Is Guest Blogging Done Or Not?

is guest blogging done
I’ve been writing guest posts for other blogs for several years and benefited from this strategy by getting exposed to a larger audience than if I just posted to my own blog.

Therefore I was surprised to read a blog post from Matt Cutts
(head of Google’s Webspam team) who recently declared ..

“So stick a fork in it: guest blogging is done;
it’s just gotten too spammy…”

My immediate reaction was to just accept this point of view from an expert from Google however guest blogging deserves a deeper look to instead of reacting emotional and giving up on it.

Let’s look at the benefits of guest blogging:

1. Reach a larger audience

Posting to your own blog may attract some visitors (particularly if it gets first page rankings) however getting published on an active blog containing 1000s of loyal readers will expose your content to a much larger audience.

2. Build your brand

The purpose of building your brand is that it gets well known and stands out from your competitors. The more popular your brand the less marketing you’ll need to do.

Example
When people think of running shoes, the “Nike” brand immediately pops into their heads. When people think of a popular soda to drink “Coca Cola” springs to mind.

3. Improves rankings in the search engines

Although some content marketers just use guest blogging to improve rankings this should not be the central focus but an indirect result of writing content that offers great value to readers.

4. Build a community

It’s easy to become a one person island on the Net, however to counteract that you need to expose your content to a variety of sources. One of the best ways to do this is to build relationships with other people in your niche. This helps grow your own as well as other people’s businesses. As your community expands so will the exposure to your content.

Example
If your guest post is published on an authority website (ie CNN) it will automatically receive high rankings because CNN has built up its authority over time.

Guest Blogging Mistakes

The main reason Matt Cutts said “Guest Blogging Is Done”
is because of spammy content…

“I just want to highlight that a bunch of low-quality or spam sites have latched on to “guest blogging” as their link-building strategy, and we see a lot more spammy attempts to do guest blogging.”

So how is spammy content generated?

Article spinning software
This refers to articles being spun 1000s of times to generate 1000s of similar articles which are then automatically submitted to 1000s of directory sites. Google really frowns on this practice because it clogs up the search engines with crappy content.

Google wants to return the most accurate results for searches so people won’t waste time scrolling through spammy articles to find the most relevant information.

Bad Writers
I sometimes receive guest articles from writers that obviously don’t use English as their first language, don’t know how to spell, use incorrect grammar or are obviously not an expert on the subject.

Here’s a warning from Matt Cutts…

“Unfortunately, a lot of people didn’t seem to hear me say to steer away from low-quality guest blog posting, so I did a follow-up video to warn folks away from spammy guest articles.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMxC3wQZOyc#t=38

Here are 7 ways to become a high quality guest blogger:

1. Know your stuff

If you’re an expert on the topic then it’s much easier to write without doing much research. There’s also a better chance your article will be received because your bio will reflect your expert status.

2. Research your material

Searching the Net on what others have to say about your subject not only stimulates new ideas but helps you add relevant content such as up to date statistics, case studies, the latest research, etc. It adds more substance to your content.

3. Create relevant content

Make sure the content is relevant to your title so readers won’t get distracted while reading it and go elsewhere. Each paragraph should build on the previous one so you’ll keep the reader’s attention throughout the content.

From Matt Cutts…

“In fact, I would argue that a large part of Google’s success as a search engine is due to our continual efforts to provide the most relevant web search results we can while minimizing the spam and low-quality results that our users encounter.”

4. Optimize your bio

Readers will often read the bio of the author to find out who wrote the content so make sure your bio reads well and is up to date. Revise the about page on your blog especially if you’re include a link to it.

5. Avoid too much anchor text

Linking multiple keywords in the content to your web properties gives the impression that the purpose of your article is just for building links and/or getting rankings. Google penalizes sites with spammy links so don’t be surprised if your article won’t be accepted by other bloggers if you use this method.

6. Write unique content

When you find several listings in the search engines that contain the same result it leaves you frustrated. Google penalizes duplicate by not indexing your content or lowering your rankings. Avoid the temptation of copying content from another author.

People are attracted to your own unique writing style. Therefore instill your own unique point of view into every article so people will want to read it.

7. Do guest blogging in moderation

Avoid using guest blogging as your only method of reaching a larger audience than your own blog. Get your message out using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube and join the conversations about your topic on forums and other communities.

So spammy guest blogging maybe dead however high quality guest blogging is very much alive and is a great method for expanding your audience, building your brand and being part of a larger community.

Discover how you can get your competition to double
your income in 30 days with GUEST BLOGGING
Go to: http://www.drostdesigns.com/go/guestblogging

12 Simple Productivity Tips To Ensure Maximum Performance

productivity tips
You’ve probably heard of the phrase…

“If you keep doing what you’ve always been doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always been getting”

Running your own business can be tough so at the end of every year take time to reflect on your successes and failures so you can take your business to a higher level the following year.

Here are 12 simple productivity tips I learned this past year:
[Read more…]

7 Ways To Increase Blog Traffic with Google+

Recently I’ve noticed authors’ posts (and their profile picture) attaining first page rankings on Google due to leveraging the power of Google+.

Here are 7 ways to increase blog traffic with Google+

1. Google+ Communities

This is a great traffic tip I’ve used recently that teaches you how to leverage existing audiences within Google+ communities by sending them to your own website or blog.

Example
The Star wars community has over 89,000 members. When you become a member you’re able to share text, photos, links or videos with the other members.

How to find a Google+ community

  • Create a Google account if you don’t have one already or login to your existing one
  • Fill out your Google Plus profile
  • Click the drop down menu at the top left of your Google+ page under “Home”
  • Click on “Communities”
  • Enter a keyword in the search box to find communities related to your niche
  • Look for a community or communities with 1000 members or more
  • Once you’ve found a niche community click “join this community.”

How to leverage the traffic from your Google+ community

Use the 80/20 rule when sharing content. This means 80% of the time you should share valuable content before promoting your own products or services.

For example if you’ve written a great blog post or created a powerful video then share it with your community.

If you place a link in the description all the plus ones count towards your link.

Start experimenting with Google+ NOW. It’s a very powerful strategy for leveraging an existing audience to generate more traffic.

2. Google Authorship

Google Search Results
Have you noticed many search results display an image beside the content. This is known as Google Authorship. Your profile image captures the attention of visitors seeking information for the keyword they Googled. This gets them to explore YOUR content over other content that’s listed on the same page which don’t contain images.

Here’s how to link your Google+ profile to the content you created:

You can link content you publish on a specific domain (ie www.domain.com) to your Google+ profile.

  • Sign up for Google+ and create a Google+ profile.
  • Upload a high quality headshot
  • Make sure the byline containing your name appears on each page of your content (for example, “By John Smith”).
  • Make sure your byline name matches the name on your Google+ profile.
  • Verify you have an email address (such as johnsmith@domain.com) on the same domain as your content.

For more information on Google Authorship visit:

Google Authorship
How to Get Visitors To Discover Your Great Content In Google
How To Use Rel Author for Higher More Visible Search Engine Rankings

3. Connect your Google+ page to your blog

Connecting your Google+ page to your website or blog helps you get more followers. If your badge is prominently displayed it will cause visitors to click on it.

View the example Google+ Badge displayed on
Web Marketing Strategies About Page

How to add a Google+ Badge to your website

4. Get readers to Plus One your content

Encourage readers to +1 your content by including social sharing buttons at the top of your posts. The easiest way to do this on a WordPress Site is to install the shareholic plugin

What are the benefits?

The number of +1′s a page gets helps it to show up in search results, even when the searcher is not logged into Google+. When you see a search result where the author belongs to 1000s of Google+ circles you’re more inclined to click on those results because of the social proof.

5. Completely fill out your Google+ Profile

Google prioritizes different areas of your profile for both on-page optimization and in search results. For example the first 55 characters of your Introduction are important for search results within Google+ because it’s what appears first in the search engines.

6. Google Hangouts

Hangouts give your business a great opportunity to engage in a highly personal way with potential customers. For example you can have webinars or meetings with people in your niche by holding a group video chat even if they live in a remote location.

Ultimate Guide to Google Hangouts
How to Hold a Google+ Hangout and Why You Should

7. Use Google+ for Networking Opportunities

One of the key features of Google Plus is “Circles”. It’s a highly effective way to categorize your contacts for different interests and network with them. For example one of my interests is customizing Genesis Child Themes for web design clients. By interacting with others who share the same interests I improve my web designing abilities.

Want to know how to use Google+ for your business?

Download the Amazon Kindle Ebook by clicking the image on the right or visit:
Google+ for Business: How Google’s Social Network Changes Everything
(2nd Edition) (Que Biz-Tech)

How To SEO Your Blog Step-By-Step

seo

  • Do you want to attract free traffic to your blog?
  • Do you want to generate more sales?
  • Do you want to achieve high rankings in the search engines?

Many blog owners think that once they’ve built a blog and uploaded it to the web it will magically appear in the search engines and traffic will automatically start flowing to it. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

To correctly SEO (search engine optimization) your blog
there are a number of tweaks that need to be made.

Here are the 16 Steps to Correctly
Optimize Your Blog for the Search Engines:

[Read more…]

Killer Headlines For Writing Blog Posts: 15 Elements For Creating Compelling, Shareable Blog Post Headlines

Unless you write killer headlines for your blog posts your chances of getting visitors to read the rest of your content drastically declines. This is why you should spend time crafting a good headline before publishing it because you want as many people as possible reading your post. Many blog post titles fail to attract readers because they don’t grab the reader’s attention.

Here are 8 elements for creating killer blog post headlines:
[Read more…]

How to Create An Epic Blog Post That Gets Shared Naturally

epic blog post

  • Are your posts getting drowned out in a sea of information?
  • Are you getting little or no traffic to your content?
  • Do you feel like you are on a content treadmill working hard but not getting anywhere?

For years I was churning out regular content for my blog (3x/week) but didn’t know if anyone was actually reading or sharing it although traffic was steadily increasing. Most posts were only 500-800 words in length and I only promoted them on social media sites.

I decided to test a new strategy by creating an epic post of 1000-2000 words then spending the same amount of time on promotion as writing it. As a result my posts not only received an initial spike in traffic but generated sustainable traffic.

Here are the 6 main benefits for writing an epic post:
[Read more…]

21 Ways To Promote Your Blog Post That You Probably Wish You Knew (Step-by-Step Guide)

21 ways to promote your blog post

Most blog owners make the mistake of constantly creating new blog posts but do little or no promotion afterwards then wander why they didn’t receive any traffic. After staying on this treadmill for months or even years they become discouraged because they’re not generating sales from all their hard work.

You should invest the same amount of time promoting your blog post as writing it otherwise no one will benefit from the great value you are offering.

Wouldn’t you like to get hundreds or thousands
of people reading every post you create?

Here are the 21 ways to promote your blog post:
[Read more…]

Top 12 Ways To Monetize Your Blog Even If You Haven’t Made One Cent…Yet

how to monetize your blog

  • What are the best places on your blog to monetize?
  • Which methods generate the most profits?
  • How do you implement these methods?

If you’re a professional blogger (or want to be one) you probably spend a lot of time creating new content on a regular basis. Perhaps you’ve made a little money from AdSense Ads however it’s not paying your bills and you certainly can’t quit your day job…yet. How then do you increase the revenue from your blog?

Let’s look at the 12 most effective ways to monetize your blog
[Read more…]

How Guest Blogging Will Increase Your Affiliate Income

One of the biggest problems bloggers have is trying to generate income from affiliate offers on their blogs. Most authors write articles for their blog but fail miserably at promoting the article. Writing the article is just the first step for generating results from it. To gain affiliate income it must be promoted and guest blogging is one of the best ways to achieve that.

So how the heck can posting your content on another website help your affiliate revenue stream grow?

[Read more…]

Genesis Framework – Steps to Convert Your Old WordPress Theme To Genesis

Does your current blog design look tired and outdated?
Is it optimized for the search engines?
Not converting well?

After 6 years of maintaining the old design of this blog I decided to create a new design based on the Genesis Framework. My old design was based on a free theme customized to suit my business model..web design, hosting and marketing. Over the last few years new blog designs have emerged to better cater to computer users and the search engines.

[Read more…]