Evil blogging is a concept pioneered by John Chow that has changed the way bloggers work. Every blogger has his or her sneaky tactics that are used in the neverending quest to gain links, readers, subscribers and money. When I first came across these tactics I began thinking about how ethical some of them were, and then I realized something: nobody gives a damn. The blogosphere isn’t a dog-eat-dog world, but it’s a world where we can do what we like, and if doing something is effective then it’s good – there’s no ethics involved.

If you want your blog to get ahead then you are going to have to employ some of these evil methods, because you can be sure that everybody else is already utilizing them. So what are these evil ways? Here are my seven evil tips for making your blog successful.

Create controversy

Controversy grabs people’s attention, and that attention leads to more readers. There are a few ways you can stir things up in the blogosphere. One simple way is to target other bloggers in a way that will get you noticed. This can involve instigating heated arguments in the comments of popular blogs; using your blog posts to critique well-read bloggers; or writing posts that single out other bloggers.

If you can make people a little angry then you will get noticed. There is too much unnecessary fluffiness in the blogosphere that creates the illusion that everybody is friends, while underneath people are frantically trying to take advantage of each other. If you step up and can argue a point against another blogger than you can create controversy.

Get yourself bookmarked

You can generate huge amounts of traffic if you get yourself noticed on one or more of the social bookmarking sites. A lot of this is usually down to luck, but if you want to be really sneaky and give yourself a helping hand, then you can get people to Digg or Stumble (or whatever) you site in an attempt to boost your ratings.

You could start by getting your friends to bookmark your site and certain posts, or circulate an email at work asking people to do the same. You could even visit webmaster forums and make a thread asking for people to bookmark your site in return for bookmarking theirs. You might be surprised to know how many other people are doing things like this.

Fake your blog’s death

If you’re a regular user of Internet forums then you will have come across posters who have said something along the lines of, “I hate you guys, I’m not coming back to this forum”. This usually happens after a heated debate and is just a way of asking for attention before the forum user decides to change his mind and not leave. John Cow did something similar (kind of) when he announced that his site was being sued and therefore faced imminent closure.

Of course, it all turned out to be a joke to generate links, but by the looks of things it paid off. Although I don’t think the joke was all that funny, it certainly got people talking. I was initially a bit annoyed with the Cow pulling such a stunt because I was pissed off that somebody was trying to bring his blog down. I then felt stupid for feeling pissed off when it all turned out to be a scam. The Cow is right though – we should all lighten up.

Could it ever be done again?

Disguise all your affiliate links

Many readers of a blog will ignore affiliate links even if they would otherwise have clicked. Don’t ask me why; I suspect it’s because we’re a race of suspicious conspiracy-theorists who see evil in everything to do with money. There is a way to disguise your affiliate links as regular links.

Kumiko, being the mistress of all things evil in the blogosphere, ran down exactly how to do this. All you need to do is set up a PHP redirect for each link you want disguised. It’s fairly simple to implement and John Chow does it too. The logic is that if people don’t feel pressured into clicking on something then they are more likely to do it.

Trade in text links

Although strictly against Google’s terms of service, the trade of text links is rife among bloggers. Some bloggers and webmaster practically give away high-ranking text links. I’ve seen Page Rank 7 and Page Rank 8 links on sale for as little as $10. You have to be careful with what you buy as there is such a thing as fake Page Rank, but you can snap up some really useful bargains for very little money. Once you get your blog established, you can then start to sell text link space it. Not all your income has to come from ppc ads.

Get people to comment on your blog

This one is particularly low, but it’s one that many bloggers do. If you browse enough of the webmaster forums, you will find posts where users offer to comment on other people’s blogs. It is possible to pay people to post comments on your blog and build up your community so that it looks like you are more popular than you are. Some people will even offer to comment on your blog for free if they’re bored. Comment exchanges are also commonplace.

I’d be hesitant about using these services too much, but if your blog is really struggling for comments then this is something you could try. Some bloggers are particularly sneaky in that they try and entice people to comment on their blogs to get on the top/recent-commenters list. This is only viable if you have a good Page Rank. John Chow did it when he announced that his top commenters would receive nofollow links. Now look at how crazy people are to comment on his blog!

Spin your site’s stats

If you’re a blogger who has just started then you likely have few visitors, minimal subscribers and make no money. Following up my post yesterday about not telling people you’re a failure before you’ve even begun building up your blog, I think it’s important to be selective about what stats you give out to people. If your blog is new then people will see that without you ramming how low your Adsense earning are down their throats. Don’t start throwing numbers out until you can spin them to make your blog look good.

What evil lurks

What evil tips and tricks have you come across in the blogosphere?

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