When the practice of guest blogging first came about, it was fantastic for both the guest and the host. The former would usually be a well-thought-of writer whose work would thereby gain exposure and recognition on another website aside from their own, and the latter would of course be the recipient of content which was well-written and, more importantly, of specific interest to their readership.
This was the original purpose of guest blogging – it was a way in which two websites with similar or somehow associated interests could link to each other, in order to be of use to readers. That was all. It was an innocent and pure way of two parties announcing their approval of one another. The lesser-known of the two collaborating websites would, as a consequence, hopefully rank higher in Google thereafter – just because of their association with the better-known website. The way Google and other search engines saw it, this was simply a way two good websites would vouch for each other – and it was, initially.
However, it wasn’t long before the proverbial vultures began to circle above – these being ‘spammy’ sites that would offer to pay for the opportunity to write a guest blog on a reputable website (which they would load with links to their spammy sites). Why would the spam sites pay for this? Well, because it was a way for them to improve their (quite rightly) poor reputation on search engines, as being associated with a good blog would help them to bypass the PageRank system and thereby rank higher in search results.
Why guest blogging has fallen out of practice somewhat
Although guest blogging is still one of the most effective ways in which you can attract visitors to your website, it’s not really seen as a particularly viable option anymore. As explained above, Google has become skeptical of guest blogs because of the way the system, on the whole, has been abused and corrupted and become, well, just plain spammy.
High-quality guest blogging is still absolutely fine – if the content is rich, original, engrossing and free of links to spammy websites, you have nothing to worry about. However, the practice has sadly been largely ruined by people. These individuals are the opportunists who want to take advantage of the opportunities it presents in regards to gaining links to their bad websites. Many of these predatory guest bloggers regurgitate the same content for several of the websites they target – they tweak the piece here and there so that it’s slightly different in its wording, but ultimately says exactly the same thing. This is known as ‘article spinning’, and is very much frowned upon because it means that impure content is being passed off as legitimate content, just to gain links (and usually not very good ones).
It doesn’t take long to distinguish between a high-quality guest blog and a low-quality one, though – you can normally even tell by just looking at how much text there is. The former tend to be a little longer and look like they actually have something to say, whereas the latter tend to be between 200 and 400 words in length. These days 400-word blogs aren’t even worth getting out of bed for, for want of a better phrase: Google values longform content much more than shortform, because the more content someone has written, the more likely it is to be unique, insightful and entertaining.
In January 2014, Matt Cutts of Google said in so many words that guest blogging (as a way of gaining links) is now something that no-one who takes themselves seriously should be doing. He made no secret of the fact that he thought the practice had been corrupted by the aforementioned spammy guest bloggers who are far too commonplace nowadays.
He said that website owners should be as diligent as possible with guest blogs, stating:
“I wouldn’t recommend accepting a guest blog post unless you are willing to vouch for someone personally or know them well.”
He went on to say that he wouldn’t recommend that anyone should rely whatsoever on any form of guest posting as a link-building strategy.
So, what are the ways in which you can get people to link to your site legitimately, and without resorting to the obsolete practice of guest blogging?
There are a few ideas below, most of which are centred around content, as you would imagine. When guest blogging started out, it was so successful because it promoted good content and allowed those who produce good content to flourish, so the key is still in the content you produce. However, producing good content is all well and good, but it needs to be shared to the right audiences and consistently deliver.
How to build links without guest blogging
Enhance your social media presence – maximise it
Having a good presence and reputation on social media websites is one of the very best ways to drive traffic to your website – it means that you can get noticed by. However, it is absolutely essential that you strike the right balance between quantity (of posts) and quality. In other words, one good tweet is far better than 20 meaningless ones. You want to have a noticeable presence on social media, but at the same time you don’t want to just tweet for the sake of it – regardless of what your business is.
Having a personality is also key on there – don’t be afraid to get a little informal, within reason of course. It’s very easy to come across as a bit wooden on Twitter, so keeping things lighthearted where possible can go a long way (maybe an exception would be a funeral directors or something rather sombre in nature such as that, but the vast majority of businesses and brands will benefit greatly from a more personable approach).
Tweets that have pictures (or photos) attached are fives times more likely to be engaged with, according to some statistics from January of this year, so tweeting a relevant picture when appropriate can be a great way of grabbing the attention of Twitter users. Before late 2013, pictures on Twitter appeared as a link which you had to click on to open it up, but now pictures just appear on the timeline under the tweet (‘inline’ images) – which is great news because it means that pictures are much less likely to go unnoticed. If a tweet also has a link attached (as well as a picture), the chances of it being engaged with are heightened even more.
Don’t be afraid to share content from a website that’s not your own on your social media platforms, if this content is likely to be of any particular interest to your target audiences – you’ll get retweeted and though the website you’re linking to is indeed not your own, there’s a good chance that your website will be subsequently visited as a consequence as well.
If you are seen on social media as someone who actively seeks out material that is worth a look (as well as posting your own), you will gain a solid reputation and a lot of respect (and quickly). Being likeable on social media is a large part of the battle, but if you don’t say anything on it, there’s not much point. Think of it like this: you want to be one of the ones who’s standing up at the party, engaging in conversation and laughing and joking – not the softly-spoken one sat in the corner who looks pleasant enough but comes across as a bit timid.
At the same time, you don’t want to be the obnoxious one who’s going on, and on, and on and who doesn’t listen to what anyone else has to say (which would equate to what’s known as ‘turbo-tweeting’ – a big no-no).
Post genuinely interesting content – ‘linkbait’
This may seem like one which should go without saying, but you really will build a great number of links by simply being interesting, and posting content that people are drawn in by and, more crucially, entertained by. This content doesn’t necessarily have to be a groundbreaking and word-heavy blog post or article – it can merely be an interesting gallery or selection of images, for example, or a ‘top ten’ list on any subject which is likely to interest people. The great thing about these sorts of posts is they don’t take very long to compose at all and they tend to be the more enjoyable ones to do. By all means, produce groundbreaking and word-heavy content as well, but you can reel people in with these more easily digestible and ‘fun’ pieces of content.
If you link pieces of content on Twitter, or on LinkedIn or Facebook, you’re very likely to get some sort of engagement. Twitter is a fantastic platform to link to your posts on, because you’ll more than likely be retweeted by somebody and your content will thereby have a much further reach. This way it stands a much better chance of attracting new audiences; some Twitter users will opt to link to your post on a tweet of their own, but again this is all good news – it shows people are identifying with your content and visiting your website. Also bear in mind that quite a lot of Twitter users will engage with your content through Twitter, but choose – for one reason or another – not to share it with their followers on their timeline.
Once linkbait like this has actually enabled someone to visit your website, the chances are they’ll proceed to scroll down the page and have a good look at your other content too. If you’ve made a point of posting material which is consistently interesting and informative, again there is a good chance your new visitors will link to your website on social media, because it makes them look good as well as you – a ‘look what I’ve found’ kind of moment (which will make them look switched-on). People naturally love to tell other people things they don’t know, and sharing content on social media is just another way for them to do that – which is great for any website which contains content that’s worth a look.
Host competitions on social media
One of the classic ways to generate a buzz about anything is by hosting a competition. This was going on way before the invention of the internet, never mind social media websites. People like the idea that they’ll win something for free – of course they do. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an expensive item that you give away, or even something that is connected directly to your business or brand, but it’s much better if it is, because it’s more specific to your business and creates better hype about you as opposed to just creating a hype about what is up for grabs.
A good way to conduct competitions on Twitter is by tweeting out something like “Retweet to enter”, because it means that you will appear on the timeline of everyone who enters, and thereby reach a great number of people – hundreds if not thousands or tens of thousands. You could alternatively direct Twitter users to your website to enter the competition there, as this will certainly increase the number of visits your site receives (chances are, most people who enter will also visit your website – especially if they don’t already know your business and what you’re all about).
Ending thought
You should constantly look to cover the topics which are relevant in your sector at that exact moment in time. However, these pieces of content should been written so that they’re still interesting and worth reading once that topic has passed and is no longer specifically relevant. When all is said and done, the best thing you can do to build and maintain a good reputation is to deliver exceptional content.