Enough with the schtick about persistence, dedication, strategy, and patience. You want a fast acting SEO solution and you want it bad. While battle proven SEOs tend to frown upon the shortsighted path, every once in a while it’s nice to break down and give in and do something crazy. Kind of like cheating on your diet with a nice thick slice of chocolate cake.
So let’s get to cheating with these short-term SEO blasts!
1. Extra, extra, extra!
Want to give your blog a shot in the arm? Pick a super popular news story and blog like crazy about it. You need a unique angle. Add pictures and diagrams. Throw in a home-made game based on the story if you are a programmer and have tons of time on your hands. Topics should have broad appeal – e.g. the latest Lindsay Lohan DUI – or they can be ultra-specific to your niche. For instance, if you run a blog about chemical engineering (how boring) and some dude mixes up a new polymer at M.I.T., blog about that. Add relevant pics and have some personality.
REMEMBER: If people want to read an AP story, they will read the AP story, not your knock-off version.
2. Create something ridiculous
Do you have an absolutely preposterous idea for a short YouTube video? How about a cell phone app, blog post, or even website idea that has no long-term value but may have some serious shock value? For instance, record a video of yourself jamming out to Radiohead while wearing a bunny costume in the hope that the folks at FunnyorDie will pick it up. Or create a 4-page report on how best to pet your dog.
The key: keep it short, snappy, and attention grabbing.
3. A public stunt
Any day can be April Fool’s Day, if you’ve got the right tools and imagination. Keep it legal and clean. But don’t be afraid to push the envelope. For some examples of how to do crazy stunts right, check out the early work of Tom Green and of course Ali G — a.k.a. Borat, a.k.a. Bruno. You don’t need to be hilarious. But you need to shock and attract visitors. The stunt should be believable, outrageous, and ideally involve some celebrity or politician.
Another great source for inspiration — the online magazine, The Onion.
These shot-in-the-arm SEO ideas probably won’t generate long-term revenue or build your business. But you never know! Remember, people out there are overloaded and have almost zero attention span. To break through this cloud of inattention, you need to yell really loudly or at least wear a crazy suit with $$$ signs all over it like that guy who used to do those commercials about getting free money from the government.
