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In the past algorithm update of Google, a lot of traditional strategies in off-page SEO have been set aside by SEO pro to avoid penalties that websites might face in the future. Although some of these strategies are still being used by few SEO, it is not guaranteed that a website will stand out and succeed in its competition.
As a result of these changes, there are some strategies that were developed and constantly being applied for websites to standout in the competition of any industry or niche they focus on and this includes:
- Branding
- Content marketing
- Social Media Marketing
There is one practice that is frequently being used by many individuals to promote a website. This is also one of the most widely used to acquire high quality links from trusted and authoritative websites through content distribution within your industry.
In 2013, Guest blogging has been very popular in SEO. This has been the primary strategy of many websites to get the attention of many possible visitors. Also, this is one effective way to get high quality links to benefit your website in the long run, and it’s through author bios. However, there are some fearful consequences which can lead to penalties or deindex of a website particularly in Google. These are some of the mistakes bloggers are making:
- Manipulation (exact match anchor txt) – Most guest bloggers would use their main target keyword in the bio with a link to their business website or blog. Since a link coming from an authoritative website is not enough to rank a website in SERPs, these bloggers would use the same keyword on their guest blog opportunities over and over until they appear in the first page.
- Promotional Bio – Mostly, some bios tend to be promotional. Guest authors would promote their business name in the bio along with a link to their business website. It looks natural in the first few months of guest blogging but since it has been widely manipulated by aggressive guest bloggers; links in the bio is no longer applicable.
- Over linking – Unfortunately, the author’s bio section can easily be manipulated in a form of links. Multi companies can have referral links coming from a single bio on a guest post in a leading blog in their industry. Usually, links in author’s bio can have a maximum of three (3) external links and this is a huge opportunity for guest bloggers to promote multiple web pages.
Contributing good and high quality content is definitely a good idea to increase a website’s reputation and credibility in its industry. It is also the best way gain the trust of people in your industry in a form of expanding your online presence in a form of content. We just have to keep in mind that to get the trust of search engines, we should not also abuse the opportunity that author’s bio has to offer.
If you are worried about how are you going to format your author’s bio section, then you should read what Loren Baker, of SEJ, posted about author’s bio links cleanup. He noticed the common mistakes and widely abused of guest contributors not only in SEJ but also on other websites related to SEO and he immediately announced the changes will occur in the next few days.
