The most important thing to remember when you create content for other sites is that you do it for more than just a link. Your aim is to educate and add value to your target audience. That should be the primary goal of guest blogging. A link back and any clicks from the blog to your site should be secondary. This strategy will help to keep you in the area of ethical practice and in line with Google's guidelines. I mean, why would you want to post a good guest blog to a bad site that doesn't get traffic?

Here are a few tips to help keep you clear and focused on guest blogging.

1. Only Write for Trustworthy and Relevant Sites

On the web, look for easy-to-use pages with a lot of well-written content already on them. It is also important to look under the hood before submitting a guest post: think about traffic, links, and visibility.

In addition to the above, make sure that the places you are writing concentrate on a topic or industry close to yours. This will maintain relevance and will mean that you also reach the right audience with your content.

2. Only Write for Sites Where Content Is Curated

This might come under the above, but it's important enough to warrant its own. As well as adding listings to online repositories, make sure that humans manage guest blog material. When websites require you to upload content without asking any questions, that's a big red flag. Write only for websites where you know the material is carefully reviewed before it is released to ensure its quality. Look out for clearly displayed contact details as well, as this is a good indication that the business is legitimate.

3. Don’t Abuse Anchor Text

Do not use accurate match keywords as your anchor text for every link you get from guest posts. While anchor text still has a direct influence on rankings, maintaining a natural and varied profile of anchor text from external links is important.

4. Don’t Keyword Stuff and Keep Your Audience in Mind

Write for people, not search engine bots! Set out to provide truly useful information to readers. This also means that Google will not see your content as unnatural and written specifically to avoid their guidelines.

5. Don’t Mass Produce, and Repurpose Content with Caution

In 2017, Google's warning specifically targeted large-scale article campaigns. This has to do with spammy tactics called spinning article. This process involves tweaking and editing parts of a post in an effort to make it available on multiple sites. While rewriting the content you've previously written to a different audience is fine, it's not going to take that piece of content and rewrite it over and over again. It's safer and more likely to deliver sustainable results if you're writing original guest blog content that adds value to your target audience.

6. Use Guest Blogging as One Piece of Your Link Building Strategy

Google is looking at the value of the links that point to your page as an indication of trust. Your link profile could end up looking odd to Google's eyes if all your links are from guest blogs. So, be sure to take a diverse approach to build links. There are various link building strategies that can be used, as well as guest blogging and editorial.

So, Is Guest Blogging Still Good for SEO?

In short, the answer is yes. Guest blogging within Google’s guidelines is still good for SEO. Publishing useful content on high quality, relevant websites can benefit your search engine rankings greatly, and ultimately bring more traffic to your site.