The Fall of Guest Blogging – Matt Cutts Says No to Guest Blogging for SEO

It’s Matt Cutts again! This time, it is about guest blogging for SEO.

The recent update by Google has given a clear warning to the marketers that guest blogging for search engine optimization and link building is dead. However, a common question lingering in the mind of webmasters and content developers all over the world is – ‘can guest blogging really die?’

In a recent post titled Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO, written by Google’s eminent engineer Matt Cutts, Google advises the webmasters to say no to guest blogging for SEO. Also, if you want to accept a guest post on your blog, make sure that it is written by a credible writer. Here is a citation from the post by Matt-

“Okay, I’m calling it: if you’re using guest blogging as a way to gain links in 2014, you should probably stop. Why? Because over time it’s become a more and more spammy practice, and if you’re doing a lot of guest blogging then you’re hanging out with really bad company.”

What makes it worse is that Google could have easily prevented this action if spammers heeded to the previous warnings.

The Decline of Quality Guest Posts and Rise of Spamming

The quality of the guest posts has definitely declined in the past few years. Guest blogging has caused enormous influx of poor quality write-ups disguised as guest posts. The worst part is that accepting these posts can harm the credibility of blog owner because most readers prefer quality content and accurate information, instead of stuffed keywords and links. Matt Cutts says –

“So stick a fork in it: guest blogging is done; it’s just gotten too spammy. In general, I wouldn’t recommend accepting a guest blog post unless you are willing to vouch for someone personally or know them well. Likewise, I wouldn’t recommend relying on guest posting, guest blogging sites, or guest blogging SEO as a link building strategy.”

Should I Forget About Guest Blogging?

The basic purpose of guest blogging is to share accurate information. To take advantage of guest blogging’s benefits without suffering the consequences (Read: Penalties), follow guest blogging practices and maximize guest blogging potential impact. High-quality guest posts, created for information sharing can actually be useful to a site’s visitors. Cutts does not want to discourage the guest bloggers; here is what he says –

“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.”

Do Not Stop Guest Blogging, Stop Guest Spamming!

Now what should webmasters do that the guest posting for SEO is clearly dead? Guest posting for SEO may have become a thing of past, but guest blogging isn’t dead! Simply, a specific blogging method to produce numerous natural links for SEO is dead. Guest blogging still holds an important place in the e-marketing ecosystem, and likely always will. So, Keep up and Blog on!