A little over a year ago, a really high-profile article covered the decay of guest blogging for SEO. The upshot of that piece was basically that using guest blogging as a primary means of gaining inbound links is a black hat practice.

Is Guest Blogging Trouble?

The author is totally right – guest blogging can delve into the world of questionable, spammy practices pretty quickly, which is why little industries like “guest post outsourcing” and “automated guest blogging” have suddenly cropped up. But that doesn’t make all guest blogging bad. The truth is, if you’re guest blogging appropriately, you’ve been doing it right. And that means you’re not doing it solely for a few inbound links. So good for you!

Wait. Why do we guest blog again?

Here’s a little refresher on the value of guest blogging:

  • When you guest blog for a business in a similar or linked industry, it’s a useful method of increasing exposure to a wider, but still appropriate, audience for your business.
  • Effective guest blogging can build a stronger sense of community and strengthen general branding.
  • It highlights your professional or personal relationship with the guest blogger, which can be a smart business move.

So yeah, it’s a good thing. Just remember the real point of this whole venture – you’re hosting a guest post because you think it’s information that your readers will enjoy. And that’s really the perfect measuring stick. Be wary of cold-calls – random emails complimenting your site and asking to write guest posts for you, particularly if they include any promises about PageRank – and just let guest posting happen naturally.