I think the link issue is being blown way out of proportion. In my view links are what drives the web, links on other blogs are currently elevating this site to the top of google. Ban links as long as you make sure all links to FredMiranda are removed from other blogs.
Seriously as far as I am concerned even linking to your own site should be fine as long as it is in context and not obvious spamming. I personally love to take a look at others blogs which are posted as links in here and also it is nice to see others sites and be able to comment on them to help people out. I perfectly understand banning spamming but to be honest the odd little self promotion in the context of a photography post should be seen as ok.
Coolblue2000 wrote:
I think the link issue is being blown way out of proportion. In my view links are what drives the web, links on other blogs are currently elevating this site to the top of google. Ban links as long as you make sure all links to FredMiranda are removed from other blogs.
Seriously as far as I am concerned even linking to your own site should be fine as long as it is in context and not obvious spamming. I personally love to take a look at others blogs which are posted as links in here and also it is nice to see others sites and be able to comment on them to help people out. I perfectly understand banning spamming but to be honest the odd little self promotion in the context of a photography post should be seen as ok....Show more →
Ditto. I'm simply amazed at the things some people have time to get upset about. I wish I had the luxury of being able to get worked up about something as stupid as somebody else on an internet forum posting a link to their website! Must be nice...
You know I've been looking at a few of the other forums here and noticed that especially in the people forum there is one individual in particular that constantly almost daily posts about publications about himself and links to himself on the various covers of different mags. Why is this allowed?
ContagiousIdea wrote:
You know I've been looking at a few of the other forums here and noticed that especially in the people forum there is one individual in particular that constantly almost daily posts about publications about himself and links to himself on the various covers of different mags. Why is this allowed?
Great question for Fred, who is the sole mod of the people forum. I suggest you report the thread and just ask what's up. It may be that he is totally unaware because #1 he is a busy guy and does not read every thread and #2 it is not causing problems over there so nobody has reported it.
ContagiousIdea wrote:
You know I've been looking at a few of the other forums here and noticed that especially in the people forum there is one individual in particular that constantly almost daily posts about publications about himself and links to himself on the various covers of different mags. Why is this allowed?
A better question in my opinion is why do you care?
Due to the fact that we've been hammered here for it, it's supposed to be a forum wide rule. If we are going to get hammered might as well expect it of everyone else.
Funny you mention gaming forum. I used to be a mod on a gaming forum. After reading this thread all the nightmares are coming back
It's hard to please everyone.
In the spirit of having a forum full of quality participants, I can't imagine any actions like those you mention would be frowned upon or prohibited considering they are the very reason many of us continually visit here
So are we now permitting links to our blogs & websites?
I only ask because there are frequent links seen to photographers blogs & websites .. most play by the rules and some break them constantly but what's the point of having rules if nobody enforces them?
We ask that members do not link back to their sites or blogs for the purpose of SEO or self promotion of products or services available to photographers. We encourage photographers to link to photos for the purpose of sharing their work. For example, please do not start a thread that says "hey check out my work" with "Orange County Wedding Photographer" linked back to your site. Post your photos to the site, or link the actual photos so they show up in your post. Yes, there will be the occasional time this happens and not everyone gets the memo first time around. We handle these case by case and generally don't step in unless the behavior becomes persistent.
Thanks!
Linking is a good thing for this forum, IF the link has something to offer the reader, or has a set of images that should not be posted here (for size reasons, or for copyright reasons).
Links that are solely for the purpose of self promotion are generally a bad thing IMO. IT will open floodgates and become a link farm. Useful discussion will diminish and useless links take their place.
If you know its a useful, non self promoting link, I would say great. If you know its just to gain some love for yourself (ultimately), I think it should be avoided.
I guess I'll finally chime in since this thread started partly because of me (sheepishly). I think the message is this:
(from Steve) "We ask that members do not link back to their sites or blogs for the purpose of SEO or self promotion of products or services available to photographers."
If you want to share a set of photos on your blog/website, do it with "check out more on the BLOG". Not in the methods as listed above. This is my opinion, but I believe this is why the issue started. It was NEVER the issue of actually posting a link to your site, it only became an issue when SEO tactics were being employed.
