Who would believe that a single post would make so much noise and stress? But somehow when it comes to Google, it just happens!
It all started less than 3 weeks ago on January the 20th when Matt Cutts, head of Google’s Webspam team announced on his personal blog that if you’re using guest blogging as a way to gain links in 2014, you should probably stop.
And here’s the full article in case you didn’t see it yet.
A few days later you could already see dozens of articles (and not only in English) written in most cases by SEOs about the “death” of guest blogging.
So here’s my personal opinion on the topic:
Relax. There’s absolutely nothing new in this case!
For years, Google has been using links as a main factor for their search results. Unfortunately, as expected, this practice became abused. So about 2 years ago Google realized that enough is enough, and something definitely changed.
If you were listening carefully to Matt Cutts in the last couple of years, then you already understand where everything goes. The bottom line right now is that if a link that points to you was created because of an incentive of any kind, then this is exactly what you should NOT do anymore.
Have a look at the question on which Matt answered in the video that was published on his post: (P.S this isn’t a video, just a screenshot!)
Seriously? Where were you in the last couple of years?
If the link you get is there because you give something to the other side; in this case an article, then Google’s view is that it’s bad. Does that surprise anyone?
And now I’d like to get back to the beginning:
So let’s get to the bottom of it:
If you’re publishing content on other sites as a link building approach, don’t do it.
Instead, use NoFollow links: You’ll still get Brand awareness, you’ll still get referring traffic, you’ll still get mentioned, and you’ll still be able to tell you story. So don’t panic, keep writing great stuff!
But, if you’re one of those people who’s publishing everywhere you can just because you want an additional link, just stop filling the Cyberspace with additional crap.
Comments