As many of you probably know, there are several new SEO Contests going on via other sites and forums at the moment.
Currently the largest new SEO contests I am aware of are basically the same as past SEO Contests, with the exception that some of the prizes are larger for the top positions (1st through 5th positions).
While I believe these other SEO contests will provide some useful data to analyze, I personally would be more interested in
a series of SEO Contests where each contest is held with a strict set of defined rules in order to more easily learn from the results.
This first contest I personally would be interested in holding would rule out
any age factors of a domain name and any advantage of being
the first to have registered the keyword filled domain (of course only for those of you that believe it may give you a small advantage)).
Everyone
starts off on a more
equal playing field.
SEO Contest 1:
The Theme: To Entertain, To Educate, To Give
The Keyword Phrase: "retsambew dash klat for Charity"
retsambew = "webmaster" backwords | dash = a "-" | klat = "talk" backwords. You could perceive it to mean a couple different things. One being that if you are talking about the contest you are probably a "webmaster" "talking" which it may be in essence helping out a Charity. I didn't want to add any additional keywords because it might make the keyword phrase to long. (that was for you John) 
Contest start date is Monday April 3rd and the end date is Friday September 1 (duration is approx 5 months).
1. Who can rank the highest for a brand new domain for a keyword phrase "
retsambew dash klat for Charity" in Google (the complete keyword phrase will currently yield 0 results in Google).
Conditions:
- You must use a brand new domain name. The registration date of the domain used must be on or after the announcement date of the contest 4/3/2006
- No remotely hosted blog domains allowed (i.e. keyword.blogspot.com) Using a Blog is fine. You just can't use a remotely hosted blog subdomain (which would not follow the no subdomain rule anyway).
- No Subdomains Allowed in any form.
- The contest keywords can not be used in the domain (with dashes or without any dashes) (subpages with the keyword is fine).
- The winning page must link to a Charity of your choice from this page on Give.org. (you must use a text link or logo with link that has at minimum the charity name).
Why a Charity? This contest is going to
be different. Because of our unique set of contest conditions, this contest will not only be entertaining but also a contest in which I feel we will be able to learn more from the results. Lets not only make it entertaining and educating but lets also give
something back to others who need it. By participating or telling others about the Webmaster-Talk.com SEO Contest you will be supporting a
good cause by giving exposure or urging others to donate to your favorite charity (the link is the only "requirement").
Additional Terms for selecting the winners:- Indented listings will not be counted as additional positions.
- If the Google Datacenters show different results on the contest ending date and time, the winner(s) will be decided by Webmaster-Talk.com Admin. Any disputes as to the winner(s) will be soley arbitrated by the Webmaster-Talk.com Admins.
- If a non-qualifying website ends up in the top 5 at the end of the contest, the next qualifying website will be awarded the prize.
- Please list an email address on your contest site. It will be used to contact you at contest end if you are in the top 5 (free email account ok). We don't want someone claiming to be someone they are not.
To Sponsor:
If you have money or a product you would be willing to donate to the 1st place (or 1st to 5th) winner (payable by Paypal) please drop me a PM.
You will be listed in this post (with a link to your website) with the amount of money or product you would be willing to donate (no free hosting offers or offers under $100 value please).
Let me know if you are interested in participating or donating a prize for the winners.
Current Prizes: (current
total cash values of $5,810.30)
1st Place:
- $325 Paypal cash from TimSchroeder
- One copy of SendStudio and one copy of TrackPoint from Interspire.com $478 value. Thanks Brendan!
- One copy of evoArticles by evo-Dev.com $247 value.
- 25,000 free email credits (each credit is worth one email to be sent) through Vertical Response. $300 value. Thanks Robert!
- One copy of Spy Sweeper and one copy Window Washer by Webroot.com (with 1yr updates) $59.90 cash value. And if you join them as an affiliate you will get one full year at 60% commissions regardless of volume. That's huge. Thanks Nicholas!
- Free Logo Design by Logo-Mojo.com. Your get the awesome Bronze Package valued at $249. Thanks Robert!
- One copy of Jim Daniel's ezWebBusinessBuilder $99 value. Jim is a true eBusiness Guru and I have no doubt it's an excellent product. Thanks Jim!
- an iPod from Dan F of Dan's Blog. $300 value. Thanks Dan!
- 500 manual directory submissions by Seoster.com ($50 value). He has yet to follow through on this prize offer.
- $250 Paypal from John Scott of the new V7n Directory. Thanks John!
2nd Place:- One copy of SendStudio and one copy of TrackPoint from Interspire.com $478 value
- One copy of evoTopsites Pro by evo-Dev.com $77 value.
- 10,000 free email credits (each credit is worth one email to be sent) through Vertical Response. $120 value.
- One copy of Spy Sweeper and one copy of Window Washer by Webroot.com (with 1yr updates) $59.90 cash value
- 300 manual directory submissions by Seoster.com ($30 value)
3rd Place:
- One copy of SendStudio and one copy of TrackPoint from Interspire.com $478 value
- 5,000 free email credits (each credit is worth one email to be sent) through Vertical Response. $60 value.
- One copy of Spy Sweeper and one copy of oWindow Washer by Webroot.com (with 1yr updates) $59.90 cash value
- 200 manual directory submissions by Seoster.com ($20 value)
4th Place:
- One copy of Spy Sweeper and one copy of Window Washer by Webroot.com (with 1yr updates) $59.90 cash value
- 2,500 free email credits (each credit is worth one email to be sent) through Vertical Response. $32.50 value.
5th Place:
- One copy of Spy Sweeper and one copy of Window Washer by Webroot.com (with 1yr updates) $59.90 cash value
- 1,000 free email credits (each credit is worth one email to be sent) through Vertical Response. $15 value.
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The Retsambew Dash Klat for Charity SEO Contest ended with 513,000 results in Google. That's not to bad considering the rule set.
Thanks to all who participated and to all those who have sponsored this contest. It's really a great list of prizes.
The winners of Webmaster-Talk.com's First SEO Contest, Retsambew Dash Klat for Charity, are as follows:
1st place:
Retsambew Dash Klat for Charity
Domain Registration Date: 04-Apr-2006
Chosen Charity: The Voice of the Martyrs at
The Voice of the Martyrs
2nd place:
Retsambew dash klat for Charity
Domain Registration Date: 03-Apr-2006
Chosen Charity: Big Cat Rescue at
Big Cat Rescue
3rd place:
Retsambew Dash Klat for Charity
Domain Registration Date: 03-Apr-2006
Chosen Charity: Action Against Hunger at
Action Against Hunger - Innovative Programs in the Fight Against Hunger
4th place:
retsambew dash klat for Charity
Domain Registration Date: 03-Apr-2006
Chosen Charity: Autism Society of America at
Autism Society of America: Autism Society of America Home Page
5th place:
Retsambew dash klat for Charity
Domain Registration Date: 17-May-2006
Chosen Charity: The Christopher Reeve Foundation at
Home | Christopher Reeve Foundation
