In an attempt to increase my network around Costa Rica, I reached out to several of the bigger sites that have decent SEO and include relevant content to cheapfoodhere.com. One of these web sites includes www.therealcostarica.com and their food forum http://eating.therealcostarica.com
I emailed the Ex-Pat owner several times suggesting that I help generate relevant food content for his site in exchange for a link or credit to cheapfoodhere.com. Not an unusual request, since I have worked with several other sites in Costa Rica writing articles, blog posts and information in exchange for either a non-linked credit to my site, or a direct link. And thanks especially to www.costaricapages.com for posting my articles on their homepage.
However, I never heard back after sending an email twice and following up on said emails. (No, I wasn’t a pest about it, the total email count was 3). So, I joined the forum (a sister site to therealcostarica.com) at http://eating.therealcostarica.com and looked around for a relevant place to post information about Don Fernando‘s butcher shop in Escazú and my favorite Chinese restaurant in Sabana Norte, Flor de Loto. I’m no blogging expert, and maybe the forums aren’t the place to post with a link to my site, but the content was relevant to the visitors to therealcostarica.com. However, if I was out of line, the owner of the site and the forum clearly has my information and email address and could have made a suggestion of simply not including a link to cheapfoodhere.com
I’m open to feedback on how I may have broken some code of blogging ethics or if it is just insulting to be ignored and ultimately banned from therealcostarica.com. Thanks for your comments in advance.
Normally forums will allow a link to your site in say the signature of the post. Or if you have something on your site that is directly related to the thread you’re reading.
If you just posted a message to the thread linking to your site without the necessary relivance that’s not good.
Although I would think the forum admin would just delete your post and give you a warning. Rather than ban you completely.
Either way they should have let you know why they did what they did.