Something that is rarely is considered is how search engine optimization can actually hurt you. In my business, as a search engine optimization professional I rarely think of just how SEO could be used to in hurtful ways, however most recently the general public seems to be picking up on internet marketing. The following example gives absolute evidence that links are still so very important.
The Ugliness of SEO
Most recently Sam Beckbessinger who is an article writer for Memmeburn had written a piece about Rick Santorum who has felt the consequences of just how nasty search engine optimization can be. According to the article that I had read, Santorum had made some ugly statements about the homosexual community and actually compared it to beastiality in some cases. Dan Savage is a popular blogger among the gay community and also a gay activist. Once he had heard of Rick Santorum’s comments he immediately launched a campaign to answer back to Rick Santorum’s comments. His goal ultimately was to redefine the meaning of Santorum’s last name in the SERPS (search engine results pages). Dan Savage it come out in his blog and directly asked for readers and supporters to suggest new definitions for Santorum’s last name. The purpose of this was to find a definition that would be completely appalling to not only Rick Santorum but his constituents as well. Ultimately you can find the definition that one by simply searching for “Santorum” or “Rick Santorum” and you will find the very first result as the definition.
In the end Savage requested as many of his friends and readers to link to the new definition for Santorum which took Savage’s newly created site up to the very 1st place in the search engines. As a matter of fact if you search for “Santorum” or “Rick Santorum” in Google’s search engines, you will see Savage’s definition of Santorum as the very 1st result. I would assume that a campaign like this has caused undefined damage to Mr. Santorum’s campaign. The site, eight years later after Santorum’s comments still ranks in the 1st position.
The biggest thing that I learned from this debacle was just how important inbound links are. Although the website www.spreadingSantorum.com does not have “useful content” and is really a definition at the end of the day, so there is not much in the way of content throughout the site. This one-page has well over 100,000 links and up a page rank of five. It is apparent just how powerful well-placed links can be.
Also something that is of interest is that Savage’s site has a page rank of five. So even though his site is one page, with one outgoing link Google has assigned it a page rank of five which is highly reputable. This again shows how powerful links can be. I know that many search engine optimization professionals have discounted the effects of page rank; however, it still seems that it is a good indicator of popularity at least.