So here’s the deal. The landscape has changed recently in the sponsored post arena. New tactics are required if you want to run a campaign that will generate both buzz and SEO magic. The buzz will happen no matter what strategy you undertake, but the complimentary SEO benefits require a bit of tact. So how do you go about it? Well let’s look at some background first.
Google likes natural things. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase natural link patterns, organic growth or some variation of these as you’ve read through things on the web. The big question is what do people mean by natural and organic? Well that’s the great thing from Google’s perspective. There is no real definition of organic. If I asked you to describe what an organic leaf from a tree looks like could you tell me? Could you tell me such that I could reproduce it? Now consider what a fake tree’s leaves look like. I’ll bet you could tell me why it doesn’t look organic. It’s generally going to be perfectly symmetrical left to right, it will be a uniform colour with little to no variation and will have no flaws such as holes, frayed edges, etc…
The point I’m trying to make here is that while it’s difficult to tell someone what will make your growth organic, it’s pretty easy to identify things that will make it look fake. So what are the kinds of things that will make your link building efforts look fake? Sudden bursts of new links that peak and disappear quickly can move the needle on the fake-o-meter. Having identical link text coming in from a high enough percentage of your backlinks will move the needle. Having a lot of your backlink pointing to only one page can move the needle. Having a new burst of links coming from places dissimilar to your previously recorded backlinks can move the needle. There are other things that will move the needle, but I’ll stop here for the discussion at hand.
None of previously itemized link qualities will trigger a fake backlink trigger over at Google on their own unless it’s done with the lack of subtlety that a hungry lion would have in a butcher shop. What will happen is a that a whole lot of minor moves of the needle on the fake-o-meter will start to trigger alarms.
So what happens when most advertisers begin a campaign. They’ll ask for around 100 bloggers to blog about their widget or widget service linking to the widget page with the link text “purple widget”. Compare the described scenario with my list of things that will move the needle on the fake-o-meter. With this common strategy there are pretty good odds that you’ve set every single one of them off. So what should you do? Here’s my suggestion.
PayPerPost has a feature that I’ve noticed where they will allow you to vary what keywords a blogger is required to use in their post. The system will generate a new phrase and URL for each blogger that takes an op. PPP uses this feature often in their own ops which suggests to me that they know and understand the value of varying both your link text and the URLs you’re getting backlinks to. This system will help you take care of two of the four issues, identical link text and too many links to one URL.
To resolve the issue of having too many links coming in from sites that are different than the makeup of your traditional backlinks, use segmentation. Segmentation allows you to restrict the bloggers who take your op to the ones in the specific fields that you choose. Since the bloggers will largely have on-topic blogs, they are much more likely to have a similar profile as your traditional backlinkers.
Finally, in order to avoid the spikes, spread your campaign out. Instead of soliciting 100 reviews at a time, why not solicit 10 per day for 10 days? By spreading your ops out over time, your spikes will be less prominent and less likely to move the needle.
This is basic SEO at work. Google’s got tons and tons of filters that will boot you out if you do anything you’re not supposed to in too obvious a manner. The trick is to work in between the lines. Then when the lines move, re-adjust, rinse and repeat.
Google, PayPerPost, SEO
(4 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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9 responses so far ↓
1 Lynn // Jun 16, 2007 at 3:52 pm
I can see pay per post is a good way to advertise but you still have to watch what you are doing so that you stat in favor with Google.
2 Gammo // Jun 17, 2007 at 2:49 am
PayPerPost is arguably one of the best paid to blog networks to-date. However, I have seen sites with high PR’s suddenly plummet to low PR’s. I guess over time Google will raise the PR’s again.
3 Marc // Jun 17, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Definitely. There’s a line for sure, but the point I’m trying to explain is that it’s not as fine a line as many think. There’s a lot of grey to play in
4 Shantanu Bala // Jun 17, 2007 at 9:38 pm
As the manager of a community site, SEO is good, but not my priority. My type of advertising/getting people to join is simple achieved by putting a link in my email signature, telling friends, and using things I lready have to make things better. I tend to get more members through word of mouth than SEO. I have completely redone my site from the bottom up, and right now it isn’t as active as it used to be because of lazy people not wanting to re-register :/ But it’s growing slowly….
5 Marc // Jun 18, 2007 at 8:48 am
Gammo: Sorry for the late reply, your comment found its way into the spam bin. As for the PR fluctuations, other variables can affect that as well. If just one high PR site took down their link, then you would drop significantly. But it certainly could be a result of Google’s filters as well.
Shantanu: It is true that SEO is not and should not be the end strategy for all websites. Different strategies will work differently for different sites. Usually a mix of many strategies ends up working best of all. This post is simply a discussion of one particular strategy.
6 kevin // Jul 8, 2007 at 1:37 pm
I honestly hope Google cracks down on pay per post links and those blogging opportunity. I think the entire pay per post concept is so shady.
7 Marc // Jul 8, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Well it’s very controversial which by its very nature means some people will like it and some won’t. At the end of the day though it’s the broader implications that are making the bigger noises.
8 The Happy Rock // Aug 3, 2007 at 10:51 pm
I am just starting to look at monetizing my blog, and I am really can’t decide on the pay per post revenue. In my gut, I hope I can make some money without having to ‘resort’ to PPP. I guess if it would really benefit my readers I wouldn’t mind, but I haven’t seen to many PPP benefit the daily reader directly.
9 Marc // Aug 4, 2007 at 9:27 am
I understand how you feel. In the end, it’s all about what you want to accomplish with your blog. If you’re looking to cash in as much as you can as quick as you can, then the answer is obvious. If you’re looking for a longer term investment, building a brand and a reputation, then PPP may not be the best approach to take.