How to Get Noticed Online Without Looking Like A Spammer Part II

By: Janice Wald | October 31, 2015 | Tags: best blogging tips, Google+, how to avoid looking like a spammer, Kevin Duncan, online spammer, Quora.com, Reddit, spammer definition, stumbleupon, where is self-promotion allowed?, where to link drop

Bloggers don't have to look like spammers

Do you want to know a creative Halloween costume for bloggers?

If you need a last-minute costume idea, consider going as a spammer.

Why not?

People go as vampires, monsters, werewolves and all sorts of other dreaded creatures all the time.

Spammers are dreaded.

Apparently, people consider them so ambitious in their promotion of their own blogs, that they are shunned and otherwise banned from groups that should be welcoming their wisdom instead of shutting it out.

This article is an update to How to Get Noticed Online Without Looking Like A Spammer Part I.

That post explained how to avoid looking like a spammer. This post will explain where to go so you are not saddled with that dreaded label. This post will offer places that welcome self-promotion.

Consider this quote from a commenter,

This is the hardest thing about blogging, that feeling that my mom is the only person reading.

According to blogging influencer Kevin Duncan,

It’s a tricky balance, but the art of promoting without being pushy is something all bloggers need to learn if they want to be successful.

You can be successful if you avoid the places where they reject your articles.

Places Where You Can Promote Your Blog Posts (and Not Look Like a Spammer)

Quora.com is fun, fast, easy, and allows for self-promotion. People write in and ask you questions about your area of expertise, the niche that you blog about. You explain the answers. If, while answering a question, you post a link to an article you’ve written on the topic, that is perfectly fine with the folks over at Quora.
Facebook groups exist that allow you to post your links. For example, the Promote Your Posts group allows you to leave a maximum of five posts per day. That is their only rule–no more than five. There are many groups like Promote Your Posts that allow you, even encourage you, to leave links to your articles.
Meet and Greets exist for the sole purpose of self-promotion. Bloggers like Meet and Greets, so they normally get good turnouts. The whole point is for you to leave a link. Most don’t care if you self-promote your link, your entire blog, your About page… the point is you are asked to self-promote. I have started a Community Bulletin Board, so bloggers know which bloggers are holding Meet and Greets and when.
Weekly Roundup Posts appreciate link submissions. My article How to Significantly Rise in the SEO Ranks explained how to find Weekly Roundups in your niche and how you can get a link from an authority site.
Guest Posting Some guest hosts won’t let you embed any links to your articles, others don’t care at all, while others have a two link maximum. Guest posting is a great way to get new eyes on your old articles, but make sure you know the rules of the host blogger.
JustRetweet is a site that allows you to leave your link if you pay the other members enough earned credits to promote your link for you on Twitter.
ViralContentBuzz also allows you to link drop once your link is approved by the administration. The principal is the same as Just Retweet. You allot earned credits and make a budget. Other bloggers are paid credits for promoting your links until your budget is expended.
Blogging Directories allow you to leave links to your blog. Often, your blog must be approved first.
Follow to Follow Directories Michael Rios and I each have one.
Flipboard. My article How to Get Swarms of Free Blog Traffic With Flipboard explains how to use this content curation site to add your links to magazines. When others read your articles and magazines, you have the potential for massive traffic.
Twitter. Twitter allows you to leave your links, and if you use the right hashtags, others can find your articles.
Tumblr is one of the social sharing buttons that WordPress offers. I have received traffic before from leaving my links at Tumblr.
Linky Parties are named linky parties since you are expected to leave your links to your posts.
Blog Shares work like linky parties except you are expected to share the link to your entire blog.
Google+ allows you to leave your links on your home page or in a relevant Google+ community.
StumbleUpon allows you to leave your links. However, if you want to get any real traffic from StumbleUpon, you are expected to stumble 30 other articles for each one of your own that you leave. (Note: I have recently started a StumbleUpon group for subscribers of this blog. I will happily stumble your articles for you. Other members of the group are doing the same as well.)
Reddit is the elephant in the room. Famous for its reputation for rejecting bloggers, you should be suprised to see it in this list.

Consider this comment:

I really mistrust Reddit. Totally my fault – I didn’t understand the rules when I first got on there, and when I shared a post (or five if I’m being honest) I received a ton of abuse and sarcastic comments… I need to get into it because it sent an epic amount of traffic to my blog, but the abuse made it completely not worth it!!

Mithra (TheBubbleJoy.com) wrote an entire article about the time she was banned from Reddit for doing something completely innocuous.

So, why is Reddit included in this list?

First, not all Reddit subgroups reject bloggers.

Reddit has a Follow Friday thread where you can leave your Tweets containing your links.
Not all Reddit groups consider you spammy especially if you’ve interacted first. For example, I’ve never had a problem with the Pinterest subreddit, and I’ve enjoyed traffic from it. The trick is to find a subreddit you feel comfortable in.

(Note: Michael Rios has started a Reddit group and will gladly add your links to Reddit for you if you still have reservations about trying it.)

Conclusion

In conclusion, many people have been called spammy.

[bctt tweet=”If you have been labelled a spammer, don’t feel bad. You are not alone.”]

On the other hand, many people don’t care if they are considered spammy. However, if you do care, take the tips in this post. You can still promote without feeling like you’ve done something inappropriate.

Readers, please share, so other bloggers know where they can promote their links.

Did I miss any? Can you recommend other sites that allow self-promotion? I look forward to your views.

Update:

Since writing this post, Reddit added a subreddit that allows self-promotion.

How to Grow Your Blog While You Guest Post

3 Guaranteed Ways to Get You More Online Attention

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tech189

More useful information as always! Speaking of guest posts, did you receive my email?

Reply
- Janice Wald
  
  Yes! Scheduled for late November! Thank you!
  Janice
  
  Reply
  - tech189
    
    Thank you!
    
    Reply
- Tobe Damit
  
  Did that one for you!! It does help to add the more we can!1 Those that are already added don’t need us to fill the thingy up so it’s really fats and it helps a lot to have more than one person adding it!! It makes a really big difference!!
  
  Reply
  - Janice Wald
    
    Sorry Tobe,
    I am confused by your comment “the thingy?” Are you referencing our StumbleUpon group? Many people are stumbling each other’s links over the last few hours. Exciting!
    Janice
    
    Reply
Denise

This article is a life-saver… There seems to be a really fine line between self-promotion and just ticking people off lol!! Thank you so much for this information!

Reply
- Janice Wald
  
  Hi Denise,
  Thank you so much for the kind words. I saw them yesterday, and your compliment–calling my article a “life saver” made me feel so good! There is actually an update since I wrote it. Reddit now allows self-promotion in one of their subReddits called “Promote.”
  I agree with what you wrote about the fine line. It is just sad, but it is why I wrote the article. Hopefully, these ideas I shared helps solve it. Thank you again for the wonderful compliment.
  Janice
  
  Reply
John Doe

This post was “A #1”. As usual you explained in detail how to do something the right way but also how you shave that fine line on how not to do it the wrong way You continue to be amazing. Thank you for all your advice

Reply
- Janice Wald
  
  Wow! What high praise! Thank you!
  Janice
  
  Reply
Melinda

Janice, you are my hero. (Yes, I’m imagining you in a cape.)
Nothing is worse than Spam. Shudder
Thanks for saving us from a fate worse than death!
Your BBFF,
Melinda

Reply
- Janice Wald
  
  Me in a cape? Cool! Imagine away!
  
  Reply
Keith Lunt

Well done Janice! Writing is easy; building traffic and reputation are the hardest parts of traffic so this list is really useful.

I like your idea on the weekly roundups! I’ve bookmarked your page on that in detail and will give it a go along with still trying to work out how I get going in your StumbleUpon group. I’d better follow your blog too as there’s plenty of good ideas here!

Reply
- Janice Wald
  
  HI Keith,
  1. I just came from your site–we both have Weekly Roundups!
  2. Thank you for offering to subscribe to my blog. Then perhaps, you’ll let me feature one of your posts in my International Weekly Roundup. It seems you are from the United Kingdom. I would need one with tips WP.com users could apply
  3. Our StumbleUpon group is on fire! Everyone is stumbling each other’s articles. I have had a steady stream of SU traffic since the group started. I would love to add you once you subscribe.
  4. Thank you for offering to subscribe. I would love to have you as part of my community. I would love to do a Follow for Follow. I subscribed to your very impressive blog today.
  Janice
  
  Reply
Debby Gies

This is great Janice. We could spend our entire lives online joining so many wonderful forums and social sites. I’m still trying to learn StumbleUpon, but the few times I’ve been there, I’ve found some fascinating articles. Now, I don’t know how to find anyone, including you when there? But I’ve posted your links 🙂
PS John Doe’s trick doesn’t work for me, still signing my life story in here lol

Reply
- Janice Wald
  
  Hi Debby,
  I could not find you at StumbleUpon. Do you mind looking me up the next time you are in and then I will follow you back?
  Go to Follow and enter Janice Wald in the search bar. What is your name on StumbleUpon? Thank you for posting my links.
  If you give me some of your links, I will add them to the StumbleUpon group link list I started.
  As far as John Doe’s trick, I wrote a CommentLuv expert I know. I hope you don’t mind. I iincluded you in the thread to help explain the problem if needed.
  Janice
  
  Reply
- Janice Wald
  
  Great News! I think my CommentLuv expert solved the commenting problem! Check your Email. I included you in the thread.
  Janice
  
  Reply
Richard Schulte

To anyone who considers SEO to be important (receiving traffic from search engines), absolutely don’t make Google think you’re a spammer, because your site will be penalized, perhaps severely. One way to check to see how Google might see your blog is to use the free version of opensiteexplorer from MOZ (which people should do anyway–Google it) and check your spam score. For an explanation of what this means, Google “spam score”. I personally consider SEO more important than anything else, because with a “high rank” on Google, you’ll bring in people to your blog (or website) who are making purposeful searches. This is most important if you’re trying to sell something! When you have a high domain and page authority, title your blog posts with pertinent keywords arranged like an internet search, and, provided there isn’t overwhelming competition, you’ll receive lots of visitors from Google looking specifically for the material in your blog post!

Reply
- Janice Wald
  
  Hi Richard,
  You are very knowledgeable, and I am impressed. My readers are very interested in SEO. I would invite you to guest post, but we still haven’t used the last guest post you wrote for me! It will either be this Tuesday or the following Tuesday. I will let you know tomorrow night if I am using it this Tuesday so you have the link via Email.
  As far as your comments, you got me kind of worried. I went to https://moz.com/researchtools/ose/ and put in my URL. I could not understand if Google is penalizing me. I run a linky party with a large group of women,I have to post three winning pins a week to a Pinterest board, but it’s no follow. Should I see if I can get out of this mandate? Some days Google is higher than others, but I don’t know how high it should be. Search engines comprise my all-time most frequent traffic referrer. However, today, I do not have any search engine referrals. On a Sunday I would think I’d have a lot.
  Can you please do me a favor and put my link in the moz site? https://mostlyblogging.com and let me know if you find I am being penalized. Thanks,
  Your concerned friend,
  Janice
  
  Reply
  - Janice Wald
    
    PS, Thank you for your comments on my article.
    Janice
    
    Reply
  - Richard Schulte
    
    I’ll look into it right now! Link exchanges used to be a popular way to game Google. Google now generally frowns upon the practice, especially if lots of links are involved–that’s my understanding. Links are best earned organically for high quality content, not negotiated, or self-created. Sure, one can create some backlinks by being clever at the margins, but it’s a practice that should be done with extreme care. Google wants things to be honest and straightforward. It does its best to reward high quality, well-liked, original content. And that’s probably the way it ought to be!
    
    Reply
    - Richard Schulte
      
      Oh, I forgot to mention. No-follow links have next to zero SEO effect, as far as I understand things. Lots of them are fine.
      
      Reply
      - Richard Schulte
        
        Here’s a great tool to easily distinguish regular links from no-follow links:
        
        https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/nodofollow/
Mithra Ballesteros

Hi Janice,

Thank you for linking to my post about being banned. Thought I’d update you on that. Though I am still banned and my original post was removed, somehow I still get regular traffic from Reddit. It’s a mystery.

Reply
- Janice Wald
  
  Hi Mithra,
  Thank you for writing. It was my pleasure to finally link to your article you know I found so valuable.
  Regarding Reddit: You are not the first person to report this. Others wrote that they were abused by the people Reddit but received so much traffic, they had to weight whether it was worth it. Great to hear from you today. Thanks for visiting me and updating me.
  Janice
  
  Reply
- Janice Wald
  
  Hi Mithra,
  Thank you so much for following my blog. I did not know when I wrote you earlier. What a surprise! Thank you! I am flattered!
  Janice
  
  Reply
- Richard Schulte
  
  Two things:
  
  1) Being banned on Reddit hurts a website in no other way. It’s just a filter unique to Reddit.
  2) You can contact a subreddit moderator and see if they’ll release a particular Reddit share from their filter–many are sympathetic.
  
  Reply
Kristy as Giftie Etcetera

Interaction is the key to sharing your blog. I might spend 4 months interacting before I ever share a post, but then people take my post much more seriously.

Reply
- Janice Wald
  
  Hi Kristie,
  My response is Wow! Some people don’t understand the importance of networking. I read it on other people’s blogs. They try to encourage their readers to network, but they don’t. They prefer to hope people interact with them. I’m actually holding a Meet and Greet today just so people can interact with each other. Thanks for writing about the value of interaction and for visiting me today.
  Janice
  
  Reply
Brian

Hi Janice,

I came across this post from the SITS linky party, and I’m so glad I did. We’re a new blog and although we try to promise folks no spam (except for the tasty kind), getting the hang of the balance is rather challenging. I’ve bookmarked this post and followed you on Stumbleupon so we can try to get our social media and promotion elements on track. Now, to get lost in the “bloggy black hole” of wonderful advice you have on your site… Looks like I have some homework. Lol. Thanks for an awesome post!

Reply
- Janice Wald
  
  Hi Brian,
  Welcome to my site.
  1. I followed you back on StumbleUpon. Thanks for the follow. Are you aware I have a StumbleUpon group for subscribers of my blog?! I am really excited about it.
  2. Thank you for the wonderful comments about my blogging advice articles. I write posts like these four times a week. If you subscribe to my blog, they will go to your Email each time I publish, and you I will stumble your links for youand so will the other members of our group.
  I took the liberty of getting you a link. Scroll down to “Follow my Blog” and put in your Email.
  http://wp.me/P6x6vQ-hM
  Thanks!
  Janice
  
  Reply
Mark

Thanks for the heads up about reddit Janice!

Although I’ve seen and heard quite a bit about the platform, I’ve yet
to have actually use it.

Thanks for sharing all these awesome resources!

BTW, your excellent post, could very easily be converted into
60-90 minute , “how to” webinar, with some sort cheat sheet.

And then you could easily offer some sort of paid, one on one coaching/consulting
element on the back end!

It’s honestly that good!I’d gladly pay for that type of proven expertise!

And thanks for making us aware of your StumbleUpon group! That seems like
an awesome resource, all by it’s self!LOL!Thanks!

I’m definitely sharing this one!

Reply
- Janice Wald
  
  Hi Mark,
  1. Thank you for the share.
  2. You sound very knowledgeable about marketing. I sent you an Email in order to pick your brain. I hope that is okay.
  3. I am definitely interested in making more money from blogging by following your suggestions. Let’s “discuss” over Email.
  4. Thank you for the kind words about my StumbleUpon group. You said you were interested in subscribing to my list. Once I receive notification, I’d be happy to stumble your links for you. The group is my way of saying thank you to my blog subscribers. I’m sure you understand subscriber incentives.
  I am looking forward to connecting your knowledge of marketing with my knowledge of social media. Thank you for reaching out. As I indicated in my response to your last comments, I am excited about our connection.
  Janice
  
  Reply