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Popular Threads
What's your approach to dealing with the search marketing interns (who can get real annoying) leaving comments on behalf of their company?
It is harder to detect with Comment Kahuna
My comment spam warning signs post might prove helpful
http://andybeard.eu/2008/04/comment-spam-warnin...
As for the interns, I just have a heavy hand with the spam link in Spam Karma, and am also using back channels to try to get it fixed through a 3rd party who is also affected.
It is something that will flare up again soon if they are not careful as Shawn at Hobo (a reformed comment spammer) has a post written and ready to post.
But Shawn is also one of the reasons I persist - he is now an amazing member of my community, someone I could count on for anything, but I would never have met him online is he hadn't been following a dofollow list one day for a little linkbuilding.
Oh, and his blog is dofollow too and he made the change when he was a PR7 - that takes balls.
What's your approach to dealing with the search marketing interns (who can get real annoying) leaving comments on behalf of their company?
It is harder to detect with Comment Kahuna
My comment spam warning signs post might prove helpful
http://andybeard.eu/2008/04/comment-spam-warnin...
As for the interns, I just have a heavy hand with the spam link in Spam Karma, and am also using back channels to try to get it fixed through a 3rd party who is also affected.
It is something that will flare up again soon if they are not careful as Shawn at Hobo (a reformed comment spammer) has a post written and ready to post.
But Shawn is also one of the reasons I persist - he is now an amazing member of my community, someone I could count on for anything, but I would never have met him online is he hadn't been following a dofollow list one day for a little linkbuilding.
Oh, and his blog is dofollow too and he made the change when he was a PR7 - that takes balls.
Andy, I respect you for following comments, I wish I can do it on my Blog but it is still new and does not have much traction with Google, so I do not want to risk it.
I follow all the links in my posts!
I believe you got Love spread it around! That is Good Karma!
-Kurt Schmitt
Andy, I respect you for following comments, I wish I can do it on my Blog but it is still new and does not have much traction with Google, so I do not want to risk it.
I follow all the links in my posts!
I believe you got Love spread it around! That is Good Karma!
-Kurt Schmitt
What it all comes down to is building trust, developing a community and treating that community right.
Those who worry about receiving a little extra spam are just being lazy if you ask me.
My blog may not receive quite as much traffic as some of you A-listers, but I receive my fair share of traffic and with that comes spam comments.
I spend 5-10 minutes a day MAX moderating comments and normally get a decent amount of comments as well.
I've been dofollowing from the beginning and get plenty of SE love.
I also have screenshots taken using the same capitalization as Dave, just to make sure, and using both a US and UK Geo Location, with personalized results switched off, just in case I get some naysayers.
You are building a great community and I am sure many of your readers first came along to grab a few links, but enough stick to make that moderation time worthwhile.
What it all comes down to is building trust, developing a community and treating that community right.
Those who worry about receiving a little extra spam are just being lazy if you ask me.
My blog may not receive quite as much traffic as some of you A-listers, but I receive my fair share of traffic and with that comes spam comments.
I spend 5-10 minutes a day MAX moderating comments and normally get a decent amount of comments as well.
I've been dofollowing from the beginning and get plenty of SE love.
I also have screenshots taken using the same capitalization as Dave, just to make sure, and using both a US and UK Geo Location, with personalized results switched off, just in case I get some naysayers.
You are building a great community and I am sure many of your readers first came along to grab a few links, but enough stick to make that moderation time worthwhile.
"...Enter YourName@YourKeywords and KeywordLuv will use YourKeywords as the anchor text. After 3 approved comments - all your links become DoFollow links (controlled by LuciaLinkyLove..."
Duh! I haven't transferred over to Wordpress yet but when I do, that seems the way to go for me.
ADG
"...Enter YourName@YourKeywords and KeywordLuv will use YourKeywords as the anchor text. After 3 approved comments - all your links become DoFollow links (controlled by LuciaLinkyLove..."
Duh! I haven't transferred over to Wordpress yet but when I do, that seems the way to go for me.
ADG
look at your points..
* I don't have to write all the content myself, my readers contribute and gain a small reward
Dude people link to your content not your comments !
* What happens when you engage a community of linkerati? They link to you more often
hmmm still I think people link to the content or you get cheap laptops and Igor ;) commenting
* If you gain more links, you are just sharing part of a bigger pie
yes, agreed but my blog has shit content :
and people still link to and I can still link to people if I want, if I feel it's justified
* The tools are keyword based - people with websites covering a specific topic visit your site - maybe initially to just drop links, but it is amazing how many can be converted to regular visitors who leave constructive comments, and link to you from their own sites.
hmmmm long time no see Igor ;)but again I point to your content
DaveN
Now that could also be looked on that the links drove the traffic, which then created the increased conversation.
It is a chicken and egg situation that is extremely hard to prove, much like how much value there is in Social Media other than X blog post gained so many Diggs and so many links.
I have also found people who run blogs with nofollow switched off are more giving... yep even Jason Calacanis
Somehow that comes across in their writing.
My best content gets very few links, especially from the SEO community for SEO articles, though admittedly Barry is amazing at picking things up from Search Engine Land and Search Engine Round Table, and I am quite adept at sneaking a link from Techmeme once in a while.
There has been a trend over the last 6 months of people who adopted dofollow running a little scared, thinking they were possibly receiving a penalty of some kind.
1. They didn't have time to deal with comments - these are people who want the traffic and community for free, for no work, and you won't get good comments on junk content
2. Didn't compensate for the links in their linking structure.
This is the only spam comment I have had to flag in the time since I posted, all the others have been handled by Spam Karma.
He is now blackflagged
I would say most users who come to Andy's blog to comment they do not do it for a links or for traffic. Andy and many visitors are very provocative and engaging. We do not RickRoll here.
DaveN, maybe you should read my blog and it may educate you about a few things, including SEO and Social Media! Does one have to say, "This is SEO" for it to be SEO? Then Google knows what it is, and it will not be productive SEO.
DaveN, you need to Think Out of The Box. For an old Black Hat you still think Black Hat. Learn to trust people we are not all Bad! Please Assume Good Faith! LOL
Andy is one of those bloggers that read and comment the comments. Many bloggers rarely respond to comments and not to the extent that Andy does. Andy (and a few others) carry the post content on into the comment section.
Yes, people do link because of comments.
look at your points..
* I don't have to write all the content myself, my readers contribute and gain a small reward
Dude people link to your content not your comments !
* What happens when you engage a community of linkerati? They link to you more often
hmmm still I think people link to the content or you get cheap laptops and Igor ;) commenting
* If you gain more links, you are just sharing part of a bigger pie
yes, agreed but my blog has shit content :
and people still link to and I can still link to people if I want, if I feel it's justified
* The tools are keyword based - people with websites covering a specific topic visit your site - maybe initially to just drop links, but it is amazing how many can be converted to regular visitors who leave constructive comments, and link to you from their own sites.
hmmmm long time no see Igor ;)but again I point to your content
DaveN
Now that could also be looked on that the links drove the traffic, which then created the increased conversation.
It is a chicken and egg situation that is extremely hard to prove, much like how much value there is in Social Media other than X blog post gained so many Diggs and so many links.
I have also found people who run blogs with nofollow switched off are more giving... yep even Jason Calacanis
Somehow that comes across in their writing.
My best content gets very few links, especially from the SEO community for SEO articles, though admittedly Barry is amazing at picking things up from Search Engine Land and Search Engine Round Table, and I am quite adept at sneaking a link from Techmeme once in a while.
There has been a trend over the last 6 months of people who adopted dofollow running a little scared, thinking they were possibly receiving a penalty of some kind.
1. They didn't have time to deal with comments - these are people who want the traffic and community for free, for no work, and you won't get good comments on junk content
2. Didn't compensate for the links in their linking structure.
This is the only spam comment I have had to flag in the time since I posted, all the others have been handled by Spam Karma.
He is now blackflagged
I would say most users who come to Andy's blog to comment they do not do it for a links or for traffic. Andy and many visitors are very provocative and engaging. We do not RickRoll here.
DaveN, maybe you should read my blog and it may educate you about a few things, including SEO and Social Media! Does one have to say, "This is SEO" for it to be SEO? Then Google knows what it is, and it will not be productive SEO.
DaveN, you need to Think Out of The Box. For an old Black Hat you still think Black Hat. Learn to trust people we are not all Bad! Please Assume Good Faith! LOL
Andy is one of those bloggers that read and comment the comments. Many bloggers rarely respond to comments and not to the extent that Andy does. Andy (and a few others) carry the post content on into the comment section.
Yes, people do link because of comments.
I still don;t understand why the nofollow attribute is not removed from blogs- or even if you opted in to adding nofollow in options.
Yes, I do get more spam. I also get more traffic and more comments and value added to my blog. I could not possibly write the content readers add to my blog in the 5 minutes it take me to moderate spam. The cost/benefit ratio tips in blogger's favour.
Andy- I did set up a DoFollow directory a while ago- admittedly not for entirely altruistic reasons- but are they "bad"? I do see it a valuable resource for bloggers looking for the best place to spend their time commenting and developing relationships. Am I off on this? Never occurred to me I was adding to the problem.
Dofollow blogs attract both the good and the bad, whatever way people find them.
Before I started evangelising the benefits over 18 months ago, you could already just google for mention of dofollow plus a keyword and find blogs, in fact that is probably still the best way.
There is nothing wrong with running a directory, it acts as a useful resource for people to find other bloggers to interact with, and generally dofollow blogs will be a more welcome home, as long as you wipe your feet.
I still don;t understand why the nofollow attribute is not removed from blogs- or even if you opted in to adding nofollow in options.
Yes, I do get more spam. I also get more traffic and more comments and value added to my blog. I could not possibly write the content readers add to my blog in the 5 minutes it take me to moderate spam. The cost/benefit ratio tips in blogger's favour.
Andy- I did set up a DoFollow directory a while ago- admittedly not for entirely altruistic reasons- but are they "bad"? I do see it a valuable resource for bloggers looking for the best place to spend their time commenting and developing relationships. Am I off on this? Never occurred to me I was adding to the problem.
Dofollow blogs attract both the good and the bad, whatever way people find them.
Before I started evangelising the benefits over 18 months ago, you could already just google for mention of dofollow plus a keyword and find blogs, in fact that is probably still the best way.
There is nothing wrong with running a directory, it acts as a useful resource for people to find other bloggers to interact with, and generally dofollow blogs will be a more welcome home, as long as you wipe your feet.
The commenters arent going back and talking about me, linking to me, probably not even thinking about me once they get thier link. everyones goal is to get a backlink and it is obvious.
Like I said in one of my post when I was talking about the subject. It does work for popular bloggers. Once you get into a certain "popularity range" it does work like it suppose to, People do go back and talk about you, People do revisit, People do link to you.
But Im not there, and for me it just seems like its not a good idea anymore. I dont know, Im still thinking about the subject.
It is just automated spam, you catch it or it is automatically caught by Spam Karma fairly easily.
I certainly wouldn't have left it in place, that just makes it easier for the commenter to spam you again, or in the case of using Akismet, easier to spam other people again.
The commenters arent going back and talking about me, linking to me, probably not even thinking about me once they get thier link. everyones goal is to get a backlink and it is obvious.
Like I said in one of my post when I was talking about the subject. It does work for popular bloggers. Once you get into a certain "popularity range" it does work like it suppose to, People do go back and talk about you, People do revisit, People do link to you.
But Im not there, and for me it just seems like its not a good idea anymore. I dont know, Im still thinking about the subject.
It is just automated spam, you catch it or it is automatically caught by Spam Karma fairly easily.
I certainly wouldn't have left it in place, that just makes it easier for the commenter to spam you again, or in the case of using Akismet, easier to spam other people again.
My Blogs all have dofollow. I believe it brings in a broader range of participants and a larger audience. Like said in the post, often these people become regular readers. Of course that only happens if your content has value.
My Blogs all have dofollow. I believe it brings in a broader range of participants and a larger audience. Like said in the post, often these people become regular readers. Of course that only happens if your content has value.
Sure spam comments are an inconvenience, but only a small one. Want to minimize it? Then don't talk about dofollow - just do it.
Seriously at a certain point it just seems stingy of some sites with huge user participation to nofollow everything.
Sure spam comments are an inconvenience, but only a small one. Want to minimize it? Then don't talk about dofollow - just do it.
Seriously at a certain point it just seems stingy of some sites with huge user participation to nofollow everything.
Reading this is actually quite enlightening because if I knew it took balls to do this with our PR 7 then I would never have allowed it ;)
P.S. Thanks for my first do follow link although I am not meant to comment on Blogs lol
Hobo MD
I spent a couple of wild summers working in Renfrew in my late teens, and almost moved up there permanently.
As for commenting on blogs, I have prevously given Shawn permission of spam me with whatever anchor text he likes... but to your own site, not for clients. Not that he would ever do anything like that.
Reading this is actually quite enlightening because if I knew it took balls to do this with our PR 7 then I would never have allowed it ;)
P.S. Thanks for my first do follow link although I am not meant to comment on Blogs lol
Hobo MD
I spent a couple of wild summers working in Renfrew in my late teens, and almost moved up there permanently.
As for commenting on blogs, I have prevously given Shawn permission of spam me with whatever anchor text he likes... but to your own site, not for clients. Not that he would ever do anything like that.
Here's my question, and can someone PLEASE be as definitive as possible...so tired of varying opinions...
Are links on NO FOLLOW blogs worth anything or not. *sigh*
I mean really, I'm thinkin marketers had linking strategies long before all the do-follow hooha.
I comment on 50 no follow blogs with a good ranking - worthless for linkbacks?
I'm a huge fan of do follow, but holy cow the answer to this would make life easier :-)
Here's my question, and can someone PLEASE be as definitive as possible...so tired of varying opinions...
Are links on NO FOLLOW blogs worth anything or not. *sigh*
I mean really, I'm thinkin marketers had linking strategies long before all the do-follow hooha.
I comment on 50 no follow blogs with a good ranking - worthless for linkbacks?
I'm a huge fan of do follow, but holy cow the answer to this would make life easier :-)
Next, a nofollow tag is not as powerful as its made out to be. If you think its hindering your traffic then you are missing the fundamentals which make or break products.
Andy is extending a hand in friendship in "following" his comment links. Its a minor gift to your users, your major gift should be in your content. I have seen even the most obscure of phrases bring visitors in, so content covering topics people are really passionate about rain in the traffic, hint hint
You want a good reason to "follow" your blog comments?
Because President Google is Roswelling us with the nofollow tag having us looking like the three stooges clanging our heads together, knucklehead :)
Igor's comments always delight with the triple threat of humor, usefulness and excitement.
Andy's posts are wicked!
Next, a nofollow tag is not as powerful as its made out to be. If you think its hindering your traffic then you are missing the fundamentals which make or break products.
Andy is extending a hand in friendship in "following" his comment links. Its a minor gift to your users, your major gift should be in your content. I have seen even the most obscure of phrases bring visitors in, so content covering topics people are really passionate about rain in the traffic, hint hint
You want a good reason to "follow" your blog comments?
Because President Google is Roswelling us with the nofollow tag having us looking like the three stooges clanging our heads together, knucklehead :)
Igor's comments always delight with the triple threat of humor, usefulness and excitement.
Andy's posts are wicked!
Still, I consider it a nice touch when the blog owner cares enough to think about his community and whether it is better for them to dofollow. It says a lot about the person running the blog.
Andy, interesting discussion!
Still, I consider it a nice touch when the blog owner cares enough to think about his community and whether it is better for them to dofollow. It says a lot about the person running the blog.
Andy, interesting discussion!
"I would be much more worried about comments on your blog which have been left with commercial intent with the upcoming changes to the consumer protection act on 26th May"
I Googled: "changes to the consumer protection act on 26th May" and got a link right back to your blog... :)
Any details would be greatly appreciated!
http://andybeard.eu/2008/04/uk-unfair-trading-r...
Also make sure you read the comment by Susan Singleton
"I would be much more worried about comments on your blog which have been left with commercial intent with the upcoming changes to the consumer protection act on 26th May"
I Googled: "changes to the consumer protection act on 26th May" and got a link right back to your blog... :)
Any details would be greatly appreciated!
http://andybeard.eu/2008/04/uk-unfair-trading-r...
Also make sure you read the comment by Susan Singleton
http://andybeard.eu/2007/02/ultimate-list-of-do...
On old blogger you have to host on your own domain and use some funky php rewiting, but a link is on the same page.
http://andybeard.eu/2007/02/ultimate-list-of-do...
On old blogger you have to host on your own domain and use some funky php rewiting, but a link is on the same page.
This article is a little bit in-depth, and prts can make a seasoned SEO's head spin.
http://andybeard.eu/2007/11/seo-linking-gotchas...
This article is a little bit in-depth, and prts can make a seasoned SEO's head spin.
http://andybeard.eu/2007/11/seo-linking-gotchas...
And no this isn't comment spam :)
And no this isn't comment spam :)
Having now seen no action by Google (yet) on dofollow commetn blogs, I'm very tempted to re-instate dofollow as both a reward for my regular commenters and also as means of helping to bring more interaction with my readers.
When people talk about good linking strategies on their blogs, are they talking about nofollows to certain internal links, nofollow affiliate and ad links?
Having now seen no action by Google (yet) on dofollow commetn blogs, I'm very tempted to re-instate dofollow as both a reward for my regular commenters and also as means of helping to bring more interaction with my readers.
When people talk about good linking strategies on their blogs, are they talking about nofollows to certain internal links, nofollow affiliate and ad links?
is the best way to manage a blog!!!
is the best way to manage a blog!!!
http://www.stocks-simplified.com
http://www.stocks-simplified.com
What I don't understand is people who call whatever you have to say "spam" when you have taken the time and effort to write relevant content to your comments.
I happen to like to read a lot of blogs (esp. real estate blogs) since I am in real estate.
I also like to read anything I can find on writing a blog as I think this would be a very interesting way to make a living. from what I see there are more interesting comments , that are way more contributive, in the do follow blogs. although I have seen some comments with a line or two of random words that make no sense, that is where I would also draw the line as spamming.
I think I'll make my blog a "do follow" or "No No follow" (I don't know if there is a difference yet)
because it should attract good comments.
What I don't understand is people who call whatever you have to say "spam" when you have taken the time and effort to write relevant content to your comments.
I happen to like to read a lot of blogs (esp. real estate blogs) since I am in real estate.
I also like to read anything I can find on writing a blog as I think this would be a very interesting way to make a living. from what I see there are more interesting comments , that are way more contributive, in the do follow blogs. although I have seen some comments with a line or two of random words that make no sense, that is where I would also draw the line as spamming.
I think I'll make my blog a "do follow" or "No No follow" (I don't know if there is a difference yet)
because it should attract good comments.