Guest blogging is both heralded and scandalised. Sadly, too many people have taken advantage of the idea in the wrong way and used it to republish stolen articles. Some people even go as far as giving the original poster credit as though it were a guest post. This blatant plagiarising phenomena, along with other SERP (Search Engine Rank Position) manipulation techniques, are scandalising guest posting as a legitimate form of brand recognition and a traffic source. Here are two ways to do it right, according to Google, and why it is safer than article directory publishing.
1. Google Likes Smaller Blogs Better
Google does favour small niche sites over directories. Google is undergoing a massive effort to clear the internet search results of directories and content farms. Directories are fast becoming obsolete and this means even if directories were effectively used in the past, they will no longer pass significant traffic to author posts.
Google prefers smaller blogs who take the time to explicitly follow their guidelines for good site management and good content. Google will give smaller niche blogs more juice over time, as long as they strictly adhere to Google guidelines.
2. Guest Posting is More Intimate
Unlike directory publishing, niche guest posting allows authors and website owners to share ideas and targeted information with a smaller group of readers. A smaller niche-based group of readers means a better chance to get to know what the audience needs and what makes them convert. Knowing what the audience wants is a huge leap towards knowing what makes them convert into sales. Further, fewer online articles makes it easier to monitor traffic and conversion without feeding a giant content-farm money.
3. Better Networking Via Guest Posting
Unlike directories, whose major traffic gets funneled into landing pages, niche blogs rely on links to garner traffic. Niche blogs garner traffic from their carefully constructed and steadily growing social networks. They utilise a special set of social skills to find readers who will come back for more; targeting a network and working that network, thus building an audience based on that niche. Instead of funnel or landing pages, niche bloggers use links from posts to tease social traffic click throughs. The people from the social networks of niche blogs are the ones who keep coming back for more answers.
Guest posting on niche blogs translates into a carefully targeted audience who rely on concise information, which translates into higher conversions for the guest poster.
Additionally, all efforts in social networking, like using the links to guest posts, will feed traffic to the sites the guests posts are published on and, in turn, feed future traffic needs over time for both sites.
4. Instant Results from Niche Guest Posting
Another huge issue with directories is the trickle effect of traffic. In order to garner enough traffic to achieve traffic and rank to run a business, article posters need to post hundreds, if not thousands, of articles onto directories. This can mean a lot of money out of pocket.
Guest posting, on the other hand, provides instant results with an instant boost in traffic right away. Guest posters will need to repeatedly publish articles as a guest, but at a far lower volume than article directory publishing. Regular guest posting will establish credibility along with a steady traffic stream and loyal readership.
5. Smarter Form of a Marketing Plan
Guest posting is simply smarter when used with an overall marketing plan that also includes infographics, newsletters, social networking, webinars, videos, forum participation, Adsense, white papers, free books, giveaways, and commenting on blogs. Unlike directories, businesses who do guest posting get more word of mouth promotions, higher conversions, and sales. Plus, unlike directories who usually remove or block link-following via search bots, guest posting often leads to link-sharing which adds organic link backs over time.
Mass Directory Versus Targeted Audience
Article directories are mass repositories for massive amounts of niche articles. Google is starting to remove article directory-type sites from their search results, even going as far as refusing to allow them to use Adsense or advertising. Article directories have too much content, and too much of that content is thin, copied, plagiarised, or spun.
Guest blogging allows businesses to target specific traffic on a site with well-researched and well-edited content. For best results, make sure this content is not stolen, plagiarised, or spun. Plus, many blogs allow their guest posters to include affiliate links, link-backs, or even use Adsense code. Even if they do not, guaranteed, they are doing more to promote guest content than a directory. Smaller niche blogs target a specific audience and tend to promote individual posts, rather than the funnel pages, which Google is banning anyway. With guest posts, links to handcrafted and market-targeted articles are going directly to the niche-targeted audience and result in direct conversion traffic.