Baiting The SEO Blogosphere
October 29th, 2007
Written By: Adam Sussman
I don’t know how to put this lightly so I will just come out and say it. Something has changed in the SEO Blogosphere and I don’t think it’s been a change for the better.
Like many of you in the search community, I subscribe to quite a few blogs related to our industry. Countless times a day I open up my iGoogle and scan dozens of feeds for something worthwhile. It’s a habit I’ve been doing for a few years and something I’ve become accustomed to as part of my work day.
Since a couple weeks ago I’ve found myself becoming more and more disturbed over the growing number of tabloid blog posts showing up in my RSS reader. It seems like the “in” thing to do now is out hype or outdo the next guy with blog titles that do not relate to the content as well as promote articles that are not even relevant to anything but shameless self promotion.
Since the SMX conference people have been very outspoken about their experiences with Social Media Marketing. Just when I thought the chatter could not get any louder it seems like so many are now on a Social Media kick. The past couple of weeks my iGoogle has been displaying nothing but posts with “Top Ten This” and “Chicken Little” headlines in which their sole intentions are to obviously get Sphinned, Digged or Stumbled Upon.
I don’t blame anyone for doing this, especially since the reported results seem so promising. However, I would think these tactics would prove more fruitful results if these bloggers focus their efforts on less suspecting, less “socially aware” industries.
October 31st, 2007 09:12
If you keep posting low key posts to keep your readers happy you won’t ever get really popular and gain new readers. The secret is to keep your readers happy and then post linkbait style posts about once a week.
Your readers know when you are linkbaiting and can choose to ignore you if they want. The end goal of all of us is to make a more popular blog.
October 31st, 2007 10:04
True, but i think we can all be called guilty of it sometime
October 31st, 2007 11:17
Yup…the developments are not pretty. I think it’s time for a Sphinn Hiatus.
October 31st, 2007 14:24
Could not agree more. I’ve dropped about 30% of my overall subscriptions because of this. I don’t mind the occasional semi accurate headline but it gets old pretty fast being mislead time and time again.
October 31st, 2007 14:54
Nice to hear that SEO 2.0 is on your RSS reader…
November 3rd, 2007 14:16
You all spew the same crap with no real insight or info. I can go to the Google Blog and get the same info with out the TOP 5 garbage or even this crappy title u can up with to get clicks