Silence Of The Link Lambs

Last week Search Engine Land posted information about a link building opportunity with Wired that caused a bit of commotion after people took advantage of the opportunity.

Tonight I got an email from StomperNet explaining a similar firestorm caused by it's members with the site Scribd.com. Here's an excerpt from that group broadcast that explained (in part) what happened:

..."OK, just about two weeks ago we released our "NoSecrets" video. In that video we gave a bunch of new strategies for using social media sites to build your business. One of those sites was scribd.com...Now this is where it got interesting ... That NoSecrets" video went viral... And it was viewed many, many tens of thousands of times. Naturally, many of those people put the strategies to work.... But, of course, with SO many people viewing the video, well let's just say not all of them used the scribd.com strategy the way they were supposed to*. And just a few days after we released thatvideo, scribd.com made some changes. They posted about those changes on their blog..."

More " we've been spammed, Internet marketers be damned" drama. Interesting.

No, I don't condone spam and even more importantly, I don't condone stupidity. Anytime I write about a strategy and provide example sites, I try to add a "don't spam" type disclaimer. Not because I'm covering my ass but for site preservation. I don't want to add to the demise of open sources, I saw what happened to places like Yahoo! Answers and del.icio.us, and I don't want to be part of turning those places pink.

(Yes I know, this little blog isn't in the same league as SEL or Stompernet when it comes to influence, but hey -- even small voices carry on the 'Net. :)

Publicly sharing link building information and resources has become difficult recently. With certain tactics on the outs and open sources now fighting back, sharing where and how to get links has become a touchy subject.

How much is too much information? Do you discuss principles and leave out the specifics? Do you talk about the type of site but never reference one by name? I've always freely shared ideas and sources because it's how I was taught and how I continue to learn. I'm one of those old hippie types who believes in the communal nature of the Net so I contribute and give back by sharing what I know works. My defiant ying side wants to scream out stuff like this:

Link far out and stick it to the man.

But the yang is a little different. I'm also an ISTJ pragmatist who thinks sites accepting UGC (user generated content) shouldn't be surprised when their systems are challenged by large numbers of people looking to add their articles. Especially when those sites were built to accept those articles to begin with! If you think what's being submitted is spam, bounce it. IMO, public sites accepting content shouldn't build a business without a spam contingency plan.

So what's an old Pink Floyd lovin', granola chewing link building chick supporting a viable 2008 business and a new Lexus supposed to do? Share? Not share? Go underground or worse...regurgitate?

Lots of questions, not so many answers - yet. For now I'm going to keep on truckin' but with a Mad Eye Moody approach. Hopefully no one will come along and eat me alive for doing so.

Fetch / Sphinn

Is PageRank Asking For It?

Over on the LED-Digest today a post was made about paid links and how the the whole hoopla surrounding them would basically go away if Google just dropped the visible PageRank bar.

Sigh.

The concept of keeping PageRank hidden won't stop people from buying or selling links. They'll just come up with a rating system of their own or determine ad rates based on where a page ranks in the search results. You know, kinda like a lot of smart webmasters are doing now...

Maybe we should just make the serps invisible, that will fix things.

Will The Real Search Engine Blog Please Stand Up?

Earlier today I read the The 2007 Paid Links War, In Review post on Search Engine Land and clicked through to the links within the article. After reading, clicking, and reading some more, I realized I had spent a solid 20 minutes on the post and had visited 12 different sites. Wow.

I came away with two things as a result:

1. I appreciate the time and effort it took Vanessa Fox to write the article, it's a huge amount of work and I think sites like SEL, Search Engine Guide, SER and SEJ provide a tremendous information service to the SEO community and/or anyone wanting to learn about the world of search marketing. And...

2. I have to wonder how does a small business person - or anyone outside of the SEO circle find the nuggets of information being shared by search engine representatives on individual, private commercial blogs?

Why isn't information like this (see below) being added to the official search engine blogs? How would anyone in the small business community know to look on this blog, scroll through the mounds of comments to find a significant statement like this one made by Google Engineer Matt Cutts on paid links:

I think quoting me as saying "ALL links inside of any sponsored post should carry the no-follow tag period, regardless of whether they are required, not required or even link to the advertiser paying for the post" is different than our conversation. I believe that I said that adding nofollow to all links in paid posts would certainly be safe.

Bold mine. I wonder why this wasn't blogged about on an official search engine vehicle with links to the originating story/comments? The host blog would still get some attention, the search engine would make their point clear and official and the rest of us only have to visit one place. Win, win win.

Come on guys, you want us to follow your webmaster rules then make it official by posting them in one place, on your company blogs. Let's get rid of the FUD, the crude, and the mud associated with near-miss comments by people trying to share.

I'm not suggesting the information you're dropping around isn't helpful - it is - but it's damn hard to follow when it's left all over the blogesphere.

Fetch / Sphinn

No Ink Trail On These Newspaper Links

The hub-bub over buying links really started to gather steam about two years ago, that's when I seem to recall see/hearing the search engines go public with their dislike of the technique. It really heated up after someone suggested the advertisers on the O'Reilly network were spamming the engines and the Berkeley College newspaper was singled out as an example of advertising gone bad.

The whole situation soured me on using newspapers as a source to find links but I had a re-think the other day after I read a report from the Newspaper Assn. of America where over 59 million people or 37.3 percent of all active internet users visited an online newspaper site in the second quarter of this year.

The report went on to quote the NAA’s President as saying:

These (newspaper) sites continue to adapt to evolving consumer demands, frequently allowing user comments on articles and offering thought-provoking blogs to complement the journalistic excellence that makes newspapers a community's most trusted resource.

My linkey senses started tingling after I read the last part. With all those people visiting a "trusted source" I decided I needed to move past any issues I had with newspapers and go look for opportunities.

I couldn’t find a list of the online newspapers used in the report but did come across a slightly older study (Nov. 2006) done on the Top 100 Newspaper Web Sites. I pulled the top three papers and decided I'd try looking for links I didn't have to pay for. Here's some of what I found:

The New York Times.

· Offers a detailed media kit that explains the hows and why of advertising on their sites. Very helpful in figuring out which pages have high traffic counts.

· Of the papers I checked, The NY Times has the largest list of blogs and bloggers. They break them down by category making it easy to find and pitch them on articles and stories.

· Under Classifieds there's a directory to add your business to, no signs of pink links here.

The Washington Post.

· In addition to offering a media kit, The WP has a blog directory. Check out the blogroll under Network Members, I'm sure you'll recognize a couple of people.

· The City Guide offers local businesses the opportunity to add a listing. Links in both the blog directory and the City Guide are clean, all the pages checked were listed in both Yahoo and Google.

USA Today

· Has a so-so media kit and a couple of internal directories, but none show a meter of green.

· Check out the site map, it's detailed and lists columnists/bloggers by category for easy contact.

· Best feature on this site is the USAToday community.

As a USATODAY.com member, you can participate ... by contributing your own comments and reviews throughout the entire USATODAY.com site. Interact with our expert journalists...Connect with other readers...Create your own blog. Upload photos. Find and interact with people like you.

The community is free to join.

Having a topical blog on a site like USA Today makes sense, editors looking for sources, quotes and links tend to turn to people from their home site first since there's a bond of commonality established. If you want to become known for a certain something, this is a good way to do it.

I spent a total of about 20 mintues on the three sites to pull the information listed here. Some of it isn't a cut and dry submission opportunity but overall, the sites can be easily mined for free linking opportunity.

Del.icio.us / Digg

Shut My Link Mouth

Greetings from Breckenridge Colorado! Nope, didn't move out of Williamsburg, I'm here with the family combining a business and vacation trip!

We had some down time today after our big white-water rafting trip on the Arkansas River so I went through email and played catch-up reading. (note - apologies to everyone who's written or commented in the last 3 weeks, I will answer) .

As I was reading through a number of the SMX wrap-up blog posts, I was struck by something Tamar Weinberg from SEORoundtable reported on from the You& With Matt Cutts session:

Question: Speaking of link schemes, I came across an ad looking for a SEO manager and they were looking for "expertise in buying links." What would you say about this?

Matt: When people advertise for that, you have no idea how many people write to Google and say they are offended. We get those job descriptions forwarded to us. I wouldn't be surprised that we have something like this in the Webmaster Console in the future, just like we had the Spam Report form (which we had since November of 2001). We try to approach things algorithmically and also take people into account. We consider buying links to be outside of our guidelines and we might take strong actions on that in the future. If people want to ignore that, we as a search engine might take action on that because we want a high-quality index.

First off, this comment from a Google Engineer should stop the persistent question always being asked at search conferences on whether (or not) clients should link to their SEO's. I always thought it was a silly question to start with but now we have some scary stuff to quote which should put an end to it once and for all.

Second - as soon as I get home I'm hanging link garlic on my front door to keep the slaying squealers at bay. No more talking about paid links from this link witch, (as in Glenda the Good) and any mention or use of the word "paid" is coming off my site.

Third - I hope there is some exemption in place for any old post or web page out there hosting something I've written on paid links, I shouldn't be dinged for something I've done in the past. I was younger and thinner then, goodness knows I shouldn't be held responsible.

So for all you SEO's out there with form-filling-time-on-your-hands, I've seen the light. You can take your wooden stakes away from my website and go home.

Being TattleTails & Paid Links

Over on SearchMarketingGurus Liana posted the results of an informal survey she took from a handful of SEO's on paid links.

Can't say I was surprised at any of the responses save one -but- was surprised at the number of questions and "what if" scenarios the group posed in return.

Typically questions are asked when situations aren't clear or full information presented so I hope Google and the other engines takes this into consideration the next time they drop an important issue like this one in their official or unofficial blogs.

Promotional Link Placement

What do, Reeces Pieces, Gordon’s Gin and Cadillac have in common?
Hint: while the phrases “too much of a good thing” & “over-priced” come to mind, that’s not it ;)

All three brands have paid for promotional product placements.....

The rest of this article can be found here: http://www.linkspiel.com/2006/11/promotional-link-placement/