Are Guest Blogs Spamming You? Should You Stop Accepting Them?

Spam blogs have been increasing in number and frequency since marketers discovered the importance of search engine optimization (SEO). Google still puts a very high value on these all-important backlinks. What are backlinks, how do they relate to spam blogs and should you worry about them?

What Are Backlinks?

A backlink is simply a link one website gets from another website. They're incredibly useful for improving the SEO ranking of a site. Search engines use multiple factors to determine a site's SEO ranking in search results, but backlinks are one of the most important.

It's an awesome feeling when you start receiving guest blog submissions and you see your SEO skyrocket as a result. Having content produced for you and linking back to you is a good thing! But there's a catch: you have to make sure the posts are genuine and informative rather than spammy.

Tracking Backlinks and Weeding Out Spam

Depending on how often your site is being linked to and how much guest content is being produced, tracking backlinks can be overwhelming. Some sites are able to generate thousands and thousands of backlinks a day. If you don't stay on top of monitoring those backlinks, weeding out any spam posts as they come in, Google drops the hammer.  

Sites that accept guest blog posts put themselves at risk of being penalized and/or filtered by Google. Google has said over the last couple of years that they are cracking down on spam and will continue to crack down. Guest blogs spamming you can be devastating. I have personally seen Google end several businesses devoted entirely to guest blogging. Spamming is generally used by sites with crappy content and poor SEO in an attempt to get links but, unfortunately, it's often the good sites that suffer.

If you want to get links to your site that are actually worth having, write GREAT content, build GREAT tools, or create some kind of GREAT resource that other webmasters will want to link to, and can't be found on thousands of sites. This is the ONLY long-term strategy that will not eventually result in a penalty or a filter by Google.

Developing great B2B marketing is based around content because of the long-term turn around. It's critical that all the hard work you put into creating content isn't ruined by a few lazy SEO attempts from others. Don't let spam hijack your domain's hard-earned authority.

Moral of the Story

Guest blogging can benefit both parties: the host gets an article and the blogger gets a backlink reference. However, if the owner of the site doesn't have the resources, time, or manpower to check blogger credentials, it's safer to stop accepting guest blogs altogether. If you're confident you can stay on top of guest blogs spamming you, no need to worry! Continue accepting those guests articles and dramatically increase your website's authority!

Schedule your digital marketing audit to learn how we can help you boost your SEO and start improving your website's ranking the right way.