Top Commentator List Being Gamed?
ADVERTISEMENTSToday I noticed some readers commenting with names like ‘Online Technology’, ‘Latest Technology’ and ‘Web 2.0′. This can be helpful to you as you get the link to your site in my Top Commentator list with that anchor text, which can help you rank well in Search Engines for that anchor text.
I think people are also more likely to click links with anchor text ‘Online Technology’ rather than any persons name. So you should try it too while commenting on blogs where you aim to get on their Top Commentator list.
Make sure you select an anchor text that describes your sites content and for which many people search for. The best way to find out what anchor text to choose is by using a keyword tool like Overture.
But please don’t try to get two spots on the Top Commentator list. I noticed two commenters today that had two links each for their site on the Top Commentator list, one with the anchor text they chose and the other one with their name.
I filtered out their names (the special anchor text they chose was not removed) so that other commenters too get chance to come on the list. I don’t think I should allow the same person to have two spots on the list.
What do you think?
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Posted on May 1st, 2007 | Category: General |
SEO blog
May 1, 2007 at 11:59 pm
It’s nice to reward your active readers but I think when you get into multiple spots in the list they’re doing it more for their own benefit than the benefit of the site or the community of readers.
Online Technology
May 1, 2007 at 11:59 pm
good one john, i saw on Jc blog about it, so thought of hinting u lol
SEO blog
May 2, 2007 at 12:05 am
technology, lol every time I see someone call John Chow by his initials I can’t help but think they’re referring to Jesus Christ for a second. Blame the Lutheran schooling I guess but I get a kick out of it.
Vince Cordic
May 2, 2007 at 12:13 am
I agree with “SEO Blog”. It’s nice to reward your readers, but if they are posting comments simply for the reward of getting on the top commentators list it becomes redundant.
As long as the comments actually contribute something to the conversation though I see nothing wrong with it. So far it seems most people are actually writing somewhat useful comments so that’s good, I guess time will tell.
Anyhow, thanks for the chance for some exposure.
JohnTP
May 2, 2007 at 12:17 am
SEO blog- John Chow prefers to be called the opposite of what Jesus Christ does - evil
btw, nice anchor text
Online Technology
May 2, 2007 at 12:21 am
lol SEO, But I am glad many bloggers will know about it . I did that intentionally so before this TC Gaming get hots like technorati we all know about it
JohnTP
May 2, 2007 at 12:27 am
Vince Cordic- I think what happened was that they changed their name to the anchor text they wanted and started commenting using it, so it ended with them having 2 links on the Top Commentator list.
I put up this post just to warn and prevent readers from doing it intentionally.
btw, are you not choosing an anchor text too like the others? I can filter your name so you can be linked with your desired anchor text
Collect Airmiles Faster
May 2, 2007 at 12:33 am
I agree with the no ‘double posting’ because really how much does one person have to say? and why can’t they say it in at the same time? It’s basically just becoming ‘link spam’
How long till these top commentators lists are spammed anyway?
Cool tips and tricks
May 2, 2007 at 12:41 am
Maybe those guys with double entries just made the shift from using their name to some other text anchor, and they were on top before doing that.
Vince Cordic
May 2, 2007 at 1:00 am
John,
I’m happy with my current anchor text for now, thanks though
Perhaps if I have something to say when it’s reset again I’ll choose a new anchor text.
egon
May 2, 2007 at 1:17 am
I hate when people are given a benefit like this and people have to ruin it by trying to spam. JohnTP has plenty of good content that you can offer your opinion on, you don’t have to double-post. Plus, will getting up there twice give you that much benefit?
David Bradley
May 2, 2007 at 1:34 am
Oh darn it. I was just about to add a dozen comments about the affiliate casino viagra sites I run offering bigger bouncier longer and thicker diet pills for bloggers hoping to game Digg. No point now…
db
Collect Airmiles Faster
May 2, 2007 at 3:31 am
DB I think you should still tell us about your great site that you offer. I’m very interested
David Culpepper
May 2, 2007 at 3:34 am
I’ve been seeing the same thing on my blog ever since John Chow mentioned it the other day. Just one more thing we will need to keep an eye on.
Jay
May 2, 2007 at 4:47 am
I personally prefer posting on sites with a top commentor plugin, it doesn’t always result in traffic but it’s a good way to get a link, however I am against using anchor text in my name just because it kind of goes against the spirit of the being top commentor and as a webmaster I’m a little concerned about having a section where you have outgoing links to 10 different websites with specific anchor text.. Makes me wonder if the big G will consider them paid links one day..
Ryan J. Parker
May 2, 2007 at 5:46 am
People do this over at Chow’s blog, and that’s further increased competition making it not worth it.
I too notice this trend, and while I understand someone’s want for anchor text, if that’s the only reason you’re commenting then as a blog owner I’d get rid of ‘em.
Blogging Tips
May 2, 2007 at 7:02 am
i think its good you encourage people to use anchor text but anyone using different keywords every time they sign comment is definately trying to get some cheap links in my opinion
Grace
May 2, 2007 at 7:29 am
I think Chow’s relying on his commentor plug too much to get comments. If there weren’t a commentor plug, he’d get a lot less comments.
Online Technology
May 2, 2007 at 8:02 am
: That was one more reason he made a post about it. He told to use a better anchor tag but then he showed the way of using multiple name that was evil!!!
Techie Buzz
May 2, 2007 at 8:06 am
Well all the gaming is becoming a part of blogging now, but its a fact that most bloggers do share readers amongst them and thats the spirit of blogging.
I am entering my title for the game too.. lol
Kieth
shashank
May 2, 2007 at 10:10 am
good work…so you are not allowing two spots..hmmm
subhash
May 2, 2007 at 11:32 am
yeah..what john is doing for the benefit of the blogger community is good,But how many really wanna comment on the posts by liking them ?? Most of these people are commenting because they can get a link on sidebar so far as i think..
subhash
May 2, 2007 at 11:33 am
Moreover as John said people try to do scam here also by coming in different names with same links ..:D
David Bradley
May 2, 2007 at 1:22 pm
To be honest, other than exposure to other johntp.com readers, there is really very little value in a text link on a blog sub-page. I don’t really understand why so many people spam blogs in this way. Most individual post pages have no or very little pagerank. As far as I know backlinks on low-ranked pages are either not included in the SERPs algos or if they are it’s done in a negative way, so spamming blogs might actually cause your site more harm than good! Now, a homepage keyword-enabled backlink is a different matter if John is looking for new outgoing ports of call for his readers
Madhur Kapoor
May 2, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Thanks fot this Tip John . I cant seem to find a nice name . Maybe i will try it out next week .
Web 2.0
May 2, 2007 at 4:18 pm
LOL, good one JohnTP.
My keyword is Web 2.0, so i try to use it for comments.
But i still prefer my name
Gili
Web 2.0
May 2, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Looks like i am one of the offenders
I use both IE7 and FF interchangeably , and both have different names cached for the comment forms.
Need to do a Cleanup of private data asap
DotNetNuke
May 2, 2007 at 4:39 pm
It’s good to promote your readers with this plug-in.
Online Technology
May 2, 2007 at 6:09 pm
: Good points there. Its definetly not about SEO but attracting people when they see new words. If they keep seeing regularly the same name.
Basically not everybody know how to comment in early stages. They learn as it happens on their blogs. Guess its a hard way of learning.
Bat
May 2, 2007 at 6:13 pm
Hope that this will not become a spam comments..I don’t know much about the SEO skills..Do anchor links play an important role in SEO?
Online Technology
May 2, 2007 at 6:21 pm
: Yes they do, but not by getting into top commentator list. You need to make your blog titles powerful seo wise.
Philip Seyfi
May 2, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Nice idea but i’ll probably continue commenting under my name
Ryan J. Parker
May 2, 2007 at 7:07 pm
I think the real problem is that people are trying to rank for keywords in tough markets that then makes their comments look like crap….
I mean.. hello there, mr. online technology…
There has got to be a better, more effective way to market your blog.
Online Technology
May 2, 2007 at 7:32 pm
lol Ryan: My comments crap or my keyword stupid ? You got me confused there
Ari
May 2, 2007 at 7:56 pm
Wow all we have to do is beat four comments and we get on the list. This is going to be fun.
SEO blog
May 2, 2007 at 7:57 pm
@ David, actually, links on low PageRank pages are included in Google’s algorithm and they are often times worth getting. Also, most people are spamming and abusing this feature for the link on sites’ home pages. These usually have higher PageRank and are more valuable. Plus, if you’re going to comment on blogs, then you might as well use some sort of decent anchor text (hence my name here). However, the SEO value probably isn’t all that great. The links you get only stay there if you are consistently at the top of the list. Plus if Google isn’t discounting these links yet, they will be as soon as they realize how badly this is getting gamed.
Tech Crunch 2.0
May 2, 2007 at 8:13 pm
I would prefer to stick to the current name I use, as it is already widely popular and I was lukcy enough to get this URL in blogspot.
Wendy Piersall
May 2, 2007 at 9:14 pm
I’m with the comment spam folks. And today I found out that two of my commentators are really the same person - just promoting two different sites. Strangely, she just emailed and IM’ed me and lied about it to cover her tracks - and even stranger, the two ‘people’ are women, but I uncovered evidence that it might be a guy. Makes me feel a little creeped out.
I love rewarding top commenters with a link, but if it continues to get abused this way, I’ll remove it in a heartbeat. Same goes for people commenting just for the link while not really adding to the conversation.
I work hard and invest time and money into building a big blog - I’m not about to hand over free advertising to people who want to exploit my generosity.
Ryan J. Parker
May 2, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Technology, the point is just this:
How stupid does it look that I have to reference you by the name Online Technology?
Commenting on blogs is similar to a forum. Would you signup to a forum with the name Online Technology?
Hi there, mr. OT! Stand back for a minute and use someone else as an example: how stupid is it to have to reference “Tech Crunch 2.0″?
I hope you see my point.
Madhur Kapoor
May 2, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Crunch 2.0
You have chosen a great name and URL , it definately helps in getting attention .
Online Technology
May 3, 2007 at 12:04 am
: I don’t think Its stupid if I like my name to be symbolized, By linking My name with OT i would also like to pass the message that what my blog is about. And since its anchor…It can give people a direct link to what i mean. When they visit my blog By that anchor tag..they get to know what I talk about seeing my blog underline.
No offenses but people get recognized by symbols much faster than direct name…Make sense
JohnTP
May 3, 2007 at 8:15 am
I don’t mind readers using these specific anchor text as long as they put up some useful comments related to the post and don’t try to get 2 spots on the Top Commentator list.
JohnTP
May 3, 2007 at 8:26 am
David Bradley- Are you saying that you want the Top Commentator List to be placed on homepage only?
I don’t mind as long as the majority of the commenters want that. Is that what you all want?
Even TLA Advertisers are interested in Single Page ads.
Cars Lovers Space
May 3, 2007 at 9:44 am
I had see the effect of Top Commentator.
but i found that many site’s “top commentator” will be reset 0 when every month begin. is that?
J.B.Slife
May 3, 2007 at 1:13 pm
I would say only one spot per person. I like that you allow people to use any text they would like.
Tech Crunch 2.0
May 3, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Thanks Madhur Kapoor.
For some reasons my blog http://techcrunch.blogspot.com isnt able to Google bot’s attention. I have submitted the url a couple of times. The blog is not new. As far as I know, there isnt anything in the script which would stop google bot from crawling. Weird.
Ryan J. Parker
May 3, 2007 at 11:30 pm
Online Technology isn’t a symbol, it’s a general category of stuff.
Maybe I should start commenting as “iPod”, “Cisco Routers”, “JohnTP”, hell, whoever I want to anchor bomb I should just go ahead and do it… because it makes sense… right??
Any marketing plan that involves this strategy shows that the owner/blogger/whatever doesn’t have a true sense of what web marketing is all about. Sure the links will help, but it’s not going to make a big difference over the long haul.
Focus on creating something worth reading or talking about and you’ll have plenty of visitors.
Robert Irizarry
May 4, 2007 at 3:14 am
I also use the Top Commentators plugin and while I don’t take exception to folks using anchor text, I would expect that they police themselves in terms of what is appropriate for what is essentially a “family oriented” blog on guitar design and ergonomics. Fortunately, I haven’t had any issues with that.
John - I agree that commentators shouldn’t attempt to game the system by creating multiple instances of anchor text. However, I imagine the situation could arise if someone has decided to move to a different bit of text.
Cars Lovers Space - the reset is a function that is set within the Top Commentators plugin. Resetting it gives others the opportunity for some visibility. It’s not meant as a permanent link. For that, there’s Text Link Ads - you just have to pay for it.
Ronald
May 5, 2007 at 11:34 am
hehehe… This is a rock game :). I think we must fill the comment corresponding with the topic. just it.
Ron
May 10, 2007 at 9:12 pm
subhash - I thought that’s no problem when John has reset the commentator list, right?
Court
May 15, 2007 at 8:30 am
I don’t really like it when people add keywords in for their name at all. It seems like it should be more of a social, community thing and it cheapens it when people are commenting just for an SEO benefit.
Chris Gray
June 3, 2007 at 3:05 am
- I have to agree…comments are meant for adding additional value to a post and not for a SEO benefit to the comment author. With that being said, I don’t typically click a commenter’s link if it contains a bunch of spammy keywords.
MoneyNing
June 3, 2007 at 11:58 am
This commentator thing is definitely being abused. I think most site owners can combat it with spam filters and exclude names pretty easily though.
Technology At Hand
June 5, 2007 at 11:16 am
From Now on.. I will try this one and see the result.. And let them fin my name on my about page.. Cool Idea..
Kingjacob
June 28, 2007 at 6:21 am
A google search for “top commentators” helped me find your blog so theres another bonus to the feature.
Make money online witha 12 years old kid
August 20, 2007 at 6:50 pm
yeah i think we will get some cool backlinks but i hate spamming