Check it out, dude: there’s a new sensation sweeping the Blogosphere, and hundreds of bloggers are quickly discovering that it’s the best way out there to get backlinks, increase traffic and generate tons of publicity. It’s called the Blog Contest, and regardless of whether you’re an A-lister or get fewer hits per month than you have toes on your feet, you can use this hot phenomenon to drive your blog to new levels of success.
It’s the truth: in most cases, using your revenue to promote your own well-run blog contest will result in more quality backlinks and notoriety than you’ll ever get from buying links or advertising from other sources. But like any other campaign, the success of a blog contest is directly related to how well it’s planned, put together, and run by you.
Luckily, Contest Blogger is here to tell you the secrets to running a totally radical, totally successful blog contest. The top three are listed below, and we’ll reveal more in coming weeks (so I guess you’d better subscribe to our RSS feed, huh?).
But don’t let the development of your blog contest end there; check out other successful contests, track the success of your own, and communicate with your readers to find out what kind of contests or projects they’d like to take part in.
Top Three Ways to Run a Radical Blog Contest
1. Don’t get too caught up in the prize
I’ve seen way too many bloggers lament about the fact that they can’t afford to offer the kind of cash and prizes that the A-listers do. Well boo-freaking-hoo. Listen, there are plenty of examples of low-budget blog contests that were huge successes. Remember, you are giving your readers something for free; if it’s a fun and relevant prize that compensates them properly for the entry requirements, you’ll get plenty of participation.
And don’t overlook the fact that many people take part in blog contests not out of an expectation that they’ll win, but just to have fun and participate in a community.
2. The simpler, the better
Don’t make your readers jump through a million hoops in order to enter your contest, dude. Requiring a short review of your blog or a couple of backlinks is fine, but you won’t get many entrants if they have to write a 500 word post about your blog and link back you using seventeen different anchor text phrases.
And keep in mind that the entry requirements should roughly correspond with the value of the prize. While you may get dozens of bloggers to put your banner at the top of their blog if you’re offering a new car, you probably shouldn’t require much more than a backlink if you’re giving away a gift certificate.
3. Never, ever violate the trust of your readers
This one is common sense, dude: if you set rules when you launch your contest, don’t change them halfway through. Believe it or not, I see bloggers do this pretty frequently. Either they aren’t getting enough entrants and cancel the contest, or they get more than they thought they would and decide to increase their requirements. This is a great way to piss off everyone who has entered your contest and guarantee that they will never visit your blog again.
And here’s an even more self-destructive, ridiculous thing to do: offer a huge prize for backlinks, then totally fabricate a winner so you don’t have to pay out. This takes a lot of cajones and isn’t very common, but I’ve seen it happen. . . and let me tell you, there’s no better way to totally destroy your reputation as a blogger than by deceiving the rest of the Blogosphere. Bloggers are pretty savy, and someone will find out about your con eventually.
If you set rules, don’t change them . . . and if you promise a prize, make sure you award it to someone! Remember, your first blog contest will show your readers whether they can trust you or not. Distinguish yourself as an honest, professional blogger today, and your future contests will be even more successful.
This post is an entry in the Tips & Tricks Writing Project on Daily Blog Tips. Go enter yourself if you get a chance!
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