Guest Blogging to improve traffic

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   Marisa Wrightposted 11 years ago

   I am always surprised that guest blogging is never discussed on HubPages.   
   
   We all know it's important to have backlinks pointing to our Hubs and websites.  We also know that Google is working hard to detect and devalue links which are artificially created - things like directory submissions, paid links etc.   Which makes it all the more vital to make the most of genuine linking opportunities, and getting links from related blogs and websites is one way to do that. 
   
   I don't mean writing a crappy spun article with a couple of links in it.  I mean genuinely collaborating with bloggers  in your own field.  You add value to their readers by providing a useful article, and your reward is introducing those readers to your blog (or sub-domain) via a link or two in the article.
   
   This is a great post about how to go about it:
   
   http://travelbloggeracademy.com/guest-p … vel-blogs/

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      ateinposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Guest post for a back link ? Bad idea . Sooner or later Google might target such guest posts .
      
      Just my opinion .

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         livewithrichardposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Guest blog posts are the best way to get backlinks and gain traffic.  ALL of the bloggers that I have worked with allow 2 links in a small author bio section... not alll blogs have a resource box.  I normally use one link to a profile (lately my G+) and one to a related article, but always on one of my own blogs.
         
         It could help to link to your HP profile as well as a related hub but you have to choose your blogs carefully.  You have to know their traffic levels, page rank, blog content, writing style... etc... because writing guest posts on blogs that get no traffic and have no page rank will do nothing for you in the short run.  It really is a symbiotic relationship and win win.  The blogger gets free, fresh, and original content and you get a backlink as well as an opportunity to sponge some traffic.
         
         Regardless of what Google or any SE thinks about those links now or in the future... the most important factor is the traffic.  If you provide content that benefits that blog you will get some of that traffic to click through to your content.

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         Shadesbreathposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I don't think so. Why would they?
         
         Imagine George R.R. Martin decides to show my website, my readers, some love, and does a guest post about writing fantasy novels, his experience as a novelist, or whatever. And in doing that, I allow a link to his author page and novel on Amazon or something.
         
         What possible reason would Google have for devaluing my site for that? Have I not brought something really cool to my readers? To me, that seems not only like valuable content, it seems like highly valuable content. My site should get a bump in rating.
         
         I think, actually, that might happen. With the new author rating system they are rolling out, I think guest blogging, once it's less cumbersome to associate authors with content without having to put in strings of code, will do just that. A guest blog post is legitimate content (assuming it's a genuine article written for the intent of providing great content to real readers). I see no way Google could justify punishing great content, and no reason why they would.

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      pooraposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Yes. guest post is one of the best way to get back-links and gain traffic to your site

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         Will Apseposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         This is a great example of SEO advice that once had some merit but is no longer true and likely to do harm.
         
         https://www.mattcutts.com/blog/guest-blogging/

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            Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, you'll notice in that post how Cutts talks about how, at one time, he made a distinction between good quality guest posts and rubbish posts written purely to get links.  Like so many other things on the internet, the idiots have spoiled it for everyone else.
            
            I still invite people to post on my blog occasionally, when they have something really valuable to offer, but I don't go looking for them to the same extent I used to.

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               Jean Bakulaposted 7 years agoin reply to this

               I've been writing guest columns on different sites, and it's led to a lot of new people interested in my writing, plus given me new clients to write for in my niche. I've tripled what I was making. Once your name is out there in other places, people come to the niches to read you stuff, and to your personal blog. My personal one is just a "landing site" for orders now.

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   LuisEGonzalezposted 11 years ago

   You've done it again Marisa, this is a great suggestion!!!.....

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   Marcy Goodfleischposted 11 years ago

   Good idea for adding credible links!

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      That Grrlposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I've written about being a guest post blogger or how to choose a good guest post writer for your own site. Both of these post (on HubPages) are deeply in the ZZZs. Blogging is not a great topic to write about here, in general. I think most HubPage writers don't want to step outside the comfort zone of HubPages.

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      1. 86

         Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         If you write any Hub aimed at other Hubbers, it will always end up in the ZZZ's.  There simply aren't enough members in the HubPages community to generate enough traffic to keep a Hub out of the doldrums.
         
         I fear you may be right about comfort zones.  It never used to be the case on HubPages:  in former times, most of the top Hubbers also had their own websites or blogs, and wrote on other sites.  That's why there was so much good advice available in the forums, because we got so many different perspectives on writing online. 
         
         As things continue to change here and I see more and more "older" Hubbers moving on, I fear we may end up like Helium, where members share lots of amateur and outdated ideas on self-promotion because they don't know any better.

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            Kangaroo_Jaseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            It's an eternal problem with amateur and outdated ideas on self-promotion here on Hubpages Marisa. The same crap is being touted all the time and new people don't know any different. The same feedback is given by people who are well meaning, but know jack about SEO, promotion and IM.
            
            The same issue is with those who DO know what they are talking about, they either reach a level of not providing good, solid information for free anymore (as they cannot be bothered or it is too time consuming) or suggest a fair compensation for their experience and knowledge (people won't pay)

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4. 93

   jansharesposted 11 years ago

   Marisa,
   I'm rather dense and still learning the ins and outs about what you and others in this thread refer to. So clarify with me if I'm on the right track with what I've already done with one of my hubs. It's about stewardship and how church members feel about it. I contacted the Episcopal Diocese in my area and asked them to post the link with a brief lead in. The editors kindly did so and it ran last week leading up to Stewardship Sunday in the Episcopal church which is tomorrow. It definitely made my views go up, although not by the hundreds, but it got views fast. My hope is that the article will develop a long life. It's my only hub that has a five-star earning potential. Your thoughts please?

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      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      That was a good idea:  but an even better idea would be to offer to write articles for church newsletters or magazines or blogs, on condition they include a short author biography which includes a link to your Hub.
      
      You could also search for relevant blogs on Google, and write to the blog owners (along the lines suggested in the link I posted) offering a guest post. 
      
      I think the biggest obstacle to writing these promotional articles is that some Hubbers resist the idea of "giving away" an article free.   The thing is, you're not giving it away for free - your pay is the link.  Don't undervalue that link, either:  many webmasters actually pay blogs to accept guest posts, so if you can get one accepted free, you're doing well!

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         jansharesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you so much, Marisa, for your generous advice and expertise. I will file this information. I will be calling on you again :-)

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   Dame Scribeposted 11 years ago

   I totally agree Marisa doing a guest post can help one's own site. It's a free opportunity to leave a link on a site that's 'related' to your own. It's a great idea. I have done a guest post on one site, a health article but it soon converted to one all about weight loss I think it would have done better if it had stayed more diverse but there are other sites I can access. It's just finding/making the time but this is one reason more I keep saying, we should be able to 'categorize' our hubs with linked headings that would lead to our whole portfolio of hubs, on any given niche that in turn, may pique interest and stay of our audience.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I think that's another obstacle.  But I will always remember great Hubbers like Mark and Misha explaining that success online was 10% about creating your site, and 90% about promoting it.    So it's really important to realize that articles written for other sites are every bit as important (if not more so!) than articles written on your own blog or sub-domain, and prioritize them accordingly.
      
      
      
      I'm afraid I'm cynical about that, Dame.  I've noticed that every recent change on HubPages has been designed to discourage readers from staying within our sub-domain.  I have no idea why, but it seems to be a definite policy on the part of HubPages.

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   ateinposted 11 years ago

   @livewithrichard
   @shadesbreath
   
   As I said it is just an opinion .
   
   May be this will help
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMxC3wQZOyc&hd=1
   
   He does not completely castigate or completely endorse guest blogging .
   
   It would be interesting to know why Hubpages removed the ability link out from the profile pages . Only one link to a website is allowed, rest are social networking sites .

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      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Exactly.  If you are genuinely networking and collaborating within your area of expertise, creating articles which genuinely add value, I don't think Google can ever penalize that.
      
      
      
      Simple.  HubPages wants to promote its own brand, not the individual brands of its writers.  When HubPages gave each writer his/her own sub-domain, it was done to get out from under a Panda slap - not to give writers a sense of ownership.  Recently, HubPages has made several changes, all of them designed to change the emphasis away from writers as individual sub-domain owners, back towards writers as staff writers on one large site.  Reducing our ability to promote our own brand (by linking to our other work off-HubPages) is part of that.

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      Shadesbreathposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I don't think it matters why they blocked those links, at least in regards to the topic here. HP is a horse of a different color, and guest blogging really doesn't impact it at all as I see it. HP has chosen to paint themselves into a particular corner, and it may or may not end up being a good corner for them as a business. I do not, nor will in the foreseeable future, treat my HP profile like a webpage for sales or branding. I have a website for my books, and HP is an outlet for one-offs and stuff that doesn't fit with my brand on my page. Guest blogging is a tool for THAT site like any other, and like all tools tends to have desired outcomes for which it is well suited and desired outcomes that it might be horrific for. Tools only do the job if they are selected and used properly. So, to me, "endorsing" or "castigating" them would be like being "for" or "against" socket wrenches. I'm against socket wrenches if we are pounding nails.

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         livewithrichardposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Totally agree with this... My HP brand is not the branding I seek through guest blogging.  I use it to promote myself and my writing on my personal and business blogs.  My topics here on HP are too varied to promote in that way.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            But you're a blogger, LWR.  You and I may concentrate on our blogs but not everyone does, and there are always people asking how to promote their Hubs.   So this is for those who DO want to promote their HubPages account. Or their blog, for that matter.

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               livewithrichardposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Like I said in my first reply, guest blog posts are the best way to get backlinks and gain traffic.  I'll also add that it is a great way to connect with others that share your same interests.  It works best if you concentrate your writing in one specific niche otherwise, if you write on HP like me in a multitude of topics, then you will need to write a ton of guest posts. I guess if I had the time I would do this but HP is hasn't been the focal point of my online writing for some time now.
               
               I didn't mean to discourage anyone from trying this, I just want them to be aware that it takes good planning to make the most out of it.  Make your guest posts to help promote your hubs with the most earning potential, and hubs that are the most shareable.  Only post on sites that will give you the most bang for your time.  Personally, I only post on sites that have over 2000 monthly unique visitors (unless the blogger is a friend of mine)  and sites that are PR3+ on their homepage.  But even when you find the sites that have the traffic you require, you still have to research the site to see if the topic you want to write on has been done before.  Bloggers do not want to rehash the same topic.  Then you have to go through the process of contacting the blogger and offering your guest post, the length requirement and format they desire...(plain text, html...) any pictures you have the right to offer... how many links to provide... etc...  Don't even attempt to provide affiliate links... I don't know any blogger that would allow those... I know I wouldn't.
               
               The easiest way to find guest blogging opportunities is to do a Google search using "your keywords" "write for us"  There are many other ways but this will get anyone started in the right direction.  It's a good idea to have a decent body of work available to show potential bloggers your ability to write well.

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7. 69

   Anamika Sposted 11 years ago

   You are right about Guest Blogging. It is the best way to build quality backlinks. My Dating and Relationship Blog now has around 60 Guest Bloggers. I also have ended up building good relationships with many of them apart from getting my blog running when I can't write. So it is a win win situation for both the Blogger and the host.

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   andromidaposted 11 years ago

   Google is also planning to crackdown the links from guest blogging.I don't know how they will recognize links from the guest posts, but I think they will get the clues from guest blogging networks.

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      Mark Knowlesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Where did you get that nugget from?

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         livewithrichardposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Probably from Matt Cutt's Youtube video  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMxC3wQZOyc&hd=1

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            Mark Knowlesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Odd - I heard nothing about "cracking down on guest blogging," just "discounting spun or dupe garbage."

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               Greek Oneposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               do you need me to guest blog on your sites, Mark?

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                  Mark Knowlesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Sure - for a small fee.

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                     Greek Oneposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                     stop using the 'f' word!!!

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         quicksandposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Google's spiders are evolving!

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      livewithrichardposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Bloggers that have guest post guidelines and writers that follow those guidelines will have nothing to worry about.  The whole point of having links on a page is to provide further relevance for searchers.  Responsible bloggers will not allow irrelevant links in their blog posts.  It makes no sense for them to have a post, say on "how to write a killer resume" and then allow the guest author to provide a link to a "iPhone 5 review" page. 
      
      Google algorithms are getting 'smarter' with each roll out, so at some point they will be able to determine relevance when following links.  Some day soon they will be able to distinguish between links that promote the author's portfolio of writing and pages the author wants to promote.  Stay ahead of the game by only linking to pages that add relevance to your guest posts.

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         Shadesbreathposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         This.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Google has already cracked down on guest blogging networks.  A few still survive but only because they set very high standards and are very exclusive.  I'm not talking about joining a guest blogging network.
      
      I'm talking about a personal approach, where bloggers with the same interests exchange information. Google has no objection to that when it's genuine.   What it's trying to do is stamp out networks designed purely for linking purposes, where members post poor quality (usually spun) articles.

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         andromidaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I see no problem with your approach.

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   Greekgeekposted 11 years ago

   That recent Matt Cutts video reiterates views he's expressed several times in the past year or so, including here. His basic point is that while guest posting is not inherently bad, an awful lot of people are now using guest posting to try to manipulate search engines and get links and ranking. It's become the cheap backlinking method of choice since so many others stopped working.
   
   Remember Google's definition of webspam: anything done not for the readers' benefit, but to manipulate search engines. Now, here's the head of Google's webspam team saying that a lot of people are using guest blogging to manipulate search engines. He's been saying this an awful lot lately -- once at the end of this September on a radio show, and once in a special YouTube video he made this October to address the topic. Warning, Will Robinson, Warning!
   
   I suspect that a new Google algorithm animal is in the offing, designed to sniff out and discount links from spammy guest blogging posts. (And I believe that this will be something new, and that Cutts isn't just talking about the fake blog networks that Google clobbered at the beginning of 2012).
   
   Based on what Cutts is saying, I'm sure that such an algorithm change would attempt to treat "good" guest posting differently from "spammy" guest posting. But what will the criteria be? And what about the unlucky victims of algorithm mistakes, in which the algorithm seems to penalize perfectly legitimate content? Like THAT never happens, eh?
   
   So, personally, I'm feeling cautious about guest posting until we see for sure what Google's planning to do about it. I'm not saying "Don't do it all all," but just ... be careful. Be sure the site has good content, relevant to YOUR content, and that its readers may actually be interested in your post.

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    psycheskinnerposted 11 years ago

    Guest blogging is not the force it was 2 years ago.  I use it to actually connect with a new audience. Not for the backlink.

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       Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       I definitely think that's the right attitude.

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    WryLiltposted 11 years ago

    I would. Great idea. I'm too lazy/busy to write content for other people for one link though.

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       Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Don't underestimate the value of a link.   Think how many people are willing to PAY for the privilege of posting on a blog, just to get a link.  The surviving blog networks are charging upwards of $150 a month for access, and many members are outsourcing the writing of articles too.

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          ateinposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Would you still write a "good" blogpost on somebody else's blog/website if you were not to get a back link ? The blogpost would still "educate" the audience on the blog but you won't get a link .
          
          IMO great content is priceless  . If I am not wrong importance of a link depends on pagerank of the blog and you cannot control somebody else's blog PR . Today it might have a good pagerank , tomorrow it might not .
          
          Just my opinion .
          
          @ MARISA WRIGHT
          
          My reply is a general observation . I didn't mean to quote your reply .
          
          

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             livewithrichardposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             True, which is why it is very important to research the blog you plan to guest post on.  Make sure they have an established set of guidelines and follow them. Make sure they have the audience you are seeking and that they engage and are being engaged by the blog owner. 
             
             Guest blogging is more about cultivating relationships than anything else... the link/s you get in return are a bonus but also a necessity for your own success.
             
             For example, I did a guest post on a blog that was a PR4 with over 8000 monthly unique visitors.  My first post got me roughly 150 visits to my blog... Not a staggering number by any count.  However, I started to engage that blogs visitors through the comments... followed some of them to their blogs and engaged them there as well.  On my second guest post on that blog, I got more than 900 visits, and over 300 social shares, and at least 50 of them joined my list.
             
             Engagement is a huge factor because those 2 blog posts got me hundreds of backlinks... way more than the 2 links I was seeking.  This is why I actively seek out guest blog opportunities.

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             Mark Knowlesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             What is far more important is if the link gets followed by actual real humans. Doesn't even need to be many of them.
             
             All this jibber jabber is mostly guess work. The only way to know what works is to do it for yourself. Having said that - you try finding an appropriate guest blogging opportunity if you write product reviews. Unless you are a clear expert in a field - you are going to have to pay to be a guest blogger, and even then you will have trouble finding decent places to do so. If you write "SEO advice," there is no shortage of places.
             
             Google can spot spun content - crikey - I can spot spun content myself.
             Google can spot duplicate content.
             Google can see if a link gets followed.
             Google can see "engagement."
             
             So - all this really means is link building got more expensive and time consuming. You used to be able to find places by searching for "guest blogging" and "your niche". Personally - I would stop doing that and look for quiet, under-the-table networks to use, because overt guest blogs are probably going to be discounted, especially if they allow duplicate or spun content.

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    Greekgeekposted 11 years ago

    "Engagement is a huge factor."
    
    Yes! I like the way you put that, because "engagement" refers to your connecting with real people, real readers.

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    cjnileskiposted 9 years ago

    This may sound like a crazy question, but what is "guest blogging"?  I know what a blog is as I did some reading the subject.  I had heard of it but never used a blog or knew anyone that did.

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       Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       If you read the first post on this thread, that explains it.

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    turnstylishposted 9 years ago

    Bad idea to do Guest Blogging.
    Google is showing impact on those sites which do guest post.

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