I’ve been trying to clean up my blog lately, so I’ve deleted quite a few of the spammy looking sidebar links that I’ve collected over the last 3 or so years blogging here. If I deleted your link and it was part of a reciprocal link deal, feel free to delete my link on your site too. Sorry. Just trying to provide value to my readers. If your link is still on my site, well, awesome.
SEO
Ouch! And the $300 is an annual recurring fee!
credit: Fecki
I paid to have one of my sites listed in the Yahoo Business Directory. It hurts to shell out that kind of cash for a simple link. But the way I see it is this: If that link works the magic that I’m thinking it might, I could make that $300 bucks up in one day. Maybe a half a day. And if I’m real lucky, maybe before I wake up in the morning.
The only scary thing is that they are not required to accept your link, and the $300 is nonrefundable “for any reason”. All I can say is if I get a declination email, there is a good chance you will find me sobbing in a puddle of my own tears on the nearest futon – (because it is more comfortable than the queen-sized bed that now spends it’s nights vacant and lonely) – which just happens to be in my room.
Anyways, the benefits outweigh the risk. If I don’t see any improvements after this one year, I’ll just cancel it 5 days before the rebilling period.
Do you have any words of wisdom for me as far as paid links go? Do you find your futon more comfortable to sleep on than your queen sized bed? Let me know about it!
Update: Exactly one week after submitting my site to the directory – 7 days – the link was added. Well, technically, it wasn’t added, they just sent me an email that said it had been approved and will be added in the next 2 days. Just FYI. So if you plan on paying for a link in the Yahoo directory, be prepared to wait the full 7 days they tell you it may take. Not like it really matters though.
…I could have tweeted this.
It’s so simple, yet very true.
Link building is easily the biggest part of SEO. Link building will get you to the top of the search engine results (in most cases). It’s the other stuff – like meta tags – that will make your organic listing look sexy to the humans. Sexy to humans = higher conversions.
Quick WordPress SEO Tips:
- Use your keyword 2 to 3 times in your Meta Description. Google bolds your keyword if it is what the Googler typed in.
- Get the most SEO friendly WordPress theme on the planet. I realize I’m an affiliate marketer, but this is no exaggeration. Thesis is the way to go if you want your WordPress blog posts to rise to the top of the Google SERPS.
- Once you get the Thesis theme, use all of the super-available, built-in SEO functions. i.e. Optimize your home page meta tags, optimize your site title, and . . . oh yeah, you really don’t have to do much else. Thesis is already doing it for you. 
Lets Make a Million Million Bagillion Trillion Dollars!
