Random Acts of SEO Kindness

AdSense publishers (that’s us, folks!) can be a self-centered group…. let’s face it, we’re using AdSense because we want to make money. Maybe not a lot of money (as always, there’s usually a direct link between the amount of money you make doing something and the time and effort you put into the process) but money nonetheless. And that means focusing on the tiny part of the Internet that’s yours by publishing more content and getting more backlinks to that content.

Every once in a while, though, it’s good to step back and look at the wider picture. If you’ve done this for a while now, you’ve surely developed some expertise or understanding of how things work on the Web. Why not use this expertise to benefit someone else for a change, without them knowing about it?

There are all kinds of “random acts of SEO kindness” you can do that will benefit others. Here are a few suggestions:

That’s just scratching the surface, of course, I’m sure you can come up with your own ideas. How about setting up a Google custom search portal for your favorite local team or charity and making them a few bucks that way? Or teaching what you’ve learned about the Web to others?

Random acts of SEO kindness won’t make you any money, but they’ll make you feel better, and that’s a different kind of reward.

Socialize This Post (Please!)

Add to OnlywireAdd to Onlywire

Comments

69 Responses to “Random Acts of SEO Kindness”

  1. South Florida Bus Dealer on October 16th, 2008 12:43 pm

    Great article and you are right. We should do some SEO kindness. If we all help each other it will make a difference and that itself is rewarding!

  2. Dating Jones on October 16th, 2008 1:40 pm

    That’s a good one. I will definitely start bookmarking sites I think serves the right purpose. And I agree that more people should do the friends. I will write a blogpost in this myself tomorrow and tell my friends about the concept. I think I’ll start with my church :-)

    Jones

  3. Rose on October 21st, 2008 4:41 am

    That is a really good idea and yes, I did this for some time now. It’s the one of the idea for social marketing. As much as you do bookmark for good website and share with another as much as you will get popular and that is your reward. :-)
    Thank you for this great post.

  4. Busby SEO Test on October 22nd, 2008 9:01 pm

    Well i agree with you. The thing that i like about web blog is posibility to make a relationship between each blog and by linking each other it will raise popularity of each blog linked

  5. Handy on October 24th, 2008 4:43 am

    You can show kindness even during SEO. Great tips!

  6. Fireworking on October 25th, 2008 11:41 pm

    You are 100% correct. Some people are very selfish. They are stuck in their own world. They have bad luck because they are not being nice to anyone. Thanks for the great article.

  7. 创新基金,创业基金 on October 25th, 2008 11:44 pm

    SEO kindness?But i think as as SEOer don’t make any spam,then this is the greatest kindness,right?

  8. John at WebsiteBuildingBiz on October 26th, 2008 4:09 am

    I definitely leave bookmarks for all my favorite dofollow bloggers, and I always make sure to take nofollow off the comments left on my blogs or bookmarking sites! Then again, if I see a blogger or writer who is extremely greedy with their outbound links I won’t do much for them.

    I guess maybe I’m not really making random acts of kindness if I’m being so selective :) Anyway, I’m off to go bookmark this post. We can win the SERPs we want with generosity!

  9. EugeneVC on October 27th, 2008 8:16 am

    You have list URLs social Bookmarking?

  10. WebDesign on October 27th, 2008 8:25 am

    Couldn’t agree more! I think the biggest problem with social bookmarking is that some people only submit their own sites and never take the time to bookmark or submit others!

    The communities depend on people taking the time to vote for each other, and helping a site that you like make the top page of digg (or mixx, reddit, etc.)is good karma!

  11. cmyip on October 27th, 2008 9:38 am

    You’re right in what you’re saying. Many people spend too much time promoting their own sites. If people like or enjoy using your website, then they should definitely help spread the word, and obviously if you like somebody elses website you should help them too.

  12. Justin on October 27th, 2008 11:28 am

    Great post. Link-building has forced us to become very self-serving that we lose perspective on the bigger picture.

  13. PS3 Guy on October 28th, 2008 5:04 am

    Nice article, i’ll go bookmark some sites i like.
    It’s like Karma, we help someone out then someone will help us out!

  14. Goca on October 28th, 2008 9:42 am

    SEO have many ways to do better and better.Its nice to read and discover new ways and suggestions to do it right :D

  15. Web hosting provider on October 28th, 2008 8:23 pm

    Doing these things can also help you gain some members to your site. While it might not be a direct path to your website, these people will notice you if you bookmark their stuff. In return, they will most likely visit your site at the very least.

  16. Cheap Auto Insurance on October 29th, 2008 4:44 pm

    I often do some of the things mentioned, mostly the bookmarking and the linking to helpful sites. I also will sometimes do more then required like add title tags to somebodies link who doesn’t request one. Or if I link to something on a forum or post I tend to use their keywords as anchor text as opposed to just pasting a URL and letting in auto link.

  17. Shuwix on October 29th, 2008 6:04 pm

    Yep. It’s great to list others with good content.
    We all want better internet so we need to support good sites in SEO run :)
    Also PR doesn’t mean anything. if You link and are linked by respecetd sites with relevant content (socalled trustrank) it’s much better.

    Wanna add tip ;)
    Adding articles to Ezines helps alot as they are respected sites by google and brings also some small traffic through link :)

  18. Money Marketing Online on October 31st, 2008 6:02 am

    If everyone did a random act of SEO kindness, then all SEOs would help one another in the long run and it would be a nice thing =)

  19. Izrada web stranica on October 31st, 2008 12:06 pm

    What about nofollow ?

  20. Irene Chandler and Jim Shultz on October 31st, 2008 8:11 pm

    Thanks for the excellent article. Will this benefita real estate agent website. We are moving towards the first page of Google searches but very slowly and we have a ways to go (page six, three and two for our three main key word phrases at the moment).

    Thanks

    Irene and Jim

  21. Macy on October 31st, 2008 10:36 pm

    Excellent info! I always keep that in mind to always return a favor and you will reap greater rewards.

  22. Passive Income Online on October 31st, 2008 11:50 pm

    Whatever site you have, always think about giving the best content you’ve got - and always be on the lookout for great content that you can syndicate.

  23. Phao Loo on November 1st, 2008 2:40 am

    That’s a great article! However, submitting articles that link to other sites will work? Can you tell me more about it?

  24. The Scribe of Notting Hill on November 1st, 2008 4:36 pm

    My blog is about my neighborhood and I do always link to local sites that I think worthy of support.

    There’s actually an SEO argument that says that relevant outbound links can make a site look more legit to Google. Heaven knows whether it’s true, but up to a point it certainly doesn’t do an harm.

  25. Design Palace on November 2nd, 2008 8:08 pm

    Nice article, totally agree. I will bookmark this post. Anyone can help to bookmark some articles on my site??

  26. scott on November 2nd, 2008 8:50 pm

    I occasionally write posts that link to 5 recently read articles. If I don’t have something on my blog and somebody asks about it, I link to someone who does have the info. I don’t know why you would submit articles with links to other people’s websites though.

  27. Sohail on November 2nd, 2008 9:07 pm

    Its always great to link someone. You get their attention and build good relationshipd by linking them. We should not hesitate doing so.

  28. Prue on November 2nd, 2008 9:15 pm

    That’s a great article ! I like your idea and totally agrees with you on social marketing…

  29. Steve on November 3rd, 2008 8:28 am

    I have actually done this in the past and the guy emailed me giving me abuse for putting his links on my site…I still occasionally do it though, just imagining the guys face when he see’s the results makes me chuckle.

  30. Stempel on November 3rd, 2008 5:31 pm

    Great Idea, but i think that won’t work, cause most webmaster especially here in Germany are very egotistical and will therefore not link other websitesm, but of course your proposing is absolutely correct!

  31. Ideas For Building Links on November 3rd, 2008 6:12 pm

    Good point about linking to other sites. Bloggers in particular will almost always take note when you link to them. It’s a shame that some of more established media outlets and online newspapers all too often refuse to link to any external sites.

  32. Dragon Blogger on November 3rd, 2008 11:36 pm

    When I stumble across another blog that has good material I write about and link back to them, I do believe in sharing and spreading to help others who do quality posts. This is a good article.

  33. enonton on November 4th, 2008 9:37 am

    This is good article. Me just realize the bookmark somebody page specially school and other site may benefit us.

    Thx

  34. stainless steel lynn on November 4th, 2008 3:36 pm

    I liked this article, and the fact that I was not the only one who thinks and acts this way.

    I started doing so after I was handed some link love from a webmaster that I never knew, he just liked my design of one of my projects and felt like sharing.

  35. Ryan on November 4th, 2008 9:32 pm

    I always bookmark sites that I enjoy so I can go back and read all the time and keep updated on them. I personally use entrecard and add them to my favorites so I can use their nav bar to get back to them easily.

  36. Jordan on November 4th, 2008 11:48 pm

    More bloggers should be doing these things. For me I ’socialize’ other peoples sites or post that I find have value. It gives them some publicity and a backlink.

  37. Les @ Just4Families on November 5th, 2008 6:11 am

    I believe outgoing links do have some importance. Google remember is after a good experience for the user, not us. If we link out to valid sites, we are looking after the user.

    Likewise a good internal link structure, linking to relevant pages, not just any page.

    Of course, outbound links brings inbound - at least, that’s the theory.

    les

  38. the_noenkz on November 5th, 2008 7:41 am

    i am a newbie in blog. But i really want to make a powerfull blog. good content, many links inside and has a high page rank in google..:) could give some suggest?

  39. SEOElite on November 5th, 2008 11:18 am

    I partially agree with this what you stated, I think the SEO kindness can be better done if both sides benefit each other on some way like dofollow blogs where you add value to a post or article and is rewarded with a link not by doing things and expect other good people to do back this will only work if they know you already ;)

  40. Thomas on November 5th, 2008 12:12 pm

    I remember a movie called pay it forward with Kevin Spacey. Well I also practice SEO pay it forward. If someone comments on one of my blogs and wanks a link to their site I will definitely oblige them. In fact I really don’t care about making money on my blogs. I mean it would be nice…but frankly I just like to write.

  41. online money making tips on November 6th, 2008 1:48 am

    I am looking to increase page rank of my websites. Is this method will help me to get PR5+ ? Or I need to follow some other methods also. Can you write a post on “how to get PR5+” ?

    thanks

  42. Press Release on November 6th, 2008 9:08 am

    I have to say that I’ve always been pretty nice when it comes to links and other SEO business…

    Unfortunately, a number of big media companies - including the BBC - are banishing outbound links on their sites…

    They do this to keep their readers on their own site rather than drift off elsewhere

    It is, of course, a completely unnecessary policy and a violation of the spirit of the net

  43. Dave Dugdale on November 6th, 2008 1:42 pm

    Yes, you are right I try to hoard PageRank where ever I can. I need to start link out more on my blog.

  44. The offensive tshirts guy on November 6th, 2008 5:54 pm

    Actually, all bar one of the sites in my ‘cool websites’ section are sites that I like, and are cool. Actually, I might can the exchanged one too… Be nice and link to stuff you like….

  45. Jordans on November 6th, 2008 9:46 pm

    “Link to other sites.”

    I hate doing this for sites I write about, but in the end I still do it because it’s the right thing to do :)

  46. Freewareking on November 8th, 2008 4:38 am

    This is very true. It has been my habit of bookmarking someone else’s site for good backlinks for them.SEO is not an exact science thus we should always make some effort of helping one another.

  47. Funny T shirts on November 10th, 2008 4:50 pm

    Outbound links to relevant sites in theory can help, as it can associate your site with the topic, link to high PR sites and sites that will be interesting to your own visitors.
    If your site becomes a useful point of reference then hopefully people will link to you. (at least thats the way it should work!)

  48. marketing-joel on November 11th, 2008 10:26 am

    I agree completely. It’s not too hard to reach out and help. But don’t expect anything in return, however eventually good things catch up :-)

  49. Bargain Holidays on November 11th, 2008 12:11 pm

    What do you think of article marketing automation?

  50. Kenneth Holland on November 11th, 2008 5:21 pm

    Whenever I reference an article in one of my blogs, I always reference the source. That is the very least you can do. You help others and it always comes back to you.

    I also agree that you need outgoing links and I believe Google weighs that in your sites ’score’.

  51. seo55 on November 11th, 2008 6:31 pm

    It’s good to balance out the SEO karma with worthy submissions :)

  52. Jordans on November 12th, 2008 2:52 am

    i link to other sites all the time.. so i guess im seo kind to those people :)

  53. John Henn on November 12th, 2008 5:54 am

    Great seo tips for you.

  54. Nashville Computer Repair on November 12th, 2008 11:35 am

    I always try to help out sites that I feel are good and worth while to other users, and I hope that others will do the same for me. There is no reason why we all cant help each other out from time to time. ;-)

  55. Optimizator on November 13th, 2008 2:26 pm

    interesting think you are talking about

    If everyone did a random act of SEO kindness, then all SEOs would help one another in the long run and it would be a nice thing =)

    all web sites will be linked, and every web will get good rankings

  56. YouTube Scavenger on November 13th, 2008 4:29 pm

    Always great to spread some link love!

  57. Phao Loo on November 14th, 2008 4:38 am

    to The Scribe of Notting Hill: I believe outbound links affect our site. Linking to bad sites and those site are banned, Google will catch our sites. I always add attribute rel=nofollow to links I don’t trust.

  58. DanskoDave on November 14th, 2008 1:00 pm

    Links are so very important, and I don’t think that if you have a website, and you link to other good relevant sites with some degree of moderation and editorial review - that you will get dinged by google. As “The Scribe” says above, I think that you might even see a boost by linking to good sites.
    As long as google doesn’t see you as a “link farm” you should be ok.

  59. Alex | laptop on November 15th, 2008 9:06 am

    Great tips!
    Thanks

    Irene and Jim

  60. Tom At The Home Business Archive on November 16th, 2008 5:36 pm

    Excellent advice.I often submit others content to social sites and they do the same for me.People often do the mistake of submitting only their own content to the social sites and get banned.

  61. Darren on November 17th, 2008 12:38 am

    Never thought i’d see a post like this, SEO karma will be good for you. Article marketing is another good way of gettign linkbacks, but lately, its been marred by PLR or private label right articles, especially when google hates duplicate content

  62. DP Chamel on November 17th, 2008 5:27 am

    An eye opener article that will be helpful to all the bloggers who are out there making small monies every day, and who are filled with tension all the times, due to the crashing PRs every month or two. The tips given in this article will help in maintaining PRs for a longer time while helping other do so. it will be a win-win situation.

  63. Nana on November 17th, 2008 8:32 am

    Awesome……….i get to help others and others get to help me……….if i consider this as a public help its fine or i can even do it a sense of tit for tat………….so either way i get benefited and so do others

  64. Balaji on November 17th, 2008 9:31 am

    Good info! I will start bookmarking some sites so that backlinks are created which in turn helps me and every one in the future. But will every guy in web agree to this? Every one come to web to make some money? Will new comers take this as a point to remember?

  65. samy on November 17th, 2008 4:09 pm

    yea… well you have to keep in mind what sites your are connecting to your site. google has really database set up to track if your blog is a spam or not.. just a tip.

  66. Naruto Action Figures on November 18th, 2008 4:02 pm

    Hey when you give, it definitely come back to you. Maybe one day Google will give credit to those who share page rank for a good cause.

  67. Informixx on November 20th, 2008 7:02 am

    SEO is a give-and-take relationship! I do believe in karma that’s why all my kindness in doing some SEO methods would probably cause me something good in the near future.

  68. Jamie Larsen on November 21st, 2008 5:13 pm

    It’s nice to be reminded that yes, we should be voting up the sites that we like instead of the sites that we’re trying to promote on a daily basis. You have my vote.

  69. SEO Houston on December 4th, 2008 1:50 pm

    My first thought when reading your blog was the pay it forward movie. Then I read the comments and saw it mentioned. :) Thanks for sharing these positive thoughts, and for encouraging others to share.

Leave a Reply




Comments for this post will be closed on 4 December 2009.

Subscribe without commenting