Most Guest Post Requests Are Spam Disguised as Friendly Helpfulness

Guest posting is beneficial for both the blogger and guest blogger. As the blogger, you get great free content. For the guest writer, it’s an opportunity to increase brand awareness. But what happens when guest blog requests go rogue?

Google’s Rules for Guest Posts 

A few years back, Google decided that guest posting had become too spammy. The search engine giant gave notice that guest blogging done solely for SEO purposes would result in penalization. Guest blogging done for what Google deemed “legitimate” reasons, such as exposure, branding, and increased reach, would be safe.

What happened to guest post requests that made Google lower the boom? They became more mainstream, which in turn led to them being polluted by spammers looking to build up traffic and backlinks the lazy way. Armed with a database of blog URLs, names, and emails, spammers use a form email generator to pitch guest posts to thousands of sites, hoping to get them to accept what they guarantee is “high-quality, 100% original content.” Right.

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How to Identify Guest Post Spam

The sad truth is, most guest blogging requests are nothing more than influencer marketing that has become systemized. Guest blogging emails that are sent in bulk are usually a poor attempt at PR from SEO service firms that formerly used Google's now banned link back tactics.

Website owners have recently begun noticing an increase in the number of unsolicited emails they receive asking them to accept guest posts. Apparently (and unfortunately), the spammers did not get Google’s memo. While backlinks can be a boost for your site, they shouldn’t be the reason for guest blogging. What should?

• Getting your brand in front of a targeted audience.

• Raising awareness of your company.

• Providing useful, relevant content to a niche audience.

There are some telltale signs that those guest post requests flooding your inbox are spam:

• The email mentions your site’s URL address, not the website or blog name.

• The email is generic in tone, often poorly written and makes no specific mention of what your blog is about.

• The email comes from someone with a common name, but when you search for them on Google or LinkedIn, nothing comes up.

• The email proposes a guest post about a topic that has nothing to do with your industry.

The easiest way to deal with these spam guest post inquiries is to quickly delete them and block the sender. Marking them as junk may feel great, but it doesn’t stop the flood of new requests. 

Set Guest Posting Guidelines

There’s no way to completely eliminate spam guest post blogging requests, but you can set up a process that helps lower your chances of getting too many spam requests. For example, you could set up a landing page for your site specifically for your guest post guidelines and submissions. Spell out the type of backlinks you offer and stress that you only accept guest posts related to your website niche.

To be clear, not all guest post blogging requests are bad. I accept advice blogs provided by Houzz that are intended to help architects, interior designers, design-build remodeling firms, and landscape firms improve their business. The key is to be very selective. It has probably taken you years to build trust with your audience. Don't risk damage to your brand by selling it for the value of a free blog from a content mill. Publishing quality guest posts helps to further establish your credibility within your niche and lets you network with other like-minded bloggers. Finally, guest posts can be of a great benefit to your readers – and isn’t that what matters most? 

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About Michael Conway

I'm the owner and strategist at Means-of-Production. My firm builds Squarespace websites, Houzz profiles, and content marketing and advertising solutions for architects, interior designers, design-build contractors and landscape design firms. Our all-in-one marketing tactics attract the right clients with exceptional architectural photography and brand messaging that sets you apart from the competition. Contact us to learn more about attracting the right clients.