| To be clear, I wasn’t calling your article spam or strict advertisement. But avoiding dark patterns is better in the long run. I’m being honest: reading that article left me feeling fooled. You’ve clearly put time into writing a detailed post and replying to comments, here’s what I’d suggest: focus on strictly value-add articles. distribute them widely, yes. No catch. No reader left with a "I see what you did there" pinch. By strictly value-add content, I mean exactly the kind of blog post you shared, but written without any attempt to name-drop your own product. You don’t need to. Your blog already lives on a subdomain. It’s fine to include a simple footer like “Discover Alcazar products.” In my experience, adding real insight without selling has a far greater effect, at least on me. I’m much more inclined to visit a product page when I don’t feel sold to. But the way your article is currently written, that inclination isn’t there. So I didn’t visit the product page. What works best is when readers feel they’ve solved a problem. or at least realized one existed, and learned something. Without ever feeling like they’re watching an infomercial. Sales is solely about building trust, in my view all other aspects are less relevant. You are right being seen is important, even more than trust, but it would remains pointless on its own. Edit: the blog post on Pixel with graphenOS being the most secure phone is the perfect example of value add.It made me want to check what Alcazarsec has to offer. |