Greg Boser took the controversial approach, and is sitting pretty at #3. He did this in the (much more competitive) Dave Pasternack contest last year, and the technique worked really well for him. Greg says he’s not competing, but I think he can’t keep himself from making sure the on-site is right for his GREAITW page, and the people he’s friends with definitely know how to make sure the anchor text linking back to him is on point. I’m sure that, if he really wanted to win, he’d hit up some 301’s right before the contest ends, and take home the gold. If he does that, I wonder what he’ll do with the REW prize?

Matt Cutts wrote a great post about linkbaiting a couple of years ago that still rings true today. He talks about the controversial angle a couple of times. At the beginning, he states:

“You can also say something controversial to generate discussion (this last one gets tired if you overuse it though).”

The contestant from Seattle is sitting @ number 2 right now, using a technique I’d like to call “trolling with stinkbait.” Ardell commands a decent sized audience, and they love to say, “me too!” She started off with a post bashing the contest for offering up what she considered to be a “bogus prize.” This got her more than few links…she found a perceived weakness, and it got people talking.

The contest sponsor (Morgan) saw Ardell’s take, and remedied the perceived problem she highlighted. So Ardell threw a few more lines into the water. Blog commenting, she blasted SEOs as people who “game the system” with one hand, and had friends encourage others to link to her with specific anchor text with the other. She talked more smack in blog comments & blogs, and went 100% negative while failing to offer any constructive criticism.

What was that Matt Cutts?

“You can also say something controversial to generate discussion (this last one gets tired if you overuse it though).”

yaaaaawwwwwwwn