One common question that arises in the Internet Marketing community is around the subject of autoblogging.
People just don’t seem sure what it is. In this article, I’ll explain why you shouldn’t be using autoblogging.
What is Autoblogging?
Autoblogging is the process of content being posted onto your blog automatically using special software. This solves the problem of having to find content for your blog, but please beware!
Why Autoblogging?
Autoblogging is often used on blogs that are not the main branded blog for a blogger. This enables content to be posted automatically on other blogs with links pointing back to the main blog.
It isn’t as simple as linking all the other auto-blog blogs back to your main content and business branded blog either. Google is smarter than this and will recognise the pattern and hold that against your main site. Google doesn’t usually hold inbound links against you since you don’t have any control over the links other people choose to use on their sites. However, if Google sees that you have a bunch of sites that you do control and you’re using them to increase the backlinks count to your main site, then Google will penalise you within its search algorithm.
The good news is that there is a way around this. The method used is known as a link wheel which is a pretty complex arrangement of blogs which all indirectly point back to your main blog to increase the number of backlinks that your blog has. This means that you can set the blogs up with this specific arrangement so they have a lot of content continuously streaming into them. The backlinks from these sites then count as backlinks from blogs that are active which are higher quality backlinks than dormant blogs. Active blogs are likely to accumulate pagerank as time passes.
Why Can’t I Use Autoblogging on My Main Blog?
If you try using autoblogging on your main blog, you won’t be able to control the content that is posted and your customers will soon be alienated as they’ll know that it’s not content that is written by you. You need total control over the content that is written on your main blog as this a customer touch point where you’re interacting with your customer and where your customer gets an impression of you and what your business stands for.
Autoblogging Can Be Risky
You must understand that there is a degree of risk with autoblogging. Allow me to explain…
If you fly an airplane today, is there a risk that you might crash that plane? If you answered “yes”, then I’d say the reason you said “yes” is because you don’t know how to fly the plane. It’s the same with autoblogging, you need to set up a link wheel that is very complicated in its nature. This is massively time consuming for any one person to do, let alone to give all of them some sort of visual appeal and useful content being streamed into them.
On top of that, you must arrange the backlinks in such a way as to be inconspicuous to Google who will penalise you if they can see a predictable pattern in your backlinking which will of course result in less Google traffic. Oh, and Google’s intelligence around weeding out link wheels is getting much more sophisticated as they refine their algorithm on their quest to provide relevant content to their users. The people who search Google are Google’s asset which enables them to sell advertising to businesses that want to put their message in front of people using search. Google will do everything within its power to protect its business asset.
My Recommendation
Although I have alluded to the fact that many bloggers have used link wheels to generate sustainable traffic, I personally do not advocate the use of link wheels and autoblogging. A useful phrase that you may wish to consider is:
Always follow the natural pattern of the web.
Since these practises are not the natural pattern of the web, my advice is to steer clear and build a business of real value not a business with its foundations built on sand.
To Your Online Success,
The Profit Share
The mutt's nuts or the dog's drivel? I double dare you to leave a comment! :-)
Awesome, this is precisely what I was scanning for! Your post just spared me alot of looking around
I’ll make certain to put this in good use!
Glad I can help Kyleigh.
Thanks for stopping by. :)
Nice post, You are a good writer, and i can see that yoo know alot about autoblogging :-)
Thanks for your kind words, although I’d have to say I don’t know that much about autoblogging because I personally prefer not to do it.
Also, you might want to consider leaving a comment that adds more value to the post than simply a generic content for a cheap backlink.
LOL. At least he mentioned the article! One of my blogs got 10-15 ‘great thanks’ comments on a test article with lipsum orem text….
What’s you opinion on using an external RSS feed (i.e. news feed) to add content to the site, but as an extra, not the main blog?
Thanks Wayne,
Like the other guy, you clarified the issue and saved me time. I was wondering. Appreciate that.
Cheers,
Shaun
Shaun invites you to read Conversion- where the prospect becomes a customer … for life
No worries Shaun. If things like autoblogging didn’t exist, the content around the web would be a whole lot better.
Autoblogging appeals to those who have images of getting a lot from very little.
Unfortunately, the law of the harvest says “as you sow, so you shall reap” and this needs to be considered when building a web business.
Wayne Lambert invites you to read Promote Yourself Online Here
I never do it again. One of blog has been banned by Google since 6 month ago. At that time I didn’t know if I had added an autogenerated content (like autoblog) codes. When I realize it was too late…
zamahsari invites you to read Kyocera Milano Vs. Kyocera Brio: A Battle of Low-End Messaging Phones
Hi Zamahsari,
Welcome to my blog.
Autoblogging is not a great idea for your main blog, although there is a place for it when you use if for feeder blogs in a well-constructed link wheel.
This is for more advanced marketers though who know how to set these up properly.
Wayne Lambert invites you to read Blogging Strategy: How to Blog Strategically
Very well said. This is the first time I learned about Autoblogging . I’m not really familiar to it.
Carmel Hill invites you to read Girls Clothing Brands and Tips on Mixing Clothes
I have much site using autoblog. For traffic not good if there aren’t a lot of articles. But some article got good SERP in Google.