Google on Guest Posting: All Links should be no follow; paid or not

In 2017, Google’s John Mueller said all the articles on the guest list, no matter how much you contribute, all connections would be nofollow.

He added that such links should be nofollow even though they are not paid; such links can potentially pass signals. 

Google’s Senior Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller responded to a tweet that asked about guest posting guidelines and money involved in that.

Mark Preston, an SEO trainer and the speaker asked John Mueller

@JohnMu Since your recent tweet with SEMrush, it would be good to get total clarity, as there now seems to be a lot of confusion around.

We all know, ‘paying’ for a guest post is against the guidelines BUT what about guest posting in general, where no money changes hands?

John Muller responded with

“The part that’s problematic is the links — if you’re providing the content/the links, then those links shouldn’t be passing signals & should have the rel-sponsored / rel-nofollow attached. It’s fine to see it as a way of reaching a broader audience.”

Here is the tweet

Google tries to advise users not to guest post for links and we know how out of control it had become several years ago. In 2012, Google said that occasionally, not at other times, guest blogging is good.