One of the methods sites use to improve their SEO and traffic is by guest blogging, either by inviting others to post on your site or posting content on a variety of sites to try and get exposure (isn’t that what we are all trying to do at B2C?). While it’s obvious that you have a greater chance of reaching people the more places you write, the question is how does guest blogging affect your SEO standing with Google? Can guest blogging help jump you to the top of Google’s search rankings?
The answer is it depends. Ever since Google updated their algorithm to “Penguin”, they have been cracking down on black hat SEO practices and useless back links. Some people like to write an article and then “spin it” not once, not twice but twenty to thirty times! While this may have worked on the Google of yesteryear, this practice does nothing for the Google of today and will be recognized for what it is, a cheap way to get you or your company mentioned in a lot of places without providing authentic content. Furthermore, writing for places that don’t have any traffic is not worth your time.
Guest blogging in general is a good practice if you can receive quality content for your site. It brings traffic and traffic leads to boosting your search ranking. In addition, guest blogging for other sites is a good idea if you provide quality content. It is especially good for lesser known writers who can write well to get exposure for themselves and their company. In addition, Google has begun to incorporate social sharing as part of their criteria for their algorithm. Therefore writing an article that gets shared on Facebook or Retweeted is especially powerful for your SEO.
In short, guest blogging is great but quality and not quantity is what is important!
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