The wait is over! As I announced ten days ago we are kicking off the mother-of-all blog competitions namely the ‘Dollar$hower SEO Challenge ’09‘. You, as a blogger, 
have the chance to win prizes worth $1500 (could be more as well) in an exciting competition spanning over six weeks!
Who can Participate?
Any blog that has Google Analytics based tracking as of Dec 01, 2008 can participate in this competition. For more details read the Rules section below:
Sponsors to the event
This competition prizes are co-sponsored by SEO Hosting, Host Gator, Online Profits (Launching shortly), Bidvertiser and Sponsored Reviews. The banners and graphics are sponsored by TechZoomIn. Please take a moment to visit our sponsors.
Rules & How to Participate?
The following are the rules of the competition:
1. The competition will be open for subscription from Jan 02nd to Jan 11th 2009 and you can participate using the contact form on this blog. Please do not forget to select SEO Challenge ’09 as the subject, provide your full name (First, Last), email address and blog URL. In addition your Google Analytics a/c need to be shared in View Only mode to the email address seoc09@dollarshower.com.
2. The actual event starts on Jan 12th (considered Week 1 in the score card) and will run for the next five weeks (ends on Feb 15th which is Week 6). The winners will be announced on Feb 16, 2009.
3. The aim of the competition is to increase the search visits to your blog as much as possible and those two who increase their search visits by the maximum percentage will get the first and second prizes. There are a consolation prizes for the next three runner-ups.
4. The base for current search traffic is the average search visits per day for the month of December 2008 (Dec 01st to Dec 31st 2008 – value 1). The increase is
calculated based on the average number of daily search visits from Jan01st to Feb 15th (value 2). Basically ((value 2 – value 1) / value 1) * 100% is the formula to decide the winners). There will be weekly updates provided from Week 1 through Week 6 and the values for these weeks will be again last six weeks daily average visits. (Due to the continuity sake, the subscription period of Jan 02 through Jan 11 is also considered for the final weightage. This is because, most SEO activities you do today reap benefits only after a few weeks)
5. The competitors’ Google Analytics data will be kept strictly confidential except for the average number of daily visits needed for the calculation (Only this number will be published in the scorecard). Take a look at the sample scorecard here
6. Weekly updates will be provided during the competition. The competitors can also discuss the various SEO strategies on this page as well as. You may also mail in the strategies and clarifications as and when requested and selected strategies will be featured in the weekly updates.
7. Only those who already have their GA code installed as of Dec 01st can participate in this event. The competitors cannot change the position of the GA script during the competition.
8. Those who have very little or no search visits till now can also participate. In that case, however, the base (average daily search visits for December ’08) will be set to 5 (or another value as deems fair by the judges) to curb explosive growth numbers.
9. Other DON’TS: Black hat SEO techniques, paid hits etc will not be allowed and those who indulge in the same will be removed from the competition.
10. Judges’ verdict will be final. Myself and Daniel Scocco of Daily Blog Tips will be the judges for this competition.
Time lines
Jan 11, 2009 – Last day to enroll
Jan 12, 2009 – Week 1 report updated in the scoreboard
Jan 19, 2009 – Week 2 report
Jan 26, 2009 – Week 3 report
Feb 02, 2009 – Week 4 report
Feb 09, 2009 – Week 5 report
Feb 16, 2009 – Week 6 & Final report on the winners!
Prizes
First Prize
1 Year Class ‘C’ IP SEO Hosting by SEO Hosting ($420)
PPC Advertiser Campaign by Bidvertiser ($100)
PayPal Cash Prize by Sponsored Reviews ($100)
Second Prize
6 Months Subscription to Online Profits ($288)
1 Year Business Plan Hosting by Host Gator ($180)
Consolation Prizes
Three runner-up prizes of 1 Year shared hosting by Host Gator ($120 each)
Further Resources
All updated information regarding the competition will be available on the SEO Challenge ’09 page.
Hurry! You have exactly ten days to sign up and participate. In the mean time, please bookmark this page, tweet about it, or even write a little post on your blog about the event (Resources such as banners are available at the SEO Challenge ’09 page.
If you have any questions or clarifications, please discuss the same here so that others are benefited as well (better than 1 to 1 emails).
I would like to thank the Daniel for his guidance & consulting help.
Good luck to all!
Hey guys this is really a very good idea.. This will help us in 2 ways getting good traffic and earning money.. I hadn’t come across a competition like this.. I should say that Ajith Rocks…with his new idea..
I strongly encourage ppl to participate here..
I already enrolled for this and I wish Ajith for the great success of this event..
Thanks,
Samrat
Great work Ajith.Finally you came up with different kind of competition.
Best of luck to all the participents
TechZoomIn’s last blog post… Monthly Round Up:Best posts on TechZoomIn from Dec 2008
Ajith,
I guess,the mail id should be Googles for granting GA access to you.
See this for more https://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?answer=55500&hl=en_US&utm_id=ad
@Lax, it just needs to be a Google a/c not necessarily a gmail a/c. seoc09@dollarshower.com is a Google a/c created only for this purpose so that I can compare all analytics data in one page.
Nice looking contest. I think I’ll secretly challenge myself, but I don’t know that I want to open up my entire stats yet. They’re nowhere near as stellar as they should be. lol.
Fortunately, I’ll have a few days to decide… Either way, I will publicize the contest on my blog. Nice banners.
One question: When you report the winners, or the current leaders on the scoreboard, are you just reporting a percentage that they’ve improved or the actual stats.
Shirley’s last blog post… 4 Reasons To Update Old Blog Posts
@Shirley, thanks for your feedback and interest. The followign is how the analytics data will be used.
- Only read-only view of the analytics a/c need to be shared
- I need the data pertaining to search visits alone
- The data that will be shown on the scorecard will contain ONLY the average daily visits from search engines alone. No other information is shown to anybody. Basically 6 readings ONLY for the entire competition – one every week. This does not give any clue on your total page views or visits per month to anybody else.
- The percentage difference shown will be the increase % over the base (value for december) as on the week. The week’s value is calculated based on the average daily visit for the past six weeks.
- The strategies you are adopting will be shared on your request if you would like them to be featured on weekly updates
- All other analytics data shared will be strictly confidential and on close of the competition everybody can unshare the a/c
Hope this clarifies all doubts
Great idea Ajith! I’m going to think about whether I want to participate or not but I think I will. The problem is I think my stats will be going down because I won’t be posting as frequently.
Thanks for the follow-up Ajith. All fears are allayed.
I’m in!
Although, I am doubtful about how much improvement I’ll get…. lol. I guess I better come up with a game plan. haha.
Shirley’s last blog post… 4 Reasons To Update Old Blog Posts
@Samrat @Lax, thanks for getting in…Updated your info…
@Kim, you never know. With some minimal SEO done, the fortunes could turn around
@Shirley, you are welcome… Unless you have something like 85-90% search visits already, there’s always a chance of improving further
Great competition Ajith. This is the first time I have seen a blogger more concerned about the success of his commentators. I will take part, definitely as it will provide great encouragement in my traffic building campaign. Thanks a lot
Domain Marvelous’s last blog post… Welcome, 2009
Sounds interesting indeed; I plan to start learning SEO anyway so I may give this a shot
I’m planning to join this one although I have concern. Kindly advise if my concern is valid or not.
Having experience recently in another ongoing competition, there are topics that you can tap to shoot up search engine traffic. If it is possible, I suggest having a theme so that it will be a fair game to everyone.
For instance, my site is all about blogging, if anyone starts tackling more popular topics, then there is possibility their search engine traffic will shoot up. Although I can do the same but that will disrupt the theme of my blog.
If the theme issue will be addressed, then I am in. Otherwise if it is free for all, those who have flexibility in terms of blog content and pretty much know how to play with keyword popularity will prevail.
Janette Toral’s last blog post… Testimonial for Blogging from Home
Ajith,
Fantastic, Unique and Very Useful Competition you have put together. My hats off to you.
Dec is holiday season and generally little less traffic than other months. So, I’m sure there will be some improvement in search stats even if you don’t do any SEO for Jan and Feb.
I’ve set a goal for Jan to complete an eBook I’m writing now. I’ll not be able to focus on SEO for this month. So, I’ll have to skip this competition. However, I will challenge myself to compare my search stats with your scorecard to see how I did.
I’m here to show my support to your excellent competition.
Ramesh @ The Geek Stuf’s last blog post… How To Manage Dell Servers using OMSA – OpenManage Server Administrator On Linux
I would have join this contests should me GA code work. It has been giving me problem in capturing data. Anyway great prizes and all the best for the contest. Looks like it will create some buzz in the blogosphere.
Wei Liang
Wei Liang | Earn Money Online’s last blog post… Lesson 23: Earn Money Online With Email Marketing
@Forsaken, you are welcome! The potential is tremendous… Think of 90% traffic coming in from search engines via simple tips
The result won’t be instantaneous but in three or four weeks’ time and that’s why the competition runs for six weeks. Thanks for your comment and participation!
@Donace, learn on the fly from other participants and win
It’s a definite possibility for everybody to improve on search traffic as there’s no limit to it…
@Janette, thanks for your query. My idea is to give a chance to everyone – even blogger blogs, other free space blogs as well as self-hosted – and on all themes.
You are right on the part that certain themes would get better keyword visibility etc. But again, such topics are already having great search traffic and the % increase from the current will not be much higher than the potential of other themes. I feel that if you go for the long tail approach, anybody can emerge a winner !
Hope you can participate
Anyways, good luck with your eBook and yes once the scorecard is up, you may keep a watch on it. You may be surprised to see the search traffic figures reaching as high as 90% in certain cases…
@Ramesh, thanks for your support. It’s unfortunate that you miss it out because I thought you have a lot of direct traffic than search
@Felix, Oops… it’s sad to miss you due to GA issue. Probably, you could help me by giving this event a buzz
As much as I want in on this contest im keeping out, I get too competitive
I have sorta an off topic question for you and sorry, but how did you get companies like bidvertiser and Hostmonster to sponsor your contest. Im really interested in finding out.
Blog for Bloggers’s last blog post… My Recipe To A High PR
I’m in. Seems that this is a great battle idea. I’ll join one of my blog. HAHA
Hussein’s last blog post… Jett Travolta, son of John Travolta, Dies at 16
Blogs with less traffic have got very least chance of winning ..
but yet its a gr8 contest..
good luck to all who participates and to the host !!
Arun | BE Folks’s last blog post… First Grand New Year contest Winners
@Ardit, Sad to know that you cannot participate… In fact startup blogs stand a very good chance…
About advertisers, mainly three things:
1. Legitimacy: Many people blindly run contests only to improve their traffic and RSS count. But competitions are different from contests whereby there’s a genuine motive of improving, innovating and learn from each other. See, the way Daniel is conducting his Blogging Idol competition. It’s genuine and brings forth innovcative ideas. Advertisers would be interested in being part of such events in the blogosphere.
2. What’s in it for me?Advertisers don’t blindly support you for nothing. e.g. You must have supported them in some way in the past or supporting them in the present that they like your ideas (e.g. Number of clicks I sent from this blog to one of the advertisers here was 2000+ off which ~100 signed up for their programs. I guess, you get what I am saying). And some others do it for brand building, new product launch etc.
3. What kind of a blog it is? Content matters and if the advertisers liked your content, they support you.
In short, if you have a genuine business case with you and you are willing to work hard, 5 out of 10 you contact, may support you. Good luck
@Hussein, thanks for your participation…
@Arun, in fact that’s not true. Blogs with low traffic is staying in that situation mainly because their search traffic is less and more are referral and direct visits. With minimal self optimization, updated sitemap and site settings, free submission, reasonably frequent posting, keywords, the search engines will index your content more often and you improve your search traffic. And hence overall traffic improves
The key to explosive traffic is SEO! Things like social bookmarking and your favorite referral visits can disappear anytime…
Its exciting to know about this contest.
I was not sure whether I had installed GA before or on Dec 1 08, but luckly, when I checked, I saw that I had installed it before Dec 01, 2008.
Hope I am into the contest. All sponsors are well known and Daniel is one of my blogging idol. And Ajith, your blog is really doing good, and the contest is best and precise to the niche that you are blogging about. Hope I will find some good advice to increase search engine traffic from your old blog posts
I am sending my application now. Will surly learn a lot from this contest.
One sad thing is, its my exam time, and I will not be able to concentrate more this time, but still I will give some tough competition
Technotip.ORG
SATISH — Technotip.org’s last blog post… Super Charge Your Mind and Soul
I am still thinking of joining due to the reason that the stats will be given also.. Will it be possible to have only a screenshot of the stats and not givig access to the stats.
I am not really at ease on sharing the Google Analytics data..
Dexter | Tech At Hand Dot Net’s last blog post… Automate your Blog Direct Advertising
@Satish, thanks for your participation and comments… We will definitely try to make as exciting as possible.
@Dexter, sorry screenshots won’t work. We actually analyze the search data for any malpractices (will not be published) and the only data that is shown in the scorecard publicly is the average daily search visits and nothing else. ie. 6 such numbers or one per week.
It’s all about mutual trust
Great concept man. keep it up. Though I am not participating in this contest because of my infrequent posting frequency, I will try to promote your competition through blogging & tweeting.
Prasanna’s last blog post… Increase your site traffic with simple SEO tricks
This sounds really exciting!! With my current offline responsibilities I do not know if I will be able to compete, but it will surely be a win-win for everyone. Great Concept Ajith
All the best 
May be some other time I will participate in your contest mate !!! Best Wishes for the contest !!
Abhishek’s last blog post… Clean Up time
on which keywords we have to rank ?
ProBlogineer’s last blog post… Email Marketing Software From Interspire
No GA for me, but I look forward to following it, this is a good one.
Dennis Edell’s last blog post… Google Page Rank Update: Thank YOU For My 3!
@Nexus, @Pras, Thanks for the shout out and trackbacks
@Raju, thanks for the encouragement… try to participate, sometimes even without frequent posts if your blog is optimized enough you might improve your search visits.
@Abhishek, thanks buddy…
@ProBlogineer, no specific requirement on keywords. You just need to improve your average daily search visits over the next six weeks somehow but without black hat methods
Hope you can participate…
@Dennis, Oops, so are you not tracking your blog traffic yet?
Thanks everybody… The scorecard will be mostly up by tomorrow…
@Ajith NP man the more people in the more fun it will be and the more people to learn from.
i hate it! i only activated my analytics last December 25! too bad for me!
qarla’s last blog post… Retro Crazy ni Marian Rivera, Number 1 sa mga Probinsya!
It seems to be a very good idea Ajith…………nice way to start the new year……………good luck…………i want to take part………….but not now as i dont get much traffic………………
Nagraj’s last blog post… Simple animal with complex genome : Trichoplax adhaerens
the best thing are without targeted keyword we could keep our site clean and neat
great contest here mate…im in..
bachtiar’s last blog post… SEO Challenge ‘09
Thanks everyone for your support… Those who can’t participate could still spread the word
Btw, those who worry about the privacy of their Google Analytics data, please take a look at how the looks like!
SEO Challenge ’09 Scorecard
I will join the contest. Hope I’m lucky to win the prize
Ajith how to get the code for the banner of ur SEO challenge……..i could see the banner but no code…………I want to put on my blog……………;
@Nagraj,
Sorry I did not put that there… My mistake…
Try the following for small image banner (and remove the space betwen < and img )
< img src="http://www.dollarshower.com/seoc09/images/seoc09_5_125x125.gif"
alt="SEO Challenge 09" width="125" height="125" />
sorry for this silly question. I would like to join this contest. but how should i join? I didn’t get it. Just leaving an comment is enough?
Nihar’s last blog post… December 2008 Blog Traffic & Income statistics
@NIhar, I should have added a ‘How to Join’ section… My mistake to make it a long post… You have to join the competition by contacting me with the details mentioned. In addition, you need to share your Google Analytics account in view only mode to verify the search traffic.
It’s not a contest but a competition.
Good luck everyone.
Blogged at:
http://www.indocontest.com/win-1500-prizes-dollarshower/
indocontest’s last blog post… Win $500 Cash on Vacation Rentals Giveaway
@Ajith, I have just now added you as a user in google analytics as view only. Will you get notification mail as i have added it?
Anything else needs to be done?
Nihar’s last blog post… December 2008 Blog Traffic & Income statistics
@IndoContest, thanks a lot for the shout out… I really appreciate it.
@Nihar, I have got your entry in the analytics panel. I shall add you to the competitors list. Please note that it will take a couple of days before I add all pending applications to the score card (http://www.dollarshower.com/tools/seoscore.php
You can continue doing your SEO strategies as even the current period play a role in the mid term search visits.
Great! Thanks for the invitation. Count me in. Do I need still need to contact you? or you could just add me into the list.
This is interesting.
Yan
Blogging Tips’s last blog post… 2009 is the Year of Internet Marketing
Hi Ajith, as a novice blogger i think this will be great motivation to research and try out some new techniques.
The next few weeks are going to be very interesting!!
Natasha’s last blog post… IVA helping you to be debt free easily
Awesome competition. But I can’t participate.
My blog has gotten a lot of hits from traffic exchanges and it still is getting a lot of those…
Archie Pennies’s last blog post… Reporter vs Expert – Why Most Bloggers Are Stuck Reporting
Thanks for the invitation. i have sent a mail through contact.
wats meant by sharing GA a/c in view only mode?
i have sent my a/c id in mail.
is that ok?
Arun | BE Folks’s last blog post… First Grand New Year contest Winners
This is definitely a great idea for a competition, count me in! (Emailed you the information)
Rajaie AlKorani’s last blog post… The Top 100 Youngest Bloggers of the Blogosphere
hmm, so if blogs like shoemoney or gizmodo participate, they will be clear winner as they receive a lot of traffic… is that what this competition means ?
ProBlogineer’s last blog post… Email Marketing Software From Interspire
Very interesting, but i can’t join this. Right now i’m concentrating on my new online shop, and still need to learn how to make it to the top of the search result without advertising it. (Well,.. at least at page 2). And i don’t have much time. Very-very sorry about this
Phoenix’s last blog post… ShareASale
@Luis, ok man… thanks anyway for dropping by
@Arun, You can share the analytics a/c in View only mode by visiting the analytics home page and then the User Manager feature
@Rajaie, thanks buddy for the participation
@ProBlogineer, that is not true… This contest is fair for all… I am not talking about number of visits but % difference betwen average daily search visits of a particular base period (december) and that during a future period. So if you have 20 average daily visits today and 30 on a future date you have 50% increase. If shoemoney has 100000 today and if he has 120000 on another day his increase is 20% and you win in this example.
@Phoenix, cool… good luck for your online shop work!