Guest posts are articles written by an individual, business or subject-matter expert and published on someone else's website. Updated, this guide explains how guest blogging works, why people use it and where SEO risks can arise.
Guest posts are also called guest articles, guest blogging, contributor posts or partner posts. The author usually provides useful information for the host site's audience and may receive an author bio, brand exposure, referral traffic or a link to their own website.
Guest Posts at a Glance
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Author | An external writer, expert, business or organization |
| Publisher | A website, blog or online publication that accepts outside contributions |
| Purpose | To educate readers, share expertise, reach a new audience or build brand awareness |
| Typical content | How-to guides, expert commentary, research, case studies and practical advice |
| Common benefit | Visibility, referral traffic, credibility and sometimes a link to the author's website |
How Guest Posting Works
Most guest-posting arrangements follow five steps:
- The writer finds a relevant website that accepts outside contributions.
- The writer reviews the publication's topics, audience and editorial guidelines.
- The writer pitches an article idea or submits a draft.
- The website reviews, edits and publishes the article.
- The author receives credit, usually through a byline or author biography.
For example, a cybersecurity consultant might write about phishing prevention for a business technology publication. The publication gets expert content for its readers, while the consultant reaches people who already care about cybersecurity.
Why Do People Write Guest Posts?
People write guest posts for several publishing and marketing reasons:
- Reach a new audience: A guest post introduces the author's expertise to readers who may not know the brand.
- Build authority: Useful, accurate content on respected websites can strengthen professional credibility.
- Generate referral traffic: Readers may visit the author's website through a relevant author-bio or editorial link.
- Build relationships: Guest contributions can lead to connections with editors, publishers and other industry experts.
- Support public relations: An article can help a company explain its research, perspective or products.
The article should serve the host publication's readers first. A piece written mainly to place a keyword-rich backlink is more likely to be low quality and may violate search-engine guidelines.
Are Guest Posts Good for SEO?
Guest posts can support SEO indirectly, but using them only to obtain backlinks is risky.
Google says it does not discourage contributor or guest articles when they inform users, educate another site's audience or raise awareness of a company or cause. However, Google identifies large-scale campaigns created mainly to build links as a link-scheme risk. Warning signs include keyword-stuffed links, similar articles published across many websites and writers who lack relevant knowledge of the subject.
Google's spam policies also identify paid articles with links that pass ranking credit, along with optimized anchor text in guest posts, as examples of link spam.
A responsible guest-posting strategy focuses on:
- Relevant publications
- Original analysis or expertise
- Useful information for the host site's audience
- Natural links that help the reader
- Clear disclosure when the article or relationship is sponsored
What Makes a Good Guest Post?
A good guest post is relevant, original, well researched and useful to the host site's audience.
The strongest submissions are:
- Relevant: The topic matches the publication's subject and audience.
- Original: The article adds new analysis, examples, research or practical insight.
- Well researched: Claims are accurate and supported by reliable sources.
- Well written: The structure is clear and easy to scan.
- Non-promotional: The article teaches or informs instead of reading like an advertisement.
- Appropriately linked: Links support the reader and fit the article naturally.
"How Small Retailers Can Reduce E-commerce Fraud" would suit a retail technology publication. A generic article filled with links to an unrelated website would not.
How Do Guest Posts Differ From Sponsored Posts?
A guest post is usually an editorial contribution from an outside author, while a sponsored post involves payment, free products, services or another commercial relationship.
If a sponsored article promotes a business or product, the commercial relationship should be disclosed clearly. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission advises that material connections, including payment or free products, should be disclosed clearly and prominently so readers understand the relationship.
Link treatment also matters. Google recommends qualifying paid links with attributes such as rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow" when applicable.
Should You Accept or Write Guest Posts?
Guest posting is worthwhile when the publication, topic and audience are genuinely relevant.
It is usually a poor fit when the arrangement depends on:
- Publishing the same article on many websites
- Paying specifically for ranking credit
- Using exact-match keyword anchors repeatedly
- Accepting articles from writers with no relevant expertise
- Publishing thin, promotional content
- Choosing websites solely because they offer links
Use guest posts to share useful expertise with the right readers. Treat links as a secondary result of good editorial content, not the reason for publishing.