A very powerful plague is raging on the internet like wildfire these days; a plague of poorly written rubbish distributed by “professional guest bloggers”. Is this Guest Blogging done incorrectly, or Guest Blogging done the right way?

While it’s easy to put blame on the guest bloggers in this case, as an experienced guest blogger, I can tell you that the issue isn’t always the guest blogger’s fault. In fact, I can boldly say that the issue is mostly with the brand or website the guest blogger is working for – depending on who is in charge of your campaign, the issue could very well be with the SEO company involved – here’s why:

What is ‘guest blogging done incorrectly’

1. Guest Bloggers are being Paid Substandard Rates: It probably costs anything from $50 – $200 to write quality content of around 500 words. The rates could be much higher depending on the writer involved and her professional experience, but the reality is that you’ll rarely see a REAL professional writer crank out a quality 500 words article for you for anything less than $50.

Now imagine that a guest blogger is being paid $30 to write AND publish a “quality” guest post. How on earth do you expect this guest blogger to perform?

Most guest bloggers will happily work at this rate, but they try to make it up by increasing the number of articles they’re able to publish per hour and double their income as a result. What better way is there to do this than to write substandard content and send mass emails to 40 different blogs? This is definitely an example of guest blogging done incorrectly.

If you want quality, pay for it.

2. No Strict Policy from Guest Blogging Clients when it Comes to Content Quality: In the case where a website is paying premium rates to get guest posts published, this problem can also be experienced if there are no strict guidelines when it comes to quality content.

People will always go for the easy solution.

Don’t allow your guest blogging to be done incorrectly. Make sure you have a strict policy developed for your guest bloggers to ensure they put out quality content that both contributes to the blogosphere, and delivers results. If you don’t know how to go about this, hire a professional to help you out!

3. Not hiring someone with a proven track record is guest blogging done incorrectly: There’s nothing you can do when the problem starts with your hiring process. It isn’t uncommon to see organizations and individuals post guest blogging job offers on bidding sites while telling the bidding writers that the person with the “best” price wins.

What does the “best” price mean? In most cases this is an attempt at getting people to quote the lowest rates. A lot is wrong with this since price has a lot to do with quality.

When you hire someone based on price, you hire incorrectly, so your guest blogging will be done incorrectly.

When you hire someone based on the perceived quality of work you have someone with a proven track record. You can’t go wrong!

BTW This post (plus infographics) by Ann Smarty, super-smart guest blogger and founder of MyBlogGuest.com – the #1 guest blogging platform – gives some tips on the right and wrong ways to do guest blogging. Check it out!

The Dangers of Using Poor Quality Guest Posts and Hiring Poor Guest Bloggers

Hiring “professional guest bloggers” who know nothing about what they’re doing won’t help your business. In fact, it’s the contrary; while it might look like you benefit on the short run, the long term result can be disastrous.

Here are a few dangers of using poor quality guest posts:

1. It Can Damage Your Brand: When customers start seeing spun-like content promoting your brand on crappy websites, you can be sure that it will affect their opinion of your brand.

Since your purpose of writing those guest posts is to gain back-links, you might think it doesn’t matter – but it does. Focus on quality and it will have a lasting impact!

2. It Can Damage Your Link Profile: Google is getting smarter and poor quality guest posts are being discounted. I’ve heard several stories of bloggers who publish crappy guest posts on their sites being Google-slapped. When this happens, not only are you affected but your links are taken down. You’re gradually damaging your link profile! This is a definite sign of guest blogging done incorrectly.

3. You’re Wasting Your Money: If most of the links you build become useless or defunct in a few months’ time or even in a years’ time, how do you benefit? You’re essentially wasting your money!

How to Approach Guest Blogging

While there are various reasons why people guest blog, there is no doubt that a major reason they do it is to build backlinks.

Who wouldn’t want to do this when 31 guest posts could potentially lead to over 100,000 additional search engine visitors in one year?

Of course, contrary to what most people will have you believe, guest blogging for backlinks isn’t exactly a bad thing. It’s your approach that matters.

The best way to approach guest blogging is to focus on quality instead of quantity. With that said, here are a few tips that might help:

1. Quality Always Trumps: When it comes to content and the blogs you’re targeting, always go for quality blogs. There are probably hundreds of crappy blogs out there willing to accept your articles, but what benefit will your work have in the long run?

The right blog can be more powerful than 10 crappy blogs.

The right content is also of critical importance. Search engines are getting smarter and Google is constantly making efforts to ensure only quality content rules, irrespective of the outlet it appears on.

Besides, something much more important that many people ignore is the lifetime value of your guest posts. If you’re able to publish a hundred crappy guest posts today, what happens in the next 6 months when Google and other search engines get smarter and the value of your guest posts gets discounted?

Let the reverse be the case and imagine what happens if you get 10 quality guest posts published on authoritative blogs. Those links will only increase in value and take the place of the crappy content which are being discounted. When that happens, you benefit!

2. Go for Thematic Relevance: Depending on your niche, it can be very difficult finding blogs that talk about exactly the same thing as yours. While those blogs might exist, getting a guest post published on them is another issue.

A great way to solve this problem is by going for thematic relevance. Look for quality but similar blogs and look for a way to tie your content with their website and your product.

If I’m promoting a Mac computer now, I can benefit from publishing a quality guest post on a blogging blog by writing a guest post titled “The Ultimate Guide to Using Mac to Run Your Blog“; you get the idea?

3. Don’t Look for Instant Results: If you’re marketing on a budget and want quick results, you’ll be better off going for pay per click than guest blogging.

Guest blogging is not for everyone.

The best way to get results from guest blogging is by knowing that it takes time. You have to realize that it’ll probably take a few weeks or months to start seeing results from your guest blogging campaign.

The reason why most companies hire professional guest bloggers to spam other blogs with so called “guest posts” is because they want instant results. These guest bloggers are cheap and they can get a lot of guest posts published as a result.

Imagine spending $40 for a guest post compared to spending $200 for a guest post? You can get five guest posts for the price of one. Unfortunately, the first option will give you quantity while the second one will give you quality.

You don’t need quantity, you need quality!

Stop looking for instant results. As with any other form of link building, it takes time to see results from your guest blogging effort. Be patient and wait!

Hire a Professional

While the above are a few reasons why crappy guest posts are plaguing the internet (as well as solutions to them), the reality is that no one benefits; not the blogger involved, not their readers or the blogosphere and definitely not their clients – at least in the long run.

The best way to get started is by hiring a professional and you can start with me.