SEO strategies change and some of the practices that were once validated are now being questioned for their effectiveness and end result. Guest posting and link outreach is one such strategy that has come under fire.

Recently, in a podcast, the host (the ‘Grumpy SEO Guy’) explained why these tactics might not be nearly as effective as we think they are, and how they could even potentially hurt SEO efforts for your site. In this episode, I break down the key points that were discussed.

Source: Pexel.com

The Core Argument

  • Backlinks are the Key: The podcast host stated that 99% of SEO success is due to backlinks (authority building). But the quality and control of your backlinks matter much more than the content itself in SEO.
  • Control Over Backlink Sources: You want to be in control of where your backlinks come from. If you have authority over your backlink source then you are more likely to get better long term SEO results.

Problems with Guest Posting and Link Outreach

1. Time Inefficiency

  • It can be a very time consuming process to find authoritative websites, source their contact info and build personalized outreach emails.
  • And even with this effort, the success rate is miserably low, potentially less than 1%. This may not be worth the time spent and may not provide real SEO benefits.

2. Lack of Sustainability

The backlinks you get will not always be there. Websites may:

  • If that happens, they’ll remove or restructure the content that contains your link.
  • Your backlink will be diluted by linking to lower quality sites.
  • To your website’s reputation, it can create link to ‘bad neighborhoods.’

3. Lack of Control

When engaging in guest posting or link outreach, you have little control over:

  • Link Placement: Unlike on Twitter or Facebook, you can’t control where your link shows up on a webpage, and therefore, its visibility and relevance could be affected.
  • Link Longevity: But there’s no guarantee your link will stay live; the website can restructure or refocus at any time.
  • Surrounding Content: You don’t know what content is surrounding your link and could be irrelevant to your brand or reduce the value of the link.
  • Potential Penalties: The problem is, if your backlink is placed on a low quality or spammy website, you could be penalized for it by search engines.

Guest posting and link outreach if done in the wrong way will land you into SEO troubles and the same applies to PBNs for backlinks. Learn why in this guide and find out what else you can do.

4. Potential Risks

  • Practices involved with guest posting and link outreach could violate a search engine’s terms of service, as long as it’s not natural and involves manipulation.
  • You run the risk of getting links from spammy or low quality websites that could hurt your website’s SEO standing.
  • This is one of many SEO scams on the internet that can negatively affect your site. To avoid them, it is essential to know things that go wrong with SEO most of the time.

5. Additional Complications

  • Outreach links might be no-follow, meaning they don’t add any direct SEO value.
  • Not even when links are followable, they don’t always get indexed by search engines, making them completely useless.

The Recommended Alternative

Instead of relying on guest posting and link outreach, the podcast host suggests a more controlled and sustainable approach:

  • Build Your Own Portfolio of Authoritative Websites: Instead, concentrate on building and keeping your own circle of high caliber sites.
  • Full Control Over Backlink Sources: The quality of your links, and thus of your site, controls your backlink sources.
  • Work with Reputable SEO Agencies: Look for agencies that have their own portfolio of high authority websites so that you have more control of the link building process.

Practical Tips

To optimize your backlink strategy, the host offers these practical tips:

  • Verify if Backlinks Are Indexed: Check that if the backlinks that you are buying are indexed by search engines or not so that they can contribute for your SEO.
  • Check Link Attributes: Ensure that your backlinks are not of the “no-follow” type, as these don’t have any SEO value.
  • Maintain a Record of Backlinks: Track your backlinks to see how they perform, and how much value over time they add to your site.
  • Prioritize Link Quality Over Quantity: The fewer backlinks you have, but of high quality, the better.

Guest posting and link outreach are not completely ineffective, but they both have major downsides. While these strategies have the potential to be time consuming, risky and inefficient when compared with a more controlled, more sustainable backlink building approach.

For better long term SEO success, businesses should concentrate on building own authoritative website portfolio, work with reputable SEO agencies and maintain full control over their backlinks.

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