Parasite SEO Explained
If you've been living under a rock and do not understand SEO, read this section: what is SEO? of this article, then proceed from here.
Parasite SEO is the process of posting your written content on third-party websites. In a broader sense, posting any digital asset on a third-party domain for better SERP (search engine result pages) ranking reasons is considered a "parasite." For example, you can "parasite" (i.e. host) a PDF file onto a renowned website and benefit the traffic yield. The goal is to have your content rank on the SERPs (search engine result pages) for specific keywords from that website. The advantage is to have control over the content.
Marketers post on third-party websites instead of their own because each site has a specific "authority" regarding how Google sees the website. The higher a website's authority, the more likely it is to rank on Google's SERPs (Search engine result pages).
Does parasite SEO still work?
Yes, parasite SEO does still work. Google has several updates throughout the year, and the authority of sites fluctuates slightly.
Historically, there have always been websites that take in content from the public and enable the content to rank better on that site than if the content were to be published on another site or domain name.
Websites fluctuate regarding the authority Google assigns them, but parasite SEO still applies in 2024.
Regarding authority, one should distinguish between the authority Google attributes and the one assigned by keyword research tools (like UberSuggest, Ahrefs, SEMRush, etc.)
The authority Google attributes to a site is linked to concepts like EEAT, among many other things. The authority keyword research tools attribute to a domain is mainly or solely based on the backlink profile.
As a digital marketer or SEO, you must identify the best third-party websites to post valuable content to.
What is the difference between guest posts and parasite SEO?
It's nearly the same thing. Guest posts are an application of parasite SEO.
Parasite SEO is the idea, and guest posting is the act.
What are the parasite SEO sites?
You can post to two types of SEO sites as a parasite SEO person: forums or actual web publishers.
Examples of sites where to parasite SEO:
Web publishers:
Forums:
The examples are endless. All platforms that save and enable public reads of your content can be qualified to do "parasite" SEO.
We can consider all social media platforms as places where you can do parasite SEO.
What is parasite in marketing?
Parasite SEO is a form of marketing. Marketing is the process of taking a thing to market in order to sell.
When someone says "parasite," it is because the thing you bring to the market is shown to clients on a third-party asset.
For example, to learn more, read this article titled Affiliate Marketing On Reddit by Commenting.
Is guest posting good for SEO?
The real question is, does posting as a guest augment my chances of ranking? Or will placing backlinks toward my domain on my guest posts augment my website's domain authority?
For the former question, the answer is no; for the latter, things are nuanced.
It all depends on how Google sees the site your domain is getting the backlink from.
You can benefit from having links to your domain from the content you post on guest posts. However, Google has identified all the domains that can take in content from the public and nullified their backlink weight.
The only real benefit is retrieving some partial traffic from that third-party website.
Is guest posting safe in SEO?
There is no reason for it to be "unsafe."
Regarding SEO harm, posting backlinks from third-party websites can harm your website's authority.
This will depend on how Google sees the hosting site. For example, if the hosting site is renowned as the source of spam, Google will devalue it. If your domain receives a backlink from that spammy site, this could negatively affect your domain or page's authority.
On the contrary, receiving a backlink from the New York Times will most likely augment your domain's backing profile score and page score.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. Ever since search engines became a thing, people started to do whatever it took to be positioned in the highest positions on the SERPs (search engine results page).
SEO is optimizing an online digital asset to have the best likelihood of ranking in the highest position on the SERPs (search engine results pages).
SEO is a domain with a partial facet of randomness because search engine rankings depend upon Google-implemented ranking algorithms. These algorithms and systems are very complex and are proprietary to Google.
The only reference SEOs have to optimize their digital assets is by following Google's documentation about best practices.
Also, as a second reference, SEOs rely on testing. By testing (like A/B testing, for example), SEOs can identify if a specific thing is a positive or negative ranking factor and to what extent.
What is a backlink profile?
A backlink profile is a list of all the URLs that link to your domain's pages. These URLs each hold a weight in determining your website's value vis-a-vis Google and Keyword research tools.
The backlink profile plays a role in terms of value on an overall domain rating and an individual page rating.
As an SEO, your role is to improve a specific domain's backlink profile. Many methodologies exist; some are considered fair practices by Google, and others are more prone to penalties if Google finds out what is being conducted.
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