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An Example of How NOT to Build Links

Posted on January 5, 2010 by Drew Meyers

Speaking of online reputation management for real estate professionals, there was a comment by Simon Salloom (more likely an SEO firm on his behalf) on my post about reputation management that I found troubling and quite contrary to the advice given in my presentation. I’ve since edited out the comment, but here it is in its entirety:

Good thing you have done here, Thanks!

Simon Salloom LA Times: Southern California home prices and sales improve in November
Southern California’s real estate industry, decimated by the mortgage meltdown and housing bust, is stirring to life again — even making hiring plans — as home prices bounce back.
Find more information about Santa Monica and Brentwood Real Estate here

What does this have to do with the topic of the post he commented on? Nothing. It’s clear as day Simon obviously didn’t review my presentation prior to commenting, nor did he read the Anti Comment Manifesto Justin posted last week. The comment is pure SPAM. Here is a short statement to Simon if he is reading this post:

Dear Simon:

I’m guessing you simply hired the wrong SEO firm to build links for your site and this was their mistake. However, this comment reflects extremely poorly on you and I strongly suggest you fire that SEO company immediately. Spamming blog comments is clearly NOT the way to build links to your site and is going to severely damage your online reputation in the process; any SEO shop that engages in these tactics is not worth the time of day. Hiring the wrong SEO firm is a mistake many others have made, so don’t dwell on this mistake. Instead, do a bit of research prior to hiring your next SEO consultant (you can start here) or decide to dive in and do your link building yourself. One of the social media survival tips listed in my presentation is a quote by Napoleon — “Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence“. I’ll try to give you the benefit of doubt on this one — I sincerely hope that you simply don’t know any better and are not purposely trying to SPAM Geek Estate with crap.

Though Disqus makes moderating comments easy since I can do everything via e-mail, I’ve still been getting extremely annoyed with the volume of spam comments over the past few weeks. It just never seems to end. As a result, I’ve been contemplating writing a “Blog Comment Policy” for Geek Estate Blog so I have something to point to if people question the moderation policies on this blog, and to point to spammers in the future if they ask why I deleted their comment. This comment tipped me over the top and you’ll be seeing a Comment Policy here on Geek Estate later this week.

About Drew Meyers

Drew Meyers is the founder and managing editor of Geek Estate Blog. He currently runs ESM Exec Designs, a web design firm specializing in corporate and personal blog design. Travel addict and social entrepreneurship & microfinance advocate.

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  • Alison

    Way to go Drew! (This is not SPAM)

  • http://twitter.com/Micropterus Rich Bailey

    Love the Napoleon quote. I would offer one from John Vernon's character “Fletcher” in “The Outlaw Josey Wales” should Simon plead incompetence – “Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining.” While it's nice you are giving him the benefit of the doubt, I suspect he knows precisely what he is doing.

    That said, how often do agents get referrals from blog comments read only by other RE professionals? I would think that the folks who read your blog, Drew, would react very negatively to this tactic, for all the reasons you cited. Yours is a more sophisticated audience, the subject of this post excepted. A link is enough; the spam text only serves to alienate.

    • http://www.drewmeyersinsights.com drewmeyers

      Yea – totally, the spam text is just gravy on this issue.

  • http://www.sacramentobill.com/ SacramentoBill

    Hi Drew,

    This is a great topic…because I think many of your readers (myself included) walk that line between wanting to contribute and wanting some of your authority/google juice.

    If no backlink potential existed I think the room would grow much quieter. I want to learn from these forums, but I honestly believe the dialogue is fueled largely by self interest.

    I look forward to more honest conversation about this as we all find the new and proper boundries here.

    Thanks for the lead tools by the way.

  • craigvn

    Your comment on spam is interesting. So often I have visited forums and people write an answer like, “This is a great discussion so I have written about it on my web site at http://www.blah.com“. If you have something to say, write it in the comment provided, don't tell me to leave the site and hijack the discussion.

    • therecoach

      What a great discussion…I wrote about it here…www.hahaha.com! Good topic, good points by Drew, and the comments. Drew, I think GEB is in danger of becomming “relevent” eeeeK!

  • http://PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com Jay Thompson

    A-freaking-men.

    I use to email people something similar to what you wrote Simon. Trying to help them. After a few got nasty with me, I simply started flagging and deleting them.

    Comment spam has gotten ridiculous. Today – TODAY — Akismet blocked 243 spam comments. A handful more slipped through — and “comments” like Simon's seem to be increasing (and slip past most spam filters).

    I think you HAVE to have a comment policy. Yeah I know, no one reads them. But as you point out, you can point people to them if/when they whine about having their comment deleted (and some do).

    I have a link to my comment policy directly above the comment “submit” button. It's here, and you're welcome to use/borrow/modify of it helps. (I need to update it):

    http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/about-jay-a…

  • http://www.fidelitylocksmith.com/ Santa Monica Hills Locksmith

    Spam has been a serious concern with me as well. And it very necessary to have the commentators get a quick glance of your policy. That is what I have done. this makes it easy for me to justify and easy for them to get the gist of the policy.

    • http://PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com Jay Thompson

      Just wondering if you consider it spam to use a name like “Santa Monica Hills Locksmith” when leaving a comment as opposed to your real name?

      • http://www.drewmeyersinsights.com drewmeyers

        I go back and forth on this issue all the time — it happens all the time on Zillow Blog and here (on Zblog they get followed links, but not here since I installed the Disqus plugin).

        Would people think I was too heavy handed if I deleted all comments that keyword spammed in the name field?

        • http://PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com Jay Thompson

          I go back and forth on this one too Drew. I am thinking about “announcing” that I prefer real names. Maybe even adding that into the comment form — “Real name strongly preferred” or something to that affect (I turned off Disqus solely because I want to modify my comment submission area).

          I'm not sure where to go with it. Then there are cases where the person isn't really spamming. “David G from Zillow” would be a perfect example. Would “Jay T – Phoenix Real Estate Guy” be spamming? I don't know. It's a fine line. BECAUSE it's a fine line the only true solution may be to have a “Real Names ONLY” policy, or else let anything go. Making a judgment of what is and isn't a “spam name” is tough….

  • matchstick

    Well as a RE SEO consultant (And I am not soliciting my services), I actually took a look at Simon's site, and right off the bat I saw some no-no's, e.g. Realtor to Realtor linking, and even worse it's not even a reciprocal link; so he is passing juice off to 2 other Realtors, getting nothing in return and risking a penalty. There is hidden text. No or poor (spammy) alt text on images. Using “click here” as anchor text on links.

  • Pingback: Geek Estate Blog / Comment Policy Is Posted | GeekEstate Blog

  • http://www.jewellerytips.com/ Jewellery Tips

    I'm not sure where to go with it. Then there are cases where the person isn't really spamming…

  • http://www.jewellerytips.com/ Jewellery Tips

    I'm not sure where to go with it. Then there are cases where the person isn't really spamming…

  • http://dietapersonala.com/ dieta anului 2010

    I was been scouring the Internet for such information and i wanted to say thanks to u for the post. By the way, just off topic, how can i get a copy of this theme? – Regards

  • http://dietapersonala.com/ dieta personalizata

    I was beeing after the google for this information and i wanted to say thanks to u for the post. By the way, just off topic, where can i get a version of this theme? – Thank you

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