6 Types of Guest Blogging Websites You Need To Avoid

If you’ve been using lots of guest blogging in your SEO, you might want to rethink your strategy a little. Matt Cutts, head of Google’s Webspam team, recently wrote a blog post about guest blogging and how it can hamper your efforts to win the rankings race.

The problem with many SEO methods is that they can saturate the marketplace as more and more people take notice. That is fine if the quality stays at a high level, but unfortunately where guest blogging is concerned, low quality websites and sub-standard content have also shown up – and threaten to spoil everything.

The good news is that you don’t have to give up when it comes to guest blogging. Just be aware of the types of sites that are damaging to your online reputation with Google. Know which methods you can use to get the best results. 

Here’s six types of guest blog websites that I strongly recommend that you avoid:

1. The Blog With Few Posts

When a blog has little in the way of content it means the owners are probably looking for lots of content to add bulk without necessarily worrying about the quality of posts. This type of site will do nothing for your SEO efforts. 

2. The Blog Network 

It’s true that blog networks can get a lot of traffic, but in Google’s eyes, they can be seen as containing spammy content and are best avoided.

3. Blogs Using Black Hat Linking Techniques

People really should have learned by now that Google is does not approve of illegitimate link building methods. Check out a blog carefully before you allow a guest post to link back to your website.

4. And Still There Are More Spammy Blogs 

If you really want to incur the wrath of Google (or other search engines), all you have to do is put your spammy blog posts on other spammy blog sites – double the fun! 

5. Low Quality Content Never Wins

We’ve covered the empty blog and the spammy blog, but there are also the blogs that are packed full of low quality content. Posting to this type of blog will be ineffective because targeted traffic is likely to be very low.

6. And Even More Spam! 

Content spam isn’t the only type you need to worry about. There are also the spammy comments left under guest blogs. You know the ones – “Hey, I love this blog! It’s great. Come to my site and read all about my product.” This can be translated to “Hey, I don’t care about your silly blog. Haven’t even read it. And by the way – buy my product!” 

Guest blogging isn’t bad when it is used in the right way. The trick is never to become complacent or lazy and to keep looking for those authoritative sites that Google and potential visitors love.