Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s Webspam team has strongly expressed his opinion stating that guest blogs as an SEO strategy was “dead.” He warned website publishers before accepting guest posts from writers they don’t personally know. He also had a message for writers who rely on guest blogging for promotion to stop doing so. Guest blogging has come down to poorly written articles and more spammy sites on Google search.

Now, what about the number of large brands, website publishers, and freelance writers who have long used guest blogging? Should they give it up? However, if you closely dissect Cutts’ statement, it leaves plenty of room for brands and website publishers to continue guest blogging, as long as they avoid they do it differently.

The new Guest Blogging

You can build real relationships with the bloggers and site publishers. Writers can work on a broad network of sites where they feature their work, building engagement with readers, and increasing their exposure online. Writers should ignore low quality sites and focus on contributing to legitimate sites that offer value.

While you may have heard guest blogging is dead, it isn't. If you stick to high-quality sites and reputable writers and publishers, all is well.