Does Guest Posting Still Work in 2021?
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When Matt Cutts’ declared, “guest blogging is dead,” the SEO world went into a tailspin. Fast forward to today and this statement is still used to back up claims that guest posting is ineffective. However, many in the industry overlook that Cutts later clarified the meaning behind his post.
He explained not all guest posting is dead – just the spammy guest posts on unrelated sites that provide no value. So, does guest posting still work in 2021? Let’s start at the beginning.
What is Guest Posting?
Guest Posting, also known as guest blogging, publishes content on other websites as a means to build backlinks, increase authority and online visibility, and grow your audience. Traditionally, you pitch sites a unique topic idea then submit fully-written content, but some websites still reach out to authors and thought leaders with guest posting opportunities (if only it was always that easy).
In the early years, guest blogging was a highly effective strategy that required much less work. Strong ranking boosts could be achieved by publishing a short 300 word guest post filled with unrelated links and virtually no value. For example, users could read a cookie recipe with links to a mortgage company, which Google would count as meaningful backlinks even though the contextual relationship was non existent.
However, over time the strategy became abused. Low quality guest posts were rampant, which diluted the user experience and meaningful rankings. Google took action with multiple updates that targeted contextually irrelevant linking and low quality content. After the Panda, Penguin, and Hummingbird updates, many began questioning if guest blogging was still beneficial for SEO.
Is Guest Blogging Good for SEO?
The short answer, yes. There are still many SEO benefits to guest blogging, including increasing traffic and online visibility, dofollow links, broadening your audience, building authority, and supporting ranking boosts. The confusion comes when guest posting is generalized.
Not All Guest Posts are Equal
In reality, each guest post is different. Some are low-quality, spammy sites with 300-word posts that don’t actually provide much value to the audience. These are the opportunities that will not improve SEO. Steer clear of these.
Other guest posts are published on high-quality, authoritative sites with real traffic. These are the guest posts that impact SEO. They focus on niche relevance and actually provide value to their audience. Remember, the best results come from the best guest posts so be choosey about where you publish content.
While quick, low-quality guest posting is dead, leveraging high-quality, niche relevant guest posting opportunities is still an effective link building strategy. The bottom line is you must evaluate each guest post opportunity individually. The downside is, manual evaluation can suck up a lot of your time…
To save time and ensure you are guest posting on high-quality websites, check out Web 20 Ranker guest post opportunities. We only work with high-authority sites, so you can rest assured you’re on the right side of guest posting with our product. In addition to our general guest posts, we offer niche guest posts for law, ecommerce, and more to come.
Why is Guest Posting Important?
While many SEOs think guest post link building is ineffective, publishing content on third party sites is still a powerful link building strategy if done right. Informative, relevant content can bring many SEO benefits, including:
- Broaden Your Audience
- Increase Traffic
- Get Dofollow Links
- Strengthen Authority to Boost Rankings
- Build a Community
- Increase Online Visibility, Exposure, & Brand Awareness
Most importantly, guest posting with quality websites strengthens your backlink profile. You not only add more backlinks, but you’re also diversifying your link profile. Backlinks are how search engines determine the authority of your domain, and thus ranking. They are essential to build. Without them, it’s exponentially more difficult to compete in the SERPs.
Broaden Your Audience
Publishing content on 3rd party sites with real traffic gets the brand in front of new audiences. Guest posts can also rank for terms outside your keywords. This is a great way to grow brand awareness and online visibility. Be sure you have a strong CTA in your guest post to bring new users to your site.
Increase Traffic
By broadening your audience, you attract additional traffic. This is especially true if you publish content on high-traffic or high-ranking sites. Look for guest posting opportunities with high-traffic potential. They do not necessarily need to be high authority as authority metrics cannot be trusted. The most important considerations are relevance and quality content.
Dofollow Links
Guest posting often provides great link building opportunities for dofollow links. These are the highly coveted links that pass on authority to your site. Keep in mind, even though some guest posts are nofollow, these links still bring benefits like directing users to your site and increasing online visibility. Adding guest post links to your link graph also supports a diverse backlink profile.
Strengthen Authority
With meaningful dofollow links your authority increases, allowing you to climb in the rankings. This is especially true if your target page is currently ranking on page 2 to page 3. Consider building links to content that’s currently ranking in positions 10-25 as it is easier to move the needle .
Build a Community
If new users find your content valuable, they can become a part of your community. Strengthening your community supports long-term traffic, sells products or services, increases thought leadership, and builds a following to grow your audience.
Increase Online Visibility & Brand Awareness
Publishing content on third party sites allows you to build brand awareness with users who may not be familiar with your site. It also increases the number of brand mentions, to strengthen your online brand. If the guest content ranks well, you also increase online visibility and exposure exponentially. Even if the piece doesn’t rank on page one, you are still improving your visibility and exposure online with an audience who may not know about you.
How to Guest Blog the Right Way
In order to see the SEO benefits that come with guest posting, you must do it the right way. If done correctly – with authoritative, relevant sites – it is a worthwhile SEO strategy. If not done properly, you can harm your site more than help it. Here is an overview of our recommended guest posting process:
Find Relevant, Quality Domains
When choosing which sites to target for guest posting opportunities, consider the quality, relevance, and audience. Does the site align with your domain or niche? Does the site publish long-form content that fully answers audience queries? Can you add value for their users?
While the host site doesn’t need extremely high domain or page authority, the content must be quality. The best way to do this is look for sites that are already ranking on the first few pages. Google recognizes ranked websites as quality sites, so you can safely assume there is some value.
Here are some examples of quality guest posting opportunities:
Find an Appropriate Topic
Once you know which domains you’re targeting for opportunities, you need to develop a content idea and outline. You want your topic to be closely aligned to their current content, but unique enough to attract attention and stand out.
The best approach is to do research on the host sites to understand audience pain points, current content formats, and what topics are popular on the site. Most importantly, your content should bring value and benefit their audience. Creating a mutually beneficial situation will increase the chances the site will publish your content and potentially feature prominently on their site. It could also rank for terms outside your normal keywords.
Pitch Your Article Idea
Next, it’s time for the pitch! When pitching your guest post, personalize each email. You don’t need to write every email from scratch, but adding a few sentences specifically relating to their site adds authenticity and increases your chances of a response. If you have writing samples or similar content on your site, send links to show your credibility and content quality.
Just remember, don’t give up. You may have to pitch your guest post to many websites before you receive any response.
Write a High-Quality, Authentic Piece of Content
Your content must fit naturally within the hosting site and provide value to see maximum benefits. Write a unique, eye-catching piece of content that aligns with the host site’s current posts. We recommend hiring a copywriter to ensure your guest post is well-written and high-quality.
Pay special attention to the title of the guest post as that is likely to also be the URL. You want the title to be as optimized as possible to increase the chances of the content ranking.
Insert Your Links
When placing backlinks in your article, don’t overlink. Only insert the most relevant links into the content to avoid spammy practices. Be sure the links to your site direct the audience to more information about the topic you’re writing about. As a rule of thumb, don’t include more than two backlinks to your site in any guest post.
Submit Your Post
Finally, time to submit your piece! Be sure you’ve followed all writing guidelines and other stipulations from the host site. You don’t want to lose the opportunity because you didn’t follow the rules. When submitting your content, we recommend providing multiple titles and images for flexibility. This also increases the chances your exact title will be used.
Quality Guest Posting is Effective Yet Time Consuming
Everyone wants quick wins and easy tactics for rising in the rankings, but guest posting is the furthest thing from quick and easy. This is why many people get subpar results. Remember, finding and securing quality guest posting opportunities will be time consuming and hard work.
You have to research potential guest post partner sites, come up with a topic and outline, pitch your idea with personalized emails, write the content, strategize which links to insert, and track if/when backlinks are recognized by search engines. It can be a lot of work.
Let Web 2.0 Find Guest Posts for You
Don’t have the time? Web 20 Ranker guest posting services handle it for you!
We make it easy. Choose from general guest posts, as well as niche relevant opportunities for law, ecommerce, and travel.
Just submit your order and intake form, then our team takes it from there. You can browse our guest posting opportunities online by authority scores and topics, or we can match you to relevant opportunities. Then, our dedicated writers craft high-quality content and submit to the host site. Our team also handles all link outreach and communication with the target website.
The Final Verdict?
When done properly, guest blogging is an impactful SEO strategy that strengthens your backlink profile and grows your audience, online brand, and authority. It’s imperative you only accept opportunities with high-quality, contextually relevant, and authoritative sites.
You can guarantee high-quality, authoritative guest posting opportunities by working with Web 20 Ranker. We have invested years in building relationships with top domains, allowing us to offer you the best guest posts. Other guest posting services don’t have immediate access to these sites. We also continue to do manual link outreach to maintain the best inventory and establish new and untapped opportunities.
Want to start link building with guest posts? Check out our guest post inventory or contact our team for more info. We only work with top domains, which is why clients continue to utilize our services. We’re excited to show you what we can do!