Article Writing

1. Guest Blog & Get Others To Do It, Too
As with any technique, you have to be careful with guest blogging. The declaration from Google head of webspam Matt Cutts that "guest blogging is done" is only partially true. Google took down several major blog networks, indicating that they were really serious about penalizing spammy guest blogging. It is likely that Google will continue to refine their algorithm to weed out even more of these less-than-trustworthy forms of guest blogging.

But there remains and will remain a strong and authentic side to guest blogging. That is what I’m referring to.

Guest blogging is not in itself a method of gaining guest blogs. If a website owner or editor trusts you to create high-quality content, they are not giving you permission to start aiming backlinks at your website. They are instead trusting you to produce excellent content that their readers will love.

If you have a byline or an occasion to mention some other articles you’ve written, then you may be entitled to a link.

Let me be very clear about guest blogging and its relationship to backlinks. The purpose of guest blogging is not backlinks. The minute you start doing that, websites and editors will know what’s going on. You’ll get voted off the island.

If, however, the context, content, and subject of your guest post require it, then you can link to your own material. The goal is to be as helpful, clear, and informative as possible.

Keep in mind that guest blogging is a scalable way to earn great backlinks. If you have other influencers in your company who are skilled and willing to write, then encourage them to get into guest blogging, too. Guest blogging is a powerful method for growing one’s personal brand, and it benefits the company as a whole.

2. Make Infographics
Are infographics still a viable method for building links? Drew Hendricks of AudienceBloom recently asked this question in his article, and his answer was clear:

"Infographics are still effective for link building."

He’s right, but he gives some necessary disclaimers. To be clear, infographics aren’t as effective as they used to be. Today, infographics are mass produced by any business that possesses an ounce of strategy and a marketing budget.

I’ve seen the decline in infographic popularity and link building potential. Up until 2012, my infographics earned about 876 backlinks each. Since 2012, my infographics generate 371 backlinks each. That’s a decline of 57%.

In spite of the sag, I still use infographic marketing because it’s helpful for my audience. Plus, 371 links is still a lot of links.