If you were guest blogging would you prefer a link or revenue share
-
I am looking at ideas at the moment, we have been getting a large number of guest bloggers wanting to write for our site but i have to say we are turning down around 90% of the articles as they are low quality.
So i am just wondering, to attract high quality articles, should we carry on offering a link in the articles or offer them revenue share by asking for their google adsense code and putting it somewhere on the page.
If we did offer this, how would we impliment this, we work on a joomla website and have read about rev share but not sure how we do this correctly.
Would like to know people's thoughts on this
-
Ann:
I agree that paying for content is only one way of getting it. And I, too, am an advocate of guest blogging when done right.
I also think it's unwise to post on your website "We pay for articles." You will get a lot of crap that wastes your time. Since I am a writer and editor, I usually just write the article myself. If I am too busy to do so, I just commission the article myself with a single phone call to a writer I already know. I appreciate not everyone is in the same position.
-
Here's an excerpt from author guidelines I wrote for one site:
Links: Our high standards are based on integrity and common sense. We always put the reader first. A link or two from the text of your article to your own site can be fine. So can a carefully chosen link or two from the text of your article to related articles on other sites. Just make sure that all links make editorial sense. Do not include awkward or unnatural links that seem to “come out of nowhere” for purely promotional purposes. Do not use rich anchor text links or manipulative search engine optimization techniques. Do not include affiliate links. The best place to link to your site is usually from your author’s note or byline.
-
Thanks, Ann.
I agree it's all about time and opportunity cost.
I'm a great fan of MyBlogGuest. it's worked well for me -- and my clients.
The time it takes to wade through the opportunities is time well spent, IMHO. Which is more than can be said for revenue sharing deals.
My clients include both authors and publishers.
One of my weirdest professional moments came when my clients included both a publisher for whom I had written the guest blogging guidelines and a guest blogger!
I felt like a Hollywood agent! It was so weird and ridiculous we all had a good laugh about it.
-
thanks for that ann. i am at the moment making a page with strict guidelines in place that will stop time wasters.
-
To me, revenue sharing has been low-effective, so I don't think it will increase the value of incoming requests. Here's what I suggest:
- Make your requirements very strict (e.g. many people choose NOT to allow keyword-rich anchor text because that turns the "SEOs" who are only looking for a link off)
- If a person obviously doesn't read your guidelines prior to emailing you, simply ignore it (your time is valuable!)
Thus you'll see fewer low-quality requests and save your time as well
-
If you really want good content, pay cash money.
That's just looking in only one of many possible directions... One of guest posts placed on my site brought me a mention in NYTimes, another one brought me 10000 visits from SU (and still counting since then). Another one ranks top in Google = constant stream of free traffic.
I am advocate of guest blogging (the quality one) because it's what makes content social. It's like comments: I don't like blog posts that disable them because they take the social aspect of content marketing away.
Yes, paying for content is one of the ways to get it, but even paying for it you will get lotы of low-quality articles (especially you build up the base of reliable writers which takes time). It's also an investment many bloggers simply can't afford, so there's nothing groundbreaking in your advice, sorry, I do respect it...
-
Whoa, I should clarify.
I was not talking about news but the tons of other "entertainment" shows that have all sorts of intrusive sponsors. Even if money isn't exchanged, there are tons of ways to "pay" people in media.
I too wouldn't suggest taking money for back links directly but that doesn't shut the door on paid content. Again, back to the sponsorship concept where the high value content is made possible by taking money from a company that then gets credit for it.
I respect your attempt, Diane, to compensate authors more directly but through a piece rate method still. Cracked uses the concept quite successfully: http://www.cracked.com/article_19955_we-want-to-pay-you-to-write-us.html
I don't think swapping GA accounts would be the vehicle I would use however.
-
i have had lots of companies offering to buy links over the past few weeks, we get on average around ten a week but the past couple of weeks this has turned into 70 plus a week and we turn them all down.
-
thank you for that, yes one of the things that worried me about google adsense was them clicking the ad again and again, i think i will just stick to offering a link on good quality content.
-
cheers for that craig. yes we have been getting a lot of rubbish content, found myself sending loads of emails over the past couple of weeks explaining to people if you are going to write content then make sure it is good quality.
-
I respectfully disagree -- mostly.
And I know all about TV contra deals. I used to produce TV shows and often made such deals: a promotional announcement in return for a prize, wardrobe, etc...
I later became a TV news director. Had I heard of a publicist paying money for exposure on a show, I would have been all over the story: it's unethical, scandalous, and in some cases illegal.
I do agree that providing high value web content in return for exposure can be a great strategy. I often formulate such strategies myself since so many of my clients are authors or subject matter experts.
But it kills me that so many people are so reluctant to take so obvious a step to ensure high quality content: paying professionals writers to write it. And by paying, I mean paying them with money. Why is this possibility so seldom even on the table?
Many people will spend inordinate amounts of time and effort to come up with complex revenue sharing schemes on how to divide the non-eixtsent profits of the mythological product. Cue Mel Brooks and The Producers. What gets lost in all this is the opportunity cost. In some cases it would be cheaper and easier and more productive to pay cash money. Really.
I can't agree that "back links are the currency of the web (even if it annoys Google.)"
Forgive the rant. Reasonable people can disagree on this issue. But I feel strongly about it.
-
That is far from a universal rule. If there is a mutual benefit, then the barter system works just fine.
The same thing happens on TV shows: sometimes the story is sought after and the guest is paid, other times the publicist pays the show for the exposure.
Back links are a currency of the Internet (even if it annoys Google) and I would be happy to provide high value content to the right site for the links/exposure.
-
May I make a shocking and radical suggestion?
Are you sitting down?
Are you ready? Really, really?
If you really want good content, pay cash money.
-
I would prefer the link only because it's simple and fundamental to the Web.
What happens if you decide to drop GA or their account gets banned? Too many things taken out of your control there. The poster too, has to trust you will always use their account which isn't going to be an easy sell.
As to quality content, what topics?
-
Hi again Diane
Guest Bloggers in 90% of cases offer poor quality content, probably even copied and pasted, this is dont as part of their link building campaigns.
I wouldnt want my site full of adsense, where do you benefit from this other than getting content, which you would need to run through copyscape or something to check it wasnt copied and pasted.
Id personally stick to providing good quality content, and if someone wants a link for that then you are getting content and they get a link, its mutually beneficial.
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
-
When to re-write and redirect a blog url?
What are best practices for rewriting (and then redirecting) blog URLs? I refresh old blog posts on our blog every month and many of them have URLs that are too long or could be improved. However, many of them also already get decent organic traffic and I don't want to lose traffic due to a URL redirect. Are there any best practices or "rules" I can follow when deciding whether to re-write and redirect blog URLs?
Content Development | | Emily.R.Monrovia
Thanks!0 -
Hi, on SEO article submissions, do I only include the link to the page I am trying to promote or is it best practice to also include a link to home page or parent page?
Good day. I am writing articles for submission, I would just like some help with the page structure. Do I only include the link for the page that I would like to promote or is it advisable to include other page links, such as home page or the parent category too? Any help would be appreciated
Content Development | | thebedguy0 -
Knowledge base for seo, announcing new articles on blog (dupe content)
Hi all, Im thinking of creating a knowledge base with all many asked questions in my company. This could be a great Link-bait source but also nice ranking opportunities i think. But sometimes some new articles are so actual that i also want to blog them.
Content Development | | mdkay
Can i for example double post them (or post a big excerpt) on the blog and canonicalise it to the KB article?
Will links to the blog have equal value to KB links? And will this work?0 -
Repurpose/reuse blog content - email address to make available for this
Hi, From Rand's recent Whiteboard Friday, I learned this: "Have right on the blog page the email address to use if they want to repurpose/reuse the content. That way if someone wants to give us a backlink and quote/reference our blog, they have an easy way to get permission." My question is, what do I say with the email address when I list our contact email? Something like 1. Just list the email address 2. "To reuse/repurpose our content, please contact adress@email.com." or something else?
Content Development | | BobGW0 -
My Guest Blog: Still A Good Link Building Resource?
In an effort to build some links, we want to really work on improving our blog content and exposure. We want to write two quality posts per week, and submit 1 quality guest post every 1-2 weeks. However, we're not sure how to go about submitting guest posts or who to submit them to? I found an all article from SEOmoz http://moz.com/blog/4-valuable-link-building-services but it's from 2010. Is myguestblog still a good source? Are there better ways of doing it? Also, is ever advisable to pay to submit a post? Some of the legal blogs (we're a law firm) have this option, but that strikes me as spammy or low quality links. Just to reiterate, we are striving to write high-quality useful content audiences will find beneficial, not just junk or salesmanship. If it takes longer than a week to write posts like that, that's fine. We just really need some specific advise on who we should be submitting our guest posts to and who we should avoid. Thank you all so much for any advice or suggestions, Ruben
Content Development | | KempRugeLawGroup0 -
SEO for a Deal Blog
Hi, I have a deal blog that is several months old. My established and successful "competitors" have a high Domain Authority (43, 46, 63) but most of their blog posts are very short. Our readers want to know about the coupon, deal, discount, code etc - they don't want 250 + words for each post. However I am concerned that lots of short posts will label my blog as low quality and that Google Panda will get me. My competitors easily get on page 1 of google. Yes they also write articles but majority of their posts are short. I deindexed quite a few short blog posts but my audience googles for coupons and deals like crazy. I try to give as much info as I can without being wordy and annoying but sometimes that still gets me only 100 words. I also write a lot of articles relevant to my niche (mom/baby/maternity) that are high quality and several hundred words. Just looking for input on deal blog SEO. Thanks!
Content Development | | dealblogger0 -
Should I delete old or unrelevant posts in my blog? (Panda Update question)
I have a website where I post articles every few weeks.. Should I remove the outdated and unrevelant posts? I fear that google might punish my website in the Panda update.
Content Development | | wellnesswooz0