The Sourcing Pen

Your software marketing partner.

  • About
    • The Team
    • Sourcing Pen
  • Services
  • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Disclosure
  • Books

Powered by Genesis

Guest Blogging Is Dead as a Door Nail, So Says Matt Cutts

January 21, 2014 by Maricel Rivera 3 Comments

guest blogging is dead

This is going to be a short one. I just want to put it out there that …

Yesterday, Matt Cutts of Google’s webspam team categorically declared that guest blogging is spammy and dead.

Okay, so he did write an addendum after the thunderstorm that ensued. Naturally, bona fide guest bloggers went up in arms at the blanket statement.

It seems like most people are getting the spirit of what I was trying to say, but I’ll add a bit more context. I’m not trying to throw the baby out with the bath water. There are still many good reasons to do some guest blogging (exposure, branding, increased reach, community, etc.). Those reasons existed way before Google and they’ll continue into the future. And there are absolutely some fantastic, high-quality guest bloggers out there. I changed the title of this post to make it more clear that I’m talking about guest blogging for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes.

I’m also not talking about multi-author blogs. High-quality multi-author blogs like Boing Boing have been around since the beginning of the web, and they can be compelling, wonderful, and useful.

I just want to highlight that a bunch of low-quality or spam sites have latched on to “guest blogging” as their link-building strategy, and we see a lot more spammy attempts to do guest blogging. Because of that, I’d recommend skepticism (or at least caution) when someone reaches out and offers you a guest blog article.

So there, if you’re not dabbling in the dark arts of search engine manipulation via guest blogging, you can rest easy. Otherwise, it’s time to rethink your strategy. This is one of the reasons why I do not so much as relish guest blogging for SEO marketers from the Flintstones era.

Recommended reading:

Tempest in a Guest Blogging Teapot? (Why Matt Cutts Has ZERO Relevance to REAL Guest Bloggers) – Danny Iny, Firepole Marketing
Matt Cutts Declares Guest Blogging “Done” … Are We All Screwed? – Jerrod Morris, Copyblogger

Image credit: David Castillo Dominici | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
My Twitter profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Pinterest profile

Maricel Rivera

Maricel Rivera is a freelance writer, editor, and marketing specialist. Her freelance writing career spans over ten years, starting out as a fiction writer in the early 2000s. She has already written on topics covering business software and online marketing.
My Twitter profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Pinterest profile

Latest posts by Maricel Rivera (see all)

  • Reading List: On Success, Launching Like Steve Jobs, and the Aggregation of Marginal Gains - February 5, 2016
  • [INFOGRAPHIC] How the Freelance Universe Looks Like and How to Work Your Way Through It - January 29, 2016
  • [FREE DOWNLOAD] How to Get Started Freelance Writing When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing - January 22, 2016
  • ZipBooks: A Better Way to Do Bookkeeping - November 24, 2015
  • Why Poor Writing Is Bad for Business - August 31, 2015

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Pocket
  • Email
  • Print

Related posts:

  1. Hold Your Horses, People. Guest Blogging for SEO Is NOT Dead! Spamming Is.
  2. Reading List: Guest Blogging, Goofing Off and the Death of the Corporate Website
  3. What to Do When Running Out of Blog Post Ideas
  4. Making Content Go Viral: A 10-Point Checklist for Creating Successful, Shareable Content

Filed Under: Blogging, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media Tagged With: guest blogging, guest blogging for seo, guest blogging is dead

Join Our Newsletter and Get Regular Updates!

Comments

  1. Raspal Seni says

    January 22, 2014 at 5:55 PM

    Hi Maricel,

    If guest posting was really dead, Jon Morrow wouldn’t waste his time creating an ecourse on the subject.

    When I read the post by Matt yeaterday, I had a sigh of relief when I read towards the end that quality guest posting isn’t dead.

    Do you guest post? I started only recently with my first one at Daily Blog Tips.

    Reply
    • Maricel Rivera says

      January 23, 2014 at 1:42 AM

      Hi Raspal,

      Yup, guest posting can’t be dead. It can’t die. Sure, Google can do everything it can to wipe the spammers out of the face of the search results page, but true guest posting won’t ever die.

      Jon Morrow’s guest blogging course is the real deal. Have you taken it yet?

      Yes, I guest post. For clients. 🙂

      Maricel Rivera recently posted … What Has Your Voice Been Telling You Lately?My Profile

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

Join Our Newsletter!

Categories

Accounting Blogging Business Business Tools Content Marketing eBooks Ecommerce Freelancing Infographics Lessons Learned Marketing Motivation Personal Productivity Project Management Reading List Social Media Technology Writing

Let’s Connect!

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.