A Silly Way To Get Backlinks
The 3 Easy Steps
- Create an application
It doesn’t have to be anything special. One way is to find a free screensaver builder and use a bunch of royalty-free photos to make your own slideshow screensaver. Make the application freeware – it’s easier and faster. If you actually create something worthy, you might set up a vendor account with one of the shareware-related payment processors/merchants (I use Plimus). - Build a PAD file for your application
A PAD file contains a standartized XML description for your application. Use the freeware PAD Gen app for this step. Put the PAD file on a website somewhere (it doesn’t matter where and it doesn’t have to be a programming-related site). - Submit the PAD file to software directories
PAD Publisher(edit: site seems to be down) will submit your PAD file URL to about 100 software directories. Now you’ve got some new backlinks to your site (you specified your website URL in the PAD file, didn’t you?).
Why is it “silly”?
That’s because this isn’t much more than a form of directory submission and the backlinks you get will rarely be of high quality. On the other hand, there’s Download.com, a PR 8 directory… It takes time to get in, but it can be done and the listing is free. A backlink like that might be worth something.
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This way of spamming software portals is a very dangerous one. As I explained on my blog (http://webshield.blogspot.com/2007/07/affiliates-questionable-busines.html), this way of doing business affected seriously the entire shareware industry!
Some of our affiliates are using a SPAM database and all unrelated software websites are banned.
I wouldn’t call this spamming per se – software directories are designed to list software and accept PAD files. A properly configured PAD file will make sure the application is inserted in the right category and so on.
The article you mentioned talks mainly about affiliate marketing; I fail to see the connection with my post.
Let me give you an example: by making a screensaver or a flash presentation is not a software application to be listed on software portals; it’s spam.
Here you are a PAD file:
http://best-career-training.com/flash/01.xml
This is SPAM!
Okay, that is spam. Looks like my idea wasn’t very original.
Anyway, I didn’t say this is a good or ethical technique. If some worthless application (or flash thingy) is built purely for link-generation purposes it sure looks like black-hat SEO. still think that popularising “real” software in this manner isn’t inherently bad.
I just got an idea and thought I’d write a post about it, that’s all.
Is executable ebook considers as software???
Sorry Daniel , this is not spa****. That is only when the software is empty or not working , or a rehash.
Some software houses readilly accept ebooks , and some only list screensavers, all made by ordinary people , and all are free.
As for software directory jeopardy , many of the sites exist to only get ranked and display advertising , not to do any real service to visitors, and the majority , wil not link to your site anyway, and house the sofware on thier own server. Those that ask for a backlink , will post your software when you have put up your link and then delete your software within 2 weeks , hoping you won’t notice ( the same as most free link directories)
Submitting to 100 sofware houses will get you 5 backlinks , but you will have to service those links , to allow them to remain active .Inactive links are removed after 28 days.
If you area web marketeer Danielson , you would know this ,the majority of sites serve to sell advertising , and grab a website script to rank high.
Very little freeware works , it only has one purpose!
Software directory scripts are cheap , and they run themselves , what you think there really is some guy checking?
If you want to do this method , then make your software and submit it to the pad directory at asp and nowhere else. It will get picked up over a few months and listed , and you will get a few links.
Good post white shadow , please re-edit these posts and remove all the words that say spa* ,not a word you ever put on your site or in someones comment box, and set your filter to deny all comments containing same. Daniel , do some research you know nothing.
V.M.
W shadow while your at it , can you fix my spelling mistakes , ta
Heh, I’m not going to use any blacklist filters on this site, at least not until StupidFilter comes out of beta. And I’m not going to proofread anyone’s comments, that’s for sure 😛
I don’t think it is spam any more than using a directory submitter is.
I agree, this is very silly.
its legal …! or not…!
I suppose it’s legal, just pretty useless.
It’s perfectly legal.
You can take a Screenshot of your website, Turn it into a PDF with active links.
Then you use a PDF to EXE converter, You’ve created a piece of software.
If you have a program such as Promosoft PAD Submitter, You’ve just created yourself 800 backlinks.
Shawn
Can you provide more information or automation resources on this? The process can soemtimes bog you down to where you are paralyzed
I imagine it is. Very good stuff, glad I found this.
Sounds like a good idea in principal and I was just reading a thread on the warrior forum about using this for backlinks. Sounds a bit spammy but then again isn’t forum profiling more or less the same kind of thing..?
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