in the first place.
This got me wondering; is guest blogging the new link exchange?
Why should site owners look for guest blogging opportunities?
1. Helps build your link portfolio
That's an obvious benefit of guest blogging, but it should not be the only reason you do it! Submitting a guest post to various low quality sites might get you links but they aren't the valuable links you should be striving to attain. The original Panda update was designed to take on content farms and I firmly believe that it wonrsquo;t be too long before Google starts cracking down on sites that blog exchange just to get links.
However, getting a guest post published on a popular industry blog means your post will (hopefully) get a lot of attention from that blog's readers. They can share, Like, Tweet and post your blog all around their social networks. The more times your content is shared, the more valuable it becomes in the eyes of the search engines. These social signals are becoming an increasingly important ranking factor.
2. Builds relationships with other bloggers and site owners
Once you get a foot in the door and have one post going live on another site, it's up to you to keep the ball rolling and build a relationship with that site owner. Don't let it be a one and done post. See if you can become a regular contributor to their blog or ask them to review a whitepaper or write a promotional post for a new product. There is so much more value to be had than that initial guest post.
3. Allows you to connect with more of your target audience
Obviously you want to write guest posts on related blogs because there is a good chance that's where your target audience is hanging out. By contributing to industry blogs you are positioning your name and brand in front of a wider segment of your target market. Links from your author byline might drive some of these targeted visitors over to your site and you may even land a new customer because of it!
Guest blogging, first and foremost, should be about brand building. It helps establish your credibility as an industry authority and creates unique touch points for you to engage your target audience. You shouldn't be focusing on just getting links from your guest posts! If all you care about is getting a link from one particular industry site, you might as well just become a regular commenter and get your links that way. Guest blogging has a lot more long term, valuable potential for your site.
Don't let guest blogging become the next link exchange! Treat each guest post as a powerful marketing vehicle and leverage it to its full advantage.
