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Living in Denver and working in Boulder I see a lot of homeless people every day. As an SEO who lives and breathes and dreams search engines I had an interesting thought today inspired by my co-worker Nathan Joynt - What if the homeless needed SEO but just couldn’t afford it? I think it would really be helpful to everyone if I took the time and did my part for the homeless - Free homeless SEO
Lets look at some examples:
Exhibit A
This is the kind of sign that probably worked really well about 10 years ago. This man has been on the streets a long time but has lost touch with what works and doesn’t. He should really consider a redesign as the usability is just horrible, the information is jumbled and the font choices could be better. I’d also suggest that a he write better, less spammy copy - This would not only help usability but he might even be able to get higher SERP positions bringing in more traffic and ad revenue.
Exhibit B
This is a great example of good design but sadly they are not going to get the traffic they deserve. First of all the keyword density is lacking not to mention the fact that “work” and “food” are highly competitive keywords - ranking for these is going to be nearly impossible. With just a little keyword research we see that “Homeless Vet will work 4 food” would be a better choice - You can still get your message across and you find you will get a lot of traffic by putting yourself against less competition.
Another problem with this sign is that it’s out there so much - It’s duplicate content. Just changing the “for” to a “4″ isn’t enough to make the spiders think it is different. I’d suggest adding more words and maybe breaking up the content with bullets and H1’s. Even something as simple as changing “work” to “manual labor” would be helpful.
Exhibit C
Clearly this homeless man has some SEO experience. This man knew that he would get hurt in the SERPs if he used spam tactics or duplicate content. This is a great example of how great content will always be linked to and get a lot of traffic. Not only is this a link baiting sign it is a great example of niche marketing. He knew that ninjas are a big market and by by positioning himself for what people are searching for he gets the traffic. Not only that his copy writing and design skills are great. He gets his point across quickly and makes the reader want to buy.
Responses to “SEO helps everyone!”
March 11th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Great examples here and way to put some fun into the whole learning experience! Now if only you can turn that into a tax write-off!
March 12th, 2008 at 9:03 am
That was quite a different article. I enjoyed the post. Your examples are superb
March 12th, 2008 at 9:09 am
very nice post! Reminds me of bum marketing and Travis’ idea of helping bums out. I realized it is all about motivation. Obviously these guys lack in that department, most likely. I have been trying to push people to share the dream of SEO/SEM with me and it’s difficult to find people that are genuinely interested like you and I. But like you, I tend to relate everything in life back to SEO/SEM/PPC/SMO 
March 12th, 2008 at 9:19 am
If Exhibit C had a website I would have paypaled him a dollar or two, “family killed by ninja’s”, man that is exacting.
March 12th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Ha! Love it!
You know, this is a really interesting idea, when you think about it. Does the message on the sign make a big difference in the ROI? What if you just held up a completely blank piece of cardboard?
Someone should test a few different messages, and then distribute the results at homeless shelters. That would be SEO for a good cause.
March 14th, 2008 at 6:10 am
[...] Let’s start with SEO for the homeless from Wingnut. Politically correct? Not. Relevant to SEO? Certainly. You gotta use linkbait on those [...]
March 17th, 2008 at 10:22 am
made me smile… an seo article which I actually enjoyed reading… now if only I could stick that in a presentation to show my clients what’s up with their websites!
March 17th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
I almost feel guilty laughing about this!! But I lived in Telluride, and I am well aware that alot of mountain bums actually have trust funds. So that helps me be ok with it.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:26 am
Nice post. It’s made me think…
How much would a it cost to sponsor a homeless dude for a day?
For example, along with the usual “Ninja’s killed my family…” stuff, how much would they also charge to add “sponsored by xyz.com” on the bottom of it?
March 21st, 2008 at 10:50 am
@Jon I think someone did that a few years back… it made national news because it upset a lot of people off - BumSigns or BumVertising or something… Plus I don’t think it worked very well
March 25th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
First, this is really funny and clever.
Next, please clarify that people should always only use one (and only one) H1 per page.
Last, the “sponsor a homeless dude” thing is interesting. I hear so many people telling the homeless they only use plastic. If someone could come up with an easy e-commerce system where the homeless could get a debit card attached to an account where people could donate via the Web or mobile, the sign thing could work. A special url where people could learn more about the plight of the homeless and realize its a valuable service…
How about a transparent service that shows how well each are doing, and an activity timeline. A certain number could be paid by the host for their stories… Matching grants might help those with the most need. A nonprofit organization might even find funding to do this.
Or it might just be the most ridiculous idea ever.
March 25th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
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March 25th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
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March 25th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
[...] - Figuring out Keyword Intent @sduffyphotos - How To: Multi-Shot Panoramic HDR Photos @Wingnut - SEO helps everyone @splitbrain - My Photography Equipment @mrscrumley - Highlight Number 2: Atlanta Children’s [...]
March 25th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
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March 27th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
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March 30th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
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April 2nd, 2008 at 7:54 pm
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August 18th, 2008 at 4:44 am
I can say that this would be the best blog among all the sites that I have visited recently.
March 11th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
You need to spend some time homeless.