About Searching for John McCain
Searching for John McCain is an online action designed that utilizes hundreds of simultaneous, identical, embedded hyperlinks in order to place revealing, important news articles on John McCain in front of fifteen million voters who are searching for information on John McCain in Google. With only one minute of effort, you can join the campaign yourself.
More information about the campaign, including why we are doing it and how it works, can be found by reading my first diary on the subject here.
Goal
The goal for Searching John McCain is to place three articles in the top ten Google searches for both John McCain and McCain, three in the second ten for both searches, and three in the third ten for both searches. In 2004, 35 million Americans searched for information on the two candidates, and in 2008 I estimate that number will reach 50 million. If we can place revealing articles about McCain in 30% of the top slots for those searches, we should reach 15 million Americans. At a rate of 11 effective contacts before voter persuasion kicks in, the target is to persuade 1.3 million Americans with these articles, or 1% of the electorate.
How to Participate
For newcomers, here is how you can participate in the campaign:
1. Blogroll John McCain: If you have a website of your own, ven a Facebook page or a MySpace page, create a blogroll link for either McCain or John McCain, that links to one of the nine articles listed below.
2. Sign John McCain: Put an embedded John McCain link to one of these nine article in your signature line on all community websites where you are registered. Choose any one of the nine articles listed below that you like.
3. Comment on John McCain: Whenever you write the words John McCain or McCain online, makes sure to do so with an embedded link to one of the nine articles below. Choose any of the nine that you link.
And that is all you have to do.
Progress
The campaign has started well, but we still have a lot of work to do. Here are detailed updates on the nine articles used in the campaign:
1–John McCain Votes to Filibuster Minimum Wage Hike. 42nd on “John McCain“, 37th on “McCain“
2–McCain housing policy shaped by lobbyist: 47th on John McCain”, 46th on “McCain”
3–Bush, McCain plug Social Security: Not in top 100 for either search.
4–McCain blasts Obama’s and Clinton’s attacks on NAFTA: 65th on “John McCain,” not in top 100 for “McCain”
5–McCain in NH: Would Be “Fine” To Keep Troops in Iraq for “A Hundred Years”: 22nd on “John McCain “, 74th on “McCain“
6–McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion: 74th on “John McCain” not in top 100 for “McCain.”
7–Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition: 51st on “John McCain,” not in top 100 for “McCain.”
8–McCain says overturn the law that legalized abortion: 49th on “John McCain”, not in top 100 for “McCain.”
9–McCain Defends Bush’s Iraq Strategy: 29th on “John McCain” 22nd on “McCain.”
So far, the most successful SEO targets have been #1, #2, #5 and #9, although 3% and #9 are “pilot projects” that were active before last week’s announcement post. Also, #4, #6, #7 and #8 all show promise. While #3 currently does not show any promise, I would like to give it another week before taking it off the list. I suppose it isn’t really a surprise a relatively young crowd, such as the blogosphere, does not have Social Security foremost on their minds when it comes to anti-McCain messaging. However, seniors will be a major swing group in this election, and we need to reach them on this issue.
Still, as time goes on, we will remove the less effective articles, such as #3 above, and replace them with more effective articles. Removing the less effective articles from time to time will also be necessary since it is inevitable that, as the general election unfolds, new information will come out that we want to put in front of interested voters. If you have an article you would like to see included in the campaign, please share it in the comments.
Useful Tips
Here are some useful tips for participating in Searching for John McCain:
1. Do not refer to this as Googlebombing. This is a search engine optimization campaign, not a Googlebomb campaign. A Googlebomb uses embedded hyperlinks on one subject, such as miserable failure, to link to an anchor page on a different subject, such as George Bush. In this case, we are using embedded hyperlinks on John McCain to link to anchor pages with information on John McCain. We are not trying to trick people here. Voters are looking for information on John McCain, and we are giving it to them.
Referring to this campaign as a Googlebomb creates other problems. Specifically, because of steps Google has taken to crack down on Googlebombs, calling this campaign a Googlebomb could result in your post on the subject appearing in searches for John McCain or McCain, rather than the articles we are targeting. So, not only is the Googlebomb term inaccurate in this case, it is also self-defeating.
2. Copying the html: Commenter Kovie created a text-only diary that will allow you to simply copy and paste the 9 links for this campaign. You can see the html here.
3. Do not make the links invisible: This is a big no-no. Putting invisible links in your blog will endanger the Google ranking of your blog. Participate in the campaign with visible links, or don’t participate at all. Besides, making your links public will encourage others to do the same.
4. Choose only one or two articles to target. Every participant in this campaign should only choose one or two articles to target. One article should be visible in your “John McCain” link, and the other should be your “McCain” link. Do not use all nine articles, as it will make your participation in the campaign less effective and potentially endanger the Google ranking of the blog on which you are participating.
5. Place your one or two links in your blogroll and / or signature line: The best way to make your participation in the campaign more effective is to place your one or two John McCain / McCain links in a location that will appear every single time you make a comment or post a new article on your website. Specifically, that means your signature line for your comments, and your blogroll for new articles. While it helps to also include links every time you type the word McCain, the primary goal right now is to embed these links into blogrolls and signature lines.
6. Only embed the words John McCain and McCain in your links. Right now, we are only targeting the keyword searches John McCain and McCain, which together make up the bulk of all searches on McCain. In order for this SEO action to be effective, only embed the words John McCain or McCain in your hyperlinks. Any other words included in the hyperlinks will cause your action to apply to a different search term on John McCain other than the two we are targeting.
When it comes to other searches, it is my belief that by targeting nine articles, there will be a trickle down effect into other types of searches for McCain, such as McCain abortion abortion. However, that is an area that will require more investigation once the initial portion of the campaign, targeting John McCain and McCain, has progressed much further. For now, please stick only to John McCain and McCain.
7. Please Don’t Choose Your Own Articles. Last week, I saw a few people choosing articles other than these nine. Since the campaign only works when large numbers of people choose the same articles, please do not splinter off as it will reduce the overall effectiveness of the campaign. In advance of the project’s public launch, I spent the entire month of May matching anti-McCain messages that test very high to articles from highly ranked national news organizations. These should work. I am, of course, always open to suggests for replacing ineffective articles in the campaign with new, more effective ones. Heck, last week when the campaign launched, on one reader’s suggestion I replaced an earlier article with the filibuster one, and now the new article is performing very, very well.
8. Widgets. Over the past week, some eager volunteers have sent me widgets they created to help people participate in Searching for John McCain. Keep them coming! Next week’s update will include a comprehensive list of those widgets, thus helping to pump up the volume on the campaign even further.
9. Email Doesn’t Work: Search Engine Ranking are not, to my knowledge, impacted by email in any way. So, there is no need to change your email signature, or include these links in emails to you make to anyone.
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So, I hope this helps. We are already making a difference, and it will only get bigger from here. Thank you so much for participating so far. Make sure you tell your friends about this campaign, because it works better when more people participate. I am happy to take any questions in the comments. |
