SEO Tycoon

**Learning Newbie** · 02-13-2007, 05:16 PM

I just finished reading another thread called "organic content works." It was nice to read because so many of the questions here are "How can I make money really quick with a web site?" I want to offer some thoughts on how to make them come after you build it, but first I have to point something out, because I think everyone looses track of this fact. Search engines are there to make a profit, and they get it from ad revenue. People advertise with SEs because they have lots of users. They have users because they return quality sites. It follows that you want to build a quality site, then.

Have links. Why do you think stumbleupon is popular? It only pulls up good sites ( because people vote against bad ones ) and people get to discover cool new stuff. That's why people surf around delicious too. If a site has a collection of really good links, I come back regularly to see if they add new ones. I saw a page with a bunch of links to all the software you need to make a fully functional computer with free open source. I linked to it on my blog so others can benefit too.

Scripts are a waste of time and money. Why? 1000 other sites have the same scripts, and they already leveraged them. You're a day late and a dollar short, going up against Walmart or Microsoft. If you know how to program create something new and fresh. ( If you don't know how to program, still, create something new and fresh! )

Be controversial. I won't name names, but in my field of interest there's a complete idiot who's almost always wrong, almost laughably so. He publishes bizarre opinions under the guise of fact. Sound familiar? Every industry has its village idiot, and he gets more traffic than all of us put together. People post a link on forums and talk about why his ideas are stupid. Now I'm not suggesting you go out an make an @$$ of yourself, but tell the truth, and don't be afraid not to candy coat it.

* Sub-Note. Bashing Windows has been done to death. But if someone made a blog about security holes and other bugs in OS X, there's plenty to write about, but it's uncharted territory.

Careful in the forums, you can create bad will. Here's an example where a member committed web suicide: http://www.webmaster-talk.com/genera...tml#post350020

The key is you want to stand out like a sore thumb, and strike more chords than how many toes you step on.

**kriso** · 02-13-2007, 07:25 PM

And You are very right here.
I noticed it is easy to be controversial if you go to a place where the people are not expecting you, and where they fear your competition. It is like being the only shark in a pond. Some will try to discredit you but fear is eating them alive if you have the best offer. They will try even more and this is the best part of all: it is puring great traffic of curious people to the site, they will smell the good offer and join you. It is a fascinating process which I am happy to witness on my own site. I have tossed it into a thinking-to-be-safe part of market, and the water is boiling!

kriso.

**ForrestCroce** · 02-13-2007, 08:03 PM

Very interesting advice. Some of the moderators here advise to have outgoing links, too, for other reasons ... it really seems like there are a lot of upsides to pointing your visitors in the right direction. I'm sure most SEOs would hate the idea of suggesting their visitors leave their site, but in the long run that might be a small price to pay.

But don't over do it. You should have good info to point out, but really only things that are going to benefit your readers. Most of us aren't running directories or social bookmark sites. Example: I have links to James Nachtwey and Sebastiao Salgado on my site, because if people are interested in photography, it's a crime not to check these guys out. In an article I wrote about black and white, I link out to Wikipedia's bio on Ansel Adams. Most people know his work, but if someone is interested in b/w reading up on the Zone System is helpful. I don't just collect every photography-related link, only the good stuff. And like you're saying, I hope my readers pick up on that and come back because of it.

**ADAM Web Design** · 02-13-2007, 08:59 PM

I want to know who the industry is and who the idiot is. If it's web design or SEO, then I'm reminded of the Jack Nicholson line in As Good As It Gets: "Sell crazy someplace else. We're all stocked up here." Come on, Learning Newbie, let's have us a good old-fashioned loser callout. You know you wanna.

I don't have a problem with outgoing links either, on three conditions:

1) They're relevant.
2) They're useful.
3) They're given out without the expectation of a backlink in return.

Other than that, I have nothing to add. You pretty well nailed it, dude.

**digitalracks** · 02-13-2007, 09:47 PM

Directories work:
http://www.seocompany.ca/directory/f...html?sort=prup

**Learning Newbie** · 02-14-2007, 03:46 PM

Directories work for what? They make you more popular in the "myspace" sense, where you have a bunch of links pointing at you and can't remember most of them. I keep reading that they don't provide any traffic though, and I believe it, because I can't remember the last time I went looking in a web directory. Probably when Yahoo was the main or only search.

Directories are maybe the fastest and easiest way to get links, and putting together a high quality site is the hardest. Search engines know this. All the moaning and groaning on the forums says they're taking it into account.

**ADAM Web Design** · 02-14-2007, 04:38 PM

Directories "working" or "not working" really depends.

Some directories do work, and some don't. Basically, the ones that aren't slapassed together with the cheapest version of phpLD and one of the default skins and that actually take the time to review and put together quality sites do work.

For example, I get a fair amount of traffic from http://www.doesmysitesuck.com/ . Granted, it's not THAT different than a traditional directory site. It's just a directory with a user ranking system and a gimmick. But even THAT is enough to be unique these days, in an age of recycled content, laziness, and spam.

Again, though, it really depends. The only way to find out is to submit and see.

**ForrestCroce** · 02-15-2007, 01:40 AM

Well, Newbie, you're definitely taking your advice to heart - be controversial.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADAM Web Design

For example, I get a fair amount of traffic from http://www.doesmysitesuck.com/ . Granted, it's not THAT different than a traditional directory site. It's just a directory with a user ranking system and a gimmick. But even THAT is enough to be unique these days, in an age of recycled content, laziness, and spam.

Good point. I'm hoping AboutUs turns out to be a good / worthwhile "directory." They have reviews, or at least a handful of sites do, and their gimmick is being a wiki, open to editing by anyone, and hopefully self-healing. ( Since there's no doubt there will be vandalism. )

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADAM Web Design

Again, though, it really depends. The only way to find out is to submit and see.

Ah, the good old scientific method that's worked for thousands of years, works out here too. Good advice, whether it's in SEO or any other aspect of life.