Comments on: WordPress Sponsored Themes – How To Game The System

By: The Pied Piper Of PayPerPost? | Andy Beard - Niche Marketing

The Pied Piper Of PayPerPost? | Andy Beard - Niche Marketing — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:20:09 +0000

[...] to be too easily gamed (WordPress themes and funny redirects), and the visual representation provided in the Google toolbar is now being [...]

By: Will The FTC Investigate Google & Matt Cutts For Paid Links? | Andy Beard - Niche Marketing

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 10:42:59 +0000

[...] I mentioned recently, WordPress Sponsored themes still exist in large numbers on the theme database. In the comments on Techcrunch, Matt Mullenweg [...]

By: » Pandia Weekend Wrap-up (Week 31/2007)

» Pandia Weekend Wrap-up (Week 31/2007) — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 12:04:22 +0000

[...] WordPress Sponsored Themes – How To Game The SystemHow do you ensure that theme makers get get credit for their work?(Andy Beard July 28 2007 via Sphinn) [...]

By: JV Man

JV Man — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:12:34 +0000

Is this link for credit or for PR? I don’t see a problem demanding a link, but the user should have the ability to nofollow it.

But the reality is anytime you out out anything for free in the first place, you have to deal with what happens outside your control.

By: Random Pearls [I] On WordPress, Blogging, Mobile Web, etc. | AVINASH 2.0 - Infotech, New Media, Blogging, WordPress & Design

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 02:02:13 +0000

[...] WordPress Sponsored Themes – How To Game The System – is a post written by Andy Beard on the recent changes made over at WordPress Theme Viewer. Recommended read for every WordPress theme designer/developer. [...]

By: Blog Strokes

Blog Strokes — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 01:19:28 +0000

“What theme authors should use is a ‘credit theme author’ link in the options of their themes, and for it to default to on.”

This is precisely what I will be doing with my themes when I release them from Blog Strokes. There will be a configuration panel for each of my themes in the dashboard and one of the options will be to credit me 1) in the footer site wide 2) in the footer on the home page only 3) not at all. And there will be a PayPal “hey, wanna donate?” button there as well.

Personally I think that Matt not only passed up a great opportunity in booting sponsored themes but implemented and executed the move poorly to boot. But it’s his website and to paraphrase Sam, he can throw barrels through the screens if he wants to.

I’m waiting to see the first site pop up offering to host and promote sponsored themes for a reasonable monthly fee. I might very well buy a membership when it does, so think about Andy’s ideas and get yer orders in early to avoid the rush, lol.

By: Julie Kosbab

Julie Kosbab — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:49:17 +0000

I always question how much value theme sponsorship ends up creating for the sponsor. So many blogs are low-value from a link-juice perspective, and while some quality blogs may start there, that’s needle-in-a-haystack. And a lot of people with the potential to become powerful blogs shy away from a lot of sponsor links in a theme.

By: Andy Beard

Andy Beard — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 15:44:07 +0000

Actually plugins have been doing for years, and it is a viable monetization and link building strategy, especially if your name is “Automattic” and you want to build up massive link popularity for you spam plugin by providing a widget.

What theme authors should use is a “credit theme author” link in the options of their themes, and for it to default to on.

By: kelvin newman

kelvin newman — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 15:36:50 +0000

I’ve even begun to notice a few people taking advantage of plugins as a marketing tool. I have no problem people using them as link bait but one I installed included a completely unnesc link when in the admin area.

Of course it had no SEO benefit but still a little cheeky.

By: Cheap Web Hosting Phil

Cheap Web Hosting Phil — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 21:18:23 +0000

The guy from webhostingbluebook is a master of this game. Don’t know if he is a blackhatter as well. I believe if you provide free content you should get credit for your efforts.