Want to conduct the easiest Googlebomb search engine optimization ever? If so, then I say we target Bob Latta, the Republican candidate in the special election for Ohio's fifth congressional district. This really will be easy. Currently, a Google search on Bob Latta turns up his Ohio state legislature page as the first result, his campaign website as the second result, and this as the third result:
Casas Elegantes is a small, very personalized rental agency.
We specialize in the finest vacation rentals in San Miguel de Allende. The business is owned and operated by retired Gringo, Bob Latta, who lives full time in San Miguel. Bob, an Arkansas native, retired after a successful 33 year career in sales for ITW/Signode Corporation and moved to San Miguel. After settling in San Miguel with his wife Carol, Bob started Casas Elegantes to bring a new dimension to the vacation home rental business.
Wow. At first, I thought it was too late for a Googlebomb search engine campaign in OH-05, but when I saw that this was the third result on Google searches for Bob Latta, I knew it was still doable. Swing State Project is the fourth result. The DCCC, blog, The Stakeholder, is the fifth. A professor of biology at the University of Toronto is the sixth. An Ohio GOP blog is seventh, Breaking Blue on MyDD is eighth, a bank manger in Palo Alto is ninth, and As Ohio Goes, another Ohio progressive blog, rounds out the top ten.
Without even trying that hard, four progressive blogs are already in the top ten for searches on Bob Latta. With a little effort over the weekend, we should have no problem pushing whatever we want on Latta not only in the top ten, but possibly even above his campaign and state legislature website. On Monday and Tuesday, that could turn into a few thousand effective voter contacts.
Here are the articles I suggest we target:
- Bob Latta: "Ohio Elections Commission rebukes Latta for lies about foe," from the excellent local paper the Toledo Blade. This should be the top target, although it does talk about the primary campaign instead of the general.
- Bob Latta: "Prison doesn't bar Noe from political controversy, Weirauch ads use 'Coingate' figure against rival Latta" also from the Toledo Blade. A pretty good target, too. Not to second guess myself, but maybe this should be the top target.
- Bob Latta: "DCCC turns up heat in solidly GOP district," from the Politco. Not bad, but the source of the article isn't as good as the Toledo Blade. Also, I wonder if the title will help or hurt undecided voter psychology. Will voters who see this article think "oh, all my neighbors vote Republicans, so I should too," or will they think "hmmm, people around here are turning away from Republicans, so I should too"? Hard to say, but it still might be worth a shot if you don't like either of the first two articles.
Here is how you can participate. Whenever you write about Bob Latta, embed a hyperlink to the news article of your choice above. If you have a blog, stick your preferred Bob Latta hyperlink in the template of your blog (more info on how to do this, and why it is important, can be found here). If you don't have a blog, embed your preferred hyperlink into your signature line. BlogPac will purchase in-district Google ads in the district to help out the campaign, and measure how many voter contacts it makes.
Why will this work? Because the most common political action people take online is to look for more information about candidates, and they look for that information on search engines. This technique is designed to direct OH-05 voters looking for information on this campaign to local news articles we want those voters to read. Effectively, it increases the reach of potentially negative press on Republican candidates.
So, let's give this a shot. We are already doing quite well on Google results for Bob Latta, but I think we could do even better.
Update: Alright! In only five hours the Toledo Blade onBob Latta is up to 14th in Google searches for Bob Latta. Making progress...
|
STATE BLOGS
