If there is one thing we have learned in the past few years, it is this: You can’t ever game the search engine moguls—or even the social networking moguls for that matter.
It seems that every powerful Internet presence is changing the rules of the online game and making sure that we marketers are obliging by them. This means not repurposing existing content for our own sites (you have Penguin 2.0 to thank for that); not following hundreds of Twitterers in one day if you don’t have a strong follower ratio to back it up (Twitter will actually freeze your account!); and not using your Facebook cover photo for sales purposes (are you guilty of that?).
But this week, light was shed on a different type of underground operation, one in which you can substantially grow your loyal Facebook, Twitter and Instagram base—for a price tag, of course. According to an article in PCWorld, a man who goes by the alias of James Clegg will sell you friends if you visit one of his 13 websites and punch in how many fake followers you would like. The going rate for 1,000 Twitter followers is just a measly $11.
Sounds tempting right? Apparently, it is.
As Clegg explains, “There is no one single type of buyer. I have had minor celebrities, big corporations, comedians, people buying for their friends for a practical joke, and many more. I’d say the majority are companies looking to get themselves from 20 followers to 1000 followers—and they start their real social media marketing from there.”
In fact, the business is so lucrative that the 29-year-old quit his full-time finance job to give the fake-follower business a real shot. And to consistently game the search engines, Clegg runs 13 follower-sales websites as opposed to just one. In fact, a few of his sites have done quite well in the rankings thanks to heavy SEO investment on his part.
And the payoff is pretty lucrative. Off of just one website, Clegg earns about $2,000 on sales of $6,000 worth of Twitter followers per month. Customers are not just stopping at obtaining followers though. They are also paying Clegg considerable fees for fake retweets—which falsely prove that your tweets are worthy of being shared.
Here’s the problem with Clegg’s line of work—it may not hurt him, but it will hurt you considerably.
Your online reputation is something that you need to go to great lengths to protect. This includes presenting original, meticulously-created blog posts; sharing timely, accurate information on your social networking sites; presenting yourself 100 percent truthfully on your online platforms; and protecting your corporate identity by remaining steadfast to your value proposition. The second you pay for fake followers or use repurposed content to get a higher search engine ranking, you have tarnished your reputation. And once your reputation is gone, your business prospects go along with it.
The trick to killer SEO and social media platforms that influence is strategy, patience and execution. Simply put, you will not get on page one of Google over night. Similarly, you will most likely be unable to go from 100 followers to 1,000 in a few days. But that’s OK. Establish a starting point and grow from there. Always keep in mind the following:
- Content is most definitely King: Search engine giants are crawling furiously for original, thought-provoking content, so feed their hunger. You will never satiate them with unplanned, rushed (or plagiarized) copy. Keep content fresh, relevant and, above all else, unique.
- Grow your social media presence steadily: Don’t rush your social media pushes. Instead, determine who you should be following and who your influences are. Your influencers can easily be found by doing quick searches on all the social platforms for your relevant keywords to see what businesses and individuals pop up. Those that are retweeting, liking, pinning and following consistently are the ones you’ll want to engage with. Keep in mind that popularity always looses to influence in the social media game.
- Stay true to who you are: You most likely do not want to be a business that lies and cheats… so don’t be. Create a robust online presence the good old-fashioned way. Any other way will put you at risk of being blacklisted by the search engines or frozen from social media access.
Edited by
Allison Boccamazzo
Whitepaper 
