Blog Contest
by Vic on August 10, 2008
This post is about a blog contest that was done here at BU. It was intended to show techniques for fast deployment and getting really quick traffic in the thousands. It was way harder then expected to run the contest but it was fun to watch how great some grasped the concepts.
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Tagged as:
blog contest,
bmd,
bookmarking demon,
Domains,
local niche blogging,
viral marketing
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Congrats to everyone who wons =)
Cool shit
I need to start paying more attention to Twitter, so I can catch you in the channel.
Last night I was at a fair =P
You came up when my gf asked "what is a candy apple again" and I described it by reminding her about the time you were eating one on ustream =P
LMAO!!! Man I am supposed to stay away from sweets but mmm it is not working very well.
Hi Vic,
This is a little OT, but for those that cannot afford BANS have you seen this
http://www.itsgottabered.com/wordbay/
Its a free Ebay plug for Wordpress, just started using it, it works well…
They ASK for donations or a % cut similar to Adsense Deluxe, but you dont have to give them anything if you are greedy and mean… also, on a % you only pay if you earn… no up front risk…. also, if it doesnt work out, you can turn it off and switch to another form of monetisation.
Hope you give it a plug… it deserves it!
In case you are wondering… I dont know the guy that wrote it and am not afilliated with it… just think its a great plug.
I have not tried it but please anybody with experience on it please post results here. Thanks for the pointer
Gratz to all those that won. Vic just curious did The edge directory go belly up? Hit it today after seeing it in my stats and page was gone.
Thanks,
Gotafish
LMAO!!! N I am upgrading to a new software and mmm did not go so good so the developer of the soft is trying to fix the importer so I am hoping in the next 72 hours is back to normal so all is good
Wow Vic that is so cool I never used to win anything – and now this and I won a sub on another site too recently ROTFL! Thanks heaps!
Make sure you send me an email. As soon as I get back from Vegas I will be contacting you guys to transfer
Woo! I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard my name been called out! This is a very pleasant surprise for a Monday morning indeed! (It's Monday morning over here
) Thanks a gazzilion Vic!
I shot you an email last night concerning a new blog that I set up three days ago asking for some tips. Guess my wish has been answered now!
I was so happy when I pulled the name out and it was yours god knows you deserve it
Vic this is off topic from this video but on chat earlier you mentioned installing article dashboard sites. I've been trying to do that all damn week.
I want to get this in before your retire from BU. Anyway you could make a tutorial on how to do it?
If you do then that would be awesome. Just try to explain it like the Professor talking to Gilligan if you know what I mean.
Also, you mentioned about BMD and how impractical it is for Google to deal with it as far as discerning "legit" bookmarks and the "other" bookmarks. You asked how could google possibly know the difference between the two.
I have an answer for you and a simple way it can be done. Consider this:
Alot of things determine the value of a link right? Like what other links are on the page, how many outbound links, how many inbound links, the content on that page, the content theme of the site…all stuff you said before.
Google takes into account all the words on a given page where your link is. The text that is closest to your link weighs more than the text far away from your link. So…
One way that google can try to combat this type of automated linking (like bmd and even perhaps article submissions) is to look at the text around the link.
So, say you do a shit load of directory submissions and you cut and paste the descriptions for each submission. google can see that around each link it has the same phrases and thus implies the links may be generated by software…
Same with article resource box and I think especially with BMD. If you only vary your descriptions a little bit with BMD then it's like a footprint that google can latch onto and possibly devalue your links greatly.
That would be an easy way for those tech geniuses who work on Googs algorithm to combat tools like BMD and to a certain extent mass article submissions. Simply making a special effort to note the text surrounding the link.
So if you have like 50 links that say, "The absolute best discount paint ball site on the net is " –then G *could* theoretically see that as a sign of spam.
Do you agree?
On Article Dashboard, it can be tricky to get it setup and exactly how to do it is going to depend on what your particular hosting account is running. If you're using Host Gator, they've got folks on their support team who can help you get all the PHP and other settings right.
On the rest, Google does use LSI to grade the content of a site and they'll discount links that their algorithms don't think are worthwhile. However, it is very, very, unlikely that they would directly penalize the site linked to because, if they did, it would become a favorite blackhat anti-SEO technique overnight.
Thanks Frank
Not really but I will explain in detail another day
Cool Frank, yeah I am using hostgator so it's good to know they will help me with that.
Yes I agree with you Frank that the site being linked to would probably not be penalized because it would make negative seo too darn easy.
But my point was that there is apparently a foot print for goog to latch on to, namely the text closest to the link. This in theory could make it possible for google to discern the 'real' social bookmarks from the software submitted bookmarks or directory submissions for that matter.
Just a theory of mine right now but honestly, to me this seems like something goog could easily implement.
I wonder what Vic thinks. Anyway, it's got me spooked a little bit so I am spending a lot more time varying descriptions esp with BMD.
Woo hoo. This is so super cool. Can't wait – it's like winning a scholarship to grad school. But better – we're learning useful stuff
By the way – I just moved to St. John's Newfoundland so am in a timezone an hour and a half earlier which means the midnight chats will be tough to make. I'm a night owl so I may stay awake for a few if I don't have to wake up the next morning. In the meantime, keep recording!
Thanks a gazillion Vic. Have a great time in Vegas.
I got your email just have not had time to answer but I actually mentioned it to wife so might take a lokk Thanks!! Make sure you shoot me an email on the domain
Ha! Very cool. I've got tons of pics and info about stuff, so feel free ask questions.
congrants to the winners.
Hope I win something in future. I read the blog everyday but didn't do commenting which I realize is a mistake.
Well it is never to late so maybe on the next round you get some luck
Vic,
THanks for the site! I'm not sure which one it is as I couldn't really understand what you said…
Dude, you need to get a sponsorship from Coke! At least put that addition to work and make some money from it!
I've sent you an email, or email me if it's easier with the domain name(s) of the main one or the others you have in mind.
THanks Vic!
I thought I heard Don in there , but not sure, Elliot between Vic's Coke and my Diet Coke , that could be huge !
Congrats to everyone that got a domain, and congrats to the winners of the two sites. Looks like ksc7 knows how to pound the Trends! Nice…
Vic- great broadcast on Saturday. Suuper long, but it felt like making up for lost time!
Looking forward to seeing where things go, and it is truly cool to work with someone who gets soooo passionate about teaching.
BTW-Have an awesome trip in Vegas… Don't forget to drink water in addition to coke, as the sugar and heat don't always mix well…
And stay away from the casinos…so much smoke…you may be tempted.
The heat in Vegas feels like an oven blast compared to the sticky thick moist heat in FLA. When you get there, just go straight from AC to AC.
Matt
Congrats to all the winners!
Vic – have a fantastic time in Vegas. I was just there in December and had a blast!
Wow! It is great to be a winner! Thanks, Vic! Have a great time in Vegas and stay out of trouble…LOL!
Congrats to all the winners. It's great to see some people getting something for free.
Vic, go the Rolling Stones man, "I can't get no…no..no..no, satisfaction….oh yeah…."
WOOHOO! I just found this post! Thanks Vic! This is awesome! Can't wait to get started with this. Email me when you get time. This is going to be a gas. Glad we are in the same time zone.