Anyone with an interest in SEO, or who has put together a campaign for their own website knows how important link building is in respect of a well-rounded set of SEO activities.
However, with every Google Panda or Penguin update seeming to target links of some description, many are asking whether guest posting, as a means of gaining a link, is set to become obsolete.
Not the First to Go
Of course, the link building landscape has changed massively over the years, with certain ranking toppers of years gone by now consigned to the history books. Article directories and private blogs offering paid links are probably the two best examples of these.
Once link building winners, they are now represent little value and can even see you dropping from search results altogether if you’re still using them.
Google’s Guest Posting Outlook
As for guest posting, Google aren’t as against it as many would have you believe. Their problem is more when guest posts are appearing on irrelevant sites, are filled with spam content, or the same anchor text is used hundreds of times over in a blatant attempt to rank for one keyword or phrase.
In general, however, Google actually encourage webmasters to link build. There is a worry that this encouragement doesn’t mean anything in terms of the bigger picture, especially as Google has, in the past, been notoriously fickle, at least from an outsider’s perspective, with certain elements of their algorithms.
Is Guest Posting Becoming Worthless?
We never know what Google is going to do, and our only clues often come whenever Matt Cutts decides to drip feed some information to various media outlets. However, we’re confident that guest posting isn’t going to become obsolete and go the same way as article directories.
What Google is likely to do, however, is become much more focussed and stringent when it comes to identifying what represents a good blog or a bad blog. So, if guest posting is a major part of your search marketing plan, you’d better look to improve your content quality as well as finding the best blogs to target.
What Is a Good Guest Post Opportunity?
Again, who knows how Google is going define a good guest posting opportunity? We can already use several discover which posts are the best, and these are unlikely to change too much should Google change the way they treat links from guest posts.
Consider these factors when identifying opportunities:
- · Does the blog have a large following that regularly get involved with comments and ideas?
- · Is it a regular blog with a common topic, or a glorified directory made up of random guest posts?
- · How does the site rank for various metrics?
- · Is the blog authoritative, and are there strict guidelines to adhere to?
Positive answers to those four points indicate a quality guest posting opportunity, and definitely represent a relationship with a blogger that you will want to build.
The Future of Guest Posting
Guest posting is unlikely to become obsolete, but it will become a much more focussed and specialized aspect of SEO campaigns, with those providing the best quality to the best blogs seeing the biggest benefits.
Robert is a passionate local SEO professional who is regularly seeking out great guest posting opportunities for local businesses to help them make a name for themselves both online and in their local area.


