SEO contests?

jeezus, common theme on this board, lots of peeps talking about how 'that wont work, I dont like, I wont do it, look at me trollin, hurr-durr" Its amazing how many peeps spend more time talking shit or being negative about everything than they do actually doing something useful or contributing in some way.

Its simple, If you are are an ultra-cool-seo-baller-with-amazing-skills-that-are-so-secret-awesome-that-you'd-never-reveal-your-awesomeness-for-less-than-$xxx,xxxx , then its not the contest for you. Nobody is being forced to compete, if you don't want to do it, simply don't. Go back to your busy day of trolling threads and telling people how hard you ball.I wouldn't do it just for the money/prizes either, I'd do it for the competition. I assume some others feel the day and like a shot at matching wits with their fellow WFers for bragging rights, a few prizes just makes it more interesting.
 


I probably won't bother entering unless the prize money hits 5 figs but to me, this isn't the route to go.

1. Rewards the guys quick on the draw enough to get EMDs while penalizing everybody else.
2. Doesn't replicate real world SEO challenges, as there won't be the usual obstacles needed to be overcome; authority sites, aged sites, sites using shell links, aged EMDs, etc.
3. Going after an existing hard SERP with brand new regged domains would ensure that nobody got an EMD and a full gamut of SEO factors would have to be implemented. Would probably have to run the time from 30 days out to 60 days unless you wanted to reward somebody for breaking top 50 though.
4. Good luck bros!

1. maybe, but I think there'd be enough EMD variations that anyone who tried could get something with the words in it and tLD. This also assumes the power of an EMD would be a big advantage, which some people dispute, so it makes for an interesting mini case study in itself

2. This is true, there would be no existing aged sites to overcome like most SEO tasks, but it also removes all noise and entrenched competitors, everybody starts off on equal playing field. Most seo contests do tend to use gibberish phrases for that exact reason, you can more precisely see the effects of your work and competitors are guaranteed to get to the top.

60 days might be better than 30 to really see who can compete, but it should be a pretty short contest, so peeps stay interested. WF already has a pretty short attention span ;)
 
60 days might be better than 30 to really see who can compete, but it should be a pretty short contest, so peeps stay interested. WF already has a pretty short attention span ;)

If you're going to go with a nonsense term, 30 days is plenty long. Soon as somebody throws some hookers and blow into the prize pool, I'll put 4 hours into it. :)
 
I agree with grindstone. Real keyword with real competition.

Added plus is the winner will be ranking for a keyword that should make him good money. So he will have more then just the bragging rights and small prize money, he will also have a new profitable site.

And like Grindstone says, on nonsense keywords it will just come down to the guy who gets the EMD. Sure they can still be beaten, but it gives quite an advantage. Just look at any other seo contest done on a nonsense keyword, EMD's are the winners.
 
Why don't we just make this simple. Pick a harder term, 40+ million results on broad match and just come up with a way to evaluate that ranking X for 1 day = Y points, so that even guys that rank #20 for a week don't beat the guys ranking #25 for 3 weeks.

I'm more interested in consistency rather than "who gets it on the final day" IMO.
 
If this happens it has to be taken seriously. No baller will join for a $5000 prize. There has to be at least 3 prizes rewarding the Top-3, and I agree with Grindstone the first prize has to hit 5 figures IMO.

EMD would definitely be an unfair advantage. Shouldn't be allowed.

If we allow keywords in the domain, it should be something like keyword-yourWFnickname.com so that everyone starts off with the same advantage.

OR... everyone starts off with a free hosted blogpost or wordpress blog, so yournickname.blogspot.com (this way no need to buy a domain that you won't use in the future anyways).
 
(this way no need to buy a domain that you won't use in the future anyways).
cough*three*oh*won*cough


If this happens it has to be taken seriously. No baller will join for a $5000 prize. There has to be at least 3 prizes rewarding the Top-3, and I agree with Grindstone the first prize has to hit 5 figures IMO.

Where's the motivation for anybody to put up that kind of cash tho? Maybe if the contest was for a real term with real paydays and the contest sponsor got to keep the winning site but other than that, I just don't see it happening. When you look at it thru that prism, Mont ponying up $500 for a nonsense term is pretty generous (if I were him, I'd require all entries be turned over to me for filtering linkjuice at real world properties post contest).
 
Where's the motivation for anybody to put up that kind of cash tho?

Alright... $50 per person to join in. Advertise the contest a bit. Don't you think we'll get 1000 entries at least? ($50,000 pot from entry fees only, then you can get much more with sponsors once you have that kind of exposure. Hell if I had an SEO tool I'd definitely be a sponsor. Good potential ROI there) Considering this won't just be WF. We'll probably get a lot of people from other forums to join in. This has the potential to be a massive thing.
 
I kind of like the no-entry fee idea, just cuz it gets more people involved, not just the hotshot SEO experts. A lot of people probably wouldn't bother to compete if they had to set up something in advance and pay $50, they'd be better off focusing on their own projects. But if any WFer can look at the results after it starts and says "Hell, I can beat those guys, might as well spend a few minutes and throw something at it"

I still like a "nonsense term" that has 0 results prior to the contest, so we can measure immediately how people are doing and have a guaranteed winner, but I'll pay out the $500 to the winner no matter how we decide to do it.
 
i'll be opening the vaults to my bank account for anyone who can rank #1 for porn for 30 days.

contest starts nao
 
i was wondering about the service providers that are considering this 'contest' what about your current clients? do you think there are lurkers or others out there that would try to reverse engineer you? see which sites you're linking to/from for link juice etc. do you think something like this would be appreciated by your current/future potential clients?

potentially giving your methods away to the public out in the open and effecting the results of your current/future clients by bringing in more copycats to try and duplicate your methods?

if not, forget anything i said.. carry on
 
Why not just pick a keyword to rank for?
It could be split up into groups of 5 per keyword.
Whoever ranks highest within 30 days wins?
 
whoever is going to take charge and run the contest (looks like Mont is) should just decide the rules. If some of the SEOs here don't like it, they won't join.
 
Oh yes, please this.

Let's decide on a keyword / keyphrase.

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