BlogLab ::: eXperiment FAIL

"The mechanics of search engines and emergence of trends are changing the quality of googles." ~ J. Felonious Fisch

What?

Search engines like google are powered by algorithms that have been refined to a point of near pseudo-self-awareness.

Earlier this year the title I gave to a particular post atracted search engines (and visitors) like flies: "Paris Hilton Sex Arab Britney Nude Charlie Sheen Photo Video Shakira Hot Free Hareega Bush Libya Man Men Girl Teen Obama Osama Sexxx XXX Nokia TV Bin" - it was done intentionally, experimentally, after I'd seen a similar headline on another blog. I tethered it to a post about traffic and my dear internet friends Windy and Lainy.

And it worked like a charm. I got 7X the usual daily traffic for nearly 4 days in a row before it trickled off.

Fast forward to THIS WEEK. I chanced upon an article all about tinkering with searches, search engines, social networks and SEO. Before proceeding, read "Experiments on Google+ and Twitter Influencing Search Rankings"

A very interesting article, yes?

Inspired by that article, I constructed a new post, entitled "Assist a Mom Euclidean Taeniasis of Galapagos Portly Domesticus Connochaetes mta Elizabeth Smart Shuttle Launch Rupert Murdoch Euclidean Perry Euxlis".

Now, based on what you've seen so far, you'd think my new post would be an SEO "Slam dunk". It was not. It attacted ZERO search engine-directed traffic!Here's my analysis:

New algorithms recently put into service are pouring through topics, headlines and keywoprds faster than mice through a sack of grain. By the time I published MY experimental post, the terms seomoz used in its experiment had decayed in importance and relevance to such degree as they no longer mattered.

The "curve of deterioration" was short for my first post, and my second, experimental post could best be compared to a horse race: there was a race on Tuesday, I entered my horse, but me and my horse didn't show up athe track until Thursday. We ran in record time! We beat everybody. But we missed the actual race, so "nothing counts."

MORAL: You're going to have to get up awfully early (or be extremely lucky) to impress the search engines!

Good Luck, and BLOG ON!

ANOTHER HEAD-SCRATCHER ::: I've seen a lot of 'contest posts' where blogs encourage bloggers (and others) to win a cash prize by essentially making the visitors jump thru hoops in competition for the prize. So, I decided to offer my own unique contest. I decided to give USD $100 away to one lucky player. But there's been no 'buzz' and ZERO search-engine traffic. And although the URL is high-ranked on one of the stat-widgets appearing in the right-hand column on this humble weblog, I haven't seen one single instance of anyone arriving on the blog from another URL to that particular post. Frankly, I'm PUZZLED!

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It's on! Battle for control of the interverse!

Stargate TV-show fans know that as Teal'c has told the Jaffa many times that the Goa'uld may be powerful but they are NOT gods, I will tell you bloggers that Darren Rowse and Steve Ruebel may be a-list respected bloggers, but they also are NOT gods.

You hear about it whenever Rowse and Ruebel are right about something, but it gets "forgotten" when thay are not (anybody remember "lifestreaming" which was going to replace blogging? hahahahaa!)

Why Lifestream? To Model Leonardo Da Vinci - Steve Rubel

www.steverubel.com/why-lifestream-to-model-leonardo-da-vinci - Cached

Jun 26, 2009 – There have been a number of posts since I wrote yesterday that I am quitting blogging in favor of lifestreaming. A few of you wrote in ...

And who can forget that groundbreaker, Google BUZZ?

Google Buzz: We Might Be On To Something

www.dailyblogtips.com/google-buzz/ - Cached

Feb 11, 2010 – To illustrate my point: I received a Google Wave invite early on from a friend,... Darren Rowse also posted a similar post on Problogger. ...

Now, in July 2011, everybody's suddenly an expert on Google +1! It's amazing! They're spilling out of the woodwork! (there's also a lot of confusion about the Google+1 button and the Google facebook alternative. Are they one and the same? Related? Totally different? What is YOUR understanding of that? Care to leav it in comments, please?)

I was moved to comment on one of these "Google expert" articles. I wrote (see image above) that bloggers shouldn't act like lemmings and walk off digital cliffs on the say-so of Rowse or Rubel.

Here's a new knee-slapper for ya! Rubel now thinks TWITTER should be SCARED!

He bloggeth thus: "Social media networks have typically have one of two lineages - not both. They either first catch on with teens and twenty-somethings or they catch on with nerds (of which I count myself as one). Eventually there’s overlap.

Group A Graduates (Youth) Friendster, MySpace, Facebook and now Tumblr I would argue

Group B Graduates (Geeks) Blogs, Twitter, Friendfeed (RIP) and now Google+ I would say

I am seeing a lot of the same patterns here as when Twitter took off at SxSW several years ago. Except this time it’s much faster! Media, brands and celebs are jumping in. And, by it’s nature, Google+ can be a much more public network than Facebook will ever be."

"The bigger they are, the harder they FAIL."



Tags: problogger, Micro Persuasion



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Big Brother 13 premieres tonight (July 7) on CBS
Did you know that those so-called "scraper" blogs could actually be your friends? And those fake twitter followers too?

Hello! Thanks for dropping by! How on earth did YOU arrive HERE? Can you tell me by leaving a message in my "comments" area below?

You may have noticed that I am running a few experiments here on this humble weblog. Here is one. The fascination with these experiments has temporarily sidetracked my blog redesign plans. And the I wonder if I should really bother with a re-design at all, considering... ah yes, considering WHAT, you ask? Well, that "WHAT" is something I am not willing to share right at this moment.

COMING SOON: a contest where you could win $100!

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...and the bloggers are correct! Heck even GOOGLE agrees!



The guru bloggers have been quiet lately. Maybe they've been counting the money they made selling their latest PDF's and eBooks!

I've told you that I've been considering a new template - and I came THIS CLOSE to activating it this week - but I'm holding off - something whispering in my ear "not yet".

Meanwhile, the latest "blogger buzz" (and battle cry) seems to be "LESS IS MORE" ---, minimalists would definitely agree!

Brankica posts that cry of "LESS IS MORE" right out of the gate in an article on weblogbetter.com ::: "For those of you that have been reading my blog for awhile, I guess you may have noticed that I am removing social buttons left and right. There are also some numbers displayed and some hidden.

Brankica goes on to discuss what one should display on one's blog when it comes down to numbers of followers, subscribers, alexa rank, etc. To which I commented "Numbers mean nothing. You can buy 2000 twitter followers on fiverr for $5 – you can buy subcribers to your blog and purchase ‘hits” as well. There are A-list blogs that have 0 page rank. There are crappy scraper blogs that are autogenerated with PR5 and “5000″ subscribers!

I don’t display too much in the way of twitter and very little facebook information. I have a personal cap of 300 I follow on twitter. My facebook is my business. I do have some google connect numbers displaying, but I feel those are kinda sketchy, and they’ll probably be gone when I redesign the blog.

I have a bunch of sharing buttons on my blog. I keep them there just in case someone wants to use one of them. They rarely do, but WHEN they do, I get beaucoup visitors!

As for alexa: there are so many conflicting stories about it! I think I might still have the widget (or at least a link to alexa) on my blog.

I use 3 different sitemeter services PLUS the google/blogspot one that now comes with the platform. None of them ever agree. There was a day in May one hitcounter racked up 212 visits for the entire day, while google showed 1,511 “unique’ visits! Did you know that if someone is reading your blog via Google Reader that visitor is never counted? (Except maybe by Google – is that where those higher numbers come in?)
I think that there is a fashion rule that we can and should apply to blogging – Less Is More (most of the time)."

Hasan of MarketingTheInternet posted "Lessons Copywriters Can Take from Charlie Chaplin" on blog.2createawebsite.com ::: "Make sure your blog or website’s template is clean, simple and visible. The template of your blog or website should not be complex with too many graphics and pictures. It should easily be able to load on all a web browsers." - to which I commented - "The latest trend appears to be 'less is more' so your article is right on track!" - and it absolutely IS on track. I recommend you study the article!

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Maybe you did something to invoke the wrath of the googlegod. Or maybe you're not getting the right keywords out. Or maybe your blog is getting buried beneath tons of other blogs. Relax. There is hope.

NEW: GOOGLE MUSIC BETA

Google Apps manager attacks Microsoft Office 365 http://tgr.ph/lRhdju

Google generally fails at all things social.... Google Now Showing Local +1 Counts http://t.co/ytJk

As of today, I have a PR3. If that dropped to 0 or rose to 7, would it make any difference? Honestly, I don't know for sure. I've been in both places, and nothing seems like it really changed...

This morning Hesham posted "Have You Noticed Google PageRank Update Today?" on Famous Bloggers. He writes:

Check your Google PageRank Now!

Here is the link to Google PageRank checker tool.

I wonder if Google will keep the update going, this is July 2011 update, so the next update should be in three months from now, the next PR update will be next October if I am right!

Have you notice any changes to your site’s PageRank? Positive or negative?

What you did to get higher Google PageRank?

Please, share your blog’s PR and let us know whether you think it’s fair or not!

Now here's a semi-updated traffic article I wrote in 2010:

So you wanna know how to increase traffic without relying on Google or Bing or Technorati?
Here's how! Before you begin: this will take a little EFFORT on your part, but you'll be rewarded in the end!

1 - Twitter - You don't tweet? Open an account NOW. Follow the rules and recommendations. Do a little research. Once you fly with the twitterati, and your blog is linked from your twitter homepage, you'll get a few links every day that go direct to your blog. If you write a great article, others will tweet about it!

2 - Facebook - FB is currently THE place to be! You can get services your automated so that your blogposts show up on Facebook and pass through to twitter. I do that! Now, traffic to your blog isn't going to jump overnight. But in time, if you produce quality stuff, you'll get readers. Trust me, 25 regular solid readers are better than 225 one-time visitors! BTW: MySpace is good too, especially if you are associated with music.

3 - C-Box - *** UPDATE: Unfortunately, SPAMMERS took over C-Box and I had to remove it from my blogs. If you have a small audience with targeted content in a niche area, you may not have any trouble with spammers. But, as soon as ONE appears, others inevitably follow.

Do you have an avatar? Y'now, a little picture, a little graphic image of you - something people will associate with you and your web presence by sight... once you have one you like, get it up there on your blog, on Facebook, MySpace, twitter, MyBlogLog etc. etc.

4 - email - put the URL of your blog in the signature of every email you generate!

5 - Blogs - if you read other blogs regularly, be sure to comment. Don't say something stupid, like "nice blog" or "check out MY blog." Start off by just commenting. Leave your name but NOT your URL. If the blogger you're following happens to write about something you've blogged about in the last 5 or 10 days, THEN add your comment with a link to what YOU posted. Be sure to explain why you agree or disagree with the other blogger's article!

FORGET Digg, StumbleUpon and Technorati. Unless you've written a truly SPECTACULAR article. be honest. When's the last time that you (or I) have done that?

Which brings us to

6 - PRESS Releases - for when you actually DO come out with a SPECTACULAR article (or an EXCLUSIVE - you've got that cellphone in your pocket - most now have cameras - if you snap a newsworthy photo and you can write something about it (interview the person if you're the only 'reporter' on the scene) you have the makings of a SPECIAL article! (You may even catch the attention of MSM (main steam media)!

7 - Business Cards - if you are a problogger or you are in business, as long as your blog isn't some craxy x-rated thing or all about some kooky off-topic subject you'd be ashamed to let people who know you read, add the URL to your business cards.

8 - local newspaper ads - if you blog about things in your area or city, check out some of the weekly tabloids - some accept ads for blogs and they don't charge more than $5 or $10. Ask if they'll give you a discount if you order 10 weeks in a row. Especially NOW, the Autumn-Winter times of year when people will be indoors (and right after Xmas when people will be test-driving new netbooks and laptops) are extra good times to get your URL out there!

9 - PING your blog each and every time you write something new! Try pingler.com for starters!

10 - YouTube - I really don't use YouTube as much as I should. It works VERY WELL for bloggers who have video to share. I mention it here because I've heard so many positive comments from those who do use it. Like Multiply or Mobi, it's a niche group, but if you're "in" with that group, it will help you build traffic!

Feel free to share your feedback with me by leaving me a comment using either "comments" feature below. If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to help answer them for you. Take a moment to subscribe to my RSS Feed and be sure to start following me on Twitter.



Tags: blog traffic, hits

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How do you decide if it's time to re-design your template or retire some of your widgets? Or whether to take over another blog that's up for sale? Should you increase monetization efforts? Is it time to register your own domain?

Have some of your more recent decisions backfired? Perhaps if you were a tad more systematic, a bit more analytical, you'd make better choices.

MY decision process is a distillation of my 10 years as a blogger. It is simple:

• Gather the facts.
• Deliberate.
• Create a "probabilities array".
• Listen to what the Inner Voice says.

If you think that listening to one's inner voice negates the first three items of the protocol, think again!

(Information + Analysis) X (Pros + Cons) = Decision

Let's break it down.

FACTS! Collect your data. If the decision involves widgets for services, consider how these widgets have helped (or harmed) your weblog historically. EXAMPLE: if, for the last several months, your tagboard has repeatedly been spammed and people are leaving you insults, it may be time to get rid of it.

If the decision involves taking over another blog, do your homework! Check that blog's PR and backlinks. Can it be parlayed into an additional income stream? Evaluate what you might do if you took it over. How would you go about improving traffic, pagerank and SEO? Calculate whether you will be able to devote the additional time needed to properly tend the new blog. Consider the merits (and deficiencies) of cross-posting.

DELIBERATE! Jump brain-first into the information. Pencil your thoughts on index cards, NOT on the computer! That forces you to confront information "analog-ically".

ARRAY! Using a notebook, create a "vision board" of possible outcomes that come as a result of any sound decision. Use a variety of scenarios. Draw upon your own experience as well as the experiences of others. EXAMPLE: You are trying to decide between using cmf ads or adgitize on your blog. Where will you place the widget? How mcuh time can you or will you have to devote to the new service? Google each service on blogsearch - include terms such as "why I like cmfads" and "leaving adgitize" so you read the experiences of other bloggers. You want to give yourself a crystal clear picture of the benefits and drawbacks .

DECIDE! It's all about YOU! Ask yourself, "can I make this work?" If you think you can, you most probably will.

Lastly, keep in mind that not all decisions work out perfectly. Don't beat yourself up or lose hope if things fail. Rinse and repeat! Your ratio of good vs. bad decisions will improve over time,and you WILL be successful! Good luck!







Tags: better blogging, weblog better



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All of the blogging "gurus" and others recommending you get your own domain are about to get their asses handed to them on a platter:

Google tests a new feature that replaces the URL with the site's name in search results snippets. David, who noticed this change, says that he searched for [madvertise] and "most of the results looked normal, with the website title, snippet and URL. However, two search results displayed the website name instead of the URL. In the attached screenshot, the 6th and 7th results show 'LinkedIn' and 'Facebook' respectively, in the place where the URL should be."

This could be a real game-changer, in a hurry! In a related matter, I posted this over the weekend:

I was poking around blogger the other day and found the materials I need to improve this blog, I think 100%, to get it into a template and format that I believe will not only bring it up to 2011 standards but remain within the Google realm of protection. What's that, you say? A couple years ago a blogger friend was stark raving mad. They thought their blog had been attacked by hackers. Turns out two things happened at around the same time, and the blogger had not checked her blog for a few days. Her image hosting service had expires. Adding insult to injury, the guy who authored her template let his domain expire. She lost her template and images in one 24-hour period. But things got worse. Her own domain expired. And somebody swooped in and grabbed her blog's name (and of course all her traffic: she'd been getting about 400 visitors a day). So say what you will about Google and blog*spot. the service is less likely to (1)cost you any money and (2) fail if you forget to pay the bill or if your template designer checks his or her website.

If that is not enough to convince you, note that URL bars are disappearing in CHROME. I HATE the idea of CLOUD COMPUTING. I LOVE the idea of having a back-up for my stuff, but I want my stuff ON MY PC, not dwelling in some cloud that could be erased or deleted.

Heer's a link to an article on optimizing your blog SEO through the use of Q and A style titles.

Infographic: Global Internet Traffic Expected to Quadruple by 2015





Tags: Google Chrome, cloud computing



Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and Dave Lucas are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Dave Lucas and staff.

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Stop rallying around all those icky "blogging gurus" who really want to dip into your paypal account more than they want to help you succeed!

This post is dedicated to all of you poor blogging scrubs who sincerely want to make money. You've heard the golden word: MONETIZE! Day after day new posts appear by "blogging gurus" who promise untold fortune and fame if you buy and download their PDF or eBook. Who gets rich here? They do!

These "blogging gurus" get tons of FREE publicity and rack up a lot of interviews by bloggers who fawn over their every word. Interviews that turn out to be nothing more than adverts for the same old stuff that everybody and his brother and then some are selling somewhere online! Michael Fortin calls it "A Disturbing Trend in Internet Marketing".

If you look at all of the "guru" stuff carefully, you'll find they essentially are all selling the same thing. These "gurus" practice "The law of subtraction," the process of getting YOU to subtract YOUR money from your account (and turn it over to them!)

Michael Fortin's words in a post about "The Secret" come to mind and apply to the "blogging secrets revealed by your friendly guru" craze: "And the people who sell the secret as such are the worse of the bunch, in my opinion. Those greedy vultures are masters in the art of repackaging material in a way that caters to a specific market in need of the package — and not the thing being packaged."

Want some fun, fabulous FREE blogging advice? I've put my entire FREE series "THE BLOGGING CLASS" online at The One Minute Blogger. There's $200 guru-dollarsworth of information and good advice, and you get it all FREE. Nothing to subscribe to. No annoying pop-up screens. Nothing to download. Just FREE!

RELATED ::: End of the road for Social Media "gurus"?






Tags: blogging tips, underground blogging secrets



Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and Dave Lucas are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Dave Lucas and staff.

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Funny how "experts" on social media continue to pop out of the woodwork!

Here's a blogger who reports on the Lady Gaga craze with a post about Gaga's use of social networking.

Truth is, the internet moves so fast, stuff that happened, say, 10 years ago, these social media moguls are not even aware of

But Charu Dwivedi misses the more important, more fascinating back-story. I gave her a little back-in-the-day schoolin' via her comments area:

Perhaps, Charu, you give Gaga a little too much credit. Don't be overhelmed by her! Well, you know Gaga began as a copycat clone of Madonna, but conquered the nay-sayers (myself included) by going to the Material Girl and receiving her blessing!

An early and very successful launch of a career via the internet (and existing social media at the time) was the career of Christina Aguilera. Hang on a sec and I'll find the URL ... here it is...
http://www.stayfreemagazine.or...

And if you'll allow another URL, this one references Lady Gaga and another Media milker, Nicki Minaj
http://dave-lucas.blogspot.com...

And, dear reader, in case you didn't know: Nicki Minaj hadn’t come out with her debut album yet, but made hip hop history by becoming the first female rapper to be named on MTV’s “hottest MC’s list.” THANKS TO P-R and Social Media!

Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and Dave Lucas are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Dave Lucas and staff.

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Using a CLASSIC BLOGGER template? You need to get into your template, and do the following:Can't see the image above very well? Hover and click on the image to make it a little bigger. After adding that code, I would recommend inserting the following code in html at the very top of your post:In the HTML for the post you are now reading, the code appears right after this sentence. (You can add it to your post footer if you don't want top have to remember to include it every time you post!)



If the button fails to appear, add that same bit of "head" code right before the closing "body" tag. Any questions? Ask 'em in comments below! Good Luck, let me know how you make out!

WARNING! Just as I have noticed with re-tweet buttons, you may get false numbers when you are entering your blog directly on its landing page. That changes when you land on an individual post's url. Most people who find their way here via search engine or link from another blog or website land on a post URL, so I'm not too worried about it for now. Remember, I'm tinkering here - this is a "work in progress" that seems like it will do the job I need it to do - YOUR needs may be different!

Add +1 To Your Blog*spot Blog!

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The Google Made :: Add +1 Button to Your Blog

MundoInformática » Blogger Buzz: Add the +1 Button to Your Blog

Aberto até de Madrugada: Google +1 Plus One

MundoInformática » Añade el botón +1 de google a tu blog

BloggerにGoogle「+1」ボタンを付ける方法 - buzzword update

+1 für alle Webseiten verfügbar - GoogleWatchBlog

Create a Link

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THIS article is adapted from HOW TO STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST (AND 9 OTHER THINGS NOBODY TOLD ME) by Austin Kleon

Austin Kleon tells us ::: You are, in fact, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life. You are the sum of your influences. The German writer Goethe said, “We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.”

So you're thinking "How can I apply this knowledge to MY blog?"

Everything he writes about artists can be applied to bloggers! For example ::: Your job is to collect ideas. The best way to collect ideas is to read. Read, read, read, read, read. Read the newspaper. Read the weather. Read the signs on the road. Read the faces of strangers. The more you read, the more you can choose to be influenced by.

Look at LADY GAGA. Influenced by whom? Madonna! And when confronted with that info (and what could have been the performer's "kiss of death" along with it), rather than deny it, Lady GaGa embraced it, so much so, that Madonna herself embraced Lady GaGa!

Kleon continues ::: Steal things and save them for later. Carry around a sketchpad. Write in your books. Tear things out of magazines and collage them in your scrapbook.

Steal like an artist. This technique reminds me of NICKI MINAJ! She stole the "Barbie" trademark without actually stealing it! THAT is an accomplishment of major order! Kleon's remarks apply ::: I love this phrase. There’s two ways to read it: Fake it ‘til you make it, as in, fake it until you’re successful, until everybody sees you the way you want, etc. Or, fake it til’ you make it, as in, pretend to be making something until you actually make something. I love that idea.

Particularly interesting is how Minaj hijacked the “Barbie” franchise without stepping on any copyright toes: This could be a great lesson for bloggers… Minaj-icize your blogs!Click on the image to see what Nicki Minaj looked like BEFORE her "transformation."

Make sure you save/print this link: observe the "before" and "after" photographs. Now, substitute YOU and YOUR BLOG for the "before" ---- how do you want things to be/look "after" ?????

It was Kleon who seeded the idea in my little brain for THE BLOGGING CLASS: " I get a lot of inspiration from people like Bob Ross and Martha Stewart. Bob Ross taught people how to paint. He gave his secrets away. Martha Stewart teaches you how to make your house and your life awesome. She gives her secrets away.

People love it when you give your secrets away,..." Best of all, Kleon has logged OVER A THOUSAND COMMENTS on his original post!

Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and Dave Lucas are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Dave Lucas and staff.

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Sorry, but I just wanted to get more hits on my blog!

Thanks for understanding!

Now seriously, folks... it's time for some "blog housekeeping" - here's what is happening:

• Big Bear Hugs for Lainy & Windy ::: details below
• Traffic Experiment Underway ::: which could be the basis for an eBook (more on that later)
• Sidebar Cleanup PROJECT ::: I agree with blogger extraordinaire Windy that there is an awful lot happening in the sidebar and it is time for a bit of reorganization.

Before Sidebar adventures begin ::: I have to stand by, to wait and see what the heck is going to happen with MyBlogLog, which is supposed to sunset before the end of the month.

So, anything odd or strange you see happening on this humble weblog will likely be the result of my tinkering! Please leave a comment or email me if something particularly concerns you - or if you have any comments or suggestions.

Speaking of traffic (as the title of this post subtly beckons)

Several blogs routinely publish traffic and/or earnings reports. It's all good, and perhaps one could learn a lot from information shared... perhaps not.

Personally, I see no reason to share my numbers with anyone save for potential advertisers. That's just my POV. I will admit that some time ago I was SHOCKED when I read a PDF prepared by a blogger who had positioned her blog as a desirable one for any person or company looking to purchase an established blog.

The blog was put on the market in June and sold by September 2010. The sales kit contained this info:
PR 3, Alexa Ranking in the 227,000 neighborhood... 68% bounce rate... Average Visits 19 per day with an average visit length of 1:31

OK - let's take a look at some recent numbers of mine (before the Windy-Lainy love spike): PR4, Alexa 178,600 neighborhood... 71% bounce rate

Total Visits ............... 517,830
Average per Day ................ 455
Average Visit Length .......... 1:19

I'm thinking here that this proves once again that it is more important to attract visitors who will spend TIME on your site than it is to simply attract "hits." The anti-entrecard crowd bitch about "drop and run" visitors, but they don't understand they can keep entrecard, put it to good use (as I did) and STILL ATTRACT visitors who will "sit" for awhile!

In the PDF the blogger gave numbers that left me scratching my head! Traffic was piss-poor, there was nothing there of any outstanding nature, although the blog was wonderfully designed... and ended up in the hands of a new buyer for a cool USD $500!

While I won't be sharing numbers per se, I would like to share some incredible news, and offer a sincere thank-you to bloggers Windy and Lainy. Since engaging the duo in an online "drama" in the style of classic American Soap Opera, my traffic and accompanying advertising revenue have gone through the roof, proof positive that injecting a bit of controversey into the blogosphere can be a real pay-off.

The fascinating part here is that NO LINKS were involved, i.e. Windy and Lainy did not link back to my blog from posts they had written. What they DID do was call attention to me and my blogs, which got their readings looking for me on Google and Bing! As a result, this humble weblog you are now reading as well as THE ONE MINUTE BLOGGER have been thriving! Thank you again, Windy and Lainy! I dedicated my little "traffic graphic" to you! You guys are great!

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HERE'S WHAT SUPERSTAR BLOGGERS HAVE THAT YOU DON'T - THE POWER OF A BLOG MENTORING PROGRAM!

A young blogger figured this out years ago... why haven't YOU?

And, guess what?

You can get this for $150 a month $5 one time payment!


Are are you a frustrated blogger?
♦ You've been blogging for so long yet you find it hard to break in to your niche
♦ You've read all the blogging tips ebook yet can't find the perfect formula
♦ You've been through some "purchasing disasters" and didn't get your money's worth
♦ You've drowned yourself on the internet but to no success
♦ You've been wanting to change all that just just CAN'T

Why many methods don't just work
The problem with other blogging ebooks and training program's is that they are CHEATING on you. Liane Youngblogger figured this out when she was just a teenager!

She discovered that every time a blogger purchased an e-book, or received a training method, thousands of other bloggers were getting THE EXACTSAME thing.

Yes, they might be telling you that you're going to receive your UNFAIR advantage, but in reality, everyone is receiving the same unfair advantage. In the end, EVERYBODY KNOWS THE SAME TRICKS. People come to a dead end where they all wallow in similar knowledges and ideas that just turn out to be a replicate of the others.

Liane discovered that many bloggers who wanted to break in to the success level by enrolling themselves on all kinds of programs, never got to the C-list, let alone the A-list.

Here are the usual reasons:

♦ Ebooks and traning programs are all pre-written; they don't cater directly to your needs but to the general needs.
♦ Most of them are just products of hyped-up sensational marketing. Their main target? Your money.
♦ Yes, they might be giving you their methods but afterwards, you're left all alone
♦ You've just been reading about the same thing over and over again.

What's the point in paying for things you already know? Lianne says, forget about high-priced trainings, forget about yet another ebook, and most of all, forget signing up to some random newsletter in a vain attempt to get something while actually falling into a marketer's trap.


The Solution?

Get An Expert That Will Personally Tell You What Needs To Be Done and How It Needs To Be Done. In Short, Get A Blog Critic...

Our friend Liane came up with this idea long ago. But she eventually stopped the service when she SOLD her own blog for BIG BUCKS! Think about THAT! SHE CASHED OUT BIG TIME! What a loss for the blogosphere! Now, think about creating and developing an amazing blog that will have individuals and corporations scrambling to BUY YOUR BLOG! It is NOT beyond your capability! Liane DID it! If she can, YOU can!

How Does My System Work?

I'm doing this a little bit differently than the way Liane did. I've kept it simple fairly simple, following Liane's model in that the only goal is to analyze your blog and your skills an give you a personalized report that will tell you "what needs to be done and how it should be done". I'll also read 5 posts on your blog and give you back 5 sincere comments!

Here, you will be receiving
1 an honest, point-blank report about your blog

2 a complete blog analysis that will tell you what's wrong, or right
3 comments on 5 of your articles
4 tutorials, tips, tricks and the best resources
5 additional consultation at a pre-negotiated price

#5 is new - my idea - for those who would like longer-term interaction to help develop their blog. If you like what I do for you intially and are serious about blogging, I'll help you at a mutually agreed fee IF I have time to squeeze you into my busy schedule... I already have two jobs, I lecture and teach a blogging class already!

The Final Consideration, Value's Worth

Liane liked keeping things straight and simple. Ditto for me! I have GIVEN AWAY the popular "BLOGGING CLASS" series right here on my humble weblog! As much as I would love to GIVE this Blog Critique away, I'm using MY TIME to help you in this special program, so the $5 fee is really just a "token" and helps me keep my internet turned on! That's a bargain already considering the OUTRAGEOUS prices that others charge (even if they have minimal skills!)

How My Program Works 1-2-3!

1. Click the order now paypal button. You will be redirected to a secured site.
2. In the paypal secure form, write your contact details (for email and chat).
3. I’ll get in touch as soon as possible and we’ll begin!






Tags: Power Blogger, Power Blogger Program



Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and Dave Lucas are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Dave Lucas and staff.

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Syria: Blog interview with Opposition activist Ammar Abdulhamid

Syria: Blog interview with Opposition activist Ammar Abdulhamid

Written by Antoun Issa · Middle East & North Africa

American blogger and Syria expert, Joshua Landis, conducted a video interview with exiled leading Opposition activist Ammar Abdulhamid on the Syrian unrest. Speaking on Landis' blog, Syria Comment, Abdulhamid was questioned on a variety of topics concerning the Syrian revolution, from the dangers of a sectarian breakdown, to the regional implications of a potential collapse in regime. read »

chinaSMACK

Wenzhou Wedding Motorcade Worth Hundreds Of Millions RMB - Chinese netizen reactions to a 26-car wedding motorcade in Wenzhou, China made of expensive super cars like Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Rolls Royces...

the twitterer

#musicmonday - Blast from the Past! - Emma, also known as Emma, Emmaline or Emmeline, is a song by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson released as a single by Hot Chocolate in 1974.

Best $5 Ever Found

The Strongest and Most Powerful Link Revealed

And no, it's not a link from Matt Drudge or The New York Times website... nor is it an accumulation of thousands upon thousands of links. Would you like to know what the strongest and the most powerful link is? I'll give you a hint: it's something YOU can easily give but seems as if it is almost impossible to receive. Put simply, you have the power to give it away but getting it back represents a difficult link-building scheme at best!

SEO gurus will most definitely not agree with the adgitizer on this one!

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Simple yet effective!

If you pay attention to your visitor traffic, and you've been blogging for a few years, you will notice (as I did) that out of hundreds of posts you may upload in your little blog's lifetime, there will be a small handful that continue to attract hits without fail, every single day.

These 3 posts account for 10% of my daily traffic:

• Beyonce's wig tape
• Muslima doll FULLA
• 7 Ways To Get Your Blog Noticed!

You already know that when you post on a current topic (and you get your blog title "just right") you'll get a spike in traffic. But how to draw visitors in AFTER the spike?

Start by breaking your original article into two parts. I was delighted when I wrote "Mubarak You Have Ugly Face," but I wanted to stretch its life and SEO while attracting distinctly different academic and media-colleague streams of visitors via the division post titled "The Internet as a Liberator.

To recap: I divided the post into two, then edited each article so that either one could be stacked on the other to make a complete, sensible story. The posts can stand alone or together! Each links to the other via the link "Continued" at the footer!

Next, Go for the "digital jugular" ---

The third article in the series is titled "#Egypt #Jan25 Collaborate.Participate.Connect " - the hashtags are included because I subscribe to a service that auto-tweets my blog's headlines to twitter... many individuals and services seek out tweets based on hashtags! This post has a footer link that simply says "Previously."

So I have effectively QUADRUPLED the "reach" of three distinct posts by linking uniquely titled entries together and adding "hot" hashtags!

Try it, and let me know how it works for YOU!

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A Real Eye-Opener!

A lady blogger overseas recently made a move to try and increase her online income. Keep in mind that there are a lot of work-at-home moms and work-at-home artists, merchandisers & copywriters throughout Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. This lady (who asked she not be linked to or otherwise identified) had been posting in both English and Chinese, about a 50-50 mix.

She decided to join entrecard and signed up for cmf ads, nuffnang and AdSense. She was forced to stop posting in Chinese, as that is frowned upon by many online services. They demand English. The screengrabs from Alexa (to the left) show the results. From almost the day she made the change TIME ON SITE tanked! Her blog's BOUNCE RATE SKYROCKETED.

I'm not passing judgement here. Just looking at a snapshot of what one blogger did and what happened to her blog afterward. You might get different results. You might not.

Point is, with the world economy a big fat question mark, bloggers are scrambling to make money online any way they can... even the MICROPENNIES count! Some of the services out there pay .0002 per click - do the math - how many clicks to get to ONE CENT? (Those micro-pennies DO add up! I remember seeing financial guru-ess Suze Orman saying on National TV that if she sees a penny on the pavement, she cannot resist picking it up!)

With so many blogs out there - think about this - imagine every house on your street had its own radio broadcasting station that could be dialed in from anywhere in town. Who would be able to listen to all of these stations? Who would want to? Other residents in the same building might find a radio station across town they like better than their own.

That's what the blogosphere is like for millions upon millions of bloggers. Some will never see traffic rise above "10 hits" in a day. Very few will attract more than a thousand visits a day.

More than a year ago when I noticed my blog traffic had taken a mysterious sudden dramatic plunge, I searched for ways to attract visitors - quickly. I found entrecard and immediately put it to work. Fast forward to now. I'm still affiliated with the network but I now get 19 or 20 visits a day from entrecarders. And that's not really a bad thing: I've found a more effective way to lure visitors and get them to STAY ON THE PAGE for more than a minute:

Continuously upload fresh content: post, post, post!

I carry a notebook with me at all times to jot down ideas. When I get on a roll, I can fill up a few pages of that notebook in no time! I don't have to be online to blog, either! I often sit at the computer and write. Sometimes I write posts on my smartphone's notepad or write an email on my VM Kyocera and send it to myself. There have been times when I have as many as a dozen posts in the preparation and/or "rough draft" stage.

Get those "creative juices" flowing! Are you on blogger or wordpress? Both platforms allow bloggers to "save" posts without publishing them immediately. Users also have the option of scheduling posts to appear later on...

You could even be posting articles after you've died! You could "stay alive" on the net for decades, assuming whatever servers were holding your data didn't crash or get corrupted or switched "off."

Tags: increase traffic to my blog, blog traffic

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