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02.14.08
SEO Blogs And WordPress
 By Lee Odden
While doing some research for a presentation, I was checking out the WordPress.com site on "types of blogs" looking for creative ways to categorize them. And what did I come upon, but this page which separates blogs types into two overall categories of "popular" and "banned". Guess where SEO blogs fall? Sigh.
Even our dear WordPress which so many search engine optimization professionals sincerely love and prefer as a blogging platform, is misinformed or at least, subject to making sweeping generalizations. This is the "banned" category:
And here are some examples of blogs that are banned from WordPress.com (all of these fall under the general heading of "spam blogs", or splogs, and we will be deleted as soon as we find them or they get reported):
• Scraper blogs: Blogs that take content from other blogs and re-publish it without permission (this is sometimes called scraping). If a blog contains all or mostly stolen and unoriginal content, it's gone!
• SEO blogs: Blogs that are written for search engines instead of humans. These blogs are dedicated to trying to fool Google and other search engines into ranking them highly. WordPress.com is not meant for this type of activity.
• Affiliate marketing blogs: Blogs with the primary purpose of driving traffic to affiliate programs and get-rich-quick schemes ("Make six figures from home!!", "20 easy steps to top profits!!", etc). To be clear, examples like people writing original book or movie reviews and linking them to Amazon, or people linking to their own products on Etsy do NOT fall into this category.
• Warez blogs: Blogs that promote pirated copies of ebooks, software packages, music, movies, games, etc
C'mon WordPress.com, just because some overzealous SEO noobs used (likely experimented and exploited) your free blog hosting service at wordpress.com doesn't mean all SEO blogs are suspect and shady.
With literally hundreds and hundreds of reviews we've done on SEO blogs over the past year, I think I have a fairly good sense about what most SEO bloggers are writing about and the vast majority are on the up and up. I suspect I wouldn't need to look far to find a sinister "Politics" or "Personal" blog or two or two hundred on the WordPress.com service. That said, I'm not sure whether any of the 500 or so SEO blogs on our BIGLIST are hosted at Wordpress.com. Of course not, they were probably banned - LOL.
The warning is, of course, directed towards blogs setup at WordPress.com and not blogs using the downloadable WordPress application. Regardless, WordPress is such a great piece of software, this just seems a bit over the top. So here's my suggested alternative:
SEO blogs: Blogs that provide tips, news and insights into how web site and blog owners can make it easier for search engines and users to find and interact with their sites resulting in improved traffic levels and repeat visits.
Then they can make a statement against blogs in general that provide mis-information or violate published policies instead of making such a sweeping statement. What do you think? Am I too "glass half full" and idealistic in my characterization of SEO blogs?
Comments
About the Author:
Lee Odden is President and Founder of
TopRank Online Marketing, specializing in organic SEO, blog
marketing and online public relations. He's been cited as a search
marketing expert by publications including U.S. News & World Report and
The Economist and has implemented successful search marketing programs
with top BtoB companies of all sizes. Odden shares his marketing
expertise at Online Marketing Blog offering
daily news, interviews and best practices.
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