Archive for » October, 2007 «

Oct

Links to and from other sites, are great for increasing the popularity of your blog.

When I first started this blog, I decided to provide a link to all individuals (who had blogs or websites) who commented on, or linked to my blogs. That is when my “Blogging Buddies” page was born.

It was my way of saying “thank you” for visiting my sites. Since, I also believe in “paying it forward”, my hope is, that the blogs of my “Blogging Buddies”, will gain more visitors, as well.

While researching for additional lessons to pass on to my readers, I was studying “linking”. Long story, short….it appears, in the process of setting up links to all of my “Blogging Buddies”, I may be inadvertently, also be setting up a “link farm”.

To quote Webopedia

A link farm is a Web page that is nothing more than a page of links to other sites

Link farms, sometimes computer generated, were formed years ago by individuals who wanted to “beat the system” and gain page rank. Links were bought, sold, and traded (reciprocal linking), and some websites quickly climbed up the Google page rank. Then, Google and the other search engines, caught on to this technique, and started penalizing these sites.

I doubt my “Blogging Buddies” pages would yet be considered a link farm, as it only had 28 links, however, I do not want to risk being penalized. Being penalized could mean I stop getting indexed, and if that were to happen, I would also risk being able to refer others to my “Blogging Buddies”.

I have updated my Blogging Buddies page, and have removed all of the direct links. The names of all of my “Blogging Buddies” are left intact. To visit a “Blogging Buddie” of mine, it’s just a matter of doing a quick search for their name.

It saddens me when I hear stories of others trying to “beat the system”, and undoubtedly, it’s money related. Unfortunately, those setting up link farms, are no different than any other individual (or group of individuals), who are always looking for a way to make a quick buck, cheat an employer or the government, rob from others, and then use the excuse that “it’s owed to them”. I say get a job. Get a life. And quit looking for a free ride.

To my loyal “Blogging Buddies”, I do apologize if I mislead you in any way. It’s still my hope, that my blog, will be one of many referral sites, that helps to get you discovered. I thank you for your loyal readership, and am wishing much success to all of you!

Category: Archives, Blogging Buddies, Lessons Learned Tags: Blogging, Blogs, google, Page Rank 12 Comments

Oct

Experiment With AdSense Positions

Barbara Swafford

If you are on this blog, trying to figure out how to make millions from blogging, you are on the wrong site. I would suggest you read a previous post of mine, titled Quit Blogging – Make Millions.

Today’s Lesson

When you sign up for Google AdSense, if you troll around their site, you will find a Google “heat map”. What the heat map shows, is the best (?) positions for Google ads.

Of course, Google will tell you that the best positions for their ads, are above the fold. I would too, if I were Google.

During my many readings on monetizing a blog, I did read that a good place for an ad, or a small block (banner or half banner) of ads, is at the bottom of your post.

When you think about this, it makes sense. Your reader is reading. Your post ends. Then what? They pause, and the brainwaves say, “Okay, what should I do now? Oh, here’s an ad. Maybe I will click on this, and see where this takes me.”

Personally, I like this position. It is usually below the fold. When someone enters your blog, they are not seeing a mirage of ads. If someone wants to read your post, they are first getting the information they came to your site for, then it’s their choice if they want to click on an ad. You are not throwing it into their face.

On my OM blog, I use a half banner ad, and use the “open air” theme. The colors of the ad compliment my page. It’s not a flashing banner (unless Google decides to “throw one in” on a specific post), and it doesn’t cheapen my content.

Does it get clicks? Occasionally! I have one other Google ad on that site (top of sidebar), and when I checked the “top channels”, the clicks are about half and half.

Today’s Assignment

Try experimenting with putting a Google AdSense ad at the bottom of your post. Leave it there for at least a month. If your click through rate increases, that’s great! If it doesn’t work on your blog, try a different position.

Do I think I will get rich with my ads? Based on my click through rate, by years end, I should be able to recoup my annual web hosting fee.

I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating. When I started to blog, monetizing my blog, was one of the reasons I set up my blogs. As time passed, I began getting so much joy out of sharing with others, I realized I was getting rewarded in ways, I cannot put a price on.

You may ask, then why even keep ads on your sites? For one, I’m not stupid, I would like to recoup some of my expenses. And, two, if I find monetizing a blog can actually generate a decent income, I will freely share that information with my readers.

At this point in time, the verdict is still out.

Speaking of ads, that YouTube Google video ad I had at the bottom of my posts, had to go. Color it gone………….

BTW: I am not using Google AdSense ads on the bottom of this blog’s posts, as I am still experimenting, as I discussed in my post titled: Google Referral Ads vs Ads For Content.

Category: Advertising, Archives, Blogging Lessons, Making Money Tags: adsense, Blogging, Blogs, google 11 Comments

Oct

Updating An Old Post, Will Get You Crawled

Barbara Swafford

Today’s Lesson

We spend an awful lot of time writing posts. Some days, though, we just don’t feel creative, but we know we should get something posted, so the search engines will visit out sites.

I know that may sound like a lame excuse to post something, but we need those search engines making regular visits to our blogs. That is how we get “found”.

Updating, rewriting or linking from some of your old posts, can serve two purposes. One, it can help to “clean up” your blog. And, secondly, by updating an old post, the search engines will come and pay you a visit.

So….if you have no time to write a new post, but want to ensure your blog is getting crawled by the search engines, here’s an easy assignment.

Today’s Assignment

Go to one of your old posts. Find one that you feel has value. Either add an update, rewrite it, or add a link to one of your newer posts. Make sure you are linking to a post that compliments the old post. Or….just clean up the grammar, and any typos.

If you change the date of the post (and hit “Save”), you will “erase” the old post, and it will now be a “new” post. Changing the date, and/or title of your old post, could cause a 404 – not found, error.

If you do not change the date, after updating your old post, by hitting “Save”, the post stays in it’s original position.

The search engines will be “pinged”, to come and crawl your blog.

Warning: I don’t recommend updating too many posts at once, as you could end up getting penalized by Google. (If you normally post four or five times weekly, and all of a sudden you have 50 “postings”, Google may “see” this as odd. I don’t understand how a search engine can do this type of analysis (or, if indeed, they do), however, it’s not worth taking the chance of getting penalized, and having your site lose it’s current indexing.)

This technique works with WordPress. If you are using a different blog software, you may want to conduct your own experiments.

The upside to updating old posts….by using keyword density, it may get an old post discovered, and out of the archives.

Reread those old posts for ideas for new post topics, as well.

If you want your readers to know you have updated an old post, write a short post, and provide a link to the updated one. It may inspire your readers to take the time to dig a little deeper into your archives.