further clarified how right Guest Blogging should be done. Before we take in to arguments let us first identify what Google wants us to do with our contents that are designed to reach out to a bigger audience through guest blogging.
It is not mandatory yet, Matt Cutts taught us that to keep your guest post safe and clean from low quality websites, you have to nofollow your link. Essentially, he is right. However, that seems to be logical simply because the reputation of the website where your website is linked to can affect your own reputation. When that website is penalized, there is a higher probability that your website will be penalized too. One thing Google doesn’t want you to experience.
Recently from the post of Marie Haynes sharing about high quality quest post can get you penalized wherein it is from the Webmaster Central Video where John Mueller give advice that it would be best if you are going to nofollow the links on the guest posts you shared for the purpose of linkbuilding.
Start at 49:56 in:
However, why even guest blogging with high quality sites requires you to nofollow the link?
All our SEO techniques aim to hit one point, to gain higher rank in Google. However, gaining the ranks isn’t easy without link building techniques. Guest blogging to high quality sites is the best resort to get quality links but Google likely promote these links to be nofollowed. But why? Perhaps, I have a little explanation about it.
Google Penguin algorithm along with Manual Spam Action shakes the SERP. The fact that even high quality sites can be penalized does not spare your links through guest blogging from possible penalties. Therefore, it is always safe to no-follow links, so that whatever may happen in the future, you are rest assured to be kept out from danger of penalties. But what about your rankings?
However, in my point of view, adding nofollow attribute the link requires best judgment. Take it from these scenarios.
1) Guest Blogging Site is known and credible and links can help users.
2) How will Google know that the guest blogger is a journalist and not a ghostwriter when both of them can provide high quality article?
At any of this case, you can say that it is lucrative to still provide “do follow” links for your guest blogging contents. It will simply require quality content and natural links. Surely, you will ask, when you should do-follow or no follow links. While placing your content on other’s blog will channel you to a different market, that’s already a benefit, placing a helpful and natural link will boost your ranking in SERP. Therefore, before putting rel=nofollow, or dofollow, ask first, should it be there in the first place?
If you think that your link can help your content, for me, you can still do follow it. But when you are not sure about it, then I guess Matt Cutts is right, you just have to no follow it to spare your website from possible penalties.
Thoughts? Share it below.
