We’ve all heard the news that Google has declared guest blogging dead, but is it really? Former head of web spam at Google Matt Cutts’s announcement was met with skepticism, and further changes like the new sponsored and UGC (user-generated content) link attributes have only added fuel to the fires of confusion.

The reality of the matter is that guest blogging is alive and well as an SEO strategy. We wanted to understand just how prevalent this link-building strategy is in the SEO industry today, so we asked the experts and more than 100 responded!

As it turns out, the vast majority of SEOs agree that guest blogging is a highly-effective SEO strategy, despite what Google might have you believe. The biggest things to keep in mind are that quality will always outweigh quantity and relevance is key.

Here’s what SEO experts and business owners from around the globe had to say about guest blogging as a link-building strategy:

Yes, Guest Blogging IS an Effective SEO Strategy

“Guest blogging can be an incredibly effective SEO strategy; especially when first starting out. That being said, guest posting is not as easy as it once was. Websites with higher domain ratings are becoming overwhelmed with requests, and often simply no longer respond to requests. This can be frustrating. We have found more success reaching out to relevant websites within our niche that possibly are not getting the requests when compared to the bigger or popular websites. These websites are quite happy to receive a well written, unique article that will add to their current content.”

– Jannah Haas, Co-Founder and CMO, Angry BBQ

“Guest blogging remains a viable SEO strategy; however, it requires proper strategic planning, as cheap/spammy link building can actually harm SEO.”

– Charbel Coorey, Digital Marketing Specialist, cricblog.net

“Guest posting is still a viable option for 2020, but only if sites have the stomach to continue guest posting without seeing any visible results immediately. Frequency and consistency are both critical, but marketers should keep in mind that guest posting doesn’t guarantee short-term success. The effects of guest posting are cumulative, and the fruits often appear several months, sometimes years, for businesses to see the benefit.”

– Max Harland, CEO, Dentaly

“The best way to make SEO guest blogging effective is to not be trollish with it. As long so you generate great quality and original work for reputable websites, then you won’t have any challenges and your SEO approach will succeed.”

– Matt Scott, Owner, Termite Survey

“Guest blogging as an SEO strategy is still very effective provided that you do it properly. Mass guest blogging on sites that have big Write for Us tabs in their menu bar is not recommended; contributing relevant content to other sites that pertain to your niche is a very effective strategy.

– Jared Bauman, CEO & Founder, 201 Creative, LLC

“Despite Google coming out to say that backlinks no longer have the sway they once did, guest blogging remains a crucial aspect of SEO in general. Guest blogging is one of the most effective ways to build backlinks that can help boost your domain authority. Writing guest posts on other websites will always prove beneficial if you want to improve your SERP rankings especially for new websites.”

– Ejike Umesi, Editor, 9javillage!

Almost a decade later, guest blogging is still commonly used by digital marketers. A survey by Authority Hacker found that guest blogging is “by far the most popular link building tactic.” 

“Back in 2014, someone said guest blogging was done and over with as an SEO tactic. Fast forward to 2020, guest blogging is still very much alive. In fact, even more people are now using it to draw links and increase website traffic. An SEO industry survey done last March 2020 placed guest posting as the third most popular SEO tactic.”

– Malte Scholz, Co-Founder, Airfocus

“Guest blogging is an excellent strategy to utilize for SEO as long as is being done correctly. Guest posting on other websites can be super helpful, but you want to do a little research beforehand and look at the metrics of that site before. Ensure that they have a healthy trust score and DA (domain authority) so that your company name is tied to a website that is well-respected.”

– Casey Adams, Client Success Manager, All My Web Needs

“Guest blogging can be a very effective strategy if you have specific goals you want to reach and a strategy in place to achieve them. For example, get a certain number of backlinks with a certain anchor on a monthly basis. As for our own results, we get 5-10 links per month from guest posting, and we don’t even do it that diligently as we could. It can be time intensive and you can lose a lot of time going back and forth with editors; however, it’s still a valid strategy to build links in 2020.”

– Petra Odak, CMO, Better Proposals

“Guest posting can help your SEO if you follow these three rules:

• Focus on quality rather than quantity (i.e. it is better to contribute 1 awesome guest post per month than 4 mediocre contributions)
• Focus on contributing to high authoritative websites as measured by Moz Domain Authority and other industry metrics
• Verify that the website is relevant to your website (e.g. contributing a marketing article to a sports website would probably not be relevant).”

– Bruce Harpham, SaaS Marketing Consultant, BruceHarpham.com

“When guest posting to other sites, it’s key to vet possible sites and only choose sites that are a good fit. For example, if you’re a marketing agency, you’ll want to have your guest posts placed on sites focused on business best practices and marketing.”

– Amanda Lanier, SEO Copywriter, Cape & Bay

“I have enjoyed huge success with B2B guest blogging but I have to warn you that it’s a cumulative effect and that newbies shouldn’t expect to see rank-busting results for at least two years. Having said that, it will be worth the wait. When done right, B2B guest blogging can help you to build on your authority and reputation as well as building your network. Guest blogging for SEO is absolutely worth it, as long as you’re prepared to put in the time and leg work.”

– Milosz Krasinski, Speaker & Blogger, Chillifruit.com

“In terms of link quality, guest blogging is still the best link-building strategy. Guest Blogging allows you to target high-quality websites and improve your chances of successfully securing backlinks. What’s even better is that once you guest post on one website, you can create lasting relationships and contribute regularly to get more backlinks.”

– Kazi Hassan, Account Manager, COdesign Limited

“I believe guest blogging still has its value if you post to a related industry site that’s also local.

As a roofer, I can guest blog for a home interior renovation or patio deck installation company that also serves my city. This way, I get both SEO value and attract readers within my local key demographic.”

– Zach Reece, Owner, Colony Roofers, LLC

“Guest blogging can be a very effective strategy for SEO, if you do it correctly. In other words, only guest post on high-authority sites that are super relevant to your niche. Place a natural link or two back to your own content within a guest post to send authority signals to the search engines.”

– Kelly O’Hara, Founder, Copy Goals

“Guest blogging as an SEO strategy is extremely effective. Not only does creating guest content on other sites help your SEO, it also exposes your content/brand to a new audience as well as providing backlinks to your website.”

– Richard Carthon, Founder and CEO, Crypto Current

“Guest blogging can be a great way to get your name out there, share your thoughts, and get a relevant backlink (or two). You can use the posts you get published as your portfolio. Guest blogging is not a good idea if you want quick SEO wins or immediate results such as improvements in organic traffic and keyword rankings. Overall, it’s a great supplementary tactic for SEO and content marketing, but I wouldn’t use it as my one and only SEO tactic.”

– Stefan Smulders, CEO, Expandi

“Guest blogging is a very effective SEO strategy. Backlinks are still the number one way to get your site to rank, and guest blogging is a great way to do that. Plus, it helps you or a staff member solidify their place as an expert on a particular topic.

Be careful, though. Guest blogging can be harmful to your SEO if you let money become a factor. Paying someone to get them to post your guest blog or asking for payment to be featured on your blog can run you afoul of Google. These posts have to be labeled as sponsored posts and all links tagged as sponsored. This doesn’t help SEO as much as a plain dofollow link, and if it’s not tagged correctly and Google even suspects foul play, it could result in a manual penalty being imposed.”

– Jason Boyd, Editor in Chief, Fictionphile