Will SEPRd.com be the New Sphinn?
For the past 3 years, Sphinn.com has been a community where internet marketers could submit stories, vote on them, and discuss them. It was basically the “Digg for SEO and internet marketing.” Remember, Digg.com hates SEOs, and any SEO-related stories would always get buried there. So, Sphinn was a nice alternative for our little community.
Earlier this month, Sphinn announced that it would be getting rid of its voting feature. Users can still submit stories to Sphinn, but it’s now up to their team of editors to determine which stories are featured on the front page. Some claim this will help eliminate spam, but many others (myself included) feel this is the death of Sphinn as it’s completely removing the community aspect of the platform. There are also legitimate worries that editors will just promote content from their friends, turning Sphinn into a club that requires you know somebody to “get in.”
With all of these developments, it comes as no surprise that an alternative to Sphinn has cropped up. SERPd.com is the new place SEOs and internet marketers can go to submit and vote on stories. The site was created by Chris Burns from Burn SEO and Gerald Weber from the Houston SEO company SEM Group.
From what I can tell, the site is essentially what Sphinn used to be, making it a cool place to visit if you’re one of the many people unhappy with Sphinn’s decision to say goodbye to voting. As of right now, the website is still in its beta stages, but you can already sign up to start submitting and voting on stories.
Personally, I’m really pleased with what I’m seeing. I think removing the voting feature from Sphinn was a huge mistake, and I haven’t felt the need to use the site since. I’ve spoken a bit with Gerald about the new site, and he assures me that moderators will let the voting community have its say (for right now, 10 votes are needed to get to the front page), but they will stamp out any obvious spam.
So, go ahead and check out SERPd.com. It’s free to signup.
What do you think? Will it replace Sphinn?
September 28th, 2010 at 8:39 am
As long as they keep the interactive user voting feature then I'd give them a chance. Maybe sphinn should have tighten their user voting rules. Having confirmed and authorized users vote beats any editorial based system.
September 28th, 2010 at 10:41 am
Eric,
Thanks a million for writing about our new community.
September 28th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
Linknami, Sphinn had confirmed and authorized users. And very tight spam filters. In fact, spam wasn't an issue. The issue was that people simply weren't voting. There were so little votes that it was possible for any small group of people to come along and push whatever they wanted, often with self-interest involved, to the home page. And then other people would complain, and then the mods would get attacked for taking any action.
September 28th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
apparently, the rest of my comment got cut off. Here's the rest…
Effectively, the "club" that Eric worried about was already there, just multiple clubs that did whatever they wanted. So we've eliminated that, figuring that the editors will do a better job.
I'm glad SERPD is out there for Eric and others who believe that somehow voting will still continue to work. But with only 10 votes required, that makes it even more possible for small clubs to push whatever they want hot (at Sphinn, it took 23 votes). Vote gaming at SERPD would be incredibly easy right now.
And, if SERPD takes action against any story, then it is not allowing the "community" to have its say, as Gerald has pledged. That's one of the tough issues you get with voting.
But I've said it at SERPD, and I'll say it again — if they can make voting work better, I'm happy for them and for those who want that type of outlet. But voting was not working at Sphinn after three years of working diligently to support that system. We didn't make the move away from it lightly. And so far, our visitors continue to hit the site just as before, telling us that what the Sphinn community wants most of all is the ability to discover interesting stories on internet marketing, however that list is ultimately created.
September 29th, 2010 at 10:30 am
Apparently, the rest of my comment is too long or something, so I'm trying again in pieces….
Effectively, the "club" that Eric worried about was already there, just multiple clubs that did whatever they wanted. So we've eliminated that, figuring that the editors will do a better job.
September 29th, 2010 at 10:30 am
I'm glad SERPD is out there for Eric and others who believe that somehow voting will still continue to work. But with only 10 votes required, that makes it even more possible for small clubs to push whatever they want hot (at Sphinn, it took 23 votes). Vote gaming at SERPD would be incredibly easy right now.
September 29th, 2010 at 10:30 am
And, if SERPD takes action against any story, then it is not allowing the "community" to have its say, as Gerald has pledged. That's one of the tough issues you get with voting.
September 29th, 2010 at 10:30 am
But I've said it at SERPD, and I'll say it again — if they can make voting work better, I'm happy for them and for those who want that type of outlet. But voting was not working at Sphinn after three years of working diligently to support that system. We didn't make the move away from it lightly. And so far, our visitors continue to hit the site just as before, telling us that what the Sphinn community wants most of all is the ability to discover interesting stories on internet marketing, however that list is ultimately created.
September 30th, 2010 at 10:04 am
@DannySullivan
Thanks for taking the time to explain your thoughts on the voting issue. I really do appreciate it.
I do agree that by allowing anything that has 10 votes to hit the front page, SERPd could be opening itself up to some easy gaming. But from what I've been told, I think they're just doing that in the beginning while the site is still gaining users. I'm guessing it will change down the line.
October 1st, 2010 at 9:51 am
Danny,
As Eric suggested below. The site is only at 10 votes for now because the site is brand new and very much still in beta. This will change in the near future.