SEO question for small sites

[pokerextras]

There's plenty of people who are not competitors that will link to you, even if your direct competition will not.

I think Michael Martinez pointed out earlier in this thread (and if not, definitely in a previous thread) that there are plenty of poker players who have blogs that might be inclined to link out to a well written piece. Additionally, smaller-time webmasters may additionally refer their membership to a worthwhile resource in hopes their members and readers will benefit from the writing (and also with hopes you may notice they've linked to you).

i appreciate what you are saying in theory. But have you, or anybody else, ever known it to actually happen?

[OPC]

i appreciate what you are saying in theory. But have you, or anybody else, ever known it to actually happen?

Yes, take a look at the poker blogosphere... I'm not talking about those of us who post here and also just happen to have a personal journal dedicated to poker either. I'm talking about the hobby level and part time poker players who have blogs.

As an example, Bill Rini (sorry to point fingers at ya Bill) gets a shitload of contextual links by his content alone from other bloggers. People mention his site's articles in their own writing. They reference his funny posts, his commentary on the industry, he earns a lot of links by his writing alone. He has quite a following of readers as well.

There are many more examples - his is just the most obvious and frequent that comes to mind.

[321]

i appreciate what you are saying in theory. But have you, or anybody else, ever known it to actually happen?

All the time. One example,
Best of the Net - Poker Information and Articles


And if you want a perfect example of how to build/seo a small site, Pokersyte.com is one of the best around.

[OPC]

All the time. One example,
Best of the Net - Poker Information and Articles


And if you want a perfect example of how to build/seo a small site, Pokersyte.com is one of the best around.

That is one hell of a resource collection (PR2 on the toolbar as well, I might add)

[Randy Ray]

I've linked to lots of competitors without getting a link back.

[cprpoker]

I've linked to lots of competitors without getting a link back.

Same here, if you can provide a service to your readers by linking off without receiving a backlink, do it.

[Michael Martinez]

Tasteful humor is one of the blogger's most powerful tools.

Anyone can use it to get links (although you need to do it well).

I'll share a project I did for an old television show (ON EDIT: The show was not a client -- this was a personal fan site project). This has nothing to do with poker but I think the principle is applicable.

The show was called "Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda" (which went off the air 3-4 years ago). I didn't have time (or the talent) to create a typical fan site so instead I found the funniest inoffensive jokes I could and rewrote them as Andromeda fan fiction. I got links from other sites (including one competitive Andromeda fan site I normally don't attract links from).

Poker is more competitive than the typical SF adventure show but poker lovers number in the tens of millions. I think a well-written set of humorous stories can attract links from the right audience. You don't have to go overboard with the technique.

I was able to replicate the success on the SEO Theory blog by writing jokes about well-known figures in the SEO industry. I did not write anything that I thought would offend or humiliate anyone. The closest I came, I think, was to write a joke about two search service employees working for rival firms (Jeremy Zawodny and Matt Cutts). Zawodny enjoyed the joke so much he linked to it.

It doesn't always work, though. Maybe that's more an indication of my inconsistency as a joke writer. I used to maintain a personal blog where I wrote self-deprecating humor pieces on all manner of topics. The blog built a sizable audience but I don't recall it getting many links.

So your mileage may vary but perhaps that will help a little bit.

[Unknown Webmaster]

Michael's post reminded me of Eurorounders. I'm sure that if it had been created by some who were more focused on SEO, it could have generated an insane amount of links.

It seems to pop up on 2+2 every half year, and always with a link or two to the authors site.