No of course not, I think you misunderstand me. Kristi brought up the point that many feel they should submit their best content as guest posts, which inadvertently means that they will be posting average content on their site.

I’m of the opinion (rightly or wrongly) that your very best content should be posted on your own site. That way, when people find you, they have great content to stick around and read.

When I guest post, I try to target a subject that hasn’t already been covered on that site. That doesn’t mean that it’s not up to scratch, just approaching it in a different way that’s all. My very best content tends to be when I’m writing something on the fly, responding to something.

Matt, I’m not sure about that…. Lead with your best shot, I’d say.

Would you really want someone’s first point of contact with your business be your less-than-stellar content?

You’ve some great advice here which I think many bloggers should listen too.

It’s amazing that some bloggers still believe that they should be sending their best posts to other sites. Whilst, obviously, that can be beneficial in the short term, it would be much better for them to post their best content on their own site. That is ultimately what will help engage an audience when they find that site.

Guest blogging can still be an effective tool to help market a site, but using it to purely build links is the wrong move to make. Like you say, aiming to write for active sites is much better as then you can engage with that community. Engagement is the holy grail of any site and should be what we all aim for.