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Nov. 13, 2007 at 8:28am Eastern by Cameron Olthuis
Is Your Domain Name Triggering A Red Flag?
The audience that makes up the majority of Digg users tends to be very fickle. The slightest whiff of linkbait and they will bury your story into the depths of hell, where it will never see the light of day again. They hate SEO and it's no secret. This is the reason why it's so important to make sure that you approach social media sites carefully and thoughtfully.
By now you've probably heard most of the things to avoid with your linkbait campaigns. Yet nothing from your site ever makes the front page of Digg, no matter how good the content is, or what power user submitted it. Maybe it's because your domain name (or sub-domain) reeks of spam.
Yes, it's true: stories do get buried all the time because of the domain name alone. If you're trying linkbait campaigns on paydays-loans-blog.com, just stop now. Save yourself the headache and wasted efforts and get yourself a domain name that doesn't stink so bad. This goes for sub-domains too. These show up on your submissions and should be treated equally with regular domain names. I'm not saying you can't use sub-domains for linkbait—just make sure they don't trigger any red spam flags.
A good domain name goes a long way on Digg and other social news sites. Like many other factors, it can make or break a good piece of content. Use common sense when launching your linkbait campaigns and be brutally honest with yourself. If you think there's even the slightest possibility your domain looks spammy, then don't use it. Register a new domain name and you can always 301 redirect it to your main site a month or two down the road.
Cameron Olthuis is director of marketing and design for ACS and writes regularly on social media issues through the company's blog, Pronet Advertising. The Let's Get Social column appears Tuesdays at Search Engine Land.
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By Cameron Olthuis
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