First an annoucement and then a link tip so please don’t quit reading because you’ve already heard about the SEMMYS…
Thankfully those of us working in the SEO/SEM industry aren’t on strike or we’d have far fewer articles to fill nomination spots for the new SEMMYS.
The SEMMYS are a collection of search marketing blog posts our friend Matt McGee showcased on his blog, Small Business SEM during 2007. There are 15 categories including, SEO, Local Search, Analytics, Rants and of course the most prestigious one (cough) – Link Building.
Yours truly is a judge in the SEO category along with Eric Enge and Andy Beal. We have a ton of articles to read through and adjudicate so I’m going to be busy for a bit.
It’s important to keep in mind the articles selected are from Matt’s weekly round-up lists, he had quite the collection in 2007. There wasn’t a nomination or selection process so in the future it might be a good idea to suck up to Matt when you see him around the conferences.
Which is the other point I want to make about the SEMMYS in addition to announcing them.
This was a stroke of genius on Matt’s part IMO, think about it… If you’re an up-and-comer in SEO you’ll work hard to get on Matt’s radar by linking to and writing about him.
In turn (and here is where the genius comes in) Matt is going to get:
- A ton of on topic relevant editoral links which will probably
- Sit in content areas within a blog or site and
- Come from thematically related sites/blogs
Now if you’re an old-and-been-arounder like me, and were either nominated, asked to judge or just annouce SEO news, you’re going to link to Matt’s site which means he’s going to get:
- A ton of on topic relevant editoral links which will probably
- Sit in content areas within a blog or site and
- Get a bunch of less effective but still good links embedded in his badges as well as
- Long term branding since we’re lazy bloggers and don’t take badges down and all this will
- Come from thematically related sites/blogs that have been (mostly)online for more than two years.
Hmmm. Do you think that’s the end of it and there’s no more links to squeeze of out this? Think again.
There are two hits on Google News for the search term “semmys” and I’m sure more will come when Matt issues a press release. The annoucement for the program has been Sphunn, was added to the SEL daily Search Cap, made Gooruze, SE Roundtable, Cre8asite Forums, SEOBook, Bruce Clay’s Blog, Cartoon Barry, and Search Engine Guide, not to mention a ton of other sites.
Pretty impressive list of sites from the SEO community isn’t it? And you know what’s even more impressive? The contest was officially annouced earlier today (1/14/08), all this attention and all these links –in ONE DAY!
Like I said – smart move. If you’re a little-fish-in-a-big-pond, or even an old-fish-in-an-established-watering-hole and want editoral links from authority sites in your niche, this might be a good way to go about attracting them.
Do you have an opportunity like this in your industry?
Sphinn this here if you liked this post. Thanks!
Thanks for stopping by the LinkSpiel. 
lol I understand, completely… but you see my satire just added another dimension to the whole affair.
Appreciate your coming by to share your laughter at the SAMMYs and I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if you blogged about it.
Best o the best,
Sam
Yeah it may be another lovefest but come on, give the guy some credit. If he had launched this thing using articles at large instead of what was on his site, he’d get half the mentions and probably zero links TO his site.
Which WAS the point. The lovefest aside.
Looked more like a scene out of Deliverance, actually. Any new blood in there or is it all the same old yawn names?
Here’s my answer to it all… enjoy.
THE SAMMYS!
Sorry the blog was acting up, I don’t know why. — Oh wait, I’m on blogger, what am I thinking?
But not for long. I’m looking forward to leaving this platform in the not so distant future!
You make a good point Miriam about looking at everthing through link eyes. More webmasters should do it, would help everyone if they did!
Matt did a good thing for himself and the SEO Community. It’s going to be fun to watch.
Hi Debra -
It works, it works! I am so grateful to you for helping me with my question regarding this blog
I really got a lot out of looking at the SEMMYs through your linkmaster eyes. I couldn’t help thinking about this as I posted my little badge on my blog, and thought of the other 100+ authors doing this, too!
It’s such a good example of how an exiting happening makes links happen. We literally rushed to put up our icon because we felt so proud, were so excited about Matt’s idea, and so eager to share the news. That’s just a great situation, all ’round.
This is my first comment on your blog, Debra, but I’m hoping to chat with you more along the way.
Miriam
That was a joke, Debra.
I’ve agreed to be a judge for the SEMMYs, and I agree it was a very well crafted campaign. I have often complimented Matt on his prowess in marketing. I actually expect this sort of execution from him (poor guy).
I’d love to see more SEOs study campaigns like these and learn SEO from them… the way the topic encouraged naturally embedded anchor text, the way the collection of judges assigned to differently-themed pages led to inbound links from SEO blogs to those sub-theme pages, the way it encouraged the best on the web in subtheme “A” to deep link to subtheme “A” page because they were nominated, awarded, etc.
Oh and I may have been joking about the Emmy’s suing him, but I wasn’t kidding. If they do (and they might, because they can) you can rest assured Matt will benefit significantly from the action (with links, attention, support, etc). I’m guessing he knows that, even if it was a strategic decision to phonetically mimic the Emmy Awards (I don’t expect it was strategic; just opportunistic).
This is what we do in every market. Given the chance to watch it done well inside search marketing, study it and learn.
Thanks for the encouragement Debra..^^..you’re right eventhough we are still a small fish we must move even just little by little..^^
LOL John, you are full of all kinds of good cheer today!
Hah hah.. wait until he gets sued by the Emmy Awards and then you’ll see the real links appear!
Thanks for the kind words, Deb.
But before I get accosted at the next conference, let me say that I hope next year’s SEMMYs have nothing to do with my reading and linking habits. If the industry likes the idea of an awards for content, I hope we’ll form some kind of advisory board to figure out a better way to include a wide variety of authors. There may be 100+ authors nominated now, but that’s a drop in the bucket of our industry!