Should you buy guest posts? The short answer is no. That’s not to say that this method is off the table, it just isn’t a sustainable solution. In this post, we’ll talk about the pros and cons of buying guest posts as well as safer solutions to secure guest posts.
Google Webmaster Policies
In the world of SEO, Google Webmaster is king. If your site, links, keywords, etc. aren’t up to Google’s guidelines, you’re virtually invisible. This is why it’s so important that you play by the rules. Though it’s hard to fully comprehend Google’s elusive algorithm, it’s safe to say buying guest posts isn’t an SEO best practice. With that said, let’s dive into the pros and cons of exchanging guest posts for money.
Pros
A sure-fire way to secure a link
Paying for a guest post is a simple way to guarantee a link. It’s just like purchasing anything else. You pay and they provide the good or service. You pay and they provide a guest post or a place for your guest post to sit on their site.
Your article doesn’t have to be high quality
Since you are offering the site money, they oftentimes don’t care what the article is about, nor how well written it is. This means that if you’re strapped for time, you can submit a pretty short, generic article and it’ll still get posted.
It can lead to long-term partnerships
If you submit a guest post that is high quality and drives traffic to the blog site itself, the site owner may just want you to continue to provide high-quality content for free. A mutualistic relationship at its finest.
Cons
It’s expensive
Considering sites might charge anywhere from $50-$500 per post, buying guest posts can become expensive rather quickly. Again, if you’re in need of a quick link, 50 bucks isn’t bad, but if you’re seeking out multiple guest posts per month, paying might not be your best option.
The quality is oftentimes low
If you don’t have to provide quality guest posts to paid sites, the sites themselves probably aren’t very high quality. This is where you want to make sure you’re referencing metrics like Domain Authority, Domain Rating, Trust Flow, and Citation Flow. Just because a site looks legit, doesn’t mean it is.
Black hat practices
When it comes down to it, buying guest posts is a black hat tactic–a bad practice. It’s not that black hat practices are illegal, they’re just frowned upon by Google algorithms making them potentially harmful for your SEO ranking. Conversely, a white hat practice would be creating lasting partnerships where you don’t have to pay, and instead, you provide a site with quality content containing relevant links.
So…Should You Buy Guest Posts
Again, the short answer is no because of the aforementioned cons, but we’re not going to stop you from taking that risk. It all comes down to how desperate you are for a link. If you need links within the week, you might have to buy guest posts. If you’re just looking to steadily increase your ranking, take your time and form those organic partnerships that don’t require money or questionable tactics.
