Why Would Someone Guest Blog And Does It Really Help With SEO?
By Gabe “The SEO Dork”
In what has become a rather swift evolution of the internet from it’s early incarnation spawned by Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) an agency created by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1957. The internet’s purpose even today remains the same.
The goal of ARPA was to create a technological edge over the world. In an Era where the Soviet Union shocked the world with Sputnik at the peak of the “Cold War”. It became absolutely imperative to create an network where the exchange of information was instant and seamless thus the creation of ARPANET.
ARPANET linked governmental and scientific organizations in a way that had never been possible before. Sound familiar? The World Wide Web (WWW) was created in 1989, but commercialized in 1995. The world would never be the same from this point forward.
With the internet now commercialized, there had to be a way to allow the consumer to fetch information, to “find” things. In 1998 a then small company named Google figured out a way to archive the internet with a simplistic web interface, what has now become an ominous internet feature. THE SEARCH BAR.
From 1998 on the internet would never be the same again. Staying true to it’s core purpose the internet became a digital archive of information, an encyclopedia of digital knowledge. However the task of archiving all of this knowledge proved to be rather complex. How complex ? Well, complex enough for Google to patent a page ranking algorithm that now includes over 20,000 metrics and signals that calculate a sites ranking within search platform that is “Google Search”. It’s impact so profound that Google has now become the verb for information gathering: “Google It”.
The birth of the SEO ‘er (search engine optimization specialist) came as individuals attempted to decipher these “mystery variables” and over the years the direction of the SEO community has realized one constant, back links!
So this brings us to our question. Why Would Someone Guest Blog And Does It Really Help With SEO? Given the heart of the internet and purpose as a way to digitally communicate and archive information at near light speed, one has to consider syndication. The core root function of guest blogging is to syndicate a brand. When we think of branding we think of casting as wide a net as possible to as many individuals as possible thus creating brand awareness and brand loyalty. Guest blogging does exactly this, allowing a blogger to leave a footprint exponentially larger than his blog’s singular presence, increasing traffic, and brand awareness.
Now beyond the functional aspect of blogging there is an algorithmic benefit to guest blogging that does in fact impact your rank within Google’s archives. With guest blogging, one is allowed to leave a “link” in the bio or signature section back to his/her website, these links are read as vote’s of importance according to the back-linking metrics Google uses. The more votes, the more trustworthy a site is assumed to be, and the more trustworthy a site is deemed by Google, the higher the website will rank.
But why be a guest blogger and not just leave comments with links? Wouldn’t it do the same? Unfortunately no, as many blogs have incorporated the “no-follow” attribute to combat spam within the comments section diminishing the value of any links whether valid or spammy. With guest blogging you are assured a “follow” link which in fact influences the value of the link within the context of the article or post(holding enormous value) again influencing the ranking of a website, and as a consequence does assist in your website’s SEO effort.
Other benefits of Guest blog post that effect SEO include:
Matching Content — We have heard many times that a link from a related source is more valuable than a link from a non related source. Oranges are not apples so guest blogging allows you to create content (on another blog or website) that is relevant to your content and niche, creating an apples to apples relationship. Google LOVES THIS! and rewards you with higher rankings.
As stated before, syndication is GOLD in the world of SEO, syndication equals traffic and traffic plays a major part in (SEO) rank as well. Though Google will never admit to this, a website with high traffic volume will normally score well throughout the search engine. Why? Because a few things go on here. First Google is able to see first hand the bounce rate of a website and essentially how long a visitor remains allowing the algorithm to ascertain a certain avg. per parameter. Logic would suggest that if a lot of traffic hits your site and your bounce rate remains low, and the avg visitor sits for over 90 seconds, that your website is actually a “BIG THING” or what we like to call, and AUTHORITY SITE. Who would have every though guest blogging would have such implications?
Adding content to another website allows your content to work for you, but also allows the parent blog or blog webmaster to work for you as well, because in the end we are all after one thing. AS MUCH TRAFFIC AS POSSIBLE. Imagine having someone else work for you pushing your stuff? all the while you are pushing your own … The benefits are immeasurable, and cannot be articulated in the form of numbers, or equations, especially if the parent blog has a much LARGER following than you do. Think free advertising!
So in the end guest blogging does serve a purpose, and does in fact influence SEO through many different factors and variables. Should you integrate guest blogging into your marketing platform? Absolutely. Should it be a priority component of your marketing strategy? Absolutely. Should it come with a price? Absolutely. And the “currency” used to pay in this game is TRAFFIC . Never guest post on a blog or website that has not demonstrated any traffic patterns. Always reference Alexa.com to get an idea of what is happening with that particular site or blog and to discover their true niche. Build a working relationship with the BLOG owner to better understand their objectives, and to see if your objectives align, and if so, and if all works well, that simple 450 to 1500 word post may have turned into a partnership that helps both to monetize and “together” capture a larger piece of the market.
Gabe “The Seo Dork” is an SEO specialist with a knack for attempting the impossible, like teaching his Labrador to cook his own meal, getting his DVR to actually work, and attempting to convince his wife that a Harley Davidson is a necessary purchase. Failing miserably, he reverts back to the one thing he absolutely loves — Search Engine Optimization and assisting business owners in capturing the the market, who’s always open to answering any questions and can be reached at seodorks@gmail.com
