This week at our Thursday Twitter chat we were talking about penguins again. But if last time we were discussing the updated linking guidelines for our authors (using the Articles Gallery), this week we were warning our awesome publishers of why they should be even more selective and careful.

Enjoy!

STEP 1: Define Your Priorities

You need guest bloggers NOT for #free content but for breathing a new life in your blog! #myblogguest

• Example #1: One of the guest posts on seosmarty.com brought me an NYTimes mention
• Example #2: One of the guest posts our user placed turned out to be the HUGEST traffic source ever! Here’s her video

Conclusion: A guest post you host should be awesome – that’s when you start loving guest bloggers!

Step 2: Find Great Authors

• Create a very well-structured list of guest post requirements and stick to them (Tip: Feel free to use our guest post quality assurance checklist we use to moderate gallery. It lists most commonsense essential points).
• Create “Write for us” page on your blog,
• Monitor #MyBlogGuest Articles Gallery within your category

Step 3: Be Safe

Guest blogging is a 100% whitehat marketing tactic. Some guest authors don’t get it. With Google #penguinupdate you should be careful even despite you are doing nothing wrong.

*Being careful doesn’t mean going crazy. If you are selective and pick *awesome* relevant articles, you are safe!*

What to look out for (what makes a guest article less *awesome*):

• Nonsense link dropping (for example, a link in the article about SEO: “Oftentimes the longer search phrases attract more traffic for a niche website than popular keywords, like L shaped shower bath.”)
• Irrelevant links with obviously keyword-optimized anchor text (the above example also applies)
• Too linky articles (with more than 2 self-serving links; I usually encourage authors to link generously elsewhere)

What is a natural link?

• Use your common sense: If a guest articles and links in it look natural to you, human being, a Google bot will be ok with them. If you feel the link doesn’t belong there, ask the author to remove or edit it
• Articles with many links look more natural than articles with only ONE link to the authors site (so encourage your guest author to include references to official sites they mention, social media profiles, apps and tool, etc.)

*So what makes an *awesome* article: interesting and trendy, with style and images, modest in linking!*

Conclusion: Accepting guest posts does grow your traffic and popularity but only when you approach that properly!

>>>Next Thus (3 p.m. GMT / 11 a.m. EDT) we’ll try to structure all link terminology we are using!

Our spring video review contest continues. We have had quite a few awesome video tutorials created by our users.

Here’s our official Youtube Playlist for MyBlogGuest users’ video reviews and tutorials. Support our contestants by watching all the videos – the one that gets most views, wins!

Monday’s video is a fun one: it explains in lots of details one of the most neglected features of MyBlogGuest: it’s always been kept as “being tested” and we are still wrecking our heads over making it usable and useful.

MyBlogGuest direct works as follows:

• Upload a great guest post to our gallery;
• (In case no great offers seem to be coming in), use the internal search feature to send that article to a chosen blog;
• Wait for a couple of days to see the article published.

Here’s the whole process visualized by our user:

• Video URL: HOW TO: Send a Guest Article to a Blog Using MyBlogGuest DIRECT
• Video source: Using MyBlogGuest Direct

*** Author’s home page: Viral Mom

Don’t forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel to track the competition and get notified of new videos!

Those penguins are so cute..

Today’s #myblogguest chat was “special edition”: We were talking about the recent Google update and our revised self-linking rules.

Last week’s Google update was not a surprise but we had to take measures because of the increased publicity and FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt).

The key: our rules have not changed. MBG has always preached “quality” and “non-made-for-links” content.

However since not many people get *guest blogging* we now have to keep a closer eye on our main rules being observed.

Updates!

• Read the full transcript of the chat here
• Bookmark and read this *awesome* article on “Panic at the Zoo” @SEOmoz  -> especially the points on what to do and what NOT

Linking Rules:

Let’s list our linking rules first:

• You don’t build links with guest blogging -> you *earn* them by providing quality
• Links should be relevant to content. That’s NOT writing about apples to link to apples BUT staying in the same line. For example, apples & SEO => NOT relevant; apples & recipe apps => relevant
• No more than ONE *self-serving* link (total!) per article (that’s NOT about linking to relevant tools, news & stats sources, etc). You are free to link to your social media profiles, resume pages, G+ pages, etc as well. +++ Google seems to treat brand links with less suspicion, so when in doubt, use them!

The main RULE: Your links should be useful and relevant. They must make perfect sense -> No link-dropping!

The Tips

• For relevancy -> Please re-focus your content. Here are some essential tips.
• For making things natural -> Do add other (not yours) links to useful “further reading”, apps, image credits, etc
• Vary your self-linking: Link to your brand properties outside your domain (sm profiles, etc) -> own branded search results

For publishers -> Mind your own editorial guidelines. Make sure you are linking to relevant and useful sites

I understand it’s getting more difficult to get links, but it’s not worth taking the risks.

Get more creative! Vary your self-linking: Link to your brand properties outside your domain.

• There are video sites that allow dofollow links, or resume sites that allow dofollow links, etc. Link to them from your guest posts from time to time: build platforms that accumulate your link juice.
• Link to your Twitter and FB pages -> This will help to own search results for your brand name.

Join us next week 3 p.m. GMT / 11 a.m. EDT for more guest blogging tips and help!

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Hot Rod Homepage

And we keep updating our blog with the cool screencasts our users create and share with us as part of our Youtube video contest.

Here’s our official Youtube Playlist for MyBlogGuest users’ video reviews and tutorials. Support our contestants by watching all the videos – the one that gets most views, wins!

Today’s video tutorial describes how one should use “My Articles”section (which is our PRO feature).

A very detailed and informative screencast which I enjoyed watching. It helps you:

• Better understand what you can find in that section;
• Find out how to publish an article into the gallery;
• Understand what other people see when they are viewing the gallery;
• Figure the anatomy of our gallery article listing:

• Video URL: HOW TO: Use MyBlogGuest “My Articles” Section 
• Video source: MyBlogGuest My Article Section

*** Author’s home page: Halyard Consulting

Don’t forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel to track the competition and get notified of new videos!

As I have said previously, MyBlogGuest has never been built with money in mind. Yes, we had to monetize it at some point to cover the development and maintenance costs, but we take pride in our fully usable free features.

This is why today’s video from one of our users is so special to me: it shows that our members do appreciate the free features we have built and they find them 100% functional!

Enjoy!

Video URL: My Blog Guest Favorite FREE Feature

*** Author’s home page: College Student Answers

This video is part of MyBlogGuest video screencasting contest.

Here’s our official Youtube Playlist for our users’ video reviews and tutorials. Watch all the videos – the one that gets most views, wins!

Don’t forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel to track the competition and get notified of new videos!

If you are wondering why we have suddenly started sharing so many videos here, that’s because we have our spring official contest running: Create a video screencast showing any part / feature of MyBlogGuest and get a chance to win $1000 as well as many other cool prizes (we have not disclosed yet).

Here’s our official Youtube Playlist for our users’ video reviews and tutorials. Watch all the videos – the one that gets most views, wins!

Today we are featuring a video from our very awesome social media moderator. Deborah is our community builder and social media manager. She operates our HELP FORUM which aims at helping our members to get more social media love for their guest posts.

Very informative screencast. Well done!

Video URL: *Social Luv* @ MyBlogGuest.com

Author’s home page: Social Web Cafe

Don’t forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel to track the competition and get notified of new videos!

We continue sharing our spring screencasting contest entries with our blog readers! Here’s our official Youtube Playlist for our users’ video reviews and tutorials. Support our contestants!

Today, we are featuring one of the most creative examples of a great screencast I’ve ever seen: Created by our active Twitter chat participant Psychguy3, it’s almost impossible to stop watching!

The video features our HELP NEEDED forum where bloggers meet to share their guest articles and help promote each others’ articles for even more exposure and mutual benefits!

Great idea and implementation! Enjoy!

Video URL on Youtube: Getting Social Networking Help on MyBlogGuest

*** Author’s home page: What is Psychology?

Don’t forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel to track the competition and get notified of new videos!

Today’s entry to our spring screen-casting contest is about using our search feature.

The search platform (together with “Subscriptions”) is one of the most complex features of MyBlogGuest (we are not really proud of that fact), so I was happy to see some members actually get it right.

In this tutorial you’ll see

• Which search options you have: You can search by category, tags, blog owner and country;
• Which sorting options you can play with: You can sort results by blog power and articles published so far;
• What to look for at the blog owner’s profile (mainly, take a look at the user’s ratings and feedback)

Enjoy!

• Video URL on Youtube: HOW TO: Use MyBlogGuest Search Feature
• Video source: How to Find the Perfect Blog for your Guest Articles

*** Author’s home page: VetSci and PetSci

Don’t forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel to track the competition and get notified of new videos!

Quick note first: Here’s our official Youtube Playlist for our users’ video reviews and tutorials. Support our contestants!

Now: we have a cool tweak to our weekly #myblogguest Twitter chats: from now on every last Thursday of the month is #myblogguest PUSH Thursday.

What it means is that we pick our users’ best guest posts and help promote them!

*Here’s the full transcript*

Here’s what we’ve been promoting today:

• 5 Traits That Make a True Geek by @erocketSEO at @gogadgits -> Such a creative idea and awesome implementation. Also, FYI Dave was our featured Twitter chat guest, so don’t miss his content brainstorming and creation tips.
• Inspirational Women Who Make Money Online by @jonpaulwade -> As you can figure, I love it because it has me in the list Ok, joking aside, it’s a great example of how content can put you into contact of influencers.
• Can Google Tell If We Are Happy or Not? via @opportplanet by @Integrityseouk -> I really like the idea behind the article. And good question!
• A Comic’s Guide to Selling Your “Stuff” On eBay via @forumfan by @Orangemen_44 -> What an awesome way to structure the article! Mind the creative subheadings here!
• Ingenious Anti-Smoking Campaigns via @PsychGuy3 -> A very cool way to re-focus content to the topic of your interest (cough links)
• 5 Of The Healthiest And Greenest Cities In America via @greenerideal by @RYPMarketing -> Beautiful one! Totally deserves such a great home!
• How Not to Act In a Facebook Group via @LearnAboutUs by @DevonDudeman -> Popular topic + great points here.
• Tips for Dressing Your Age via @stilettojungle -> Notice the smart, totally relevant way to use links here.
• Home Gadgets for the Coming Zombie Apocalypse @GeekAdviser & @SEOGadget -> Mind the relevance here and read the authors’ content re-focusing tactics in our Twitter chat summary of April, 12.
• 4 Accolades of Twitter Chat by our awesome @socialwebcafe

Next week we’ll talk about blog owners and how they can do the most of their guest posts:

• Crafting editorial guidelines;
• Having the power to reject low-quality articles;
• Using MyBlogGuest to find great free content!

Tune in next week, Thursday, 11 a.m. EDT / 3 p.m. GMT

We continue blogging our users’ videos from our current spring screen-casting contest:

How to Use the Articles Gallery to Get the Constant Stream of Guest Articles

• Search the gallery to find the most relevant articles;
• Estimate how much competition you have for each article (by looking at the number of offers it already has);
• Review the short description, tags and number of words;
• Mind the author rating (BTW: Clicking the author rating you’ll see the members’ comments on his/her activity);
• Offer your blog for a good article (It’s free! Just mention your specific requirements in the Comments)
• Look for the approved articles in Articles Gallery => “Articles Given to Me”
• Mark the guest article as published / scheduled to lock it for your blog forever (one article can only be used once).

You can also use the free forums to find guest authors here.

Also, use the Infographics Gallery to get free relevant infographics accompanied with unique descriptions.

Enjoy!

(Note: The video is somewhat blurred, but that’s what we got from the user!)

• Video URL on Youtube: 3 Ways to Get Free Content for Your Blog Using MyBlogGuest
• Video source: How To Get Guest Posts For Your Blog? – MyBlogGuest Tutorial

*** Author’s home page: Internet Marketing Zone

Don’t forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel to track the competition and get notified of new videos!