The Edward Show

E1001: Guest blogging for SEO has declined, what Google said about it, and how most people are using it the wrong way in 2026. Back in 2014, Google's head of web spam, Matt Cutts, published a post called "The Decay and Fall of Guest Blogging for SEO." His message was clear: guest blogging as a link building tactic had become too spammy to trust. More than a decade later, many SEOs are still relying on it. I walk through: - What guest blogging is and why it became popular - The exact problems Google identified with guest posting - Real examples of spammy outreach - Why most guest blogging efforts fail to produce results - The difference between valuable guest posts and wasted time - How Google views backlinks, PageRank, and intent I also share my perspective on when guest blogging is still worth doing, and how to approach it in a way that actually benefits your business. Key takeaways: - Guest blogging for backlinks alone is not a reliable strategy - Most opportunities are low quality and bring no meaningful traffic - The only guest posts worth doing are the ones that send relevant traffic - The only guest posts worth doing are the ones that improve your brand credibility - If a link doesn't do either of those, it's likely not worth your time I also cover better alternatives to traditional guest blogging, including: - Getting coverage from relevant publications - Building backlinks that actually drive traffic - Ranking without relying heavily on backlinks - Structuring SEO efforts around users, not just links If you're playing the long game with SEO, this episode will help you avoid wasting time on tactics that don't move the needle. ⭐️ The decay and fall of guest blogging for SEO - https://www.mattcutts.com/blog/guest-blogging/ ⭐️ Google: Guest Blogging For Links? You Better Nofollow Those Links - https://searchengineland.com/google-guest-blogging-for-links-you-better-nofollow-those-links-166218 ⭐️ How to Build Backlinks for a Brand New Website (From Zero Authority) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcNmYaMrM3o ⭐️ The AI System to Find Relevant Journalists, Land Coverage, and Earn Ongoing High-Authority Backlinks - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/articles_ai-system-find-journalists-earn-high-authority-backlinks/ ⭐️ How to Rank for Competitive Keywords Without Backlinks - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/rank-competitive-keywords-without-backlinks/ 🚀 Learn SEO for free - https://freeseoknowledge.com/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Is Guest Blogging Overhyped 00:34 What Guest Blogging Is 01:14 Matt Cutts Calls It 02:11 The Spam Email Example 03:42 Paid Links And PageRank 04:37 Automation Ruined The Tactic 05:35 Stick A Fork In It 06:34 John Mueller On Nofollow 08:23 When Guest Blogging Is Okay 09:33 My 2026 Guest Blogging Rule 10:50 Real World Guest Blogging Wins 12:01 Alternatives And Resources 13:42 Episode 1001 Thanks The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #linkbuilding #guestblogging #backlinks

Alejandro Meyerhans, local SEO expert focused on partnerships and lead gen; Charles Floate, data-driven link builder and algorithm tester; Julian Goldie, AI-first SEO entrepreneur scaling content with agents. They debate fast monetization paths like aged domains, selling links, local partnerships, AI agent services, social growth hacks, Reddit and YouTube tactics, and how search and social algorithms are changing monetization opportunities.

They dig into why AI-sounding content kills trust, drives pogo-sticking, and harms SEO. You hear a list of buzzwords and patterns that give AI writing away. Practical fixes include dictating drafts, using AI to edit not replace, and simple edits to keep voice and clarity.

A deep dive into the March 2026 Google core rollout and the wild SERP volatility it sparked. Discussion of how this update ties to the spam and Discover changes. Patterns favoring clear entity definition and tight internal linking get highlighted. Advice on avoiding topical sprawl, building traffic-driving backlinks, and pacing varied content within a niche.

A deep dive into why AI search is not a new system but built on top of traditional search. Exploration of how AI expands prompts into multiple live queries and validates sources. Discussion of why brand mentions, third‑party signals, and bottom‑of‑funnel pages get cited most. Data from a million citations shows landing and product pages dominate AI references.

A rapid March 24–25 spam update and why it rolled out so fast. Reports of sites losing half their traffic while others surged. Focus on scaled, thin, and mass-produced content rather than simple link spam. New emphasis on internal linking, site structure, and Search Console checks. Discussion of how AI-generated content patterns might be detected and what to review now.

Nathan Gotch, founder of Rankability and AI-assisted SEO entrepreneur, shares rapid product iteration and practical AI workflows. He explains making thousands of product changes fast, removing free trials for better customers, and safely using agents for automation. Conversations cover API-first stacks, security and backups, modern link building, and expanding SEO beyond Google into AI platforms and YouTube.

Yas Haque, an enterprise SEO leader and former Head of SEO at Omnicom, shares how big agencies win with packaging, storytelling, and scalable systems. He discusses granular keyword segmentation, quick wins like featured snippets, tooling and implementation challenges in large organizations, and when agency work wastes effort. Practical moves for pitching, structuring work, and getting changes deployed are highlighted.

A breakdown of a real white-hat SEO campaign that generated $53K in 45 days. They explore entity stacking, backlinks and a search-operator trick for finding directories. Topics include site relaunch pitfalls, two staged content pushes (one with AI), trust signals vs pogo-sticking, and why deep content plus compounding signals outperforms volume.

David Quaid, Reddit/SEO marketer who builds and moderates communities, and Ann Smarty, longtime SEO pro and Reddit specialist, dig into Reddit’s outsized role in search. They explore why Reddit ranks in Google and AI, how spam and automation are changing the landscape, the risks of bought comments and parasite SEO, and when branded subreddits or authentic participation still work.