Earlier this year Matt Cutts, head of the Google Webspam team, stepped forward and shared that Google will be changing the way they rank guest blogs. Guest blogs used to be a great way to generate a link, and drive traffic to a site, but over time, low quality and spammy guest posts have used “guest blogging” as a link-building strategy, and have reduced the overall quality of guest posts. Moving forward, Google will not be placing as much value on guest posts as they did before.

Should you discontinue contributing guest posts to third party blogs?

If you’ve been writing guest posts solely as a link-building strategy, it’s time to rework or terminate your guest blogging program. However, if your guest posting strategy has focused on getting brand content in front of the right audience, at the right time, in the right place- you should continue. Tweet This!

For example, this guest blog that BRG placed on behalf of our client Globe-athon in Everyday Health this week is performing very well.

Why is it doing so well?

Globe-athon is a global movement of people all over the world working to raise awareness for, and ultimately increase early detection and prevention of below the belt cancers. It’s a unique movement championing an important, yet usually unmentioned cause.

Beyond the merit of the Globe-athon movement, the guest post had two winning elements:

• Human interest: Globe-athon board member Jennie McGihon has a very compelling story to tell about her personal ovarian and uterine cancer survival. She’s incredibly inspiring, and that shone through in her post. It was an interesting read.
• Relevance to the audience: Jennie’s message that women can join the movement and raise awareness about these women’s cancers spoke directly to Everyday Health’s primarily female, health conscious audience.

The bottom line: Keep guest posting

Well-placed guest posts can still create awareness and action among desired audiences. With the right objectives, and accompanying strategy, your guest blogging program can still be very successful, regardless of Google’s algorithm changes. Tweet this!

Learn more about how BRG can help you place the right guest posts, on the right blogs, at the right time: click here