Don't fall victim to this: Guest post link bombing

by 17 replies
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If you run a niche blog, chances are you've gotten at least a few emails from people asking to write guest posts for your blog

It's easy to get excited.

After all, if you require topic-specific high value content based on YOUR AUDIENCE'S NEEDS, you end up with a WIN-WIN-WIN situation

Your audience gets well-researched timely high value content

You save money on content costs

The guest poster gets a backlink from your blog

Everyone wins, right?

NOT SO FAST

It's been brought to my attention that some shady guest posters will get their guest post approved on certain sites that have high SEO value.

To boost the value of their backlinks, they would blast links to the guest post intending to boost its link juice value.

The problem is link spamming can torpedo the rankings of your site-the site the guest post is on.

And that's mild... Depending on how much they link spam you, you might even catch a manual penalty from Google.

Screwed up, right? Well, there's hope

WORKAROUND

When entertaining guest post pitches, ask for the domain of the site the writer is trying to link to with the guest post

Run a backlink check on the domain

Next, run a backlink check on the guest posts linking to the domain

What you'll find should tell you everything you need to decide the guest post pitch

BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY!
#search engine optimization #bombing #fall #guest #link #post #victim
  • Interesting. Why would guest posters do something shady like that? Wouldn't that be shooting themselves in the foot? It's like being invited into someone else's home for a nice dinner and taking leftovers home with you without anyone finding out. Eventually, you won't be invited back and eventually everyone will know of your shady scheme so no more guest posting for you.
    • [1] reply
    • Sadly, a lot are 'link farmers' who 'guarantee' rankings. So they also opt for the 'quick and dirty' instead of the 'proper and slow'

      If you follow the WORKAROUND, you wouldn't have anything to worry about since these shady link builder are easy to sniff out if you know how to check
  • thanks for your information
  • Let me tell you something interesting.

    I have a blog with over 100 articles written by me. And I said, well, let's give legitimate people a chance to guest post. So I created a page where I explain in detail what you need to do to post a guest article on my blog, and I've linked it to the main page. Something simple I'd say, but elegant.

    Since very few people actually read that post it's been very easy to identify spammers (you need to send a specific email subject and such). I can identify spammers without even opening the email. Therefore I NEVER reply to these folks that don't even read my blog before blasting me with their guest posting offers.

    If someone doesn't take a couple of seconds to glance at the blog they are sending an email to, they are certainly not capable enough to send me good original content.

    99,99% of people that send emails about guest posting haven't read the guest posting page and some of them are even from different niche than mine.

    So yeah, accept these spammers if you want to shoot yourself in the foot with crappy content and whatever else they bring with it. (NOT)
    • [ 4 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • I agree, qualifying the guest poster would be the most prudent step to take in order to avoid this type of situation.
  • You are completely right.

    The way I battle shitty guest posters are, that I always ask for money and I've said to guest posters that I prefer case studies. I can even let them have a free post if the case study is interesting.

    Since no one ever writes case studies, just some rehashed bullshit articles which don't give any value, then most of them decline my offer straight away.
    • [1] reply
    • The highlighted part is gold.

      I've done case study product reviews before and the ability of those articles to get backlinks blows away even the best consumer 'how to' guide or consumer 'glossary of terms'

      Case studies complete with charts, infographic, and video make more almost IRRESISTIBLE guest posts

      Of course, given the amount of time and effort put in such content, the marketer must target only the very best link sources like TF of at least 50
  • Maybe that's the reason why we never allow guest blog posts at Onlinejobs. Makes sense since we have control over what information is circulated online. We can easily take down or make changes to any post we want to change.
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
  • Honestly, I don't know why anyone allows guest posts on their sites.
    • [1] reply
    • Surely one person is not the only credible authority in any particular niche. Various people have different skills and experiences, so wouldn't it be worth allowing others to post new, fresh content on your site? A different perspective or additional tips you may not have tried or used? That would boost the value of your own site, while exposing the guest writer to some new traffic sources.
      • [ 2 ] Thanks
      • [1] reply
  • Guest posting is one of the few ways to create a win win situation on the net these days. I couldn't imagine why anyone would risk their reputation in order to get a quick boost. it would be just that, quick and then there would likely be some form of consequence.
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  • That's really an interesting info out there and got me thinking about that a lot. I appreciate that you have posted such here anyway. Thanks in advance for that matter. Sure you can spam some web 2.0 page and it will be fine, not with your own site.
  • I accepted guest posters for a while, but quickly discovered it was more hassle than headaches. Low quality content, duplicate content, boring content, etc. Now, I just pay people to write for me and don't worry about it. The money I spend to hire these people is much less than the time I spent trying to coordinate guest posts. Just my two cents.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • oh thanks my friend
  • This is really interesting. I've had several offers from random folks who want to write something for my blog, yet their article doesn't include any backlinks to their own site/organization! What could be the cause of this? The content they're providing seems relevant to my audience...

  • Thanks for the info about backlinks.

    I supposed such advice could be used to determine whether or not these backlinking services or legit or not.

    Again, thanks!

    Stay cool and successful...
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