Is SEO Guest Posting Dead?

SEO continues to be an effective way of getting high search engine rankings and communicating with your targeted audience. You should be familiar with Matt Cutt’s January 20, 2014 post, The Decay and Fall of Guest Blogging for SEO if you follow the world of Search Engine Optimization closely. His post sent shock waves throughout the digital marketing community.
Guest posting was a reliable marketing technique for several years, but many people did not have a full understanding of guest posting for SEO. This was one of the biggest problems with using this digital marketing technique. They were concentrating on the goal of chasing the maximum number of different domains. This caused problems for digital marketers that did not abuse this strategy.
For example, let’s say that a publisher’s business has 100 different websites that deals with that particular niche. The publisher’s websites will have different rankings in the search engines. They will probably look like this:
-Three sites with have a high authority level
-Five sites will have a pretty high authority level
-Twelve sites will have a respectable authority level
-Twenty sites will have a weak authority level
-Twenty-five sites will have a very weak authority level
-Thirty-five sites will be terrible
Let’s say the publisher makes only one post on each site. They make an earnest effort to do six guest posts per month. They are fortunate to get on the high authority sites within a day or two. In the long run, these websites with will fall in the rankings. In many cases, these sites have fallen into the “Weak” category by the fourth month. By the eleventh month, they are putting new posts on Genuinely Bad websites.
They can avoid this problem by posting quality content on sites that do not write about their niche regularly. Well, this will lead to a new problem. There is no relevance!
This paradox has made it very difficult for many digital marketers to promote their services and goods on the internet. They are having a hard time with getting the search engines to show favor to their marketing efforts. In the world of digital marketing, you cannot promote your site without search engines.
Are Press Releases Effective?
Press releases were one of main the highlights covered by many digital marketing instructors several years ago. It became a common practice for digital marketers to send out press releases to get high rankings. In most cases, press releases helped them get an edge over their competitors.
Press releases offer exceptional results if they are used properly. They can help the media and bloggers learn more about your business. This will give your digital marketing efforts more exposure. An intelligent guest post can produce the same results.
Concentrate on Connecting with High-Authority Columns
Connecting with three high-authority websites and five pretty high-authority websites will provide exceptional results. These sites have a large following and they can transfer their authority to your site. You stand a good chance of getting tons of social shares if you publish great content.
Please keep in mind that high-authority websites are not that easy to get into. It may take some time for you to get to that level. Persistence is the key to getting to that level.
Final Summary
Guest posting for SEO offers some advantages to digital marketers. However, I think you should concentrate your efforts on other digital marketing techniques. There’s a possibility that Google will disable established links from guest posts. This could hurt your rankings.
You should work hard at building a strong reputation in your niche. Sharing valuable content will help you become the true authority in your vertical. People will visit your site and link to it. It will be a win-win situation for everyone.

updated 11.22.2024

2024-2023 SEO Stats

These statistics and trends indicate that in 2024, your SEO strategy will need to focus more on creating high-quality, user-centric content, optimizing for new technologies like voice search and AI, and ensuring excellent user experience through website performance and credibility.

SEO Facts and SEO Stats

WordPress SEO Plugin Facts

• AMP pages are showing 32% higher in searches other than their html counterpoints
• The worlds #1 installed WordPress SEO plugin is Yoast with over 1,000,000+ installs in2017, 2018 & 2019-2020 (source)

SEO Career Stats

• The phrase SEO jobs has an 23% search increase on Google during 2017 compared to 2013

SEO Facts, Statistics and Trends 2017-2018

Anybody who has been marketing for a few moments has heard about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is the criteria that search engines use to rank websites. But that criteria is often changing to accommodate new SEO consulting trends. Any blogger who wants a consistent flow of traffic will keep up with these changes.

A Secure Website

SEO Content Marketing Trends

Most websites want some kind of user interaction. If you have an online store, then ideally, your users will enter their credit card information. For bloggers, the information could include just a name and e-mail address for a newsletter. Hackers know about this and they attempt to break into your website and steal your customers’ information. This is especially true if they are on an open WiFi server, such as in a coffee shop.
Google is actually rewarding websites that switch from HTTP to HTTPS. HTTPS provides a more secure connection by encrypting all of the data that is transmitted. In fact, Google will soon start flagging websites that are not encrypted. If there is anything that will deflate your traffic, it is a warning label from Google.

Algorithms That Search For Real Content

Google caught on pretty quickly to spammers who tried to exploit their system. Their algorithms are now sophisticated enough to detect when there is real underlying content. This means that you will actually have to write.

Another positive aspect of creating content is that people will come to your website for it. When they need a product, they will already have you in mind because they frequent your site. Similarly, writing content will help to establish you as an industry expert. It is a method of controlling your brand. Beyond that, content will protect against smear campaigns. If a competitor writes an article about you, it is going to be buried in the search engine results under all of your content.

Voice Searches

Interestingly, experts predict a rise in voice searches (see SEO facts). That can already be seen with robotic products such as the Amazon Echo. But if they become as prevalent as researchers think, bloggers could have to make major adjustments to strategies due to voice search and the implications of SEO

One example could be keywords. People do not vocalize keywords in the same way that they type keywords. When typing, they might use odd query terms to yield their results. But when speaking, they will use natural language. This means that your content will have to be more conversational. A spoken search is less precise than a written search, so a highly technical website might be left behind.

The great Roman philosopher Marcus Aurelius said that intelligence is defined as adaptability. That truism still stands today. If digital marketers want to keep pace with their competitors, they need to be adaptable.

The Top 10 Alternatives to AWS EC2

 
As effective as Amazon’s AWS EC2 may be, its pricing structure is unfortunately too expensive for many people that are just starting to build their website and attract traffic. Luckily, there are plenty of other alternatives that provide just as much functionality, without substantial increases in pricing also. Whether you’re interested in building a site with WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla!, these AWS alternatives to AWS EC2 will have your site up and running in no time.
1. Digital Ocean
Digital Ocean is perhaps one of the most well known alternatives to Amazon’s cloud hosting service. In fact, many developers have opted to move away from Amazon in favor of Digital Ocean. Aside from being a cheaper alternative, Digital Ocean has also established itself as being considerably more efficient as well. For those that are particularly price-conscious, Digital Ocean is currently offering a promotional opportunity where new users get up to $10 in free credit.
2. Vultr
For those that find Digital Ocean’s offers still too expensive, Vultr is the next best alternative to the two big names in cloud hosting. In addition to being competitively priced, Vultr also prides itself on offering cross-platform functionality. Vultr’s services are designed to be compatible with both Windows and Linux-based systems. Anyone that is on the fence about Vultr’s services can sign up now to get up to $50 in credit for 60 days.
3. VPS.Net
VPS.Net is a little different from the others in this list. While we’ve primarily focused on pricing as the main difference between these services, VPS.Net is actually more focused on accessibility. While VPS.Net is still competitively priced compared to Amazon’s services, VPS.Net’s real strength lies in its user interface design and intuitive functionality. VPS.Net is particularly recommended for beginners that do not have much underlying experience in working with cloud hosting providers.
4. LeaseWeb
Unlike the other cloud hosting providers, LeaseWeb is not cheaper than its main competitor, Amazon. Instead, LeaseWeb offers a more expensive service that makes up for its higher price point with greater functionality. Users that sign up with LeaseWeb can enjoy greater download speeds and a larger amount of traffic support. LeaseWeb is particularly recommended for experienced users that need to address the growing demands of their website. As a site’s traffic builds, they’ll want to look into moving away from Amazon in favor of a service that provides more for a slight increase in price.
5. Linode
Linode used to be one of Digital Ocean’s primary competitors, but shifts in the market have led Linode to be increasingly isolated. Of course, Linode does still provide some useful features to users that have decided to stick with it. Unlike many of the others on this list, Linode offers users a load balancing feature, to ensure that their infrastructure remains stable regardless of incoming traffic. It is worth mentioning though that Linode is only recommended for Linux users, so their services aren’t really for everyone.
6. CloudWays
CloudWays is unique among those on this list in that they also offer managerial services. Unlike the other cloud hosting providers listed here, CloudWays works with users to help them manage their systems across Google, Digital Ocean, and Amazon. As a result of this cross-functionality, CloudWays is particularly useful for users that have had issues in the past trying to keep track of their various providers.
7. Cloudwith.me
Similar to CloudWays, Cloudwith.me works with users to provide them with a managed data center services option. Unlike CloudWays, which works with a range of cloud hosting providers, Cloudwith.me is specifically interested in helping users to work with Amazon. As a result of this specialized focus, Cloudwith.me is primarily geared towards users that do most of their business through Amazon and need a managed services option for that specific sector. Users that regularly mix and match service providers will want to look elsewhere, but those that only work with Amazon will get the most value out of Cloudwith.me’s competitive pricing and improved features.
8. XenPower
For those in Europe, XenPower is perhaps the most competitively priced alternative to Amazon currently available. Although their services are cheap even by international standards, XenPower’s primary focus is on providing a reliable and stable cloud hosting service to the European market.
9. Atlantic.net
Atlantic.net is comparable to Digital Ocean in terms of scalability and pricing, but they lack the accessibility of Digital Ocean. If Atlantic.net’s offerings are enough for your site’s current needs, then they’re an effective option to both Digital Ocean and Amazon. Of course, if they’re not, then it’s probably a better idea to simply go with Digital Ocean.
10. Codero
Codero is another competitively priced cloud-based hosting service that separates itself from most of the others on this list simply by supporting Windows-based systems. While most providers are based on Linux, Codero has also built-in support for Windows and reseller SEO services in order to ensure that it can work with a wider audience.
Although negotiating with Amazon for discounts can be an unique and thrilling experience, it’s oftentimes easier to simply look at what their competitors are offering. In this case, we’ve outlined some of the best alternatives out there for cloud-based hosting services. Whether you’re a new user interested in building a site from the ground up, or an experienced veteran that is looking to expand their operations with greater functionality, there is sure to be something on this list for everyone to take advantage of. As always, the most important thing to do when researching options is to experiment with their promotional opportunities and see which one is the most reliable.

How Long Does SEO Take to Start Working?

In the age of the internet, we expect just about everything to be immediate. We’re used to waiting only seconds to receive the results of a Google search and we expect our websites to load as soon as we hit the “enter” key. So with everything appearing at the touch of a button, it is common to feel a little restless when we don’t see our SEO consulting services and strategies taking effect as soon as we make our changes and pay for the good SEO costs.

It takes time for our SEO strategy to start paying off, but how do you know how much time is enough time to wait?

How SEO Has Changed

In the early days of how SEO worked, all you needed to do was select a handful of keywords that represented what your company provides or does. These keywords were typically one or two words that told what you sold, what you performed, or who you were. And for a while, that system could bring you to the top of your results.
But as websites evolved, so did SEO. If this is still the strategy you’re sticking to, you’re probably not finding many results.
Today, searchers are coming to Google and creating searches using language they would actually use. Instead of simply putting in a few keywords and hoping Google will put together what they’re looking for, search engine users are giving detail, using full questions, or linking multiple keywords together. These new keywords are known as “long tail” keywords.
Finding the right long tail keywords is not fast, but if you can find one that works for you, you’ll really see the return. If you’re still focusing on ranking first for one or two word keywords, you need to reevaluate your strategy.

How Important is Your Ranking?

You’ve probably been told time and time again that it only matters if you’re in the top of a search results list. While this is true to some extent, it doesn’t matter if you’re appearing first for the wrong set of keywords. Appearing first for a keyword won’t bring you in any new business if no one is searching for that keyword.
On the other hand, not being first isn’t a death sentence for your business. If you are ranking somewhere on the first page for a popular keyword, you could still see a steady increase of business. In this situation, even fifth or sixth for the right keyword is better than first for the wrong keyword.

What You Should Be Focusing On

Instead of thinking of your SEO strategy as only “working” if you reach number one in the search results list, consider instead a successful SEO strategy to be one that increases your sales and generates new business. While your end goal will still be to reach the top of the list, you should start seeing results from your new SEO strategy long before you reach that first place slot.

How Long Until You See Results?

Unfortunately, there is no clear timeline for when you will start seeing results from your SEO strategy. Now that we are identifying a successful SEO strategy has one that brings in new business rather than one that brings you to the top of the list, the amount of success you see all depends on the strength of the connections that you make.
The previous state of your website and SEO will also influence how long until you will see results. If this is your first SEO strategy for your website, it may take longer for you to grab customer attention than it would be for a company that already had a decent system in place. Other influencers include the amount of content on your website, how connected you are with other companies, and if you already have a steady flow of traffic to your page.
Although everyone will not have the same experience with their SEO strategy, here is a possible timeline for what you can expect with your SEO efforts:
Month #1
In the first month, you should be planning for the changes that you will make. Perform a comprehensive technical SEO audit of your website, determine which keyword are best for you, and begin looking for the direction you want your organic SEO strategy to go. Make a list of things you will need to change on your website and begin brainstorming ideas for content that fits with your new SEO ideas.
Month #2
The second month of is the time to begin your technical SEO work, including incorporating the necessary changes you found in Month #1. If there are a lot of changes to make to your website, this step may take longer than one month. For easier modifications, you may be looking at less than one month.
Month #3
Within your third month, you should focus on creating new content that aligns with your re-vamped SEO strategy. Although we are classifying this step into the third month, it can realistically be done at the same time as modifying your website. Whether or not you complete them at once depends on your budget and time you’re able to commit to each project. If you don’t have the means to do both simultaneously, focus first on your website changes.
When creating new content, look at everything from your web pages to future blog posts and articles. If you sell products, you will probably want to re-write your product descriptions to better align with the rest of the copy on your site. As you begin posting this new content, you should begin to see your company name moving up in the search results ranks.
Month #4
In the fourth month of your strategy, you should continue to post new content and make changes to your website. At this point, you should be getting some traction with your new SEO efforts, including finding yourself higher in the list of search results and seeing more traffic to your page. While this amount of attention will continue to grow as your efforts take root, it can still be a good indication that you are doing something right.
You should also take this time to start creating a strong web of links. Be sure that you are linking out to reputable sources that can help to boost your authority and expertise. If you have a lot of old content, you will want to go through and make changes to the links already established if they are not high quality.
Month #5
If you are seeing some success from your new SEO strategy, it is time to start incorporating your social media platforms. Share your posts on whatever posts you may have and look for new ways you can engage with your audiences. If you are creating great content, you will start to see shares from your fans and followers that will add to your link building profile.
Additional forms of outreach can come from PR efforts or partnerships. While your SEO strategy should be able to bring in new customers and clients, you can give it a helping hand by making new connections in the media or in professional bloggers in your industry.
Month #6
With everything set in place, you can begin the “maintaining” phase about about your sixth month. For some companies, this stage may come earlier while for others it may begin much later. At this time, you will want to continue creating great content for your website, tracking how well your efforts are translating into sales and conversions, and making changes if they appear necessary.
SEO is an ongoing effort. It is not something you can set in place and let go. While you can expect to start seeing results from your new SEO strategy a few months into the plan, that rise in business will only drop back down if you ignore your plan. Stay focused on building your SEO efforts consistently and your results will consistently rise as well.

Don’t Give Up

Although it takes time to show results, SEO is important. Don’t convince yourself that you don’t need it just because you don’t want to wait a few months for the results to appear. Invest in your SEO results as a crucial component to your company’s success.

1. Content marketing gets 28% or more of the budget.

When deciding where to divide their budget, marketing departments are sending about 28% of their overall cash into content marketing. While content marketing can reach into other areas of a marketing strategy, such as social media or blogging, that is a pretty sizeable portion of the overall budget.
[dc-social] Some companies are putting up to 46% of the marketing budget towards content marketing. At almost half of the overall budget, this tells us that marketers are serious about creating a message that resonates with customers and clients. Source – content marketing statistics
2. B2C marketers are allocating a higher average proportion of total marketing budget to content marketing this year, 32% vs. 25% last year. (Source)
As other marketing mediums become less effective, it seems content marketing is where many marketers turn to reach their customer base in a non-disruptive way. – Brian Honigman

3. Year-over-year growth in unique site traffic is 7.8x higher for content marketing leaders compared to followers (19.7% vs 2.5%). (Source)

Content marketing leaders are pacesetters.
Do you know why there are more followers than leaders in the online marketing world? One reason is that leaders quite literally lead the path, by showing others how to get stuff done.
Sadly, many of those we refer to as leaders in blogging, social media, and SEO just aren’t getting us motivated and excited anymore.
They’ve become occupied with other activities that don’t encourage them to create the kind of content that originally brought them traction, leads, sales, and revenue.
But the few digital marketing influencers who spend their time creating the right content drive more traffic and leads than they can handle because they continue developing awesome content for their own blog.
For example, the content marketing leaders at Search Engine Journal have consistently created high-quality search and marketing-related content. They’re always at the forefront. And they generate over 1,000,000 unique visitors each month. Neil patel
4. B2B marketers report sales lead quality as their #1 most important metric for measuring content marketing success; even more important than sales and conversions. (source statistics) Jayson Demers

• 69.93 % of small business and large companies use an editorial calendar for content marketing. (Curata)

• Has your consulting or website design clientele blossomed during the surge of the digital world?
• Would you like to start increasing your passive income by outsourcing SEO services under your brand?

If you answered yes to one of the above or similar Search Engine Optimization (SEO) reselling questions then this article is just for you.

SEO Reseller Programs

SEO reseller programs are a great way to increase your portfolio of services by allowing you to offer your web design clients SEO consulting services without having to do much work.
In this step by step guide you will learn the many benefits of signing up for as a SEO reseller. We will also walk you through the step-by-step process of vetting SEO reseller programs and offer you valuable information to help you avoid the biggest potential pitfalls of outsourcing your client SEO services to an SEO agency.

Reselling SEO Benefits

1. Increase client Revenue Fast
2. Little to no increase in effort on your end
3. Passive income that lasts

Start Selling Organic SEO services today.

There is little thing easier than selling organic SEO services to your clients. In fact, they have probably been hounding you about it for quite some time. With Webspand you can markup reseller SEO prices 2 or 3 times and hit the ground running, today.
Our reseller client SEO proposals are branded as yours so all you have to do is forward your prospective client the proposal and let it do all the sales work for you. When you sign up as an Organic SEO reseller with Webspand you enter into a program that offers deliverables so detailed and eye catching that it’s actually hard not to close a sale.
In fact you get a sample keyword audit as well as a full 12 month strategy proposal that your clients will love. This increases the perceived value of your brand with out of this world professional communication and no effort on your end.
Substantial Monthly Revenue Increases.

Being a SEO reseller is as easy as 1, 2, 3

1. Send us your client data (domain name, goals, and budget)
2. Forward the sales proposal to your client
3. Close the Deal and forward your client monthly deliverables

Reselling SEO Risks and Pitfalls to Avoid

1. Poor customer experience potential
2. Dependency on outside providers for quality
3. Increased customer service without a full knowledge base

Maintain Control of the Interaction

Customer service is priority one for your clients and reselling leads is not the best way to insure they receive great service that reflects well on you. Avoid SEO resellers that want to pay you for the lead and handle the service. The best was to resell SEO is to handle the customer service yourself will outsourcing the actual Search Engine Optimization to a white-label agency.

Beware Affordable Packages

Avoid Cheap SEO reseller packages for your high value clients. It took years to build the trust you developed with your clientele. Preserve that by signing up for reputable and safe organic SEO. The last thing you need is to be forced to explain why a website has dropped form Google visibility.

Only SEO experts can tell the story

Stay out of the danger zone by making sure your results and monthly deliverables tell the story of exactly what your customers receive for their marketing dollars.
Caution: Low Quality Outsourcers are not Worth it

1. Avoid Brand Reputation At Risk
2. Prevent Tactical Google Penalties
3. Cheap SEO Resellers
4. India SEO Companies

Time and time again we hear horror stories of the “best SEO reseller services” that end up just being outsourced to low-quality India SEO companies. The reporting deliverables are bland spreadsheet lists and there seems to be little to no plan.
Don’t let spammy link builders ruin your brand reputation by signing up for SEO reseller programs from cheap SEO companies.