Archive for » December, 2007 «

Dec

If I look back at some of my early posts, I laugh. I made up goofy definitions for some of the blogging terminology I was learning. In several posts, I was “beating my head against the wall” (I did that a lot back then), and others had obvious typos.

Three months into blogging, I wrote:

When I first started blogging, I felt overwhelmed by everything I was reading. My head spun for weeks, and the learning curve was more like a switchback road going through a mountain pass. With every site I visited, I got more information, however, the more I read, the more conflicting the information became.

I began to wonder where blogging would lead. Now I realize, those old posts remind me where I came from, and how both my blog and I have changed.

Today’s Lesson

Having a blog for any length of time, is like watching a child grow out of infancy.

If you give it lots of positive attention, it begins to respond accordingly. But, if you aren’t giving your blog the attention it needs, soon it begins losing it’s popularity. You begin to lose interest, and even the search engines don’t want to “play” anymore.

As bloggers, most of us find that our blogging/writing style also changes over time. Our blogs begin to take on a personality of their own. We may look at some of our older posts and ask our selves “What were we thinking?”

For me, my blog has transformed into a site, I would have never envisioned.

I had expected my blog to be more “ramblings” of what I was learning, but then it developed a more structured, “lesson/assignment” format.

Old posts show us where we were in the infancy of blogging. As weeks and months (and years) go by, we will always have those old posts to revert back to, as we would reread an entry in a journal.

A blog takes us on a journey. Like baby steps, our old posts remind us how far we have come.

Today’s Assignment

Take time to review some of your earliest posts.

Do you see how your blogging/writing style has changed?

How are the dynamics of your blog changing?

Are you still enjoying the journey?

Category: Archives, Blogging Lessons, Posting Tags: Blogging, Blogs 2 Comments

Dec

Google AdSense Ads – Do Less Mean More

Barbara Swafford

Today’s Lesson

Two months ago, I started an experiment with Google AdSense, “ads for content”, ads.

As I stated in that post,

From this site, I have removed my Google Ads for Content, (which I had in the sidebar). Months ago, I read ( and I don’t know if this is true), that if you have more than one site, and they are all using Google Ads for Content, if one site’s ads are “lower paging ads”, they can decrease your payout for all of your sites.

This makes sense, as no matter how many sites you have, you only have one Google account. So, based on “averages”, that would compute.

So, like I said, for two months, I had no Google AdSense, “ads for content”, on this blog (as I believe, “blog” ads are probably low paying).

I watched to see if my EPC (earnings per click) for my OM blog, would increase.

You are probably wondering too.

They did not.

With that being said, although based on averages, it would/could compute, removing the ads for content from this blog, made no difference.

Having watched the “payouts”, it appears the amount for Google’s EPC, is partly based on the topic (keywords) of your post, and where your topic falls into the “highest paying keyword” categories. Page rank may also factor in, however, learning all there is about Google’s payout method, for “ads for content”, apparently is a highly guarded secret.

Today’s Assignment

Have you ever experimented with your Google AdSense, and gotten better results?

Have you noticed how your “ads for content” change, based on your topics?

Do you see your earnings increase/decrease, when you write about different subjects (keywords)?

Category: Advertising, Archives, Blogging Language, Making Money Tags: adsense, Blogging, earnings, google, Page Rank Comments off

Dec

Help For New Bloggers With Low Traffic

Barbara Swafford

Are you a new blogger, or as some of you call yourselves, “newbie blogger”, “nube”, “novice blogger”, “infant blogger, etc? Are you disheartened by the low visitor counts your blog is experiencing? Are you looking for help?

When you hit the “publish” button, do you wonder if your post actually went into cyberspace or blogosphere?

You may have searched for your posts online, but can’t find them.

You may feel that, even though you are publishing posts on a regular basis, no one is reading them.

You check your visitor statistics, and begin to believe, you and your best friend, are the only ones visiting your blog.

You may begin to wonder, if blogging is all it’s cracked up to be.

Blogging, or having a blog, for some, will end up being another, “been there, done that”, kind of experience.

For others, it will be a life changing event.

Today’s Lesson

If you are feel you are a new die hard blogger, I’m here to give you some encouragement.

Most important, you must realize, getting your blog found, takes time.

In cyberspace, which is filled with millions of blogs, each blog is like a tadpole in the ocean.

Now, I know that doesn’t sound very encouraging, but the world is also filled with hundreds of millions of people, who are doing searches, on their computers.

According to Search Engine Watch.com, in September of 2007, there were 9.4 billion searches performed.

When I checked Technorati’s website, they are tracking 112.8 million blogs.

So…if there were 9.4 billion searches, and 112.8 million blogs, there’s hope for every blog to be found.

Technorati also reported, that 175,000 new blogs go online daily. Amazing.

I have yet to read a report of how many blogs are discontinued or are sitting dormant, but I would imagine, that number is also high.

Before I started blogging, I didn’t search for these numbers.

Call me naive, or call me stupid. I just knew, I wanted a blog, and wanted to “share”.

I didn’t give much thought to how, or if, my blog would be found. I just assumed, in time, it would be discovered.

I didn’t understand SEO (search engine optimization), social bookmarking sites, blog carnivals, or what ‘free articles” were.

In fact, there was a lot I didn’t, and still don’t, understand. I continue to learn something new everyday, as blogging is constantly changing.

For those of us who blog, because we love to share, blogging is not difficult.

Blogging almost becomes an obsession. It’s that part of your day, you look forward to.

If you don’t publish a post, or visit other blogs, your may feel your day isn’t complete.

Blogging is also a great outlet. It could be compared to therapy. We are “talking” to our imaginary audience.

In the process of blogging our thoughts, we may also hope that others are learning from our experiences (good or bad). Because we care, we don’t want others to repeat the same mistakes we made.

We hope that maybe we will change, even one person’s life.

Can you put a price on that?

Today’s Assignment

Probably more important than having your blog found, is to ask yourself: “Why am I blogging?”

Did you read that you can make tons of money?

Or are you filled with knowledge, you want to share with the world? For free?

If you have found that blogging is a passion for you, don’t get disheartened.

Just keep posting. Keep sharing your knowledge. Keep going.

Remember…., even the most successful blogs, began with one visitor.

Visitors will find your blog, too. It just takes time.

In the meantime, make time to learn about SEO, keywords and keywords density, and other traffic building techniques such as submitting your posts to social bookmarking sites, blog carnivals, free online article sites, directories, etc.

It’s also important to visit other blogs. Leave a comment. Get your name out there.

Are you a new blogger? Leave me a comment. I will be more than happy to visit your site.

If you have been blogging for awhile now, feel free to share what you have learned, with the new bloggers who are reading this post.

Happy Blogging!