Google to devalue guest blog links?
-
There's a lot of talk at the minute about google possible devaluing guest post links. I wondered what people thought of this and whether it is likely to happen? If it does happen then how will google identify 'spam' guest posts and links?
I guess it's fair to assume that if the post is well written, autoriative and adds value to a site with a knoweldgable perspective then it will be counted? It can be very hard to define how google will define a 'quality guest post'? Any ideas?
Here's what Matt has to say...
http://www.webpronews.com/matt-cutts-weighs-in-on-guest-blogging-for-links-2012-10
-
If the same article is published on many different websites and it has multiple text links pointing at a website and that website has lots of other articles that are published on many different websites with multiple text links pointing back... then the site runs a risk if being hit with a Panda problem.
It does not matter if you call it a guest post or article syndication or something else, and the links don't necessarily need to be devalued. The content could have been written by Mark Twain or a Pulitzer Prize winner... its the pattern that causes the problem.
-
This often crops up and I wonder whether it's associated with scaremongering or a witch-hunt.
Google will not blanket devalue guest blog links. It will devalue crap.
If it's on a crap website, then the link will be devalued - just as they were on article sites and directories. Google can understand the quality of a website fairly well, and so should the user.
If it's a crap guest post, then you can presume that Google will devalue it. The algorithm's ability to interpret quality may still be in question, but there's a lot of evidence to suggest that its working towards identifying content, context and relevancy a lot more - so make sure your posts have it.
That's all there is to it. Guest posting is still one of the best ways to drive traffic and build links, provided that your content is worth reading. If it's simply rubbish or posted on spammy sites, then it's going to be penalised. I don't understand why people think it's "very hard" to identify a quality guest post - it isn't for you or me, and it's the human aspect that Google is trying to replicate in its algorithm.
A crusade against all guest posts? Not gonna happen. I wouldn't give it a moments more thought - instead, I'd concentrate on producing quality pieces of content that people will want to read, share and link to.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How do I search for a link within a competitors website that is linking my website?
Hello, I have just been checking my link profile and according to webmaster tools a competitor is linking to my website. Is there anyway of finding this link besides looking at every page within their website? Many thanks
Link Building | | mblsolutions0 -
Does nofollow link has any effect on link building
I recently read some article on noflollow link and the author says that nofollow link does have some effect on page rank. Can anyone explain the effect of nofollow link on website ranking?
Link Building | | petwho0 -
Disavow links from questionable blog
Hi everyone, I noticed today that we are getting quite a few backlinks from a blog that promotes some rather seedy ideals (it's called zoklet). Specifically, they are linking to some products we sell that prevent shoplifting, so I'm drawing some conclusions about their motives. I don't think the blog itself is spammy, but I'm just assuming that it's a bad neighborhood and we should distance ourselves from it. The only reason I'm questioning the disavow is because of the warnings involved and that it might affect our rankings if we do it. Any thoughts? Thanks.
Link Building | | Matt10 -
Guest Blog It
Does anybody else here use the Guest Blog It site? I have tried submitting an article but it's telling me that it's 47% duplicate content. I have ran it through 2 plagiarism checkers and they both said it was 100% unique. I have tried contacting the site directly about this but as of yet have had no response. I was just wondering if anybody on here knows what they use to check for duplicate content so I can take a look and amend my article. Thanks 🙂
Link Building | | AAttias0 -
Why aren't links to my site from YouTube showing up in my link reports?
Our company is paying for a service to create hundreds of videos/month for us with links back to our primary domain. If I go to YouTube I see the videos with the links, but YouTube does not show in my link reports. Why not?
Link Building | | jtroia0 -
Links in google+ profile
THe links people can add in the about part of a google+ profile - do they have any effect on rankings? is this worth doing for link building?
Link Building | | pauledwards0 -
Focus on guest blogging not working; what's the best quick fix?
I have always used strictly white-hat SEO tactics, targeting long-term results, my main focus being on quality guest blogging. I have been working on a site for around 6 months, and I started out with my keywords ranking very well, but very little traffic was coming to the site. 2 weeks ago I expanded my keyword list considerably in an effort to drive more traffic, but last week my keywords all took a nosedive. My client wants an answer by Thursday. I know there's no quick fix, but what's the best way to quickly get my rankings back up and serious traffic to the site? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Link Building | | whiteonlySEO0