$1,000 SEO contest announcement (over $3,000 in total prizes possible)

$1,000 IN COLD HARD CASH!
SEO CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT!​

I'm proud to announce a $1,000 dollar Search Engine Optimization contest. The contest is limited to 5 entrants, and will commence once all five entrants are selected. This post is veeeeeeeeery long, so only the strong will survive through it all. If anyone has questions about this contest, PM me with those.

I own a web design and software development company, and I purchase about $2,000 dollars worth of links/services/etc. in my own SEO activities. If any potential entrant needs references from any other members of DP, I will be happy to hunt some down for you to verify my legitimacy.

Entry Guidelines:

1. Each entrant must be a member of DigitalPoint. I am not offering this contest on any other forum, or to the general public at large.
2. You must have an iTrader of at least 5, with no negative feedback. I will wave the no negative feedback rule if you can get the person who provided the negative feedback to give me assurance that you've worked out whatever issue caused the negative iTrader point(s).
3. You must post in this thread, telling me why you are appropriate for this contest. I would love to see experienced SEO people applying, but being a newbie isn't a problem at all (in fact, it might help if it makes you a little more motivated to win). Give me all the reasons why you should be considered for a spot in the contest.
4. You should send me 1, and ONLY 1, PM letting me know of your application in this thread. People spamming me with PMs will be dropped from consideration, and will possibly get a negative REP from me.
5. If your English is absolutely atrocious, it is going to hurt you in the decision making process. I know that there are a lot of non-native English speaking people here, and the contest is open to you as long as you can produce coherent English sentences.

Contest Description
The Contest involves optimizing a website for 5 keywords that I have chosen. Each contestant will get a website (that I will retain ownership in) with a similar domain name. Each website sells the exact same product, and has 4-5 pages of initial content.

Contestants can have me change website keywords, meta tags, page titles, content, or images as often as they need. Since I use a CMS package (DotNetNuke), contestants can manage the website themselves if they desire. This is not a requirement however, and I don't expect everyone to have the same level of technical aptitude.

Contestants can also have me add pages to their website, but this is limited to 1 page per day, unless they can manage the website itself. The CMS system is fairly easy to use for a novice, and I will provide unlimited technical support for those wishing to manage their own site.

The contest will last for 6 months, and the winner will be determined using a points system, listed below. If a contestant does no work, or makes no contact with me for a period of seven days, they will be dropped from the contest, and that position will be opened to another contestant. Activity may be something as simple as sending me an email updating that week's work (or non-work, as may be the case). I expect open and frequent communication. I will provide all contestants with their own email address to use for the contest, and they will have my own private email address. Revealing this email address to any other member of DP is grounds for dismissal from the contest!

Contest Websites Topics
I sell affordable websites through my own website, and I have setup 5 subsidiary websites that sell the same products. These web design services are available on a subscription basis, and the pricing is the same for each website. Contestants may change product pricing, as long as the prices do not drop below the minimum dollar amount (all pricing is at the minimum amounts at the outset of the project).

The contest websites will be revealed here for all members to view. Contestants may recruit other DP members to assist in the contest, but these assistants are not eligible for any of the prizes. Contestants are free to share the prize money with anyone who has assisted them, but those looking to work as an assistant should beware that any promise of remuneration made by contestants are not enforceable. If a dispute arises, it will have to be worked out between the parties involved. I WILL NOT ACT AS INTERMEDIARY.

Keywords to optimize
The keywords to optimize for each site are the same, and are fairly competitive keywords. Since I'm judging all contestants on their SEO skills, competitive keywords are needed to keep everyone honest. I don't want someone "lucking into" a win in this contest. I want legitimate contenders to have a legitimate chance. The keywords are:

1. Affordable Website
2. Affordable Web Design
3. Inexpensive Website
4. Inexpensive Web Design
5. Cheap Website

These keywords are not negotiable, and will factor heavily into the point structure below. (one exception is available - see the rules below)

Official Contest Rules
1. Each contestant must maintain contact with me by email at least once every 7 days, or they will be dropped and a new contestant will be chosen to take their place.

2. SEO techniques will be decided by each contestant. No guidelines or suggestions are available outside these rules.

3. No blackhat techniques. Since each website is a member of my 100's of websites, and will have links to and from many of my sites (after the contest), I do not want to become a part of a bad neighborhood. If I find out of any blackhat techniques, you will immediately be banned from the contest, receive a negative REP entry, and if necessary, I will report you to Google. This is how serious I am about this rule.

4. A contestant may drop out at any time by sending me an email requesting withdrawal from the contest. A contestant who drops out becomes ineligible for any of the prizes.

5. SEO teams are welcome, as long as one of the team members meets the entry guidelines listed above.

6. The keywords set out in the section above are the only keywords that count towards the point system (see below). Other keywords may be optimized on to assist in the process, but rankings for those keywords do not count towards the final tally

7. Each contestant may choose one additional keyword (outside of the 5 "official" keywords) that they can optimize on. No two contestants can have the same sixth keyword, and each keyword must be approved before the contest starts. This keyword should match the topic of the website described above.

8. Scoring will be updated in this thread once every 1 or 2 weeks until the final month, when updates will be available every 2 days.

9. DP members may make suggestions about each website on this thread, but derogatory or insulting behavior will be reported to a DP mod, who may or may not take action.

10. The contest start and end dates will be posted by me in this thread. Contest will run approximately 180 days. I want to make it through 2 Google PR updates before the contest ends. If we hit the end of the contest, and only 1 update has been performed by Google, the extension of the contest will be at my sole discretion.

11. All monies paid out for prizes will be paid through Paypal. NO EXCEPTIONS. If you do not have access to a Paypal account, you are not eligible for this contest unless you want to run as an "audited" contestant (meaning you get no prize money, regardless of how you do).

12. If backlinks show up from "bad neighborhoods", those will not count towards any point totals.

13. Contestants may use any whitehat SEO technique, but I will not be paying expenses for any technique that costs money. I want this to work as organically as possible. If you want to spend your own money, that's up to you. If you do spend money, I will not reimburse you for those expenses. EXCEPTION: each contestant will get $10 to spend here on DP for any service they desire for their SEO work. Another $10 will be provided 30 prior to contest's end.

14. Any rule changes or clarifications will be noted in this thread and emailed to all contestants. If a rule change affects the contest too much, contestants may petition to have it rescinded by PMing me, emailing me, and posting in this thread. If a general consensus of the forum users deem the rule change to be deleterious, I will change it back. I DON'T FORESEE ANY RULE CHANGES.

15. Winner's contest website must have a PR of 3 and at least 1,000 backlinks (as found at the Link Popularity tool listed below in the Point System section). If no contestant matches this criteria, then each will get the consolation prize listed below in the Prizes section.

16. Sales made on the websites will result in payment being made to contestant in the amount equal to one month of the subscription sold. For example, if a $22.95 monthly subscription was sold, contestant receives $22.95 immediately. I hope to use this as motivation to provide solid pages that converts traffic to customers.

17. Keyword positioning will be calculated in a 1 hour time period each week on Sunday evening at 10:00 Mountain Time using my computer. The same computer will be used each week to assure that the data center is the same for all contestants. A contestant may not dispute the keyword rankings found unless they have reason to believe a large error was made on my part. Keep in mind that the data center used by me, and the rankings I check, are all based on Google's U.S. data and searches.

18. In case of a tie, here are the tie breakers (in order):
a. The most Google backlinks
b. If still no winner, then the higher PR
c. If still no winner, then the most sales volume
d. If still no winner, then the contestant with the most user registrations
e. If still no winner, then I will split the winner's prize!

19. Contestants found cheating in the contest will be automatically disqualified. Examples of cheating:
a. falsifying sales records (IP addresses are stored)
b. spamming user registrations
c. using blackhat techniques
d. using any other technique not considered ethical, legal, or within proper SEO guidelines


Point System
The most important part of the contest is gauging how well each contestant is doing. This point system will not change. If you have a complaint about the point system, understand that each competitor has to live under the same system.

1. Pagerank points: (actual Pagerank will be found on a well known site)
a. PR1 - 30 points
b. PR2 - 150 points
c. PR3 - 750 points
d. PR4 - 3,750 points
e. PR5 - 20,000 points
f. PR6 - 100,000 points
g. PR7 - 500,000 points
h. PR8 - NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE! (1,000,000 points)
i. PR9 or PR10 - IMPOSSIBLE! (10,000,000 points)

2. Backlink points: (calculated using http://www.submitexpress.com/linkpop)
a. Google backlinks: 10 points for each backlink
b. Yahoo backlinks: 1 points for each backlink
c. MSN backlinks: 1/2 point for each backlink
d. Other SE backlinks: 1/4 point for each backlink

3. Inner Page PR points: (actual Pagerank)
a. PR1 - 1 point for each page with PR1
b. PR2 - 2 points for each page with PR2
c. PR3 - 5 points for each page with PR3
d. PR4 - 10 points for each page with PR4
e. PR5 - 25 points for each page with PR5
f. PR6 - 50 points for each page with PR6
g. PR7 - 500 points for each page with PR7

4. Extraordinary Backlinks: (must be from relevant sites)
a. Homepage link from PR5 site: 500 points
b. Homepage link from PR6 site: 1,000 points
c. Homepage link from PR7 site: 5,000 points
d. Homepage link from PR8 site: 10,000 points
e. Homepage link from PR9 site: 100,000 points
f. Homepage link from PR10 site: IMPOSSIBLE! (1,000,000 points)

5. Keyword Ranking Points:
a. Keyword in top 100 in Google: 100 points
b. Keyword in top 10 in Google: 5,000 points
c. Keyword in top position in Google: 50,000 points
d. Keyword in top 100 in Yahoo: 20 points
e. Keyword in top 10 in Yahoo: 1,000 points
f. Keyword in top position in Yahoo: 10,000 points
g. Keyword in top 100 in MSN: 10 points
h. Keyword in top 10 in MSN: 500 points
i. Keyword in top position in MSN: 5,000 points
j. 1 keyword in top 10 in all 3 SEs: 10,000 bonus points
k. 1 keyword in top spot in all 3 SEs: 25,000 bonus points
l. All Keywords in top 10 in all 3 SEs: 100,000 bonus points
m. All keywords in top position in all search engines: 500,000 bonus points

6. User registrations at website points:
a. First 10: 10 points each
b. 11-100: 25 points each
c. 101-1,000: 50 points each
d. 1,000+: 100 points each

7. Sales Points: (each website will sell the same 5 packages)
a. Package 1: 100 points each
b. Package 2: 200 points each
c. Package 3: 300 points each
d. Package 4: 500 points each
e. Package 5: 1,000 points each

8. Additional Keyword points: (as chosen by each contestant)
a. Google top 100 ranking: 100 points
b. Google top 10 ranking: 5,000 points
c. Google top position: 50,000 points
d. Yahoo top 100 ranking: 20 points
e. Yahoo top 100 ranking: 1,000 points
f. Yahoo top position: 10,000 points
g. MSN top 100 ranking: 10 points
h. MSN top 10 ranking: 200 points
i. MSN top position: 2,000 points
j. Keyword in top 10 in all 3 SEs: 10,000 bonus points
k. Keyword in top spot in all 3 SEs: 25,000 bonus points

Prizes
Winner will receive:
1. $1,000 in cash. The money will be sent through Paypal only.
2. A position with my company if they desire doing SEO work.
3. The ability to sell as many links on their contest website as they like, as long as outbound home page links are kept to 8 or less.
4. Commission from me every time a sale goes through the website they promoted (see rules above for payment amounts).
5. A giant pat on the back!

Consolation prizes: (everyone but the winner)
1. The ability to sell 10 sitewide links on the website they promoted.
2. $50 consolation prize. The money will be sent through Paypal only.
3. A smaller pat on the back!

Benchmark Bonuses: (available to winner only)
1. PR6 website: $100.00 bonus
2. PR7 website: $500.00 bonus
3. PR8 website: $1,000.00 bonus
4. Sales volume above $1,000: $50.00 bonus
5. Sales volume above $10,000: $500.00 bonus
6. 1,000 user registrations or above: $100.00 bonus
7. 10,000 user registrations or above: $200.00 bonus
[NOTE: bonuses are cumulative, so a contestant with a website of PR8 would receive $1,600.00 and a contestant with a sales volume above $10,000 would receive $550.00 as a bonus]

Conclusion
Whew, now that I'm at the end of the longest post of my life, I want to wish everyone good luck. Remember to post in this thread and send me a PM if you wish to enter the contest.

BTW, I've archived this post at my website:

http://www.fastwebsitesolutions.com/Home/SEOContest/tabid/1911/Default.aspx

 

I think you forgot to mention a few things...LOL..

DL

 

Such as? What have I forgotten?

 

Is there no interest in this at all?

If I were to raise the prize to $2,500, would I have any takers?

 

i like the idea, the money isn't a problem at all,but the time is whats the killer. nobody wants to do a contest for 6 months. hell in 6 months someone might hit it big and drop out of your contest.

a lot can happen in 6 months and no offense but even 2,500$ isnt gonna gain much interest for a 6 month job were you either win or not.

 

I suggest you reduce the time to 3 months or 2 months if possible.

 

If I make it a contest between now and the next Google PR update, do I have any takers?

 

nobody knows when that is so its probably even worse offer.

 

you chose some very competitive keywords and it would take a lot of effort to just get listed 1,000 is way to low try adding an extra 0 to your number and multiplying by 2 or more

 

I would only spend 6 months on a site of my own

If I got PR10 in that contest I'd be really annoyed handing the site back to you

 

So I guess if I enter... and I'm the only contestant... then I will win a grand...


Count me in

Nah I do some SEO work for clients, myself, and also entered the rapidshare forums contest a couple months ago and came a very close second (meh you spend just $30 and sh*t all time what do you expect? How about 12th in google for rapidshare ... was 9th when I sold the site )

Anyway, I'm speaka da english quite well, have bucketloads of iTrader, posts and rep (the 1 negative iTrader is a joke.. just look at what he wrote lol, completely silly )

Oh and did I mention I've written an SEO book? Well I have now.

Sooo, anyone else want to enter? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? I guess we better just declare me the winner now then!

 

how about low iTrader people like me who doesn't really asks for iTraders? I mean you want newbies to enter and most of the newbie SEO's probably don't have iTrader yet.

 

the same to me

 

Can I take part in

 

I will apply for the contest, have too much time on my hands anyway. I have little experience on SEO (not enough funds to get sites started), but I have been reading up and learning alot. I am a fast pace leaner so by now i know alot. I would love to enter this contest as it will give me a great opportunity to test out my skills along side some of the greats.

 

I apologize for taking so long to get to everyone.

The contest is still open, and I will give a shot to newbies with low or zero iTrader.

Anyone interested, please PM me.

@Odin: I received your PM, and you're entered in the contest.

Official rules changes and clarifications:

1) The contest will last only until 2 weeks after the next Google update. The start date is July 1.
2) Because of the shortened time span, the original $1000 prize still stands.
3) I will be creating each website brand new with as many pages as you'd like - I'll also be purchasing whatever domain name you want (provided it's available). The content creation (copywriting, etc.) will be up to you, but I will deploy it to the website.

 

sounds fair, pm underway. and commission is also good on sales.

 

I think you should have cash prizes for runner ups also. A $50 consolation prize is not worth it IMHO. If you are willing to raise the prize money to $2500, then you should devise something like $1000 for winner, $750 for first runner up, $500 for second runner up and maybe $350 for the next one and $250 for the last person (since you only want 5 entrants). At least it will motivate others to participate.

 

Yeah saves everyone going omg rochow is in it all I'll get is $50 at best

Sorry, just had to say that, one of those moods. Been out all night, it's late and about to go off to bed...

 

What do you consider "blackhat" ?