Archive for the Category »Blogging Buddies «

Apr

I was recently reminded of an old classic sung by Barbra Streisand.

The name of the song is “People”, and the lyrics are:

People,
People who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world
We’re children needing other children
And yet letting our grown-up pride
Hide all the need inside
Acting more like children than children
Lovers
Are very special people
They’re the luckiest people in the world
With one person,
One very special person
A feeling deep in your soul
Says you are half now you’re whole
No more hunger and thirst
But first be a person who needs people
People, people who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world.

With one person
One very special person
A feeling deep in your soul
Says you are half now you’re whole
No more hunger and thirst
But first be a person who needs people
People, people who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world.

When I hear/read the words,

“A feeling deep in your soul
Says you are half now you’re whole

I realize that’s what fellow bloggers do for us.

Today’s Lesson

When we start a blog, it’s usually a journey we venture on by ourselves and have no way of knowing where it will take us.

Each time we sit at our keyboards, type our thoughts and hit “publish”, the wait begins.

Sometimes the wait is long.

For some, the wait is so long, they give up.

For others, persistence pays off the we get “discovered”.

Not discovered in a big way, but our words make an impression on another person and they respond.

That’s when magic happens and we begin to feel validated. We begin to feel we’re being heard and understood.

It’s in that validation process we begin to shine. We being to share more, and are often motivated to reach higher.

In one sense, we may feel needed for OUR knowledge, but more importantly, we begin to realize we do need others as well.

Today’s Assignment

When you receive comments on your blog, or messages on social media sites, what emotions do they ignite in you?

Would you keep blogging, Twittering or partaking in social networks if people didn’t respond to you?

For me, blogging wouldn’t be the same without people. I’m anxious to hear you think.

Category: Archives, Blogging Buddies, Blogging Lessons, Lessons Learned, Networking 36 Comments

Feb

Spikey Traffic Distorts Visitor Statistics

Barbara Swafford

Photo Credit: Editor B
100849054 c58402c370 o Spikey Traffic Distorts Visitor Statistics Have you ever written a popular post, that created a huge spike in your traffic statistics, only to see your numbers plummet after several days?

Today’s Lesson

I call that “spikey” traffic.

It does one of three things.

1) It distorts your actual visitors statistics by increasing your averages

2) It may help to bring regular visitors to your blog.

3) It can teach you how to write better posts

To elaborate on each point:

By having a huge spike in your traffic for one month, by month end, your statistics may show higher. (dah!) The next month when your traffic is back to “normal”, or only steadily increasing, by month end, you may show a decline in visitors. This can be discouraging, as your first thought may be “Oh no, my visitor counts are dropping”, but you forgot about the traffic spike.

The second point works to your advantage. Some of the spikey traffic may have found your blog due to a particular post, and a small percentage of those visitors are sticking around.

The third point becomes a learning lesson. Go back to the post that created the spike in your traffic. Determine why it was popular. Did you use keyword density? Did you write about a current event? Was it Stumbled? Dugg? Or, other?

Today’s Assignment

Have you experienced “spikey” traffic?

What was it about the post that created a spike in your traffic?

Do you think you can duplicate that which created the increase in traffic?

Do you notice your traffic leveling off at a higher level, than it was before the spike?

Category: Blogging Buddies, Linking 13 Comments

Oct

My “Blogging Buddies” Update

Barbara Swafford

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

Sep

How To Create A Favicon For Your Blog

Barbara Swafford

What is a favicon?

To quote Wikipedia.org

A favicon (short for ‘favorites icon’), also known as a website icon, a page icon or an urlicon, is an icon associated with a particular website or webpage.

Where do you see a favicon? You will see it at the beginning of the URL (in your search bar), when you land on a page of a website or blog, where one has been created. It’s actually a very small picture, logo, or whatever the author of the site, chooses.

While I was visiting one of my Blogging Buddies, Nelson at Help Desk Geek, I noticed that he had a favicon. Since he is an expert in computers, I asked him if he would share, with the rest of us, how to create a favicon. He graciously complied, and produced an excellent post detailing how to make your own favicon. To read his post, click on this link: How To Create a Favicon For Your Blog

When you are visiting his site, take note of his favicon. It’s a photo of himself.

How cool is that?

So far, I haven’t ventured into the direction of creating a favicon for my blogs, but when the time arises, I know just where to go, to get detailed instructions.

Thank you again, Nelson!

Category: Archives, Blogging Buddies, Hints, Plugins and Widgets Tags: Blogging, Blogs, wikipedia 6 Comments

Sep

Comments Generate Traffic

Barbara Swafford

Leaving comments on another blog, is a great way to generate more traffic, to your blog.

How does leaving a comment on another blog, drive traffic to your blog, you ask?

It starts with a short story.

Several weeks ago, I left a comment on Darren Rowse’s blog, Problogger. Asako, of “Before They Hatch” read my comment, clicked on my name, found my blogs, and now visits and comments often (Thank you, Asako). Yesterday, I was back on Darren’s site, and that’s where I found Nelson’s blog, Help Desk Geek.So I left him a comment. Today, he visited me, and left me a comment. Ironically, another “Blogging Buddie” of mine, Henk ter Heide, of See Me Draw, also found me on Problogger. Great minds must think alike.

See how that works.

The process is very simple. Here goes…..

When you fill out the comment form, you are first asked for your name.

Then…your email address.

Then….your website address. This is the important part.

Just type in the URL as it appears when you are on your home page. In my case, my URL is http://bloggingwithoutablog.com

Hint: If you want to link to a specific page in your blog, you will have to type in the complete URL for that page.

After you leave your comment, and hit “submit”, a link to your site is created.

Now, it is said, that leaving a link inside of a comment is “spammy”. But…..If you are leaving a comment on my blog, and you are not comfortable with filling out my comment form, but want to provide a link to your site, just leave a link inside of your comment. I don’t mind. Just give me a way to find you.

In the past I made a typo when filling out my website address, and it created a dead link, so be careful when typing your website address.

With regard to comments, take your time to leave a meaningful comment. Saying “great post”, and nothing else, probably won’t drive visitors to your site. Leave a comment that will intrigue other readers, to find out a little more about you.

As a reminder, for anyone (with a web address) who leaves a comment on either this blog, or my Observation Mountain.com blog, I create a dedicated link to their blog, by adding them to my “Blogging Buddies”.

As of today, 9/21/07, I have 19 “blogging buddies”. Check out the page, and visit some of my loyal readers.

Unfortunately, one of my buddies, has apparently stopped blogging, as I’m getting a 404 error when I click on his link. Sad. He had the start of a great blog. But, I’m going to leave that link in place, just in case, he revives his blog.

So…..take some time, visit other blogs, and find a post where you can leave a compelling comment. Chances are, the author of that blog will come by and pay you a visit, thus generating more traffic to your blog. Sweet!