What is ghost blogging?

This article discusses what a “ghost blog” is and how they work. 

A ghost blog is a term for an individual who writes content for blogs without receiving any credit, essentially acting as a ghostwriter.

Did you know that many bloggers don’t actually write their own content? In fact, it’s not unusual to find mainstream bloggers who outsource their writing to someone else. 

This person isn’t always given credit on the post/page either which can be quite frustrating if you are looking for something with more substance than some half-baked recipe or home decorating trend.

A ghost blog is a site that features content from someone else which is written by a ghostwriter, rather than the owner of the blog. 

The owner of the blog will have an idea about what they want to write so they will ask another person to write it for them. 

This individual may even give a few instructions as to what should be included in the article and then let them get on with it. 

Here are some points discussed about ghost (blogging platform)–

1. Ghost blogging and content mills:

A ghost blog owner may give their posts to a third party writing service to post on their behalf. 

This service will churn out posts for them and the ghost blogger will then pick and choose which ones they want to use. 

2. Is it really ghost blogging?

“If you post it on your blog, you wrote it,” [said Amit Agarwal of Search Engine Land]. 

“Technically, there’s no difference between posting a piece from another author and doing a reprint,” concurred George Calderaro of PR Web in a separate interview. 

“I don’t know that it makes much difference,” he added in another interview with Metricule.

However, other bloggers and writers disagree.

“Ghostwriting is a term that many people use to describe the process of hiring someone to write for you,” wrote Rebecca Ruth of The Geek Writer. 

“Using this definition, ghostwriting is not at all common. Most bloggers and writers I know write everything they publish.” 

A few years ago the same question was posed over on TechCrunch: “Is it okay to publish someone else’s writing, even if you give them credit?” 

Andrew Chen wrote then that he agreed that an article should never be considered as a blog post unless it has been written by its author.

3. Build trust:

This type of posting could be seen as deceptive as you are giving another person credit where it is due. 

This could be a way to build trust and credibility with your readers and customers. This could also simply be a way to boost your readership and your page’s views.

4. Use other people’s content:

There are plenty of other legitimate reasons why ghost blogging can be done, such as if you don’t have the time or expertise to write an article yourself. 

You might want to run a specific article or section on your site that someone else has already written and then repost it with a couple of updates.

5. Not everyone can write:

You may also choose to use someone else’s content because you haven’t got the time or you simply don’t know how to write an article yourself. 

You could hire someone else to do it for you if they have the qualifications you require. This could be a writer, a professional photographer, a journalist or even an author in some cases.

6. Everything is not created equal:

It can be difficult to tell the difference between a ghost blog and a real blog. 

For example, if you were looking at a blog site set up specifically for ghost blogging and you saw that it had over 1,000 posts then there is a good chance that it is just about that ghost blogging. 

You can check out the tags and keywords on the page to see what topics are covered. If all the tags refer to home decorating trends and kitchen equipment then you can be certain that this is not your typical blogger’s page.

7. You can’t escape:

Many mainstream bloggers use some form of ghost blogging as a way of getting around the regulations on paid posts. 

They may choose to post content from other writers as they feel this is more ethical. 

However, some bloggers believe that ghostwriting should still be deemed as cheating and will therefore remove any posts that appear to come from someone else.

8. Hiring and contracting:

The fact that you write posts for other people doesn’t necessarily mean you are a ghost blogger; it simply means that you are a member of the blogging community who has chosen to become a writer for hire, something which is perfectly legal under UK law.