Google even cautions that the benefits of such guest posting could be slim-to-none (more on that, later), and there are potential penalties for sites conducting such link schemes. But, just try telling that to the various “SEO agencies” deluging inboxes with emails that are in turn lazy, hilarious, poorly worded, utterly baffling – or all of these at once. Emails just like… “What is the sponsor post price? Waiting for your reply” Keep waiting, buddy. “I was wondering if you’d be interested in posting more pets related articles?” – truly, Janet, I’m not sure Tech.co could post any more of those if we tried. “Pros and cons of using muzzles for your cat” – I’m half considering commissioning Janet on this one, just to see if the subsequent article can somehow get beyond two subheads. But the absolute gem of this email remains the intro, with Janet inexplicably hollering “Hello Vegas,” as if she’s Celine Dion beginning a 12-month residency at the MGM Grand. Guest post requests with linkbacks to casino sites are all too common, however. Unsurprisingly, there’s a whole slew of legal and advertizing compliance measures that must be met if you want to run a gambling site. The rewards are great (if you’re the house), so to keep ahead of the competition, all sorts of sketchy linkbuilding from higher domain sites is attempted. As a publisher, if you’re caught making these kinds of links by Google, the penalties are potentially devastating. So, I’ll state this once and for the record – we do not “casino accepted”. Which 500 word commission to test them with first, though… peace in the Middle East? The perfect jambalaya recipe? Pros and cons of muzzling your cat? If they really are talented enough to manage all of the above, it makes it all the crueler they’ve been saddled with the email address “Tw*t***@gmail.com” Glances around the Tech.co team suspiciously… Who’s saying this stuff? Team meeting, now… Yes, this may incur the not inconsiderable wrath of the FTC, and potentially risk a manual Google penalty for our site. But it’ll all be worth it when your reimbursement for all this brand risk comes through PayPal, a whole “4+ business days after posting” – basically, the kind of payment offer that would get you kicked off eBay. Wouldn’t risk it if I were you, Naman. Didn’t you know, the Interflora website got its ass handed to it by Google back in 2013 with a manual penalty, precisely for this kind of feckless linkbuilding? We’ve barely met, and you’re already talking about your writing, my writing, future orders, and if I have any other websites. I’m registering your energy Danny, but you’re coming across as a too-keen first date who’s already planning the wedding, while I’m frantically texting a friend to phone me with a fake emergency so I can get the hell out of this restaurant. This approach does not end with a successful guest post on Tech.co, though it may end with an underpaid SEO agency worker chasing his wife and child through a snowy hedge maze while wielding an axe. It’s too late for me, now. I can only read them in the voice of a genial old aunt seeing me for the first time in years. If formality is your thing, I’d recommend swapping it for a gender-neutral, “To whom it may concern.” But, when the rest of your email is this pitifully lazy, no one of any gender would be concerned in the least to get back to you. This is the kind of note you’d expect to be made of individual letters cut from People magazine, with a severed toe thrown in to show they really mean business. Sending you our thoughts, Taylor, but we don’t negotiate. This next lot do, though… “I’ll assume you’re not interested in our crafting some unique quality content for tech.co.” Christ, it’s actually working… wait, come back! Have I been missing out all this time? Is it some sort of hidden cheat code for buying things? I look forward to trying it the next time I jump into a cab. Though, I see it going about as well as this email did. Nope, just a minimum effort, cry for help, two-word email from Babar. Mighty tempting to give him a two-word response… My article is readyIf you have more sites send me all sitesWith post priceI am waiting cheap post price Unpixellated, I can assure you the sender looks handsome enough to be in a boy band, too. What is your guest post price?Let me know soI can send you article I am transported to a land of cherry blossom. True, the language is still dire, but I choose to keep him in character. Reading, “I was stumbled upon your site today” in a deep John Wayne drawl helps so, so much. Yes, essay writing services, another sketchy area of the web that gets propped up by the back-alley guest post economy. Students, if you’re listening, don’t pay someone else to supply an essay for you. Particularly someone whose flair for English extends to sentences like, “What is it’s the price?” And, speaking of students… Until, that is, they go on to say, “If you allow link insertion from the existing articles of yours to highly relevant articles of my business partners (infographics) – I would like to know your fees.” On behalf of genuine graduate students the world over, go to hell, Lally. “And, I must admit – it’s great” Sally, we’re happy that you’re happy. But it is going to blow your mind when you discover a website that actually covers insurance. Was it insurance again? Ah yes, forgetting to delete part of the email template. Speaking of which… Sure, it’s a little formal that they refer to us by our full url then tuck it away safely between two big, reassuring square brackets like a couple of trusty bodyguards. But that just shows the deep love and respect they have for [https://tech.co/]. Thanks [Abby], it’s fans like you who make it all worthwhile. Your man Jael here not only left a placeholder for our name in the subject line as “XXX” (also proving Gmail’s spam filter may need some tweaking), but he then pleads to know how he can best get in touch with the “tech.io” team. I can’t speak for tech.io – though, some extremely recent Googling has taught me there actually is one (I feel like Milhouse learning there’s another Milhouse in Shelbyville). And what do you know, they don’t have a contact page for poor Jael. While we don’t welcome guest posts, when the John Advert gets in touch saying he’s “looking forward to write” 500 words, what can you say? Weird that he uses a different surname on his email profile. But that’s John Advert for you. But then an email like this comes along and makes the whole struggle seem worthwhile. It’s pretty common for templated guest post requests to kick off with a copy-and-pasted puff piece about how much they love and respect your site. But Tarun, here, wants us to truly feel the love: “I was on the hunt for wonderful websites, and I came across your website which looked fabulous to me. I was amazed to look at the efforts and time you had given to make the website look wonderful. When I swiped and scrolled the pages I found that the titles of the blogs are quite attractive and the blogs are well formatted and informational.” Oh Tarun, you noticed – thank you! Bad news, we aren’t going to let you prepare content accordingly, but your wonderful email is going to be printed and stuck on the Tech.co fridge to get us through even the darkest days. Can you be too awesome, Cecilia? Is that even a good thing? I get it, Cecilia, you’re blowing smoke up our collective asses. But raise your game – we get emails like Tarun’s, don’t you know (glances wistfully at the Tech.co fridge…) I like to think they also email their colleagues this way. “Is there any update?”“??”“Is there any update for me?”“???”“Are you there?” I don’t even know, at this point, Edward, how to answer that last one. My eyes are so utterly glazed over witnessing this unending stream of low rent rubbish finding its way into our inbox. And before anyone starts feeling sorry for Edward, with his never-give-up attitude and increasingly worn-down question mark key, can I remind you – he initiated this 13-strong one-way email thread using contact details on a page that specifically states Tech.co does not accept unsolicited guest post requests and will not respond to such messages. Thanks for checking in, Ashley, it really does mean a lot. Hard luck about your earlier email on contributing a guest post though, which shall remain ignored.
Are Guest Posts Still Worth It?
Clearly, I”m not responding to these kind of emails. But, is anyone? There must be enough bites of the sub-$200 bait to make it worth someone’s time to copy and paste an email template, after all. Is this kind of link-building activity even worth doing at all from an SEO perspective? Google is increasingly warning sites not to bother with guest posting for links, with John Mueller stating that the search giant devalues the practice. Sites that have built up their rankings with a history of paid backlinks could be sitting on a ticking timebomb, if further penalties or devaluation of the practice are applied in future. And, sites that have happily hosted such sponsored posts may not be spared, either. But, the guest post economy continues undeterred, with SEO agencies – often outsourced on the cheap via virtual assistants overseas – still being paid by clients to place posts and backlinks on higher domain authority sites. The wider SEO community nevertheless feels there’s a future in the right sort of guest posting. And full disclosure – some of Tech.co’s own authors have contributed non-sponsored articles to other quality websites, too, where there’s topical relevancy to the various tech categories we cover. There is, however, a sliding quality scale of guest post tactics. And sitting right at the bottom are the lowest common denominator paid posts linking to irrelevant domains, gambling sites and essay-writing services. Behind these, there’s a background hum of atrociously worded emails still searching for new opportunities.
