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Archives for July 2007

The A-List is alive and kicking

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Robert Scoble writes:

One trend that bloggers don’t want to talk about? A number of my blogging friends have seen their traffic go down lately. They assume that their readers are off in social networks. I think they are absolutely right.

Hugh McLeod responds:

The time of the A-List is dead. Thank Christ. Not a moment too soon.

Brian Clark follows up:

Value will always be key. And I think you’ll find that the migration of pure social chatter off of blogs and onto social networking applications is a good thing for the rest of us who are looking to build businesses powered in whole or in part by blogs.

I think this is a joke – no, not the funny kind, but the ridiculous kind.

For as long as I’ve been reading ‘about blogging’, we’ve had this A-list debate. It’s similar to high-school social hierarchy, where the popular boys and girls get all the attention and there are always a few rebels ready to call their time up.

Let’s face it, there will ALWAYS be an A-list. The names will change, some old ones will fade and new ones will take their place, but in essence, the psychology of the A-list will always be there.

The people who denounce the A-list and push value blogging are right by their accounts, but in the process they too are turning into the A-list by virtue of their increasing audience.

People like Michael Arrington, Darren Rowse, Brian Clark, Hugh McLeod, Aaron Wall and Rand Fishkin ARE part of the A-list – they are, whether they like it or admit it or not, celebrities whose popularity extends beyond their own niche.

I’ve seen Rand Fishkin go from a relatively unknown SEO geek to one of the leading SEO bloggers online, in the space of the last 2-3 years. He made it to the A-list by providing value, and full props to him.

Don’t tell me that the A-list is dead simply because the rules of the game have changed. By nature the A-list will adapt and thrive in the new conditions. There will always be rock stars and celebrities, whether it’s social media, mainstream media or ‘value blogging’.

So please, the A-list is NOT dead. Blogging – well that’s a different story 🙂

Choosing The Target Keyphrase for pMetrics

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Performancing has this killer site statistics app called pMetrics. You might have some killer app, or some killer service too. But you might also think that not enough people know about your killer product. So it’s time for some good old fashioned, hard-core SEO.

One of the most difficult tasks in all of SEO is finding and choosing the best keyphrase to target.

Take a look at the Performancing sidebar. We link to pMetrics with “Site Analytics” – a poor choice in my view (and a poor choice that I made several months ago).

There are much better options. For example:

  1. Blog Stats
  2. Blog Statistics
  3. Site Stats
  4. Site Statistics
  5. Web Stats
  6. Web Statistics
  7. Website Stats
  8. Website Statistics

In other words, I think people are much more likely to do searches on things like “stats for my blog” then “analytics for my blog”

Now some of you might say to me, just target all of those phrases. And it’s true. We could try that. But what I like to do as an SEO is “divide and conquer” – I like to focus in on one killer keyphrase at a time. A target keyphrase. Once I’ve conquered that keyphrase (by conquer I mean nothing less than top 3), I move on to the next one.

But the problem I always have is choosing which phrase to target. Sure, you can point me to this or that tool. But I know about your tools. I just don’t always know how to use them to choose the best among good options.

So let me ask you this: as I put in place a major SEO campaign for pMetrics, what should I target? Is there any under-developed niche (blog stats)? Is one word (stats) better than another (statistics)? If so, why? If not, why not?

When Will Internet Traffic Stop Tracking American Holidays?

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It’s July 4th here in the USA. One of our most celebrated holidays, and one that almost everyone, including Ryan Caldwell, takes off from the Internets.

So my question to you is this: since the United States of America only makes up something like 1/18th of the world’s population, and since many large regions like India, China, The Middle East, Europe, Korea and Japan have pervasive internet access – when will we stop noticing American holidays on our site statistics’ graphs?

Maybe it’s just that I’m an American. Or maybe it’s because I’m largely unaware of other holidays. But I still get a strong impression that Internet traffic mirrors American culture and American holidays. Shouldn’t this be changing? Or has it already, and I’m just witnessing an illusion?

Thoughts?

50% Affiliate Rate for pMetrics

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We thought we’d spice-up our pMetrics affiliate offering and give a full 50% on all referrals. That’s 50% for the life of the sign-up.

Now you can make up to $25 per sign-up. Sign-up 10 people per month and you could be looking at a steady $250/month. Not bad!

To celebrate the new affiliate offering, we’ve created a new affiliate image that we think will help you promote pMetrics more effectively:

Just make sure to replace the “6” with your own affiliate code.

What’s your blogging rhythm?

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If you take time out to analyse what the successful blogs and bloggers are doing online, one thing that will stand out is the various blog posting rhythms that you will find.

And yes, the posting rhythm actually means something – it’s a clear indication of how the blog relates to its audience. If you can understand what different posting rhythms accomplish, you can match the right posting frequency with your blog objectives and write accordingly.

The 4 Blogging Rhythms

There are 4 main rhythms / posting frequencies on blogs (you might find more – in that case let me know in the comments):

  1. Morning Ritual

  2. Heavy Blogging

  3. Light Blogging

  4. No Rhythm

The Morning Ritual

1 post a day, with special updates if necessary. The easiest blogging frequency to adjust to. Your readers know exactly what to expect and the format allows you to pack a lot of meat into one article or keep it light depending on your mood. For bloggers looking to build their personal brand, this is probably the best option.

It’s tough to take this route at the start, but there are ways to make it work. Great for ‘personality’ bloggers – entertainers and people who enjoy the limelight would fit perfectly into this mould.

Positive: Over time you can build a daily ritual where your blog becomes a watering hole and your readers use the daily post to discuss different topics.

Negative: Limiting if you stick only to one post a day (what if you want to talk about more things?) but a) sometimes less is more and b) there are ways to make it work (add more through updates to the post or in the comments, or even start a forum).

Example: the Dilbert blog, Arseblog.

Heavy Blogging

Several (2+) posts a day, either following several columns or just putting out regular news updates. Usually have a daily roundup as well.

Easiest way to start a blog (plus the frequent posting gives you good leverage in search engines), but it might be hard to maintain in the long run. Could require you to hire a blogger / get readers to submit content down the line.

Positions your blog as a niche authority – if your angle is to build yourself as the primary source of news in a crowded niche, this is the best way to do it.

Positive: A proven and effective strategy to the top of any niche. Establishes your blog as a reliable source of information / news and if you can keep up the quality and frequency, builds authority fairly quickly.

Negative: Takes a lot of effort, especially in the long run, and will cost you if you go ahead and hire bloggers. The ideal scenario would be to make your blog big enough so that people contribute their freely in order to build their brand, but that’s an exception.

There’s a real danger of compromising quality for quantity, which is why you should have a clear plan for bringing in help or managing it yourself.

Example: Danny Sullivan’s Search Engine Land, Ed Harrison’s Newcastle United blog and several other leading blogs / bloggers.

Light Blogging

Average of 2-3 posts a week (maybe 4-5, maybe just 1). You typically see this trend in ‘hobbyist’ bloggers or the those who are very experienced and successful (two opposite ends of the spectrum).

Positive: No daily stress of posting – gives you time to write meaty posts. There is great potential in this approach to launch a successful blog and carve your own niche because of the time you have to create flagship content and pure linkbait.

Negative: Your content has to be exceptionally good, and you need to be good at promoting it. In other words, it’s tough to make this work, but you’re an experienced blogger (or your content is world-class), this is a strategy that can work well.

Example: Blue Hat SEO, Steve Pavlina.

No Rhythm

Varied posting frequency – sometimes no posts for a couple of days, sometimes 4-5 posts a day.

I wouldn’t recommend this approach although this is how most blogs start out – and this what most of them end up doing as well. The lack of structure leaves out the possibility of establishing a special relationship with your readers, and it may hinder your blog’s success if you feel it’s OK to skip blogging for a few days if you don’t feel like it.

However, many blogs using this method are successful – primarily on the strength of their content, marketing and community-building efforts around their blogs.

Positive: You’re free to set your timings and structure your blogging day accordingly.

Negative: There’s no ‘clear’ negative here – just that at this point you don’t get the benefits of the first two methods nor the time of the third method, so you have to get your community building and quality content ‘just right’.

Example: Soccerlens – I have to admit, I used to suffer from this although in recent months I’ve made a concerted effort to change things around and go in a specific direction.

What’s your blogging rhythm?

Overall, it’s a good idea to set your posting frequency before you start your blog and stick to it unless there is a drastic change in plans. If you plan to do a daily column, setting a pattern and knowing what you will cover and more importantly, not cover is recommended. If you’re following the ‘heavy blogging’ routine, make sure you can sustain it either by yourself or by hiring someone else.

And while you’re planning your blogging rhythm, you might want to link this with ‘blog focus’ and decide in advance what you will talk about and not talk about on your blog.

So, what is your blogging rhythm?

An Update on The Performancing Experiment

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Thought I’d forgotten about it, eh? Well, here are some specific updates.

  1. The site currently ranks at about position 14 in the Google SERPS for the book’s title, showing up on the second page
  2. In retrospect, it might have been better to target “harry potter book 7” over “harry potter and the deathly hallows” – but you live and learn!
  3. I’m currently doing an interview with Olubayi Olubayi of the Global Literacy Project both on the charity’s main mission and also on how he envisions the charity using technology and blogs to further its mission
  4. I’ve started sending out what I hope turns into a viral email message. Keep your fingers crossed!

What Makes You Want To Subscribe

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I generally subscribe to 3-5 new blogs per month. Maybe they’re not new, but they’re new to me, because I’ve never heard of them or read them before. But trying to quantify the features of the blogs I subscribe to is hard to do. Why do I subscribe? Is it the content? The design?

Because I’m a curious guy, I decided to take some inventory of the blogs in my reader. It was actually a pretty fun experiment. I was surprised to actually see the design of some of the blogs. Since I read exclusively from my reader, I didn’t even remember what the design looked like 🙂

Here are 5 features I’ve found to be effective to convincing me to subscribe.

1. Would it be cliche to say that content matters?

I don’t really care if it’s cliche or not, content matters! If you don’t have regular decent articles, or at the very least articles that encourage lively discussion, then don’t even bother starting a blog. I’m dead serious. Blog content, to a person who reads 80+ feeds, is of paramount importance. Don’t even think about softball articles.

2. A clean, simple, aesthetically pleasing design

If you can’t design a site for your blog software, pay someone to do it. We are professionals. This is what we do. You can’t ignore the fact that if your design sucks, you won’t get as many readers. I’m partial to sites with the content on the left and two well used right hand sidebars, but that’s just me.

3. Readable Text

If your readers are like me, then they will bookmark your site before subscribing to it. Normally, I will bookmark the blog in del.icio.us and come back once or twice a week and check the content. I use this time to see if the site is worth a spot in my reader. So…. that means for at least a week, I will be reading your content directly on your site … which means you need readable text. For me, that means either Arial or Trebuchet MS fonts. If you use Lucida Grande, I’m gonna be pissed. I just thing that font is unreadable. If you use a Georgia or Times New Roman font, you might be pushing the line. It better be a big font with lots of space. Serif fonts, without good spacing, can be unreadable as well.

4. Prominent Link to Your RSS Feed

I like to reward good bloggers by subscribing directly to their feedburner feed … if they have one. The joy of seeing new readers in your stats is a good encouragement … something you don’t get if I subscribe to your blog’s feed address. So, don’t make me hunt for your link. If it takes me too long to find the link, I’ll just click the RSS button in the address bar of FireFox. Normally, that will give me your blog’s feed, not your feedburner feed. Worse still, if I’m in a bad mood and I can’t find your link, I might not even subscribe at all, out of spite for the time you made me waste. Think about it.

5. Comment on My Blog

OK, OK, this has nothing to do with your design, but it will get me to read your blog. My personal blog is religious in nature. I like to find good bloggers in my niche. The way I do that is by checking who my favorite bloggers link to, and by checking the sites of the people who comment on my blog (also, linking to me gets you lots of love). If you can contribute to the conversation in my comments, I will probably assume that you can contribute to the conversation on your own blog. Nearly every single one of my regular commenters holds a place in my feed reader. That’s not a coincidence.

What about you? What makes you subscribe to a blog’s feed? Be honest and asses the blogs that hold a place in your reader and ask yourself why you subscribed. Was it the cool design? The great content? The ease of process? Did they comment on your blog? What was it? Let everyone know in the comments!