You know something for SEO tactics is dead when Google’s Matt Cutts comes out point blank and says:
“Okay, I’m calling it: if you’re using guest blogging as a way to gain links in 2014, you should probably stop. Why? Because over time it’s become a more and more spammy practice, and if you’re doing a lot of guest blogging then you’re hanging out with really bad company.” Read the full blog post.
But not only does this mean that the tactic is dead, but continuing to use a tactic like this for link building may actually get you penalized in the Google index.
Let’s Explore Guest Blogging Further
Here’s what’s considered bad:
If you or your SEO firm were trolling the web and sending out unsolicited notes to webmasters saying “Hey use this blog post and keep the links as dofollow, or we’ll pay you to post this content”, ouch, watch out! This is exactly what Matt is talking about that you need to steer clear of.
Here’s what’s still considered good:
If you are guest blogging for a news site like SiteProNews, the Huffington Post, industry trade journals – these types of high quality guest blogging opportunities and high profile exposure can really continue to work for you; building your online authority. But the reality of these types of gigs is that they are few and far between and not available to the typical newbie.
Tie the demise of guest blogging in with Matt’s thumb’s down on article marketing and you can clearly see that link building now is considered a spammy practice and one worthy of a Google penalty.