I cleaned out 30+ spammy comments from this blog this morning and seeing all those “Michael Kors” links reminded me of just how much bad SEO advice is based on Web spam. Spammers drop links because they are using “churn-and-burn” tactics. They don’t expect the sites they are promoting to last anywhere near as long as the links. So when you’re an agency or doing SEO for yourself, it’s not a good idea to follow those spammy practices because you’re shooting for the long term.
Smart, knowledgeable spammers don’t draw attention to themselves. They are not selling their secrets in “blackhat” forums; they are not asking for help out in the open; and they are not using the same burned out tricks and tools that all the script kiddies buy into. So if you’re going to take inspiration from a Web spammer, I submit Mister Spock that you’re taking it from the wrong spammer.
Let’s look at some of the things “good” marketers do that are no better than script kiddie spam.
You Leave Comments on Blogs
You’re doing it because you read on your favorite SEO blogs and forums that you can use comments for marketing if you leave thoughtful, relevant replies. Spammers do it because they know that if they leave 1,000,000 spammy comments out there some percentage of them will influence search results and/or drive traffic — for a while.
The Problem for the Marketer You cannot possibly be that thoughtful and relevant on most topics. Your “thoughtful”, “relevant” comments — even if quite long — are usually crap. I delete a LOT of “thougtful”, “relevant” comments on blogs I manage. The obvious link placements make it easy to ignore the thoughtful commentary because I know it’s patronizing.
The Correct Way to Comment on a Blog Post Write your own long, thoughtful response to someone else’s blog post — on YOUR blog. Link to THEIR article and explain why you like it, disagree with it, or feel it could be improved. When you practice doing this enough you’ll be less inclined to write crap and more inclined to say something worthwhile. You’ll also get more long-lasting links and people won’t think of you as a silly little spammer.
You Ask Questions in Forums
Find a forum that helps people with Website problems and you can leave a question that has been asked a million times, linking back to your site so that people can see what you are talking about.
Oh, how clever. Why didn’t the spammers think about that? Actually, they did. Nothing spells trouble for a Web marketing campaign quite like using a forum post to secretly tell people about your Website.
The Problem for the Marketer You look like an idiot spammer and people will either ignore you or ridicule you. Yes, you’ll get some links and clicks — assuming the forum administrators leave the posts in place. But the more likely your spam is left alone, the more likely the forum has been abandoned and no one visits there anyway.
The Correct Way to Use Forum Posts Some Web forums actually allow you to post announcements about your business. You should be seeking out those forums. Yes, they may put you in a section that is blocking search engine crawlers but those are the best places to write announcements because you’ll be more focused on making a good pitch and less focused on stupid SEO tricks.
Even better, if you actually HELP the people in a forum by answering their questions and providing truly good information, they’ll be more likely to mention you in their own discussions. This strategy works best when you DON’T POST IN THE FORUM. Yes, that’s what blogs are for. You’re more likely to attract multiple forum links with a blog post than with a forum post.
You Vary the Anchor Text in your Guest Posts
The Guest Post Apocalypse is upon us, and blahdee blahblahblah but let’s face it: guest posting isn’t going anywhere. The people who are afraid to use guest posting are the people who didn’t know how to use it wisely to begin with. Meanwhile, we’re still at the beginning of a long process of getting the word out to people that stuffing keyword-rich anchor text into guest post articles and article profiles does, in fact, create a footprint.
The Problem for the Marketer Instead of building brand recognition you’re chasing links. Links will fail you in the end and the sad irony is that anyone can create real brand value for themselves or their sites. Paranoid psychotic raving lunatics want you to believe that Google is out to destroy the Web but the truth is that aggressive marketers who listen to the wrong SEO advice are destroying the Web.
The Correct Way to Use Guest Blogging NEVER LINK TO YOURSELF. If you want to use guest posts for marketing, then use them to pique people’s curiosity about you, your company, your products, your services, etc. Get people to SEARCH FOR YOU. It’s hard to claim that it is a highly competitive query if they are looking for your value proposition. And if the query is not hypercompetitive then you really don’t need all those links, do you?
Guest posting is an opportunity to shine. Unfortunately most Web marketers use the opportunity to wallow in the muck and look about as slimy and smarmy as they possibly can. Trust me: there is no search guideline violating footprint in guest posts (and author bios) that contain no links.
You Build Up Your Social Media Follower Counts
Having followers on social media is important but you don’t need a lot of followers to get the message out. The social media services have powerful search tools (well, except for Facebook) and now they are rolling out advertising platforms. Learn to use them.
The Problem for the Marketer You have mistaken “follower count” for “reach” and you have confused “reaching out” with “sending a message”. Spammers boost their follower counts by all ways possible and they just LOVE to nag other social media users with endless salesy messages.
The Correct Way to Use Social Media Create content that will be found in the social media search tools. Pay for the advertising and learn what works and what doesn’t work. And be sincere in your interactions with people, even if you’re only acknowledging your customers (but especially if you only acknowledge your customers).
Marketing Doesn’t Have to be Stupid
You don’t have to be stupid and short-sighted about your marketing. It’s a choice.
When you’re not sure about what to do then experimentation is fine, but if you’re just scarfing up ideas from blogs and forums then ignore any advice that comes from “guests”. Look really hard and close at what people are saying.
If they have changed their tune at all over the past five years, they don’t know what they are doing.
If they were advising you to sculpt PageRank, get a lot of links from guest posts, and to do other “white hat” stuff, they don’t know what they are doing.
If they have complained about penalties, ranted against Google’s evilness, or invested a lot of time in recapping what other people write (“High five to my blogger friends over at Dumbass Productions this week!”) then they don’t know what they are doing.
Look at the track record for failure and being wrong. If the people you’re following are consistently wrong, why are you listening to them? It’s time to drop the goofy gurus and start paying attention to people who aren’t constantly changing their strategies, complaining about Google, and trying to reassure everyone that what they recommend “doesn’t violate search engine guidelines (this week)”.
Successful marketing changes with audience interests, not with search engine guidelines. Put THAT into your comments, guest posts, and forum discussions and think about it.
Read More about Search Engine Optimization
How Long Does It Take SEO To Work?
Guest Post Link Building: Why It Hurts the Web
Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness for Non-expert Websites
On-Page Optimization SEO Checklist
SEO Metrics Online: Which Measurements Should You Use?
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