Pros and Cons of SEO Competitions
Every year a lot of SEO competitions take place around the world. Basically the company that administers them comes up with a word that has not existed until that point. This means two things – that there are 0 results in the search engines (Google) and that the playing field is even.
Usually after six months from the start of the competition on a predetermined date and time a representative of the administering company looks up the made up word in Google and the first website wins – simple as that. Most of the time there is a big cash prize but it is almost always secondary to the fame the winner gets.
For the most time the SEO competitions are specific for a country. In cases like this the made up word is in that particular language. For instance right now there is a SEO competition in Bulgarian. The made up word is which is read backwards. In the end of March whoever comes up first in Goolge.bg for the keyword would be the winner.
This is not the case for SEO contest when the made up word is in English – basically what happens is that the whole world takes part in the competition. With no doubt contest like these are super competitive. To increase their chances of winning contestants team up. The winning team then divides the cash prize among its members
Even thought the cash prize is big, as I mentioned in the beginning, people do it primarily for the fame that comes with the wind. At the same time I must admit that both things are interrelated because the members of the winning team are usually contacted by companies that need their services.
I have talked with a lot of people who do SEO for a living but are afraid to compete in these contests. When I ask them why the most common answer is that they don’t believe they could win. To a certain degree I can relate to what they are saying. On the other side winning should be why they enter the competition in the first place. The main reason should be so they can learn something.
I can give myself as example. I signed up for the third Bulgarian SEO competition. It started about months and a half ago and I have learnt so many things that under normal circumstances it would have taken me months to learn. I am not sure that I will win but even if I don’t I would never regret I decided to participate.
If you wish to participate in SEO competitions but don’t feel like you don’t have the knowledge – don’t despair. Read my ipotpal blog. This is the website I use in the third annual ipotpal competition in Bulgaria
